Harbor Freight Thunderbolt Solar Battery review 2 years in a van is it still good capacity demo

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

HFT was having a sale so I ordered another battery. I will keep this one since it has a lot of life left and eventually run another solar panel so I have 2 100 watt systems and power outlets behind the drivers seat and at the rear of my van.

[@h8GW]

Bruh, just get a LiFePO4 replacement when these two go kaput.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

@@h8GW I'll look it up now

[@kings5223]

Good review. Crazy how much you can run on a cheap solar setup and small HF battery. Adding even just one more battery would make the setup so much more sustainable.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I ordered another one and relocated this one to the back of my van. I have it hooked up to a big power inverter so I can run a Microwave. These are a great deal and just enough electricity for me on my end of the month road trips. Here it is running a microwave kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKK1oKF_l7Gca9U

[@Ricardo_Wade]

Been skeptical about getting these batterys for my overland rig but for the price point even if i do get 2 years out of them i think its a win

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I'm on year 4 of this battery. These are all I use in my van.

[@lawrencedavidson6195]

Nice little setup. Greetings from Jamaica.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Hey man appreciate the comment letting me know were you're from. You are the first person that I know of saying hi from Jamaica. Here is more of my van from last weekend kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2W2mIuundCDbZI

[@germangomez7986]

very interesting, informative. i would like to see more. THANKS

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Here you go buddy. Here's how a video on how I run a Microwave Oven in my van

[@katrinaassoumou6400]

Thank you for this information! Amen

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

This is probably the cheapest Solar Battery thats readily available so I know a lot of people are thinking about getting this

[@CampingWithCats]

I've been using those batteries almost nonstop for almost 10 years. I've taken terrible care of them. still using them right now with two thunderbolt solar kits. Afraid to use the lithium settings as only heard (from a very one-sided and quiet google on the subject) bad things about using lithium batteries with the thunderbolt system. I think I'm going to try a universal battery as I've heard they can maintain a good lifespan for over a decade.

[@coolchange1970]

Great video John, KZbin gold!

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Thanks man.

[@edud8452]

These are good batteries I use these for replacements in mobility scooters never had any issues.

[@porky7753]

Great content John

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Thanks buddy

[@davidpotter9462]

Get rid of the alligator clips and put some ring terminals on the wires ; you will get a longer run time with no other change. Alligator clips waste energy because they always get hot, due to not enough surface contact area. Please don't have a battery bank held together with alligator clips. Look at it this way ; adding another battery and another set of alligator clips. What are you going to do when you have 20 batteries like I do? Is there going to be an alligator clips ladder to the ceiling? That's just ridiculous that you have left them on there for 2 years, and you're adding a battery with the thought of just clipping another one on. All your figures are askewed by the fact that you had resistance in those clips. They have wasted a lot of your solar watts and given you false figures as to the battery capacity. Put some real wire terminals on there and you will get better numbers on everything without the loss. You can't go by figures that are 7 % off because of resistance. The batteries in my battery bank haven't been below 11.8 v. ever. I have my inverter set to beep at 23 volts. It has two sets of #2 welding leads bolted to the terminals. When I started my solar journey 2 years ago I had the same controller as you. I had 90 watts of harbor freight panels my uncle gave me. two 45 watts kits. I never could get my 2 AutoZone marine batteries to charge up very well, so I bought a 40 amp Epic Solar 4215 BN for $216. It was like night and day difference.I got 40% more power out of the same panels...so I bought some more panels...three 100 watts ones. One got broke in a storm but anyways I got 4 more eventually and I had 600 watts for awhile. Then I went to 1000 watts of panels last summer. I just got two batteries a month until I got enough. I bought the 90 amp hour ones for awhile so I could save up for an Aims inverter charger 2000 watts, 24 volts. They have went up $250 since I bought mine. Then I bought the 105 amp hour batteries for a year, I have 12 of those. At 3 : 49 AM, the voltage is 24.6 on the batteries. I managed to get 2 more 100 watts panels last fall so I have 1200 watts of them now. You have the numbers with the clips ; now change them into wire ring terminals and do the test again, and tell me if the numbers are better or not. You probably won't believe the difference how much more watts you are getting. No matter what Shoestring Prepping does, it is just poor form to test with clips. They heat up, then that makes resistance, so the values change...it's not accurate. 4 wire terminals won't cost that much. Besides, it will look so much nicer, and neater. Take a look at a 2000 watts inverter...do you know why they don't come with clips? Because 2000 watts is not easy to get through a set of clips. Without burning or arcing something. So they come with ring terminals. That should tell you something.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I appreciate the advice. I will try that out

[@fasttruckman]

I was going to suggest the same thing. Better wiring connections would do his system tons of good.

[@timothyaguilar7727]

Great Info!!Thank!!

[@davidpotter9462]

@@timothyaguilar7727 if you want to test it, feel of the clips under a load. They get pretty warm. That heat is lost energy. Now change to the ring terminals, soldered on. The heat will be gone. When you feel of it, it will be cool. Try it and see.

[@PozerAdultRacingTeam]

Very interesting

[@CHICOandtheVAN]

I need the Mighty Cool

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

When my van is back on the road I'll take a trip to Rat Beach and I'll give you one. I have 3 of them.

[@holdfast4588]

Good review!

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I'm surprised it retained the capacity after 2 years of taking a beating. I did not know you're not suppose to run down under 12. This thing runs everything so I was constantly running it down to 11 volts. I ordered another one so I have a dedicated battery for the freezer/fridge and another one to charge up my laptop/wifi and run my space cooler.

[@holdfast4588]

@@JohnDrivesAnything two separated systems is the way to go! I don’t have my solar system connected to my starter battery like most people do either.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

@@holdfast4588 I don't tap into my starter battery at all. If my started battery ever goes dead I always have a jump box and I can even route my solar panel to my starter battery for extra insurance to charge it.

[@camposvazquez]

Another good video.... I apologize if I didn't catch it why not run both batteries parallel for double the capacity

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I was told that if you're going to combine batteries they should be the same age. So my old one I'm just running it in the back to power my microwave and back up camera. My Back up camera is always and it's wifi so if I have my mini bike behind me I can keep a eye on it at all times. I can also use my back up camera as a Security cam.

[@wandamcgann7728]

GREAT JOB

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Appreciate you stopping by in the comments helps my channel alot

[@ImASurvivorNThriver]

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

You're Welcome buddy.

[@miguellovino7679]

TELL ME CAN PUT A SMALL 12V FRIDGE IN THIS SET UP..? IS FOR USE IN MY PICKUP TRUCK CAMPER...

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Yes you can. Skip to 1:05 a tour of my electronics in my van kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJKpo4ylatRojrM

[@barkingspider2007]

Great Video... How are you doing with the second battery? Thanks for the video! : )

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

This battery now powers my microwave and my new battery powers random accessories. Glad enjoyed this video. Here's my Microwave video being powered by this battery kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKK1oKF_l7Gca9U

[@TruckingShooter]

Prolly wouldn't hurt adding another battery eventually

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I ordered another one and since this one has a lot of life left I'm going to run another solar panel. One Battey will run my space coolers and the other will run my fridge/freezer. Right now this is doing all the work.

[@josephd27]

Nice good battery life hashbrown

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

I'm going to run another one so I have a dedicated battery for the fridge/freezer and one for cooling my off on hot days. This thing took a beating for 2 years.

[@anthonysmith88]

What size inverter

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

400 Watt. I have a 1500 watt now so I can run a Microwave but ran a 400 for years and still run a 400 on my main battery

[@donmurrin5269]

Can I use a 12 volt charger on that battery

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Do you have a link of the charger?

[@catgarcia2238]

Can I charge the battery with a 50 watt solar panel?

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

Yes you can. I did a Video on a 50 Watt Solar Panel right here kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2W9c2yne9Njq9E

[@mikeagwopstar7369]

Space coolers

[@fredclark3819]

i think you need a 100ah battery

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

You can never have enough electricity! I have a couple of portable power stations for back up when I'm camping.

[@100realtorah3]

Laugh out loud I'm gonna have to call the battery police on you man I used to have 3 Hooked up to together Used to play my playstation and Flash screen TV on it Betty was last a long time.

[@JohnDrivesAnything]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYablqSFrbejqrc

[@josebricksphd1281]

I rarry rike cruul fan time down by the river