Lithium from KS Energy?far away

[Chod Jacqui]

Considering a lithium battery from KS Energy and plan to visit them in the next few days - luckily they are not far from where we live.
Their website which suggests that they are "drop in " and will work fine with standard systems that do not have lithium settings, my Schautz Electrobloc only has lead/acid or AGM settings.
My current leisure battery is a Varta 216amp and is now 5 yeats old and the previous one failed at five years so may soon be due for change soon.
Can anyone advise on KS claims or do you think I will need new charger, b2b, ect or should I just replace with another Varta lead/acid battery?

 

[Chod Jacqui]

Ignore the "far away" bit!

 

[lorger]

I purchased a 120ah from them a couple of months ago and just swapped it for old battery, I do have Lithium settings on my charger but have only plugged it in a few times.
On our recent trip to France we charged our EBikes and used the hairdryer a few times via our inverter with no issues, we have a 180 watt solar which kept the battery topped up to sufficient levels.

 

[Rogerwyn]

I’ve had a KS 200amp under seat lithium for a year now and yes it’s as they say, I switched the solar and van charger to gel and it’s been great, spent the last couple of weeks off grade (no elc) in Portugal and she hasent dropped below 80% we have had some sun though, we did a trip last winter with not much sun and after 5 day with heating and tv we were still over 40%.

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Hi all you funsters well it's been a long time come Going to go down the road of Lithium So with that in mind any recommendations from those who have upgraded recently also those of you who took the plunge some years back

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[Lenny HB]

Although they will work as a drop in you will never get the best out of them. If you are going to spend all that money on a battery you might as well get the best out of it, certainly worth fitting a B2B and a solar conroller with a lithium profile at the least

 

[poppycamper]

2×120AH KS Energy.. 4yrs old. Solar (with lithium setting) only (no B2B) but fully charge with their own lithium charger before leaving home..
Never run out of wiggly watts and still going strong.
Think I was one of the first on here to take leap of faith and go for them..
Only minor regret is they did not do with Bluetooth when I got mine

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Thanks Lenny done all that two years ago Just need which ever battery now

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

2×120AH KS Energy.. 4yrs old. Solar (with lithium setting) only (no B2B) but fully charge with their own lithium charger before leaving home..
Never run out of wiggly watts and still going strong.
Think I was one of the first on here to take leap of faith and go for them..
Only minor regret is they did not do with Bluetooth when I got mine

Does that really matter having Bluetooth then

 

[poppycamper]

Does that really matter having Bluetooth then

No not really just that my battery's are well hidden and unable to see the small readout on battery.. fitted a votronic smartshunt.

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[Tombola]

I have 2 x 200 ah blutooth version. I Like the bluetooth as you can see instantly whats going in or out.
the app is a little clunky but I had blutooth with polinovel batteries before these ones and find it easy.

b2b is really required, to get the best out of them, plus your solar.

Cant remember the last time I used a plug in charger or even hooked up when on sites

 

[Carpmart]

I’ve had two 204Ah KS running for nearly 18 months now. Very happy with mine too!

 

[dosser]

Yes got to add my positive review, got 1 200ah, added a 30ah b2b and an epever solar controller with lithium setting. Just going to add more solar before next year only have 120w at the moment.

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Got victron solar controller plus victron B2B + 2x180 solar panels all there to be switched on Just the right size & make of Lithium battery to get

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Next question 1x200amp or 2x 100amp batteries what does everyone think

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[stewartwebr]

For me the main benefits of lithium is not the usable power but the ability to charge with huge amounts of current bringing them back to fully charged as quickly as possible with minimum inconvenience. I can run my generator which throws 120amps into the batteries, the back to back charger adding an addition 40amps and whatever the sun is providing. That way we are back up and running with 100% capacity in no time.
The option of “drop in” may be the case, but you shall be missing so many of the lithium benefits.

 

[poppycamper]

D

Next question 1x200amp or 2x 100amp batteries what does everyone think

Depends on space you got.. I had to fit 2×120ah (incidently same physical size as 100ah) on their ends to fit is space I had. Larger single battery's would not fit.
Some will say better with 2 because if one fails you still have second one to tie you over.

 

[Carpmart]

D

Depends on space you got.. I had to fit 2×120ah (incidently same physical size as 100ah) on their ends to fit is space I had. Larger single battery's would not fit.
Some will say better with 2 because if one fails you still have second one to tie you over.

Agree, work out dimensions and fill the space accordingly.

I think the battery redundancy approach was a much more pervasive point when running ‘old tech’ batteries…

 

[funflair]

Just been reading on a German forum that I am on, somebody selling/sold 4x160ah Buttner LiFePO4, when asked why? the answer was as a heavy user he has now fitted 2x1100ah

 

[Tombola]

Next question 1x200amp or 2x 100amp batteries what does everyone think

I went for 2, in case one fell down, I had the other as backup till i could sort any problem.

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[BOWHOUSE52]

Just been reading on a German forum that I am on, somebody selling/sold 4x160ah Buttner LiFePO4, when asked why? the answer was as a heavy user he has now fitted 2x1100ah

What's he doing supplying power to all the town he lives in

 

[cyberyacht]

Two batteries splits the amperage draw when running an inverter which is probably kinder to the batteries.

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

I purchased a 120ah from them a couple of months ago and just swapped it for old battery, I do have Lithium settings on my charger but have only plugged it in a few times.
On our recent trip to France we charged our EBikes and used the hairdryer a few times via our inverter with no issues, we have a 180 watt solar which kept the battery topped up to sufficient levels.

What size and make Inverter have you got

 

[funflair]

What's he doing supplying power to all the town he lives in

I can only imagine, water heating, washing machine, dishwasher, air conditioning there are some big installs on some German vans when you start looking 2000 watts of solar ++

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Fair comment looking to upgrade inverter now from a 1000 watt to 2000 watt any suggestions

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[MisterB]

Two batteries splits the amperage draw when running an inverter which is probably kinder to the batteries.

So it's better to have two 200ah rather than one 400ah?

 

[Tombola]

Fair comment looking to upgrade inverter now from a 1000 watt to 2000 watt any suggestions

renogy with ups switch works well for me. Hair dryer, microwave, electric hob , kettle, high powered laptop and e bike charging Amazon product ASIN B07H9SXV61

So it's better to have two 200ah rather than one 400ah?

in theory yes, as long as space etc allows.
redundancy protection
& as cyberyacht says draw spilt between both batts when using inverter for high power stuff

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

If I put a 200amp Lithium battery+2000watt inverter in my new set up do I have to increase my 300 shunt to a larger one

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Another question to you teck people If I am running 2x 110amp lead acid batteries with a 1000watt inverter and doing most things quite well with that set up what size size Lithium do you all think I require with a 2000w inverter and having a very similar use

 

[Tombola]

Well usage of lead acid is 50%
Lithium more like 80-90

So if you are oversubscribed with power already then a 100 lithium will do but to be safely over spec then 200 and get more usable power