[heyhey]

I'm starting to see heaps of 12V Lithium Batteries hitting the market, most seem pretty reasonably priced and well spec'ed. Let's start a guide to what is out there, their specifications, cost and where to buy them. Any user experience and discussion would be good to. I don't want this to turn into a system discussion, just the batteries themselves. Any chat about charge controllers, BMS or installation should be directed elsewhere.

It would be important to list only 12V batteries, $ and Ah. That way east $/Ah can be worked out.

VoltX (first one I Googled)

NEW 2022 Design - VoltX 12V 100Ah Lithium Battery LiFePO4 Deep Cycle with Built-in BMS

SPECIAL OFFER PLUS a further 15% off using code VOLTX15Pay only $441.15 with FREE Shipping to most areas! Hurry! Promo ends soon. 3 Years Australian Warranty Rated Capacity 100Ah 12.8 Volts 306 x 169 x 215mm 13.5 kgs

outbax.com.au

$469 for 100Ah ($4.69/Ah)

• Built-in Battery Management System protects against over-charging, over-discharge and short-circuiting
• High quality prismatic cells
• Up to 2000 Life Cycles
• Can last up to 7 years

7-years doesn't seem very long for a lithium. My BYD home batteries are supposed to go over 10.

 

[heyhey]

Atlas

ATLAS 125AH Lithium Deep Cycle Battery | 125ah Lithium Battery Australia | 125AH Lithium (LiFePO4)

ATLAS 12V 125Ah Lithium Ion LiFePO4 Battery & AUSTRALIA WIDE DELIVERY. Shop 12V 125AH Lithium Battery Online with Australia Wide Delivery. VoltaX 12V 100Ah Lithium Ion Battery LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Recycle Camping RV Solar - The Atlas 12V 125Ah Lithium-Iron Phosphate Battery is perfect for...

www.aussiebatteries.com.au

$509 for 125Ah ($4.07/Ah)

Still only 2000 cycles, but seems to have a lot more information on performance

I've had good runs with Giant lead-acid batteries (also supplied by Aussie Batteries)

 

[heyhey]

Adventure Kings

Home Page - Adventure Kings

www.4wdsupacentre.com.au

$788 for 120Ah ($6.57/Ah)

Nothing special here, same 2,000 cycles 100A continuous discharge

 

[GQ bush man]

Atlas

ATLAS 125AH Lithium Deep Cycle Battery | 125ah Lithium Battery Australia | 125AH Lithium (LiFePO4)

ATLAS 12V 125Ah Lithium Ion LiFePO4 Battery & AUSTRALIA WIDE DELIVERY. Shop 12V 125AH Lithium Battery Online with Australia Wide Delivery. VoltaX 12V 100Ah Lithium Ion Battery LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Recycle Camping RV Solar - The Atlas 12V 125Ah Lithium-Iron Phosphate Battery is perfect for...

www.aussiebatteries.com.au

$509 for 125Ah ($4.07/Ah)

Still only 2000 cycles, but seems to have a lot more information on performance

I've had good runs with Giant lead-acid batteries (also supplied by Aussie Batteries)

I recently got this it was really cheap,
Cost $260 for 100Ah $2.60Ah
Cant comment anymore as yet....

 

[Petersen]

I got this one

ATLAS 135AH Lithium Deep Cycle Battery | 3162 Lithium Battery Australia | 135AH Lithium (LiFePO4)

ATLAS 12V 135AH Lithium Ion LiFePO4 Battery & AUSTRALIA WIDE DELIVERY. Shop 12V 150AH Lithium Battery Online with Australia Wide Delivery. Atlas 12V 100Ah Lithium Ion Battery LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Recycle Camping RV Solar - The Atlas 12V 120Ah Lithium-Iron Phosphate Battery is perfect for...

www.aussiebatteries.com.au

135ah @ $619. ($4.50p/ah)….3 year warranty and 3000 cycles. I got it on special though for $520 delivered. No issues so far


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mikecooper422]

DCS twin 75ah lithiums under bonnet for 3.5 ish years now starting winching and deep cycling, no problems. ill never go back to lead acid.

 

[MQTray]

DCS twin 75ah lithiums under bonnet for 3.5 ish years now starting winching and deep cycling, no problems. ill never go back to lead acid.

I’ve just found out I’m up for at least a new second battery and was wondering how lithium might be for under bonnet next to turbo positioning and what kind of life expectancies I might get out of it.

How have they gone heat wise pre Aero things thread.

 

[Petersen]

Itech world have lithium starter battieries as well

Lithium Cranking Batteries | Premium Starter Batteries

Need a 12v lithium cranking battery? Buy online with confidence from Australia's highest rated lithium battery retailer or visit our Perth store.

itechworld.com.au

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mikecooper422]

I’ve just found out I’m up for at least a new second battery and was wondering how lithium might be for under bonnet next to turbo positioning and what kind of life expectancies I might get out of it.

How have they gone heat wise pre Aero things thread.

they were unfortunately in the car before i figured out the aero stuff so they copped a good cooking on a few trips. not ideal, id say their ampacity has dropped a bit, but i haven't bothered to check, (sorta need the DCS charger to do so) .....

The upright dometic 110 fridge runs on the coldest setting indefinitely. I never have the "oh **** better check the car fridge" thought that i used to get all the time when trying to 24/7 a chest fridge with my old setup. Dont think ill return to the world of lead acid any time soon. LCAs are hard to beat winching and starting, it cranks like it has the glow plugs removed.

 

[mikecooper422]

I seen ages ago on youtube i think, dudes were building their own lithium batteries (buying cells and adding balancer chips and BMS units)

from memory it didn't seem like rocket science to do so, haven't looked into it properly though as i decided the 3yr under bonnet warranty that DCS offered meant that the math's at the time suggested even if I only get the warranty period out of them, they still ended up cheaper then the comparative lead acid (marine) battery I was using prior - when taking into consideration usable ampacity.

the twin 75s give me 130ish AH of deep cycling and 20ish AH reserved for cranking, the marine was like 60AH usable for deep cycling.

not sure what other brands are like now days but back then DCS was the only one to buy from my research, basically all others were risky as.

they were cutting the cheap ones in half to show the wiring and connections between the cells and the main terminals was pathetic, on of the reasons a fair few were melting down and catching fire.

also exposing the false advertising of many cheaper brands in regards to ampacity, they would say 120 on the label and be lucky to get 70 in testing.

 

[robp9921]

DCS twin 75ah lithiums under bonnet for 3.5 ish years now starting winching and deep cycling, no problems. ill never go back to lead acid.

I concur mikecooper422. Have a single DCS 80AH Extreme under my bonnet for 2 years and no problems. It delivers 250A, can go to 100% DOD and recover back to 100% SOC without damage. It operates at full capacity up to 85 deg C and has an under-bonnet guarantee. And, because my Y61 GU9 has a constant voltage 14.2V 90A alternator as standard, I use a Victron Argo FET 100A for isolation from my OEM calcium start battery (which I use for winching also). Cheaper than a Redarc DC-DC charger. Best of all, I can see the SOC on my phone because it comes with a bluetooth monitor. This suits my style of use; your usage patterns determine the design of your alternator and solar charging sytems. I don't own an AC LIFePO4 battery charger because I've never needed to use one.

One more thing; because it's all "under bonnet" my cable runs are short, so voltage losses are minimal. The cable between my isolater and DCS battery is about 6 inches long.

 

[Slainte]

@robp9921:
DCS batteries, from https://www.deepcyclesystems.com.au/

Been looking into them too.

 

[mikecooper422]

We need to look at life expectancy and also usable ampacity based on worst case scenario so warranty period as the min life expectancy as well 100% discharge as oppose to 50% discharge if comparing lithiums back to normal.

$/AH is a start in comparing but those other things are how i concluded these "expensive" lithiums were actually cheaper, and so far they have been bloody unreal.

not to mention, my last marine battery killed my genuine alternator (its kinda hard to diagnose this, bit like the chicken and the egg)

its kinda weird picking them up (75 ah DCS) as they only weigh like 8kg, feels like they are fake at first.

My system is also incredibly simple, but as the op request we should keep it at a level of comparing batt only

 

[heyhey]

I seen ages ago on youtube i think, dudes were building their own lithium batteries (buying cells and adding balancer chips and BMS units)

from memory it didn't seem like rocket science to do so, haven't looked into it properly though as i decided the 3yr under bonnet warranty that DCS offered meant that the math's at the time suggested even if I only get the warranty period out of them, they still ended up cheaper then the comparative lead acid (marine) battery I was using prior - when taking into consideration usable ampacity.

I do this as a side thing, but would not recommend people do it just based on watching a few youtube videos. Particularly do not do it with non-LiFePO4 prismatic cells as there is great difficulty to get other chemistries to work well in 12V

We need to look at life expectancy and also usable ampacity based on worst case scenario so warranty period as the min life expectancy as well 100% discharge as oppose to 50% discharge if comparing lithiums back to normal.

$/AH is a start in comparing but those other things are how i concluded these "expensive" lithiums were actually cheaper, and so far they have been bloody unreal.

not to mention, my last marine battery killed my genuine alternator (its kinda hard to diagnose this, bit like the chicken and the egg)

its kinda weird picking them up (75 ah DCS) as they only weigh like 8kg, feels like they are fake at first.

My system is also incredibly simple, but as the op request we should keep it at a level of comparing batt only

Yeah 50% DoD on lithium is a BS gauge of life expectancy as you should quite comfortably be able to get to 80-90% DoD with no detrimental effect to cycles.

With LiFePO4 chemistry, I really don't think there would be that much difference between life expectancy as there are only a handful of manufacturers at this point in time and they all work off relatively the same chem and manufacturing process. The BMS is a point of difference, but without pulling them apart, you're really not going to know what they have.

 

[robp9921]

We need to look at life expectancy and also usable ampacity based on worst case scenario so warranty period as the min life expectancy as well 100% discharge as oppose to 50% discharge if comparing lithiums back to normal.

$/AH is a start in comparing but those other things are how i concluded these "expensive" lithiums were actually cheaper, and so far they have been bloody unreal.

not to mention, my last marine battery killed my genuine alternator (its kinda hard to diagnose this, bit like the chicken and the egg)

its kinda weird picking them up (75 ah DCS) as they only weigh like 8kg, feels like they are fake at first.

My system is also incredibly simple, but as the op request we should keep it at a level of comparing batt only

Yeah I agree re limiting scope. Suffice it to say if you're putting in a new battery, either a new installation or replacing an existing, the charging system and predicted load characteristics must be also considered, as, of course, your budget.

Regarding the DCS Extreme, not everybody's budget will stretch that far. For me, the expected life, its reliability and my cycle use makes it a viable (longer term) investment.
I have attached the specs for those interested.

Also, when I'm out bush I regularly go to areas where it's -5 deg C overnight. Permanent damage can be done when charging lithium batteries at low temps... DCS batteries are protected from this event.

And, they are an Aussie company, a BIG plus for me.

 

[heyhey]

I'd highly doubt there is anything special about the cells used in DCS batteries, they may have some higher-spec BMS, but it's definitely not worth that much extra. They might be an Aus retailer, but they're not making them.

 

[mikecooper422]

lol they will be worth the extra when your ling long BMS catches fire and burns your car down.

I will do research again one day when i decide to refresh the 75s in the ute, as they will still be usefull in other vehicles I have even after years of use. (just lower actual ampacity)

Happy to pay the extra for the good customer service. It might pay to ask Paul the actual differences in the cells them selves as well as i think you will find they are not all the same.

weather you choose to believe if he is telling fibs about his cells or not is on you, the bigger 3 yr under bonnet warranty tells me that hes likely not pulling my leg.

sure, if you are using a lithium in the back of a wagon or canopy and its not seeing heat you could get away with something cheaper, but id be testing the ampacity properly to make sure when brand new it gets its rated numbers. Then id still be weary of the internal conductor sizes and connections, and i wouldn't be swinging my 240V kettle off the inverter for the morning coffee like i do now as i just dont like the idea of 185 DC amps thru "not last long company" ling long wiring and connections.

 

[Richvan]

Yeah I agree re limiting scope. Suffice it to say if you're putting in a new battery, either a new installation or replacing an existing, the charging system and predicted load characteristics must be also considered, as, of course, your budget.

Regarding the DCS Extreme, not everybody's budget will stretch that far. For me, the expected life, its reliability and my cycle use makes it a viable (longer term) investment.
I have attached the specs for those interested.

Also, when I'm out bush I regularly go to areas where it's -5 deg C overnight. Permanent damage can be done when charging lithium batteries at low temps... DCS batteries are protected from this event.

And, they are an Aussie company, a BIG plus for me.

View attachment 540015

How would you be charging your lithium batteries when your camping and the temp is -5 ?

 

[robp9921]

How would you be charging your lithium batteries when your camping and the temp is -5 ?

When I start the car for spotlighting

 

[heyhey]

Geez this one is well priced

ATLAS 175AH Lithium Deep Cycle Battery | 175ah Lithium Battery Australia | 175AH Lithium (LiFePO4)

ATLAS 12V 175Ah Lithium Ion LiFePO4 Battery & AUSTRALIA WIDE DELIVERY. Shop 12V 175AH Lithium Battery Online with Australia Wide Delivery. Atlas 12V 100Ah Lithium Ion Battery LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Recycle Camping RV Solar - The Atlas 12V 120Ah Lithium-Iron Phosphate Battery is perfect for...

www.aussiebatteries.com.au

Aussie Batteries, 175Ah for $799 ($4.56/Ah)

Specs are all right, I think I'm gonna get one for the camper trailer. Not likely to exceed 100A continuous on it.