WattCycle 12 Volt 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery

[@bruhzooka]

I bought this for my wife as an anniversary present.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Unconventional, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving 🙂

[@samuelfox8126]

Was she SHOCKED? lol

[@Swamp-Fox]

I really like the grading scale. I also like the fact that you actually open the case and test the safety components. I have really changed my opinion of many of the unknown to me brands of LiFePO4 batteries. Thanks Mr. Off-Grid!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Thank you for the feedback! I figured I’d try and give a quantitative rating for these budget batteries. Hopefully it can help folks that are new to the solar/battery segment determine if a particular battery is a good fit for their needs. Almost a requirement to open these batteries nowadays! Never know what’s hidden in them! Glad you enjoyed, take care and be safe!

[@oskosh50]

Hi, yes I like the grading scale. Enjoying your videos and learning along the way. Have a good one !

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Thank you for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it! Take care!

[@Tri-Lobe]

The grading scale is a great idea! The battery preformed well. Definitely a impressive battery

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Glad you appreciated the grading scale! Hopefully it can help weed out the ok/good/great batteries going forward! Wattcycle is a good unit especially considering the deals on it! Have a good one! 👍

[@offgridambition4931]

Your battery testing and tear down videos are great! I ❤ the grading scale!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Glad you like the videos and the grade scale! Thanks!

[@3henry214]

Finally... I found a WattCycle review that includes a tear down! With the proliferation of these budget 100AH batteries, the old adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" really applies. I've watched other reviews, and they were the run of the mill load test, Ah test, etc. with no tear down. I've been interested in this battery, but was reluctant to buy without seeing the inards, and how good or bad the build was. Amazon has a $40 off coupon, I'm going to pounce on it!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Glad you found the video helpful! It’s a good value battery. WattCycle runs lightning sales and has good coupons often! Snag a good deal! Thanks for watching and commenting! Take care!

[@jeffnreno5080]

Just picked up one of these during Prime Days on Amazon for $159. From your review, I feel it was a great buy. I like the grading scale and the test you ran. I'll be using it in our solar-equipped pop-up camper next month.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

It’s definitely a great value battery! Glad you liked the grading scale! Should serve you well on your camper! Have fun be safe! 👍

[@brushbum7508]

Good Afternoon thanks again ! Thumbs up for the grading. TAKE CARE..

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Thanks brushbum! 👍

[@upcountryprepper6824]

Thanks for doing these tests and teardowns

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Glad you like them!

[@aquatazman]

I ordered one originally for my boat, loved it, and it was dirt cheap. Temu had an insane deal on a four pack, and I needed new batteries for an off grid 24 volt dc setup. So I decided to roll the dice. They all worked fine for about 3 weeks and than two batteries crapped out, measured like like they opened. Dealing with their support was a bit challenging and to be honest at the price I got them at I was not expecting too much. I am shipping them back today and I will see how long it takes to get replacements.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Did the batteries go to 0V on the terminals? What were your charge profiles? I have left watt cycle outside all summer on my RV tongue connected for extra storage capacity. It’s doing ok. Sorry you’re having issues

[@aquatazman]

I setup the charge controller profile per their spec, two are still working fine, and the one in my boat is fine. Honestly I am not concerned yet as they are telling me they are sending replacements and nothing is perfect. In general across the spectrum of electronics reliability is not as good as before COVID, which is to be expected.

[@KA9DSL]

I have two of these. They work great!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Good to hear! WattCycle is a good value battery!

[@robertberry3394]

The way some of the metal is bent it looks like if is sapos to be that way. When you bend metal it holds its shape better, especially bending over an edge. Great vids and info. Kudos

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Didn’t affect its performance I was making notes on things I saw as I do with every battery inspection.

[@budmartin3344]

I love teardown video, keep it up!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Thanks, will do! Appreciate you!

[@YAHaqabNatsariym2701]

Very thorough! Well done and appreciated!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!

[@YAHaqabNatsariym2701]

@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD purchased after your help thanks!

[@markgetz]

Great review!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Thank you! 👍

[@tjsmith3060]

I would love to see the max surge current draw and for how long. And did they send you this battery or did you buy it?

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

I do a 25% +/- over rated discharge for 10 minutes on these batteries. This one has 100A continuous rate so hence 125A test. I could surge them to 200-250A for a test, but trying to keep the tests same across the brands. This was a sample battery provided by WattCycle as you can see I pointed out every detail even the drawbacks to this battery. All this information is stated in the description and the video! Thanks!

[@tjsmith3060]

@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD Yes, almost all test videos seem to miss the max surge test. The reason I ask is there is a market of people looking to use these for trolling motors and golf carts which can have high initial start up amperage till moving. The surge amperage test will can determine if the batteries will work properly in the boat or cart.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

I will start including that in the testing! Thanks for the suggestion! I appreciate a different perspective on the use case scenarios on these batteries. I’m usually thinking in terms of micro grids/solar energy storage I often overlook other user requirements like those you mentioned. Thanks again and look for surge testing coming soon! 👍

[@tjsmith3060]

@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD No problem. It was a great break down vid.

[@douglasrobbie9998]

2 or 4 of these can be put in series for 24 or 48v. website did say.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

You can make series packs of 24/36/48V with this battery!

[@JordanWhaley-u7p]

I’ve been running these batteries in my solar set up for 7 months now, I’m just not sure they are the quality they are stating, sure brand new they worked fantastic and I was happy with them, but after actually using them, I’m not sure they are up to par as the more expensive batteries, I have 2x100ah lithium batteries making 200ah and they have the life of maybe 50ah, I will put a battery. Charger on them they will charge to 14.4v but as soon as it comes off the charger they drop down to 13v. I’m wanting a little more ah so I will be replacing with the vatrater 460ah battery

[@Franklynnart]

Has anyone used this battery for portable Ham Radio use? Curious for some feedback. Thanks!

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

I believe Mike @hamradiotube has some WattCycle batteries. Hope this helps.

[@WV-gt2bd]

I need to use the HUMSIENK 12V 100Ah in parallel with a WattCycle 12 Volt 100Ah (both have the same parent company) Same bms settings according to their manuals. Will it be okay or have issues?

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

When paralleling batteries from different vendors, the standard is each battery shall have its own overcurrent protection device. This mainly due to different current carrying capabilities of different BMS. Just bc the specs read the same doesn’t mean they will trip or protect at the same time or same current/temps etc. Blue Sea or South Bend components terminal fuse might be just what you need.

[@WV-gt2bd]

@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD Will look into getting me a terminal fuse. thank you for the reply and the video

[@AdHocAtom]

How did you get this open? I have a few I'd like to open up but don't want to ruin the battery.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

I just grab the lid and pull it off the lower battery case. Some of the epoxy sealed ones break the plastic. Hard to know which you have until it pops off or breaks.

[@101perspective]

Can someone explain to me the difference between a 100ah group 24 and a 100ah group 31? When I look it up it says the group 31 has more capacity. However, they are both 100ah. They also charge the same for both. Are they essentially the same exact battery, just with different packaging? Or am I just misunderstanding something here?

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Group 31 is a larger BCI (battery council international) case size. Wasted space basically. I prefer group 24 and minis. All same cells and components just less fluff. All same capacity. Pick what suits your space and budget best. Used to be G31 were cheaper and minis were more expensive pretty equal now. Hope this helps!

[@101perspective]

@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD Thanks for the reply. I was getting pretty confused about it.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

You’re most welcome, if you look through some of my videos you can see all the foam and padding in the G31 cases. Most of these cases are made in India for lead acid batteries. China buys them on the cheap for building lithium batteries. Hope this helps!

[@jimjulian4443]

Try immersion in ice water or put it in the freezer (put the steaks on top).

[@jamesdiamond5725]

I should’ve put six stars for the price lol

[@david78212]

I don’t have an issue with the tear down of the battery, but I think you were a bit harsh on stuff that you would never see and would, most likely, never affect the operation of the battery. I’m pretty certain that there are a number of Battle Born batteries and other premium companies batteries with “twisted” bus bars in them. Just because a few people have torn down premium batteries in no way quarantees that every one of their batteries out there is “perfectly” built. It doesn’t really affect the operation of the battery and 99.9999% of people will never know that it was slightly bent. I like the fact that the “mini” was built with cells instead of pouches, I’m sure the pouches are fine, I would just rather have cells. For the money, I think this is a very well built battery.

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Sharing observations. If I didn’t call out the bent parts, a viewer would after watching. I try to be thorough as possible.

[@JordanWhaley-u7p]

I’ve been running these batteries in my solar set up for 7 months now, I’m just not sure they are the quality they are stating, sure brand new they worked fantastic and I was happy with them, but after actually using them, I’m not sure they are up to par as the more expensive batteries, I have 2x100ah lithium batteries making 200ah and they have the life of maybe 50ah, I will put a battery. Charger on them they will charge to 14.4v but as soon as it comes off the charger they drop down to 13v. I’m wanting a little more ah so I will be replacing with the vatrater 460ah battery

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

Thank you for sharing your experience! Sorry you’re having troubles. I left one of mine on RV bumper all summer in the sun for an extreme weather/temp test connected to my RV systems battery bank. It still works as expected. You shouldn’t have any noticeable degradation of capacity after only 7 months. 🤔 The voltage drop to 13 after charging is odd. Are you using a wall dedicated charger for LiFePO4? Or are you using a solar charge controller? Example I charge to 14.0V on solar charge controller. Absorb end amps of 0. Battery rests at 13.7V for many hours usually settling to 13.5 by next day. Kick the inverter on and a drop to 13.4. Start loading it up and 13.0-13.3 for majority of capacity depending on current draw. This is of course at night or with PV off.

[@JordanWhaley-u7p]

@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD I charge with both, a 20 amp charger made for a lifepo4 battery I use as “shore power” and also charge with 400watts of solar depending on the day 😂

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

That’s so odd that it drops to 13.0 though. My friend Tobi had an issue that may be similar. Is your battery acting like this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmOUnGyki9qiabcsi=irCUB5csoYv6rSN0

[@WV-gt2bd]

@@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD My Wattcycle battery sits at 13.2v after I take off my Vevor 35a charger. its only ever been ran down and charged one time

[@THEOFFGRIDMOUNTAINHOMESTEAD]

I need to look into this more. Don’t understand how so many are having these WattCycle batteries drop to 13.0-13.2 after coming off the charger. This isn’t normal. Unless there is a high cell and over voltage is triggering while charging with rest of cells not reaching full state of charge?