We purchased our 2021 21c lithium ready . We are now ready to purchase batteries and with the ever changing landscape of manufacturers and quality I am looking to get some real life input from people who use them in the same trailer as me . There are many brands in the $500 or less category that get good reviews. I have read and watched video reviews for many brands and I am leaning towards the LiTime 100ah trolling motor battery. Will Prowess has done a teardown of it and is surprised at the build quality and in particular the new BMS being used . Anyone have any real world experience with this or other of the lower cost brands . At their sale price I could get 3 of them for the price of a single Battle Born .
splitting_lanes
Senior Member
LiTime/AmpereTime are good batteries. I’m using a single 300ah battery, and have been for over a year.
If you have an A/C inverter, I’d suggest going with one the the batteries that has a 200amp BMS. That way, you only need one battery and the wiring is simplified. I saw they have a 200ah/200a BMS battery for less than $600 in the like new area on the web site. Sheesh, getting really cost effective
If you have an A/C inverter, I’d suggest going with one the the batteries that has a 200amp BMS. That way, you only need one battery and the wiring is simplified. I saw they have a 200ah/200a BMS battery for less than $600 in the like new area on the web site. Sheesh, getting really cost effective
After having some battery issues during a 3-week trip this past August, I will never skimp on a battery again. The main problem was that I purchased my SOK batteries directly from SOK, which provides terrible support. Instead I should have purchased them from "Current Connected", who DOES provide excellent customer support. If I had purchased my SOK's from Current Connected, they would likely have been able to assist me in troubleshooting my issue which was not figured out until I had our trailer serviced last week.
Bottom line for me after these experiences, is that I would never skimp on a battery again. You don't have to buy Battleborn, but they are extremely well made and in my opinion worth it. The SOK's are well made and I and others here in the forum have them and they do well. The secret however is buying them from Current Connected, who also adds 3-years to the warranty and like Battleborn, provides excellent help if you have any issues.
An added bonus is that you can call Current Connected or Battleborn and they will help you select the correct battery and size it to fit your needs. Bottom line for me is that I'll never purchase another battery again without ensuring I can get excellent help down the road if there are any issues that come up.
Bottom line for me after these experiences, is that I would never skimp on a battery again. You don't have to buy Battleborn, but they are extremely well made and in my opinion worth it. The SOK's are well made and I and others here in the forum have them and they do well. The secret however is buying them from Current Connected, who also adds 3-years to the warranty and like Battleborn, provides excellent help if you have any issues.
An added bonus is that you can call Current Connected or Battleborn and they will help you select the correct battery and size it to fit your needs. Bottom line for me is that I'll never purchase another battery again without ensuring I can get excellent help down the road if there are any issues that come up.
We're running 4@100ah HubLion batteries that came with our 5.0 from ETI. So far no issues after 10 months and moderate to heavy use. 380 watts of solar on the roof.
I installed 4 LiTime 100 Ah mini's this summer. No issues so far. Used them in Colorada mountains for two weeks and two weeks in Washington DC. i think i paided just over $300 each on Amazon. They are from China. i've emailed LiTime a couple of times with questions and they responded by email within a few hours, in English! Time will tell but off to a good start. i like the Mini size, it fits easily in the 21NE of course.
Sean Murry
Senior Member
I am using 4x100 amp Battle Born batteries. Have had them for 4 years and they have worked flawlessly. I did contact Battle Born about issues I have had with the battery monitor I bought from them but installed myself. They were very helpful with very quick response times. Waited with me on the phone for about 1/2 hour as I went through stuff. Very impressed with their customer service.
One thing I liked about the Battle Born is they offered the same size as the golf cart sized batteries, which made fitting them in the storage box easier
One thing I liked about the Battle Born is they offered the same size as the golf cart sized batteries, which made fitting them in the storage box easier
You might consider looking at Dakota batteries. I have been using one of their 100 Ah trolling motor batteries for 4 years on my little boat.
A couple of notes: They have better than average cold weather discharge temperature ratings to minus 20F. (But the usual 32F charging temp limit for non-heated models.) They also come in monster sizes, up to 560 Ah with internal heating and a 300 Amp continuous discharge BMS for a 3500 Watt inverter should you need such a beast.
A couple of notes: They have better than average cold weather discharge temperature ratings to minus 20F. (But the usual 32F charging temp limit for non-heated models.) They also come in monster sizes, up to 560 Ah with internal heating and a 300 Amp continuous discharge BMS for a 3500 Watt inverter should you need such a beast.
My original intent was to do a warranty swap w/SOK, but I think there is no need now. We think the problem was that we did not have the parallel connections arranged ideally for two or more batteries and they were not charging evenly and became imbalanced.
I disconnected them and then charged each one separately with a lithium battery charger to 100 percent. While they were doing warranty work on some other items, our local RV shop then reinstalled the batteries for me and this time connected the Positive of one battery to the charging source, and the Negative of the other battery to the charging source. This way, we were informed, the batteries would discharge and recharge evenly, the remaining wires are connected using a normal parallel configuration.
We took the trailer out to Silver Falls this past week here in Oregon and I ran the trailer off the batteries for two days to test it out and everything ran fine. SOK seems to be a good battery, just don't buy direct from SOK as their direct support is awful. Instead buy through Current Connected who I hear provides excellent customer assistance.
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JohnK-ESC
Senior Member
Thanks to consultation with Jon Vermily and splitting-lanes here on the Escape forum and following Gene's lithium conversion experience on the Casita Forum we've taken the leap into lithium land. Our 2 6 volt lead acid batteries have served us well but are now 4 years old so going into winter time boondocking we took advantage of Li Time's Black Friday battery sale and ordered the 12 volt 230 amp hour lithium battery. It offers us the full 230 amp hours if need be as opposed to 115 amp hours available in the lead acids and saves us at least 75 lbs if not more. Three years ago this much battery for $659 tax and shipping included would have been unthinkable.
For now we're going with the single 190 watt factory roof mounted solar panel, the factory installed lithium capable 30 amp Go Power solar controller and the original WFCO 8955PEC which will never top this lithium battery off but will keep it comfortably alive till the solar panel takes over. We'll add solar panel and controller capability and even converter capability in the future if and as we see the need for those along the way.
John
For now we're going with the single 190 watt factory roof mounted solar panel, the factory installed lithium capable 30 amp Go Power solar controller and the original WFCO 8955PEC which will never top this lithium battery off but will keep it comfortably alive till the solar panel takes over. We'll add solar panel and controller capability and even converter capability in the future if and as we see the need for those along the way.
John
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Actually considering the li time or epoch 300ah .the. epoch come with a 11 year warranty and is heated for a few hundred dollars more.
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For me, this is the biggest benefit of the Li battery configuration; Almost full use of the power available relative to the space the battery is consuming and the weight savings.
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