[SCCC] Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries

[Steve Harrison]

Supposedly, Battleborn are made in Utah. Personally, although they cost 
somewhat more, I'll swear by, and buy more of, Lion Energy's UT1300 105 
A-hr batteries. I had heard, at one time, that they are actually made 
right here in the USA but according to Prowse, that isn't quite true (he 
yabbers so fast that I have an EXTREMELY difficult time following 
anything he's trying to say, and he never, ever stops or slows down for 
anything; so if he did say where Lion's batteries are actually made, I 
didn't catch it). I have heard excellent things about Lion's customer 
service from another user. Prowse is very negative about the UT1300s, 
mostly because he thinks the plastic housing is junk and will crack or 
deteriorate more quickly. Physically, they're a few pounds lighter than 
an equivalent Battleborn although the Battle is only rated at 100 A-hr 
instead of the 105 rating for the UT1300. I have nothing to go by to 
provide my own opinion on that front, never having had a Battleborn.

He also doesn't like the fact that the Lion batteries are one type of 
construction (can't rember the name) while the Battleborns are a 
cylindrical construction (IIRC; I might have it backwards??). Again, I 
have no experience to compare either construction method, so I have to 
reserve my opinion.

And, of course, Prowse was really down on the high cost of the UT1300s. 
But from time to time, Lion coordinates with Costco and you can buy a 
pair of UT1300s for $1300, $100 cheaper than the normal price (for a 
pair). Yup, $650 for what is essentially a fanchey-schmanchey car 
battery is a lot of money. But they are guaranteed for 10 years (as the 
Battleborns are, too, for that matter). I believe the reason they 
settled for selling them in twos may be because most larger RVs use a 
pair of batteries (besides Costco's desire to provide everybody with 
much more schtuff than you can actually use at a time 8-) .

But as I watched Prowse's video comparing the Lions to the Battles, I 
was struck by the realization that, from the start of the video, he gave 
off the aura (to me, at least) that he definitely would say nothing good 
about the Lions. As far as I'm concerned, I'll ignore his opinion about 
the Lions... at least, until I get more experience. I've been using six 
UT1300s (about equivalent to a normal car battery) in parallel for my 
main off-grid power supply for the past six months and have not found 
any reason, so far, to look elsewhere.

This video has also given me food for thought on some other of Prowse's 
"opinions" and ways of doing things. I would take what he says with 
grains of salt.

SteveH, K0XP

On 5/20/2023 5:01 PM, Bruce Horn wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Previously, I purchased LiFePO4 batteries from Bioenno Power and have had no issues with them. However, I've come across Zok LiFePO4 batteries that appear to have better specs and are less expensive. They also are recommended by Will Prowse, who has a YouTube channel where he evaluates batteries and disassembles them to judge build quality.
>
> Does anyone have experience with Zok or any other supplier? I believe all of these batteries are China-sourced.
>
> Zok:
> https://www.us.sokbattery.com/
>
> Bienno Power:
> https://www.bioennopower.com/
>
> Thanks.
>
> 73 de Bruce, WA7BNM   (bhorn at hornucopia.com)
>
>
>
>
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