New RV Battery Tech! Big Beard Battery Review!
Vložit
- čas přidán 16. 07. 2024
- Today we take a look at the Big Beard Battery and what makes it different. I do have to say I am impressed with how large of a capacity it has while being in such a small case. To check out the Big Beard Battery and the rest of the Battery Guide here is the link
allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-batter...
Here is our Amazon page for our favorite gear. We will be adding more products as we find more products we use and love. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
www.amazon.com/shop/jaredgillis
NRVTA RV Maintenance and Repair Course:
Learn The Fundamentals for RVS bit.ly/3z6jSbc
Diesel Fuel Savings. apply.myopenroads.com/r/all-ab...
Need more info? Here is our Website: allaboutrvsinfo.com
jaredallaboutrvs@gmail.com
Membership link
/ @allaboutrvs
Affiliate links we earn from qualifying purchases. - Jak na to + styl
Here is the Link to the Battery Guide, The Big Beard Battery is the first one on the list. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
If money is no object hell yea! Nuts!
Great video. We put 2 of the EG4 Powerpro 14.3kwh batteries in our front 5th wheel storage. Total of 28.6kwh or 2,240ah. Paid 6,800 total, they are self heated, have fire suppression AND have a cycle life of 8,000. They do weigh a total of 612 pounds, but they have been awesome. 48v and they will do 200amps continuous.
This is quite impressive. for $3600 (1 of these) you blow away Big Beard Battery which costs $6000 for 10.8Kwh.
Thanks for the review and the battery guide. This was very helpful.
Looks like it's just a JK BMS which has been widely available for a couple of years. I bought one and installed it in an older SOK battery to have bluetooth and active balancing. You can do this yourself if it's easy to take your battery apart or if you are building your own. Has Big Beard locked the BMS settings? If so I wouldn't buy it. Shop around, this tech is very DIY friendly if you take a bit of time to learn, you don't need to spend this much money.
Thanks Jared, great info as usual.
Solid review Jared. I have been curious about his batteries and this is the first review I have seen. I have space concerns and these look like a decent balance in size and capacity. Nice work.
Absolutely fantastic!!!
Thank you
Great looking battery! Never heard of them till now... Thanks!
Great video. The spacial example made the point very well.
Maybe overlooked, but the LiTime 230aH battery, at 18.93 cents/wH, is one of the lowest cost batteries I have found. I am surprised you only included the 100aH battery but am pleased it made the list. The 230aH battery comes with low temp charge protection, protection against overcharging, over-discharging, over-current, overheating, and short circuits. I do realize the security and comfort in buying from an American company, but cannot justify spending 3 or 4 times the cost for the same output battery in our economy today. If issues arise, one can replace the Li Times 2 or 3 times over and still be money ahead. On a final note, although I do not have any first hand knowledge of this, there are negative comments on some forums regarding the Epoch brand relative to shipping on time and customer service. I suggest that folks do a lot of research for any battery they want to buy before pulling the trigger on one.
Love my Litime battery!
@@richmilligan5881 I love mine as well! ❤ 700 Ah going strong for a year and a half. My brother heard about mine and bought 900 Ah of LiTime for his rig and is so happy. He thought he was only going to be able to afford 200 Ah and paid way less for so much more.
Concur. I bought it because the price on sale was about $580 on Amazon, and it fit in the battery compartment of our Isata 3 with enough room for bus bars, shunt and disconnect. No regrets.
Same…I have 3 LiTime 230Ah batteries for about $1,800. They have performed very well, and I have about 700Ah of batteries for under $2,000.
Same, had some issues with Big Beard battery support so I went with LiTime 230 and haven’t looked back
Very good review. Very good features if you have the solar and doing a lot of boondocking.
Thank you for your videos
Great video, I have 2 of the 24 volt BBBatteries. Love them. Todd has designed a superior battery, and the customer support is A++.
Great job! I'm always looking for something like this.
My friend I’m always amazed at how very well you can put info into a level that helps do many guys like my self that helps lots of people grasp and comprehend
As always
Thanks a lot, Jared
Thanks you.
Amazing batteries!
Very interesting video When we bought our Brinkley last year in the spring, I added second 370-watt solar panel. a three-thousand-watt inverter and 4 Battleborn 100 ah batteries. This array served us well as we took a summer trip to Alaska and spent the winter off grid in the LTVA outside of Yuma. Obviously, we won't change now but as time goes by who knows. Always a better mousetrap you know! Burlington Bill busking on the road and on you tube. Always something new!
Thanks for the review. I am continuing to wait for better technology and lower prices. This Big Beard looks like a good solution especially for size
That terminal size and position creates some impressive shorting potential. I am always scared for these situation and tape/isolate preferably the positive terminal. Thanks for sharing the information!!
Sun Fun Kits had a 300AH this size 2 years ago and had heating built in and is $1,235 with free shipping, not just sold in the USA but made in the USA as well. They have victron communication as well with multiple batteries, far nicer than epoch which is limited coms with just 1 battery.
Great review thank you I also agree with the guy that made the first comment none of us can afford $2,000 per battery too expensive
Excellent review. And thanks for putting together the battery list. Great comparison. I had been looking at Big Beard Batts when I built my system last year but went with 3x280Ah 12v Dakota Batteries. So far they have been performing well. They were more expensive by a few hundred but they also have great support. Dakota has since upgraded that high end battery to 320Ah.
Regretfully I’m kind of wishing I went with Todd’s but his just came on the market and the physical size was a bit different at the time to my recollection. I have a truck camper with very limited space. Anyway….thank for sharing…. I always love your reviews.❤
Thanks!
Awesome video Jared. Very clean wiring. I do have some advice though. I wired my batteries similar to yours with the batteries in parallel, and connecting the inverter to one of the batteries. I read online that the first battery hogs most of the load, so I put an ammeter on it and found that it was true. It was putting out 20% more current than the other batteries. After that I wired all the batteries to a common bus with all the same length wire (4/0 CU). Now all my batteries are putting out identical current.
Always such helpful videos and he's so darn cute! 🤗
Wow look at the variation on the cell voltages 5:34 Cell 1: 3.151, Cell 2: 3.228, Cell 3: 3.228 and Cell 4: 3.143 I would take it apart and look at the actual cells to see if they are loose.
Great video, I forgot about the blue tooth app for my batteries because we have no cell tower where I live, but I will load it up next trip out. Thanks for the reminder.
👍🏼
Very nice battery! We are carefully choosing our next battery bank at the moment. Definitely will consider this, however, we would be inclined to wait on a sale or discount code if either of those ever happened. BTW, the bluetooth is incredibly useful to monitor the exact state of each individual battery. As in reason #1 you gave, it is essential in locating a battery gone bad in a system. As rare as it is, it happened too us and the bluetooth enabled us to detect the problem immediately.
Thank you!!
You're welcome!
Very interesting! I wish they would make a 200AH one with group 24 dimensions. With SAE issuing a best practices bulletin last year saying that all lithium chemistry batteries (including LiFeP04) need be housed in fire rated battery boxes, we’re really not interested in ditching our steel battery box, but we sure would love to be able to squeeze two bigger amp hour batteries into it.
Great video!! Would you make a guide similar to your "battery guide," but is a guide for solar/battery generators?
You have a victron system there is a company called sun fun kits also known as sfk they have a battery with that can communicate with the cerbo gx, can you please review that. They are also a USA company and make the battery in the USA. I'm looking at getting there 275EX batteries.
Due to some unexpected life change, I'll need to do stationery RV. I'm a huge fan of backups and redundancy. I never owned and RV. Really considering the Brinkley Z3610. Should I upgrade the battery that comes with it? I'm also leaning towards get the generator installed. I live in CO so l'my getting nervous about the winters we have here. Love your channel! Excellent resource to try and learn
We have the Epoch big 460ah battery, it's been great so far. We can run the microwave and the A/C off it at the same time with no issues.
Yes good battery. You won’t be disappointed.
I paid $420 each for my 300amp batteries. They don’t have heating but do have low temp and high temp cutoff. For $1379 savings I’ll make do,with the being 22”x11”x9.5”
Great savings. Where are the $420 ones please. 🤝😃
Just did a cursory search on Amazon and the first 300ah battery that came up was Newtipower for $560. It's also about an inch smaller in every dimension than the big beard battery. Maybe it doesn't have a smart BMS but there's other tools for that.
@@Tb0n3 Right. I was shocked at the price. These things are basically a massive ripoff IMO. I'd pay maybe $100 more for some fancier features like this. It's nutty how these companies are raking in so much more money from a product just by putting in relatively inexpensive features. I mean, the Lithium cells are by far the most expensive part of these batteries. And they are using the same one's from China that are in the Chinese batteries. I can't believe people buy this stuff when there are wildly less expensive options that do the exact same job. I mean, it's not like a "Big Beard" 300Ah battery is going to run the same load longer than another 300Ah battery... There's a bunch of 200Amp BMS options out there too.
@@Gubers Marketing and trust can make a big difference in price. Marketing catches those who don't know the market, and many people will not trust Chinese produced products and such a significant cost reduction (for good reason). Active balancing is certainly nice for a long lived battery. A lot of relatively small features increase its value but I really don't think $2,000 is tenable.
It's amazing how much Americans are willing to be ripped off just to buy 'USA MADE'.
Jared - how about a video on solar, batteries, and generator scenarios. For example, if I have a generator, what is the benefit of adding 200W of solar vs 2000W of solar? And how does that vary if I have a large or small battery bank? May depend on where you stay, how much you boondock, travel day habits, etc.
You can use the battery jump pack, that you already have, to wake up a SOK battery. BTW $2,000 Battleborn Batteries need to be woken up too. For the same amp hours SOK’s are about a third the price. Good thing your friends with Todd.
We appreciate all your videos they’re so helpful!! Question…we need a new battery, what would you say is the next best thing to lithiums? I’ve been looking at agm and 6v golf cart ones. We only have 165w panel, and a Victron 100/30a controller, but would like to upgrade the panels down the road. Thank you
The beard automatically makes them better. 😁
900ah is INSANE.
300 AH $1,999 (52 cents per WH). Amps Out: 200 amps. cont. Dimensions: 14.25″x7.5″x11.5″ 58lb (19.33lb Per 100ah)
With an 11yr warranty *If you use Victron components I believe.
They have other batteries for ¢39 per watt.
I'd recommend adding the EG4 batteries to your buying guide. They're about 24 cents/WH, but are only 48V. The nice thing with them is that they are rack mountable, and super compact. I've got a 48V/12V DC/DC converter for my 12V loads, and everything else is direct through my Victron inverter. I'll probably use the EG4 inverter for the next install, as they're much cheaper and a lot less complex to set up, with the MPPT inverters built in. I went Victron for space on this install, but I neglected to figure in how much space I needed for the wire and connections. You can also stack up to 6 of these EG4's with a single inverter for a crazy amount of capacity. I'm actually doing this for my house.
Sounds like a good plan for the house. They are nice batteries, I would have a hard time giving up the Multiplus II 2x120. We use power assist and the other features often.
I thought my only options were 900 Battleborns or used Tesla batteries. Good to know there are so many options on the price spectrum in between!
I like having several batteries because if one fails, you have 2 more to hold you until yiu can get a replacement
Have you considered any of the Mastervolt hardware and batteries. They may be at the forefront in some areas of innovation and connectivity and quality. I think worth a look.
Jared, noticed you don’t mention Lithionics. Used extensively on some model of Winnebago and other brand trailers and I know it is expensive as well, but how do they compare in your buyers guide. Thank you for the information and comparisons.
decided to buy a ford f150 power boost has a 7 kilowatt battery...just plug in the trailer to the power outlet in the cargo bay..
Just for comparison for those that like to DIY, research, and learn... You can build your own similar battery. JK BMS 250A continuous output, low & high temp cutoff, heat control, etc., $100. Buy quality 304AH EVE cells from reputable seller within the USA (such as 18650Batterystore) for $105/cell. Add hardware, cables, homemade or prebuilt box add $125. You then have a 304AH battery that you know how to build, maintain, and troubleshoot (if needed) for $650. It does take a fair amount of research to learn the how-to's, but for those that like this kind of thing it is well worth it. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to learn how.
Although they are pricey, they seem very impressive
Nice video but very pricey batteries, I built my first 304 ah battery for a little over 700.00. I am working on my second 304 ah battery and I have got the cost down to around 500.00.
I am using 4-304 ah battery cells and a JK -200amp active balancer with an On/Off switch.
This is going in my Avalanche 5th wheel trailer. I start looking in Lifepo4 batteries after I switch my Norcold 18 cubic ft. Refrigerator to 12 volts.
I think the new Epoch's blow those away. More power in a smaller area, for 1/3 less money, same warranty, features. Amazing how things are getting better these days. Every 6mo. seems things improve.
Things are changing fast. I do have Epoch on the buyers list.
@@AllAboutRVs Guess you have to pull the trigger at some point. Seems like every 6mo., you have outdated equipment.
Your battery/inverter setup cost more than my RV :D
The physical size is a game changer. Wow I can fit over 1000 amp hours.
Does it have a heater? If not winter will be a problem for charging.
I did not see the latest SOK 280 Ah battery in your guide (you show a picture but only specs on the 206 and 100Ah versions)
I am curious about the rest of the costs associated with your set up.
Sooooo its a pouch cell based lifepo4 battery.
Active balance is cool. Noy sure if its worth 2x the cost of a Vadar, LiiTine or Redodo though.
Did you hook up the tank level & burglar alarm onto you system?
I just bought a 12.8V 280 amp hour LiFePHO4 battery for 539 shipped. I could by three of those for what this cost.
I understand getting free stuff and doing reviews but as someone mentioned, average people can’t afford those crazy prices. How about a Redodo review? Quality, warranty, great price, thanks
Hey Jerod - love your content... Is there a middle ground between traditional led acid batteries and a multi thousand dollar full unit? Most of us own Travel Trailers. We need something that we can put in the plastic battery boxes on the outside of the trailer and swap out the old 12v charger/inverter. Right now on my 30' travel trailer, I have 2 6 voit golf cart batteries, 2 Honda 2000 generators and a 1200 watt Jackery. We use the Jackery to run the Kureg in the morning and the TV at night when we don't want to run the generators. Daily run the generators to top off the Trailer and Jackery... I'd likely pay $1,000 to cut that to 1 generator and Lithium Batteries if I could get an inverter large enough to power the 110 outlets 100% of the time.
10 years into owning and using our travel trailer and I typically spend some time each trip reviewing what "can be run when", with my local manager ie, wife. We've finally gotten to the point that she understands AC (air conditioning) only comes with full hookups OR 2 generators running.
Yes you can check out the buyers guide here that has batteries all the way down to 24 cents a watt hour. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
As far as the inverter I did a little review on a simple inverter here czcams.com/video/zp0HZt6Ib6k/video.html. There are more cost effective inverters like this to get it cheaper with less features. amzn.to/3RDXDUh
It would keep the outlets powered up for sure and work for the coffee pot and microwave.
With that inverter and 2 batteries you would be right around that 1,000 mark.
These batteries have the same capacity, size and features as an Epoch battery, which costs $900 less. I hope your friend does well, but most people don't have an extra $900 lying around for the difference in the two.
Check out the buyers guide. They’re one there. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
What are you doing with your three Lion Energy batteries?
Why not put 4 in series
Did I hear you right? Did you say $2,000 a battery so those three batteries cost you $6,000
Still cheaper per watt hour than Battle Born and some others, and looks to be a better product.
I think for the realistic person a TEMGOT 12V 300AH BATTERY. It pretty much does the same thing and you can get three batteries for right around $2,000
@@lesterhamilton1740 Temgot batteries are much larger - I have a few of those. They work fine, but if saving space is important, you don't want Temgot
I liked that most of the objections im seeing in the comments are simply answered in your buyer's guide! (Oh and hello from Draper}
Why haven't you reviewed the Sun Fun Kits batteries with Victron communications?
Yes please review them surprised no one has done so thus far as its one of the few that has Victron communication.
Epoch also has a 300Ah heater with in 1" of the Big Beards with Bluetooth and Victron comms as well.
I’m sure some of the cost is the self heating feature
I was all like, Oh cool I could use just one of those for my trailer. Then I saw the cost and it was a big NOPE!! $2,000 is slightly over my budget for 1 300 amp battery. I use to have Chins in my other trailer so when it's time I will buy them again. Never had a problem with them and I can get a 200 amp one for under $400 now.
The Epoch company has two different types of 300 amp hour batteries. Both are about the same size as that, but the price is significantly less.
The Epoch battery is also assembled in the US.
Why don't we see people bragging about them?
I have them on the buyers guide list. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
Epoch assembled in the USA? Since when? Only Battle born, Sun fun kits, and Lithonics are assembled in the us.
FYI COMMENT remind folks to be careful tire pressure. In Cape Coral 6/23 or 25 employee killed when tire exploded......could be many reasons but be careful
6k for house batteries, yikes. I really hope a 751 key doesn't still open that compartment, lol. These systems always seem hard to understand. With the solar, batteries and other equipment. Its what 15k? Seems like not enough power for ACs, but more then needed to run everything else.
What are your thoughts on renogy lithium batteries?
They aren’t my favorite but I’m adding to the battery list all the time. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/. There are some good budget options on there.
BBB 12-Volt 300AH 3600 Watt Lithium Battery SKU: BBB300MH $1,999.00 EACH...or $5997 for the three batteries alone. If your rich this would be great. Most people cant or wont afford this.
That’s exactly why I made the battery buyers guide allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/ and continue to add to it. A lot of budget friendly options on there.
I have tried working with Big BLUE batteries for the last five years. I am so done with them. Their batteries are too expensive. The prices are not coming down and they don’t have the features of the half the new ones do. I’m done.😊
Would like to know is these are built using cell type batteries or the pylaster bags.
Prismatic, A+ rated, balanced when putting together with an IR of .01 ohm differential
hello iam wondering how do you run a air condtoner i have an inverter also two solar pannels on my roof ? 12 volt fridge
IF you had the Trailor come with the inverter it most likely is only hooked to a few outlets not the microwave or air conditioner. If you look in the videos of this site, you will see installs for inverters that will show you how to fix that problem. also get a soft start for the air conditioner, saves your inverter from needing to throw a lot of power at start up.
Do the BiG Beard batteries use cylindrical cells or pouch cells? Todd has not responded to this question.
He uses Prismatic cells that are A+ rated, balanced when putting together with an IR of .01 ohm differential
Damn. Somebody let me hold a dollar! Pricey pricey. ..😒🤨🤔
If you have a battery with a max of 100 amps out, and connect two of them in parallel, does that change the max amps out?
Yes that is why people used to recommend 4 batteries for a 3000 watt inverter so you could comfortably have 400amps out. No you just plan it when looking at your draw and what batterie’s fit your need.
any other batteries you would recommend with a lower price?
Yes all the way down to 24 cents a watt hour. You can see the list in the Buyers guide I put together. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
Living in Mesa Arizona, I store my trailer through the summer months in a covered (outdoor) storage. How does lithium batteries hold up to 3+ months of 100+ degree heat? Battery vendors document how their batteries fair in cold weather, but don't discuss the extreme heat situations for those living year round in warmer climates. If I purchase lithium batteries, should I plan on pulling them from the RV when not in use in the high heat and storing them in a climate controlled environment?
Im in yuma, seeing i pain 1200 each for 400 amp li-time batteries im hoping the heat isnt an issue:) but in a couple months i will know the answer. I ahve found this am running a fan on the batteries. In the same way that food can spoil if not stored properly, your lithium battery can be ruined if you store it improperly. Keep it in an open, dry area that gets air regularly and stays within a temperature range of -13°F to 149°F.
You can get 3 Redodo 300AH batteries for under 2100.00 They are a little bigger than these but a 3rd of the price. These are just way too expensive.
"cheaper than Battleborn" Well ya, literally every battery on the market is cheaper than BB. They are basically the price ceiling for batteries.
I like their energy density, but still too expensive. I just paid $0.17/Wh for 2 24V 200A Chins batteries on Amazon. I could replace them twice for the same price as Big Beard. If I was going to spend more, I would go with Enduro or Epoch. Similar/better features for lower price.
I wonder why with the industry acceptance of Victron equipment’s quality noone is using their batteries. The same basic footprint would add another 90 amp/hr of battery.
That's way too expensive lol
You don't need an active balancer
Storage button is nice
Will did a great review of the Epoch and LiTime batteries, side by side, which was awesome. I’m sold on the LiTime ones based on his review.
@@WillProwselove your channel
$2000 each? Woof
$1,999.00 each. I take my trailer out on the weekends in the summers not for me.
I will believe they are 300ah when I see testing. Also 200 amps for a 300ah battery is pretty weak. Many quality choices for much better price.
Well good luck to you if you think you can run 300 amps your battery will turn into an oven and you will ruin your cells.
@@KoreanTacoKing lol that 1c... most buget batteries can run at 1c... these quality/costly batteries can and do 1c charge/discharge and might get warm!
👍👍🏝
Stupid cost for these. It's perfect when you're gifted them from Todd though! I'll stick with my dual 200ah Redodo batteries for 1k which are amazing.
I have quite a few batteries on the list at or below that price per watt hour. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
So $6K for these?
$6,000 in batteries?!? Insane…
You don’t get it. It’s only $666 for each 100 AH section but you have to buy it at 3000 AH. If you don’t need that many AH then try to find a quality ion battery for that price. You can’t. 😮
I suggest to check the battery buyers guide. There is all kinds of price points. It depends on your limitations be it space, weight, funds, draw, etc. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
Budget all the way down to 23 cents a watt hour.
You can buy 4 litime 230ah each that have 200 amp bms also for less than 2500$ money does not grow on tree’s unless of course someone is giving them to you. 😊
Nope vertical terminal blow
Does Big Beard Battery offer you a discount?
I still wonder why people pay so much for batteries. There are so many other options that are much much cheaper. My 4 230ah litime batteries cost me about $2200. Just a little over the price of one of these batteries.
LiTime is on the buyers guide list. allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
thanks Jerrod. But anything with Todd, I'll pass.
No stress testing? No capacity testing? Great review, except for no actual testing.
its just a commercial
Not every review needs to beat-up a product to tell you what they think of it. I don't need to test the top speed of a car to see if I like it.
I like batteries nice and compact. Check out Vatrer's 460Ah 12V battery with internal shunt with Bluetooth app to measure SOC. Less that $1300/ea. Two of them fit in my tray, barely, providing 920Ah for $2600 total! And Will Prowse likes the built quality of Vatrer. Your Big Beard batteries would cost over $6000 for 900Ah. Not a good value in today's market.
There are a lot more price points on the buyers guide including Epoch and LiTime allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
You should search for Varter 460 on google and you'll find Diysolarforum a guy bought them opened up them and it had grade B cells, the QR code has a B lasered signifying they are B grade. Varter is junk.
No way $$$$$$$
Battle Born and Big Beard while nice, they are not that much different from other good companies. You can get Epoch 300Ah, less than 1" different, Heated, with switch AND will talk directly to Victron for $1, 200 or you can get Vatrer 300Ah, 2" different, Heated, with switch for $700. In three batteries that is $3,900 savings!
Epoch batteries are on the buyers list allaboutrvsinfo.com/rv-battery-buyers-guide/
@@AllAboutRVs cool, and thank you for doing the buyers list. Your videos are always helpful.
Varter has grade B cells in it, users have opened them up they have B on the qr code check diysolarforum Not in the same league as EPOCH. Also Sun Fun Kits is another one to look at and doesn't have limitation of only 1 battery can talk with the cerbo.
👍🏻🇺🇲