2 Year Warranty. Not the cheapest when compared to some no name eBay brands/specials. But at least you have a physical store to go to if you have issues.
Cheapest I have seen whilst keeping an eye on their prices.
I just bought a battblock 25 and absolutely love it.
It has a charger that can do solar or car main battery charging (via Anderson plug like you asked), has 2 Anderson outputs, 2 usb plug, fast usb and a usb c and a 12v cig socket all built in. It also has a monitor built in to show you percentage and how much juice is going in and out.
Yes you can build and wire your own for cheaper but for the plug and play nature I recommend it.
Mine is paired with a 120ah lithium battery, a 2000 watt 240v inverter and a 30L drawer fridge.
Going to use the inverter with:
Kmart microwave 1200 watt
Or Karcher vacuum 1000 watt
Or induction cooktop set to medium
Or Kmart coffee machine with milk frother
Thanks, but that seems way too expensive and honestly an overkill for my needs. I just need to run a small car fridge on picnics :)
Have a look at there 24ah and 36ah power packs. If you make sure the fridge and contents are cold at home before leaving they should be good for a day or two depending on weather with no solar. Maybe charge from car on way there and back.
If you don't mind me asking, what is the difference between the batblock 25 with the battery OP posted, and something like this https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/24ah-lithium-portable-power… is it only the capacity or is there something more to it?
The biggest difference (pun intended), is size.
Bigger capacity, bigger charging speeds, bigger discharging speeds (suitable for 240 v inverters
up to 1200 Watts), more outputs and of course also bigger size.
Wire it yourself, Its 12/24VDC. Its perfectly legal and safe.
But I will still need a battery box, no?
Yes you will or make one from scratch. The batblock seems expensive but it makes it very easy. Tighten two bolts for the battery cables. Otherwise you have to buy all the parts separately and connect them. You need the right crimpers, cable and knowledge of what parts to buy. It is not hard just takes research and a bit of cash buying the right parts. The batblock solves a lot of that at a smallish price premium.
@frugalferret: You then still need a solar charge controller or dcdc. Etc etc. it depends on your skill and knowledge as to how easy or hard this will be and in the end how safe it is. I note there is no fuse on what you recommend. There should be.
@frugalferret: Just be mindful those Red and Blue Andersons aren't compatible with the standard grey ones, you can only use red with red, blue with blue, grey with grey…. (if you're keen you can remove the red or blue housing from those cheap cables and then install the cables into a grey housing, a 10 pack of grey andersons is about $10 on ebay)
(Edit: also, those cheap BigWei cables don't have a proper hex crimp, the lugs and Anderson terminals are just crushed onto the cables, they work but it's not ideal… You get what you pay for)
@FLICKIT: Those bad connections cause high resistance and therefore heat and with enough current, fire. Be careful of cheap crimps they can be very expensive.
@racer1234: Here's one of the lugs on those BigWei Anderson cables, it's not only the over-sized lug and flat crimp, take note of all the broken strands… They're $5 for a reason, I grabbed some a couple of years ago, I forgot how bad they are, I only use them for testing and low current, even at 25A they get warm:
https://imgur.com/a/JRoq8ca
@frugalferret: These are not fused add an inline fuse. Some solar charge controller are fused and can do DC out.
Yeah. Theres a few tutorials on youtube of course.
We got the hardkorr box with a 120ah 12v lfp kings battery that we use with a solar panel. when it's not powering the campsite it powers the 12v lighting setup in the back yard. Been quite happy with it. Right now I can't see it below $180 but I feel like we paid about $100 for it.
There's nothing wrong with the cheap ones on the market for sub-$100 if the features are sufficient however, but make sure it will fit, the lfp batteries all tend to be quite tall and some may struggle to fit vertically.
Ardent ones are pretty cheap and ok for the money. No frills but it has voltage readout and both size anderson sockets
damn if my projecta dcdc could do lithium id make the switch.
I use a non-lithium Projecta IDC25 DC to DC on a LiFePO4 battery without any issues, I have it set on the GEL setting = 14.1v, and I don't use the Projecta for solar, I always found it a bit flakey with my cheapo solar panels so I use a separate Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/10 solar controller (about $75 on ebay)…
On the Gel setting the Projecta 'floats' at 13.7v which is a little on the high side of ideal for a lithium battery, but considering it's only floating at that voltage while I'm driving after the battery is fully charged, it's not a big deal, it's unlikely to damage the battery…. (a high float voltage is only really an issue if you're floating high 24/7 I believe)
I figure with using the decent Victron solar controller set for a lithium battery, the majority of the time the solar controller is doing the charging with the correct voltage for the battery to balance, correct float voltage, and such…. I've used this setup for a couple of years now, including 2x 5 month laps of the country, all good, my battery has lost about 5% capacity from new, which is around what you'd expect…
Nice write up. Juat replaced my projecta dcdc charger when I went lithium. Maybe I shouldn't have. Lol.
you need 14.4v the gel setting wont fully charge the battery.
Yes and no, the capacity between charging to 13.8v or 14.6v is like 1%, it seems a lot healthier to just charge to a lower voltage … My current 100Ah from new was giving me right on 100Ah with a charge to 14v, and draining to 12v, so I've stuck with that, after 2 years of decent use it's down to 95Ah for the same 14v-12v cycle, so I'm content with that… (most of that 5% capacity loss is probably the normal loss you get after the first couple of cycles from new)
It also depends on what voltage the cell balancing kicks in, my current battery starts balancing at 12.8v, so charging to the lower voltage isn't an issue, it balances all good, the new 200Ah battery I've ordered lists the balancing starting at 14v, so I may look at setting my spare DC-DC charger that I'll use on that battery to the 14.4v AGM setting just to ensure it charges for a while above the 14v so it fully balances… (not sure yet, I might just leave the DC-DC at 14.1/GEL and set the solar controller to 14.2v to take care of the balancing… I need to contact the manufacturer because some of their specs contradict each other and such)
(EDIT: I'll add, I'm certainly no expert, I'm an electrician & instrument tech among other things, but lithium batteries are out of my field, I'm just fumbling my way through)
@abuch47: By most reports by knowledgeable people it seems you extend the life significantly if you use a friendly cycle like 12v to 14v, rather than a hardcore 10.8v to 14.6v cycle… Pushing them at the low and high end seems to do most the damage…
Not the only factor but these are pouch cells.
Nice find!
The kings prismatic cell version is much better in a lot of ways imo. $100 extra though
What is the difference between the two models besides the capacity?
1280wh vs 1536wh capacity
120ah has better BMS
Prismatic cell version is more robust
120ah has higher continuous rated output.
Plus I think the 120 is more moisture proof based on some YouTube reviews.
IMO buy the pouch version if it is going to sit stationary in a shed for instance and buy the prismatic version if it’s going in a camper trailer and getting rough treatment
Thank you all for the suggestions, you are legends :)
For now, I think I will stick with a readymade solution to keep it simple.
Plenty of good choices as long as the Anderson plugs are rated high enough (amps) for your use.
I almost thought $249 was the normal price, as its that price so often…..
Just a note to anyone thinking of using these for solar projects, while it can discharge at 100A it can only charge at 50A.
Can someone suggest a battery box that also accepts anderson connection for a solar blanket? Thanks.