LiTime 12v 230ah LFP $469

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mvweebles

mvweebles

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Joined
Mar 21, 2019
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Vessel Name
Weebles
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1970 Willard 36 Trawler
I am expanding my small battery backup system and purchased a no-frille LiTime 12v 230ah (200A BMS) LFP battery off Amazon for $469. That's almost 3kwh of storage.


I also ordered two additional Newpowa 100w solar panels for $55/ea (Amazon had a $46 discount off the two-pack)


I already have an MPPT controller and a 2000w inverter. But for a bit over $1000, a very robust solar backup system is now possible. For comparison a portable solar generator of similar specs would be close to $3500, albeit in a tidy form factor.


Stuff is getting pretty dang cheap.....

Peter
 
mvweebles said:
I am expanding my small battery backup system and purchased a no-frille LiTime 12v 230ah (200A BMS) LFP battery off Amazon for $469. That's almost 3kwh of storage.


I also ordered two additional Newpowa 100w solar panels for $55/ea (Amazon had a $46 discount off the two-pack)


I already have an MPPT controller and a 2000w inverter. But for a bit over $1000, a very robust solar backup system is now possible. For comparison a portable solar generator of similar specs would be close to $3500, albeit in a tidy form factor.


Stuff is getting pretty dang cheap.....

Peter
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I have been seeing signs again of another shift down in pricing.

The Yacht Riggers in St Pete are at the Annapolis Boat show. They just posted a 25% off all Epoch batteries special.

Six weeks ago I bought a Chins (similar to Litime) 48 volt 100ah battery for my electric Zero turn for $ 794. It works great BTW.

Litime has been pushing prices down big time as well.

In addition, for the fancier batteries...it looks like next gen tech will be hitting markets soon. I know Epoch has a 24 and 48 volt Marine battery with more refinements. The new 300ah dual purpose house/start with excellent comms just came out and with the 25% off are just over $1000.

Like you Peter, I am eyeballing some kind of cheaper , but very capable back up system that integrates the grid, solar, storage and generator. If I can offset some grid costs even better. Next Hurricane I dont want to notice any interruption...lol.
 
The fully integrated grid tied systems with battery backup are still very expensive. At our place in Mexico, we have a grid-tie solar system that makes us net-zero even with AC but doesn't have battery backup so when the power goes out, we're dead in the water like everyone else (there is a safety disconnect to prevent energizing the grid and risk electrocuting linemen). We installed that 7-years ago for a cost of $8k USD plus the cost of the pergola it sits stop. Mexicos infrastructure is a bit more fragile so outages are common. We recently considered battery backup but those costs are still quite high - a fairly basic system with 5kwh battery was about $8k USD. What we really need is enough power to run the fridge and a fan for 6-8 hours so a small solar generator is in our future. Costco has Ecoflow 1800w with 1kwh battery for around $700. I don't think 1kwh will serve for longer than a few hours, but it's better than nothing and you can't beat the compact form factor.

If I were a bit younger (I'm 63) and a bit more settled in one place, I'd go off-grid. At our 2-bed/2-1/2 bath condo in Mexico, we use around 14kwh/day in the middle of summer with AC set at moderate setting. 30kwh of battery bank should be plenty for normal living - about $6k USD for batteries. For around $10k, can build a fairly robust off grid system as long as you shop the stuff

I can tell you that even having the tiny system I outlined above has been great. Being able to charge phones, charge cordless power tools, and run a small fridge has been a luxury. A friend has spent hours in gas lines to keep his generator running.

Solar continues to facinate me. I don't know why more people don't use it. It's easy, reliable, and cheap.

Peter
 
I currently have a Renogy 30amp MPPT charger and a Renogy 220 watt bifacial solor panel for my 23ft Sailboat to Trawler conversion. I was going to buy (2) Renogy 100ah lithium batteries, but this Litime 230ah is one battery in the same foot print and slightly more storage. Thoughts?
 
willy13 said:
I currently have a Renogy 30amp MPPT charger and a Renogy 220 watt bifacial solor panel for my 23ft Sailboat to Trawler conversion. I was going to buy (2) Renogy 100ah lithium batteries, but this Litime 230ah is one battery in the same foot print and slightly more storage. Thoughts?
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The one thing I would recommend is to ensure that whatever battery you buy has bluetooth. Its invaluable for troubleshooting and getting set up. Between Renogy and Litime I would choose Litime personally.
 
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I'm not a fan of renogy products but recognize many people have had success with them. Will Prowse seems to like Litime so I'd go that route too. Going with a single 200ah battery is preferable to two 100ah batteries because cabling is simpler and there are fewer cells to balance.

Bluetooth would be wonderful. In a couple years they'll all have Bluetooth. But right now, the big bargains are bare bones. It's a choice.

Peter
 
Going with a single 200ah battery is preferable to two 100ah batteries because cabling is simpler and there are fewer cells to balance.
Click to expand...
100ah has four cells and 200ah has four cells for 12V.
I went 8-100ah, personal choice, there are 8 BMS. redundancy.
The jury is still out which way is better.
If you have high power demands, two 100Ah batteries provide more power and flexibility to meet your requirements. What are the advantages of a single 200Ah battery? A single 200Ah battery offers simplicity, space-saving, and cost-effectiveness for applications with moderate power needs
Click to expand...
 
mvweebles said:
Well, looks like I got a good deal on the LiTime 12v/230ah because they were about to rollout the same battery but with Bluetooth for $499, a better deal.


Peter
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This is probably what I should do. I was thinking I should stick with Renogy batteries because everything else in the system is Renogy, but I really like the simplicity of 1 battery. Renogy's bigger battery is too wide for my install, I need the 6.7" width, and can go as long as 27". Thanks for posting this deal.
 
SteveK said:
100ah has four cells and 200ah has four cells for 12V.
I went 8-100ah, personal choice, there are 8 BMS. redundancy.
The jury is still out which way is better.
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Jury isn't out for me. Fewer high capacity batteries would be my strong preference. I have six 100ah batteries now. Cabling and bus bars are a pain and expensive, plus tons of places need protection from accidental short from dropped tool or something. Balancing the batteries (if desired) is time consuming. Check each battery separately to see if the are all working.

I understand your point and don't disagree, but it's not a close call for me. One man's redundancy is another man's multiple points of failure.

Peter
 
  • For the initial use or after a battery shutdown, use a LiFePO4 charger or an MPPT with a lithium activation feature to charge the battery for 3-10 seconds to power it on and activate the Bluetooth function. Recommended LiTime 14.6V 60A charger or LiTime 60A MPPT.
Click to expand...
This quote if from the Litime website regarding the 230ah bluetooth battery.

Does anyone know if the Renogy Rover 30 amp MPPT has a "lithium activation feature"?
Thanks!
 

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It’s been a year since I bought my LFP batteries. They have only added more features and lowered the price since then. I am thinking of converting the crane and thruster banks to LFP.
 
I have been running 3x200ah Renogy batteries for a little over 2 years, they work flawlessly, and have full bluetooth. I have been please with them, but am also pleased to see prices coming down on batteries in general. While I have been happy with the Renogy batteries, I can't really say the same for their inverter/charger. Yes, it's far less expensive than Victron, but there are clear reasons for that. Future upgrades for us include a flybridge hard top with lots more solar, and more battery capacity. I'd like to run as much as possible without starting the generator.
 
I bought 2 Litime 300 ah batteries a few months ago. My only issue is winter storage. They do not recommend storing below 32 degrees, and I'm not up to removing them in winter. My shop is not heated, so I'm going to have to design a small heat system. Guess I should have got the self heat model.
 
Per their spec;
You can store down to 14F, you can discharge down to -4F. You just can't charge below 32F
 
REO said:
I bought 2 Litime 300 ah batteries a few months ago. My only issue is winter storage. They do not recommend storing below 32 degrees, and I'm not up to removing them in winter. My shop is not heated, so I'm going to have to design a small heat system. Guess I should have got the self heat model.
Click to expand...
Internal self heating only works when you apply a charge current.
 
The battery prices are PLUMMETING. There are 100ah batteries for $150 and 200ah batteries for around $300-$350 and 300ah batteries from $425-$525. I am tempted to buy a few of the low cost units to test.

But I just bought two of the Epoch 120AH dual purpose batteries to test as starting batteries. So that will keep me busy for a bit.
 
The price of Lithium Carbonate in China using their currency has fallen in the last 2 years about 85%. Production is up, demand is down, lots of people are about to get hurt. After all, it's a commodity.

No wonder things are on sale!
 
Ya gotta love it! Electronics / electrical is the only category counter inflationary.

Now you can get an 85" TV for 2 grand.
 
Or you could spend about $1600 plus all taxes and get the latest (if you can find it) iphone 16 Max Pro with about 25 square inches of screen area compared to 3090 inches squared for the 85" TV.

Such is the price of mobility!

Have we all gone mad?
 
tiltrider1 said:
It’s been a year since I bought my LFP batteries. They have only added more features and lowered the price since then. I am thinking of converting the crane and thruster banks to LFP.
Click to expand...
I’m interested in doing the same but also with the windlass. It is a big ask for LiFePO4 batteries. My thruster is 650amps. Not sure what the windlass is.
 
luna said:
Or you could spend about $1600 plus all taxes and get the latest (if you can find it) iphone 16 Max Pro with about 25 square inches of screen area compared to 3090 inches squared for the 85" TV.

Such is the price of mobility!

Have we all gone mad?
Click to expand...
Not I. I always use Android phones and keep them them for about 5 years. Back to that whole “cheap sailor” thing. Lol
 
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