UPDATE: finally got a new 4000-watt pure sine wave inverter and now I can run my swamp cooler, dishwasher, washing machine, gas dryer, carpet cleaning machine, all my kitchen electrics including my 1800-watt countertop air fryer, as well as my TV, sound system, security system, google home device, Ae
rogarden, and various led plant lights, all without a hitch (not all at the same time of course). I haven't tried my big window swamp cooler yet but I'm hopeful it won't be a problem. During bright sun, the battery continues charging up as it's being used and as long as I give it enough time to recover before the good sun goes away for the day, it will run the devices that are constantly connected (100 to 150 watts) all night long. However, it has to be above 13.0v as indicated by both the controller and the inverter readouts. If it's below 13.0v before I go to bed, there's a good chance the system will shut down during the night. It routinely fully charges to 14.4v and I get a lot of use out of it before it runs down to 13.0v. Upping my rating from 3 stars to 4. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have mixed feelings about this battery. I'm using it in a solar system with a 1500- watt/2000-watt peak pure sine wave inverter, an Ames 80A MPPT controller, and 920-watts of solar panels. It runs my Bonaire window swamp cooler, my dishwasher, and a light load in my washing machine. It will *not* run my large Arctic Circle window swamp cooler, probably because it has an electric motor. According to Redodo, I need a much more powerful, much more expensive inverter to run it. I haven't tried running either my microwave or my full-size fridge with this system. The main problem I'm having is that the controller always indicates the battery has much more charge in it than it really does. For example, the controller may say the battery is at 13.0 volts 90% charge but with less than 100-watt load the battery will completely die in less than 8 hours, shutting the whole system down. This usually happens when I'm sleeping so I don't know exactly how long it takes. I'm somewhat of a beginner with solar and LiFePo batteries so I'm not sure if it's me, the set-up, or if this is just not the right battery for this application. I think if you just want it for emergency power it will work great for you. It can run a lot before it shuts down. But then you have to fully charge it up again before you use it again. The company says that is the preferred way. Although it *will* charge up as you continue to use it at the same time, that is not the preferred way per the company. Not sure if that will harm the battery or cause a shorter life or what. So it's kind of like a power tool. You charge the battery up and the tool runs fine then all of a sudden, with no warning, it totally runs out of charge and stops working. If that's just the way LiFePo batteries are, I wish I had known ahead of time. I might have gone for a different battery specifically meant for solar application. As it is, the price was good and the customer service is very good provided you can deal with email only communications with a 12-24 hour response time. Also, when this battery eventually died, I was able to "wake up" the battery management system (BMS) with a compact jump starter (the one I use for my car) right where the battery sat, without having to disconnect anything, since I don't have a lithium battery charger. Otherwise I would have had to disconnect it, take it outside, and hook it up directly to a smaller, low-power solar panel. Try that at your own risk.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2023 by LillyLee
