Testing lifepo4 12v

[Zum]

I have a 12v100ah cheap chinese lifpo4 battery coming in the mail.
Are any of you testing them before use with a load tester, or just charging them up and trying them out?
Mixed reveiws on the cheap load testers and the battery I bought...
Was thinking I might charge the battery(of coarse) put my trolling motor on it, put in a big toat of water and run it. I can put my amp meter on it, might go to 50amps so I dont have to watch it for over 2 hours....pretty sure I read 0.5 draw time is okay for a 100ah battery, so 50amps?

 

[FuzzyGrub]

When I got my 20AH from Amazon, I did a discharge test. The first one was a Wokyy: Amazon Review It tested at about 1/2 of the stated capacity. Returned for refund The second one I tried, was ECI Power: Amazon, and it did test close to its rated AH. I kept it, and still working fine.

I see both batteries now have "bad" capacity reiews. When I upgrade the trolling motor batteries to 100AH Lifpo4, will test them too.

My Amazon review of th Wokyy:

 

[Zum]

I bought the cheapest 100aH I could find(not here yet).
DC House is the brand,$269 Canadain...so almost free American.
Think I will try my TM as the draw, can vary it to get the amps I want( 25amps )
Going to be a 4 hour test at 25amps, just wondering how often I will have to adjust the TM to keep 25amp. Plus not sure if 4 hours is to long for my TM continuously, better google that. I'm normally just an off on or barely moving TM user.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I bought the cheapest 100aH I could find(not here yet).
DC House is the brand,$269 Canadain...so almost free American.
Think I will try my TM as the draw, can vary it to get the amps I want( 25amps )
Going to be a 4 hour test at 25amps, just wondering how often I will have to adjust the TM to keep 25amp. Plus not sure if 4 hours is to long for my TM continuously, better google that. I'm normally just an off on or barely moving TM user.

I assume you are not testing it on the "hard" water. I'll be interested to see if you can pull 25A, spinning the prop in the air. Might have to put it in a barrel of water. Never tried reading the actual amp draw of a trolling motor.

 

[Zum]

I assume you are not testing it on the "hard" water. I'll be interested to see if you can pull 25A, spinning the prop in the air. Might have to put it in a barrel of water. Never tried reading the actual amp draw of a trolling motor.

Deffinitly putting it in water...45 gallon barrel.
I might even do it inside as Im wondering if outside tempeture might effect the test.

 

[Zum]

So far so good...think this might be a "Eco Worthy" battery? It mentions thay brands inverter and a scan code , plus it looks the same size and handles.
Havnt tested yet as it arrived before my charger arrived, wasnt supposed to get here till between the 5th and 15th...arrived today.
Packaged great, weighs 22lbs, pre charged tp 13.27v, thats around 55% SOC, came with a wrench to tighten the m8 bolts and crimp conections for wires.
Hopefully it takes a charge and lasts the right amount of time.

 

[thill]

TimeUSB on Amazon are the best I've seen for the price. Currently $219 for the 100AH. Excellent performance for me and many, many good reviews and tests on YouTube if you are really concerned.

 

[Tin Man]

I have a 12v100ah cheap chinese lifpo4 battery coming in the mail.
Are any of you testing them before use with a load tester, or just charging them up and trying them out?
Mixed reveiws on the cheap load testers and the battery I bought...
Was thinking I might charge the battery(of coarse) put my trolling motor on it, put in a big toat of water and run it. I can put my amp meter on it, might go to 50amps so I dont have to watch it for over 2 hours....pretty sure I read 0.5 draw time is okay for a 100ah battery, so 50amps?

My LiTime batts came with instructions on how to prepare batts before use. You have to charge, balance in parallel, etc. perhaps your batts will also include these instructions. If not, let me know and I’ll copy and send you mine.

 

[MrGiggles]

Most "load testers" are testing for cranking amps, which is a mostly useless metric for deep cycle batteries, and the BMS will likely prevent you from doing one anyway.

Fuzzygrub has outlined the best way to test their capacity. A couple of headlight bulbs and some way to measure DC current (clamp meter works fine, but most will only measure AC current) is all you need. Given the hassle of setting up a test tub, and putting wear on your trolling motor I would be hesitant to use it when there are much simpler ways to get same result.

 

[Zum]

Most "load testers" are testing for cranking amps, which is a mostly useless metric for deep cycle batteries, and the BMS will likely prevent you from doing one anyway.

Fuzzygrub has outlined the best way to test their capacity. A couple of headlight bulbs and some way to measure DC current (clamp meter works fine, but most will only measure AC current) is all you need. Given the hassle of setting up a test tub, and putting wear on your trolling motor I would be hesitant to use it when there are much simpler ways to get same result.

Thanks for the reples.
Im just trying to use what ai have , plus I can vary the amps using a TM.
I may try something else though, as we are in a cold snap right now and I would think that might effect my test as well.
I might buy a cheap shunt to try later but my new battery charger has a reading that will tell me how many aH's it takes so that along with a capacity test should be good enoigh for me,

 

[thill]

I wouldn't worry about testing the new battery, I would use it in real-world conditions as soon as possible,

 

[Zum]

Waters to solid right now.
I bought a 1100w inverter, ran a oil filled heater till it shut off.
The charger i bought says how many aH's it puts into the battery, currently at 81, still charging.
I have a cheap shunt on order, that will give me W's used(wH), plus some other stuff...who knows how accurate any of this stuff is.
Like you mention, real time on the water is what I really need....probably April for me though.
At $270 Canadian, its was as cheap as some of the lead acid batteries Ive seen in town.

 

[thill]

I bought a 1100w inverter, ran a oil filled heater till it shut off.

Most manufacturers say you should break the batteries in by cycling a few times before running them all the way down, or it could prematurely damage the battery. But what is done is done. How long did it last?

The charger i bought says how many aH's it puts into the battery, currently at 81, still charging.
I have a cheap shunt on order, that will give me W's used(wH), plus some other stuff....

That sounds like a useful charger. And that shunt sounds pretty useful, too. Info?

 

[Zum]

Most manufacturers say you should break the batteries in by cycling a few times before running them all the way down, or it could prematurely damage the battery. But what is done is done. How long did it last?


That sounds like a useful charger. And that shunt sounds pretty useful, too. Info?

Darn, wish I had that bit of infomation before hand.o well...cheap manual didnt see it in there
I dont have accurate numbers yet....when I finally went downstairs all the charger was saying was "full". I did see 91ahs at one point, thought Id be able to scroll though(after charged) but dont think thats an option.
The shunt(monitor) can handle 100amp, has volts, amps, watt hours and energy, think the brand is "Drok"
I put a meter on it today, reading 13.6 volts, going to wait till the shunt arrives before I do anymore "testing" and might not do any with the bit of info you provided.
To be honest though, Id like to put the shunt on it and get close to1280wHs used then shut it down...will see. Were also getting a warm spell Wed. maybe lasting till the weekend, be nice to go to the hunting camp(water accessible) and winterize it a bit.

 

[thill]

I'll look for Drok, thanks.

 

[Zum]

I'll look for Drok, thanks.

There lots of videos on youtube, descibing usage / setup...under different names also butthemodel ending in 051 is the same. I just looked at the preveiw pictures on youtube and when one looked similar to the one I recieved tonight, watched the video. It doesnt come with wires and the instructions are abit hard to read but the wiring diagram is easy to understand. Seen different accurracy tests some around 2% off one as much as 4% off at 60amps(62.5 ish).Only thing I wish it had was a clock or time that would shut off when it was done but knowing the wHs used is good to know.
There is more expensive ones that have time but this one had alright reveiws and cheap...$25 Can.

 

[thill]

I think I found it. Is this the one?

Amazon.com

 

[Zum]

I think I found it. Is this the one?

Amazon.com
View attachment 118625

Nope...