I would like to buy a 100 Ah 12V battery for a small DIY solar project. It will run a few lights and a fan or two. Lots of them advertised on eBay but maybe they are all junk? I'd prefer to keep the price below £150. Does anyone have any experience/recommendations, please? Thanks.
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DATOUBOSS 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery 1280Wh Lithium Battery with Improved 100A BMS 8000-15000 Deep Cycles Support in Series/Paral - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com
DATOUBOSS LiFePO4 12V 100amp/h
Usually around £110
It arrived within 3 to 4 days. Amazingly well packed.
Just checked the comments. Any idea about the "active balancer"?DATOUBOSS 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery 1280Wh Lithium Battery with Improved 100A BMS 8000-15000 Deep Cycles Support in Series/Paral - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
DATOUBOSS LiFePO4 12V 100amp/h
Usually around £110
It arrived within 3 to 4 days. Amazingly well packed.
I have 2 of the above, in series ( for 24v) in a solar set up... no idea what an 'active balancer' is but it smells of bull$hit to me 
The batteries themselves seem to work fine, tho it's very early days yet, I've only been running the system for a week or two
The batteries themselves seem to work fine, tho it's very early days yet, I've only been running the system for a week or two
Ali express have excellent customer service. The link I sent you is from the official ali express store.
Buying ANY of these batteries is rather hit and miss sadly.
A Yank company building batteries in the USA and charging 4x as much as the cheap Chinese stuff now have a class action lawsuit against them due to rubbish design. They are much worse than the Chinese.
Great Youtube channel here.
DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse
Want to build an awesome off-grid solar power system? My videos will teach you everything you need, no experience necessary :)
www.youtube.com
Many of the cheap Chinese ones he tests are brilliant - sadly brand names different in the USA but no doubt the same factories in China.
Short of cutting open the case like he does in his videos you really have no clue what is inside. My 2 are in my Wife's mobility scooter. Not used a great deal but they are awesome!
You don't need a balancer for 2 batteries. If you were running a huge bank of them then yes you do!I have 2 of the above, in series ( for 24v) in a solar set up... no idea what an 'active balancer' is but it smells of bull$hit to me
The batteries themselves seem to work fine, tho it's very early days yet, I've only been running the system for a week or two
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't an internal balancer designed to balance the individual cells inside a battery? I would assume that is desirable to have.
Yes and they all do that usually. But not so critical on one battery. It just makes the battery more efficient.
Well, we'll have to wait and see, if they die within a reasonable warranty period I'd expect to get some joy, these were from Temu, though clearly a UK depot/supplier as they arrived pretty quickly., (ie not a slow boat from China) also,I have had very good customer service from Temu in the past btw.
Olderisbetter
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This is interesting I still have a new solar panel sitting around
£113 on eBay. Claims to have built in BMS.
Or the one suggested by @fizzy that is £99 with coupon discount.
Or the one suggested by @fizzy that is £99 with coupon discount.
The ones I posted also have a built in BMS - they all do. Surely better to buy one people already have experience of?
Sorry, you are correct. The comment I captured in a screenshot stated no internal BMS, but looking at the advert again it states quite clearly there is a BMS.
Bargain - hope it works out for you. The golden rule with LiFePO4 batteries is dont charge when too cold. They can operate down to low temps but do NOT charge them below perhaps 4C. They are supposed to have a little thermocouple to stop it charging below 0C but no need to push your luck!
Victron is good kit - make sure it has support for Lithium iron Phosphate - these are not lithium ion people often get confused. But most chargers support all types these days.
