Epoch Lithium 920ah with Victron comms demonstrated

[Barking Sands]

These batteries are fairly new. I was waiting on a final cable to arrive before I could properly test them. Now that I have the final piece I was able to daisy chain the batteries properly so the Victron system could see them. After several weeks on the bench I finally think I have a good feel for the operation and use of this system. The way its set up now the Epoch will control charging, but you can regulate the SOC by manually lowering the "max charge voltage" in the Cerbo under DVCC settings. That way if you are away from the boat and on shore power you can maintain 70% SOC if you want to. Anyways I thought I would share this.
https://youtu.be/pIXSKpi-TRo

 

[Max1]

Very good info.
Thanks for sharing

 

[READY]

Thanks for that. Looks like they are close to releasing a 300Ah at $1199. For all the features that is a great value. Love the simplicity and flexibility with the Victron Comms.

 

[Barking Sands]

Thanks for that. Looks like they are close to releasing a 300Ah at $1199. For all the features that is a great value. Love the simplicity and flexibility with the Victron Comms.

Now rhat I have a decent understanding between the two methods, the Victron comms does greatly simplify things. However I am still glad to have the smart shunt to compare. And if its ever needed, to control.

About two weeks ago they had the 460ah units on sale for $1599. Pretty good.

 

[Barking Sands]

Check this out. Ben Stein of Panbo just took one apart and found there is already a class T fuse INSIDE the battery. This is something I have never even thought of and IMO is significant. The cost to add that feature is not trivial. IMO this makes this drop in one of the best on the market for the Marine world. I know I feel better about it.

 

[mvweebles]

Will Prowse just reviewed the Epoch 12v/460AH battery and gives it high praise. $2k. He addresses the cost as not being the cheapest in the market (400ah server rack batteries can be had for $1200 or so) but definitely likes the build quality and features, which are impressive. While Prowe mentions the T-Fuse, the Panbo video explains the importance as it now meets ABYC requirement of circuit protection within 7-inches of load source which carries meaningful cost in terms of money and space. Prowse also notes the robust bus bars making the internal connections.

Impressive features. To me, these batteries show a clear evolution past energy storage and into energy management. The reasons to go LFP are expanding.

These are apparently similar in size as 8D batteries and weigh 100 lbs.

https://youtu.be/GxeVQg-X4Ys?feature=shared

I'm jealous......

Peter

 

[Barking Sands]

Yes..it tested 10ah over stated capacity. I ordered two spare class T fuses of the same p/n that arrived yesterday. They were around $40 each.

You know Will likes a battery when he refuses to tear it to pieces..lol. You can tell he did not want to pull it apart at all.

On the price they are still a bargain for such a high quality highly engineered unit. You have to consider the class T fuse and holder and additional terminals/wire is nearly $200, which you no longer
need. And they do have sales often. Currently they are having a sale for the holidays with a very good 15% off. That puts these batterries at $1699 which is a great deal.

When that goes away. Epoch just gave me a 10% code because of the videos I made. The code is Mvintrigue and is good for 10%. That will make these batterries $1799, and that code should be good for a while.

I took a chance on this brand a couple of years ago with my 36v golf cart batt based on the fact that they seemed to be a clean sheet engineering effort instead of just buying cells, bms, and case and hand assembling whatever parts they aquired. I think we will see this more the norm in the future. Believe it or not Renogy has a new line of batteries that appear to be manufactured in the same way but I have seen no reviews yet.

I am still testing mine on the bench. I just did a stress test discharging them to 0% soc while drawing 150 amps. The Multiplus II inverter shut down at a preset voltage, but the batteries never shut down. I had to run a 12 volt fan for another dozen hours to get the batteries to shut down. At that point the batts energy meters and on/off switch was still lit. Opening the app still brought up batt info too. The charge mosfet was still on but the discharge mosfet was shut off at 11.1 volts if I remember right. And of course all of this was shown on the Victron touch 50 as fed from the Cerbo gx.

Pretty happy with them and cant wait to get them in the boat.

 

[rslifkin]

These are certainly looking good. Unless something better comes along between now and my next battery replacement / upgrade, I expect I'll be going for either the 460ah units shown here or their similar, but less waterproof 300ah units (likely 2 of the 460s or 3 of the 300s), but final choice and quantity depends on what I figure out for placement and mounting.

 

[Barking Sands]

These are certainly looking good. Unless something better comes along between now and my next battery replacement / upgrade, I expect I'll be going for either the 460ah units shown here or their similar, but less waterproof 300ah units (likely 2 of the 460s or 3 of the 300s), but final choice and quantity depends on what I figure out for placement and mounting.

There should be a 300ah version of the 460 marine unit coming out very soon as well. I also have 2 of the 300ah Essential black ones. They appear to use a JBD BMS. But I cant yet get them to daisy chain for the Victron FYI. I need to hook those back to the Victron and try a few things.

 

[rslifkin]

There should be a 300ah version of the 460 marine unit coming out very soon as well. I also have 2 of the 300ah Essential black ones. They appear to use a JBD BMS. But I cant yet get them to daisy chain for the Victron FYI. I need to hook those back to the Victron and try a few things.

Fortunately I'm in no rush to get this figured out, so I've got time to wait for a few improvements, reviews, etc. I'll have to see how the size/shape of the 300ah marine units compares to determine what will fit best.