Anyone try the new Renogy 300 ah mini Core ?

[TwinStick]

Core Mini - Renogy 12.8V 300Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery w/ Low-Temperature Protection

Free shipping! This 12V 300Ah battery offers significant weight savings. It is 57% lighter than a 12V 200Ah lead-acid battery. The new compact design (15.12 × 7.64 × 9.96 inches) optimizes space and is 31% more space efficient when compared to other 12V 300Ah LiFePO4 batteries.

www.renogy.com

If so, what is your opinion of it ?

 

[rruff]

They get poor reviews on Amazon...

All of these products are kind of a crapshoot, and users very rarely test the batteries. If you buy on Amazon, assume that you have a 30 day warranty, and test the battery thoroughly... or just take your chances. The support might be even worse if you buy direct. I bought a Power Queen that I tested thoroughly and it was defective, and the company just tried to waste my time until the 30 days were up. Amazon took care of it though.

If you think you'll use these in below freezing temperatures, "self heating" is a better feature than "low temp cutoff". Self heating means the battery will use incoming power to heat itself, then resume charging... at least that is how the good ones work. Say you are traveling and it's below freezing and the battery isn't in a heated space, the self heating battery will still be able to charge.

I also like the idea of having at least two batteries in case one dies.

 

[dstefan]

Core Mini - Renogy 12.8V 300Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery w/ Low-Temperature Protection

Free shipping! This 12V 300Ah battery offers significant weight savings. It is 57% lighter than a 12V 200Ah lead-acid battery. The new compact design (15.12 × 7.64 × 9.96 inches) optimizes space and is 31% more space efficient when compared to other 12V 300Ah LiFePO4 batteries.

www.renogy.com

If so, what is your opinion of it ?

Check Will Prowse’s Youtube channel. He does great teardowns and rigorously tested review. Don’t know if he’s done these though.

I also like the idea of having at least two batteries in case one dies.

But by the time you buy two of these, wouldn’t you just be better off crying once and buying a BattleBorn you can trust? They’ve been dropping prices lately. I just saw them listing a 100Ah for $650 IIRC during Amazon days. Mine’s been perfect for 4 1/2 years, including the desert heat.

 

[rruff]

Gawd... I hope I could "trust" a $650 100Ah 12V battery! Or at least they'd honor the warranty. I paid $160 for a nice one that size with BT and lowtemp shutoff, and the capacity meets spec. With tariffs though, those days are gone...

I was thinking instead of 300Ah, maybe 3 100Ah in parallel. If one dies you can still function while you get it replaced.

EDIT: Just looked on Amazon and there are many 100Ah batteries with BT and low temp for <$200.

 

[workerdrone]

Seems like one of those items that goes on sale intermittently with big discounts - recently picked up a '12v' 100ah LiFePO4 from Amazon for $125. Pretty impressed with performance/price so far, it's running a 500 watt irrigation pump and charged by a 250w panel - no, not continuously but it pumps a lot of water before it even goes into bulk charging

 

[TwinStick]

The thing is, I already have 3 AGM gp 31 batteries and one of them is getting up in age. Believe it or not, I purchased it in 2006, it's a Sears Die Hard Platinum Marine battery, made by Odyssey for Sears, and it is still holding 13.6 volts. It's been in 3 different trucks electrical systems and also used to run our ARB fridge/freezers.

The other 2 are gp 31, X900's from Cabelas and are 7-10 years old but also holding 13.6 volts. But each one of the 3 weighs 77lbs !

It would be nice to have the performance of 3 batteries in 1, that weighs 55 lbs. I am just not sure that technology has actually improved that much, that quickly ?

Which is why I seek information from people who are more up on this stuff than me. Lol

 

[llamalander]

Yes, compared to AGM, Lithium is a different order of magnitude of functionality.
70% Lighter makes a difference every day, consistent output voltage is really nice and 90% useable capacity is huge compared to lead batteries. Add to that more than 3 times the number of cycles in it's lifetime and that all makes the more complex charging/discharging equipment feel worth it.
You will need to understand how the BMS protects the battery (& how to reset it), and probably need a good DC-DC charger to safely draw from your alternator, but even with these costs added to the battery, the cost per cycle and the weight per watt/hour are far less than lead acid.

Personally, I put more stock in no-name Chinese lithium than anything with Renogy stamped on it, which is best known for the trouble it causes. LiTime has good support and a 10-year warranty and lots of happy customers, might be worth a look at instead.

 

[TwinStick]

This is all great information. Thanks for the help. It seems that the older I get the harder it is to keep up with the latest technology and what's good and what's not.

 

[dstock]

I don't have any experience with the 300ah Renogy battery you mentioned, but have had Renogy products for years, panels, batteries, chargers, never had a single issue with any of them.

Amazon reviews are not always very accurate, people give 1 star when a product shows up late, or they don't know what they are buying in the first place and their issues are largely operator error. As mentioned above, Will Power's YouTube channel is a great resource for battery reviews, he has a thorough testing procedure and cuts the batteries open to see how they are made. Lots of options out there, no question.