Renogy "Smart" 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery Tear Down 

Does off-grid solar confuse you? Check out my DIY friendly website for solar system packages and product recommendations, and so much more! www.mobile-solarpower.com Join our DIY solar community! #1 largest solar forum on the internet for beginners and professionals alike: www.diysolarforum.com Check out my best-selling, beginner-friendly 12V off-grid solar book (affiliate link): amzn.to/2Aj4dX4 If DIY is not for you, but you love solar and need an offgrid system, check out Tesla Solar. Low prices and great warranty, and they can take your entire house offgrid with their new Powerwalls: ts.la/william57509 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My solar equipment recommendations (Constantly updated! Check here first): 12V/48V Lithium Batteries: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-batteries.html Solar System Component Directory: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solarcomponents.html Plug-N-Play Systems: www.mobile-solarpower.com/full-size-systems.html Complete 48V System Kits: www.mobile-solarpower.com/complete-48v-solar-kits.html DIY Friendly Air Conditioner/ Heat Pumps: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-friendly-air-conditioners.html Complete 48V System Blueprint: www.mobile-solarpower.com/48v-complete-system-blueprint.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar and Coupon Codes: -Current Connected: SOK, Victron and High Quality Components. Best prices and warranty around: currentconnected.com/?ref=wp -Signature Solar: Cheap Server Rack Batteries and Large Solar Panels: www.signaturesolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Ecoflow Delta Official Site: My favorite plug-n-play solar generator: us.ecoflow.com/?aff=7 -AmpereTime: Cheapest 12V batteries around: amperetime.com/products/ampere-time-12v-100ah-lithium-lifepo4-battery?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Rich Solar: Mega site and cheaper prices than renogy! Check them out: richsolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Shop Solar Kits: Huge site with every solar kit you can imagine! Check it out: shopsolarkits.com/?ref=will-p -Battery Hookup: Cheap cell deals bit.ly/2mIxSqt 10% off code: diysolar -Watts 24/7: Best deals on all-in-one solar power systems, with customer support and distribution here in the USA: watts247.com/?wpam_id=3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact Information: I am NOT available for personal solar system consult! If you wish to contact me, this is my direct email: williamprowsediysolar@gmail.com Join the forum at diysolarforum.com/ if you wish to hang out with myself and others and talk about solar FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers: Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :) DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

This has to be the the only case I have seen you dis assemble without cutting the case open. NICE CASE!

Duuude!!, I HIGHLY respect your intelligences, not only in the field of electronics, but the ability to teach & articulate in layman's terms how to become a DYI in electronics w/disclaimer warnings! I'm a 65yr old guy that has worked closely & under the guidance of a chief engineer close to my age and too come across someone in you age bracket w/so much knowledge & education in this field is totally superb, unbelievable, & awesome!!! Keep on keeping on man & I wish you the greatest in your future endeavors!!!

Battery tech is advancing. Thanks to Will for in depth analyses. I am sure the manufacturers watch his videos. I think WiIl has single handedly done more for solar and battery consumers than anyone else.

Like them both. A healthy ecosystem of quality battery manufacturers means everyone wins.

It's about 4 years since i first watched this video and then purchased this battery. Has run my 4wd 12v system flawlessly since and only lost 2 to 3ah of capacity. Nice!

I just bought this battery, this video makes me feel even better about my purchase

All the way from Africa ( Arusha, Tanzania ) ! Thanks a lot Will !

Secretly, I reckon that Renogy were praying for you to open up the battery to show of all the hard work they put into it! All that is missing is the ability to series connect and the trademark black and blue colour scheme!

3:35 The branding under the sticker says PylonTech, so that is probably the manufacturer not only of the BMS but of the whole battery. Thank you for the interesting review. I would always prefer Battleborn‘s cylindrical cells over pouch cell as they keep the electrodes in their place more precisely than pouch cells and they can dissipate heat much better.

That battery chemistry is pretty safe in any packaging factor. LiFePO4 pouch cells are about as safe as you can get. You can run a nail through them and not start a fire or cause an explosion. They will get hot, but they will pretty much just fail in the damaged area and cauterize. It's not like Lithium where whey vent extreme amounts of gas and risk run away damage from extreme heat leading to explosions. Also, since that XT 90 plug isn't running negative and positive (90 up and 90 down for a combined 90 amps circulating) you can get 180 amps (the same 90 + 90). So technically those plugs could support 360 amps :) The 4s setup probably allows the batteries to run many more amps than the BMS will output. This keeps the cells cooler and means that even during heavy usage the cells will remain very healthy. It's very over-engineered!

Love these teardowns. I keep checking back every day to see if you've uploaded a teardown of the basic Renogy 100ah that so many of us got on Black Friday. The suspense is killing me 😂

From philippines. I really appreciate your passion in sharing knowledge about solar energy. Keep sharing video sir, im on track.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I purchased three of these during renogy’s flash sale and scored them for $599 each! I’ve only been using them for one month now but I do really like them so far. Thanks for taking it apart so we can see inside! Super cool!!

I’d be really interested in a follow up video when you learn more about the safety features of the pouch cells. Looks like a really well made battery! Really looking forward to comparing the new Battleborn batteries whenever they’re released.

I ordered two of these because they are group 24 size and will fit in the battery tray of my RV. They are lower in price now than when you tested and tore down, so that is good. Thanks for the teardown, it was really nice to see how well that is built.

This review push Renogy over the top for me. I only run all 12 volt gear to avoid the inverter conversion power loss, so this is perfect. The smart battery network feature was an added benefit. First on came this week. I’ll add a second next big sale. Thanks Will for you hard work and great evaluations.

I bought two of them, hooked up in parallel. Using 2 x 30a Renogy charge controllers, and a 2000w renogy inverter. All sitting on a small wheeled wood trolley. Fully fused, it was a great learning process! And given these batteries are good for about 4000 cycles at 80% DOD, I'm using them every day, and it makes a fantastic power backup.

Finally, a 100 ah battery for backpackers!

As an electronic tech I'm very impressed with the engineering and serviceability of this Renogy battery. Electronic components and mechanical connections do fail, as you have seen in your other battery tear downs/reviews. I would definitely pick these over the Battle Born for all my 12V battery banks! Thank you for the battery reviews!

I like that it's fairly easy to open. No need to cut or melt glue etc.

You forgot to mention another good selling point of this battery. Over 4000 cycles at 80% DoD. I am assuming at 1C, but it is not mentioned in the spec.

Thank god. I've been waiting for your review. I bought one and HAve been running it for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately Battle Born not available in Australia so I took the gamble. Great price point here with free shipping which added to the Value . Thanks for the break down and ease of mind. Regarding the Ethernet port, I thought I read it was to connect multiple batteries together to assist with balancing across all the cells in multiple batteries.

I like that fact that you can disassemble it with standard tools and not having to cut apart the case, so if the bms fails it could be repaired. Be nice if they could do series connected even if just to 24 volts as 12 volts limits what you can do, but still it's a pretty cool build.

Not being able to series connect them is an absolute deal-breaker for me. Winston batteries are looking sweeter and sweeter - How about a Winston battery "un-boxing" - that would be fun.

Have this battery in my 4x4 for a year now, ran it completely flat a couple of times with the fridge. I run the renogy 50a DC/DC with it and the hub with Bluetooth. All works perfectly fine. Hopefully it lasts

Will, ask them why it can’t be used in series. Nice battery!

A man of my heart, let’s tear it apart and see what is in side. Good information, nice video

I just bought two and the 40A dc-dc charger. I’m excited to get rid of my AGMs!!!

I got this battery last year for $800. on sale and has served me well. With the Renogy 400 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Starter Kit with Wanderer .. BUT,, The BT-1 Bluetooth monitor module for it is not what I was expecting being from Renogy. Thank You for your review , it's given me I clear insight on the product.

Series only connection is a huge factor, they need to change that.

This video convinced me to get this exact battery (RBT100LFP12S-G1, not sure what G1 stands for). I had a local overlanding shop install it with lots of power management, solar, etc., in my 2021 Jeep JLUR. Two years (almost) and never an issue. Trust me, I do a LOT of offroad/overlanding. I really appreciate this video, I'm quite a fan.

I like that it can be opened nondestructively and potentially repaired should the board fail.

More than a year later, I just bought this in Australia for AU$630 which is an absolute steal - local retailers don't even get them for that price. Can't wait to get it all hooked up in my car.

Thank you so much Will. As an Australian I can't get battle born but Renogy are a pretty competitive price and are often on special so I have wondered what the quality was like. Pretty good from the look of it. Oh I bought your book and it's excellent.

Battleborn for me. Their cells seem so much more durable than a pouch. BTW... LOVE THE TEAR-DOWNS!!

Love the episodes buddy, Don't think we've seen you doing anything with Edison batteries yet (e.g.12V Bank Nickel Iron NiFe Battery 400ah 10 X 1.2V Cell) I've seen alot of them still working fine, even though they are 80+years old.

Hey Will, First of all love I all of your videos. I am a grid tied solar installer but dabble in DIY off grid stuff. I am a certified LG Chem RESU installer and in their training they say that pouched cells are not a very good design because where they are folded and that causes weak points where deformation occurs over time due to the cells being stretched.

Hello! Love the videos. Did you ever do an update on this? Figuring out more on the pouch cells, and such

I bought two of these.. With a DCC50S amp DC-DC MPPT charge controller. To go with my Renogy 2000W 12V P2 Inverter. It does what it claims. The DCC50S will default to 25 amps charging. When the RV is running. To protect the Alternator at idle.. As alternators are expensive if they go out... So I'm happy.. I can run everything.

Thanks Will, another great report. I am at the point where I am considering that great leap from lead acid to Lithium so all of the recent reports that you have been doing will help me . I have been off grid for about 20 years and I am so impressed with the improvements in technology and the decrease in costs I have been a very satisfied customer of Renogy so very glad to see this product. I will wait to see Battle Borns newest products. I will be I will be so glad to get away from the affordable but frustrating 150 old technology of lead acid batteries. I am tempted to give a try at your DIY batteries but for a few hundred bucks more I think I'll play it safe with the drop in products. BZ Will

New subscriber here, and not only are these factual and to the point, but your attitude, high energy and enthusiasm is contagious. Glad to have found this channel, thank you for what you do Will! Truely appreciated!

Considering none of the renogy batteries can be wired in series, I’d go with battleborn. Add a nice MidNite classic 150 and we are in business.

Love Renogy, always thought of them as a quality manufacturer for a fair price.

Almost 2am over here in Michigan, about to get out of work and I've got some time to kill. Bam! Will comes through with an upload! :)

I have 2 of these and am equally impressed with the performance. But yeah, lack of series connection is annoying. I run a 3000w 240v inverter and the cabling is HUGE.

You are top shelf young man , thank you for your help.

I just purchased and installed two Renogy 170 Ah batteries, which did not come with a communications port and switch. So far I love them! 340 Ah in two batteries! Hopefully, mine are as well built as the one you tore down. Keep up the great work!

If it wasn't for you, Will, we would all be flying blind. Thank you!

Just an update to this, a fellow has now added a mod for the Renogy BMS RS485 protocol to the Victron GX / Venus, allowing for full monitoring of the BMS on your Victron system. Loving it so far!

"It's hard to be critical of something that's well-made." Amen. Makes me wonder why anyone ever makes something that's NOT well-made.

It's so good you tear these apart Will. It lets us know if it's garbage. I wish Dakota Battery would send you one to take apart. Their prices are right up there too. I want a Battle Born so bad my teeth hurt!

Do you know how this compares to the new(?) "12V 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery w/ Bluetooth"?

I have 4 of these in a 4wd ute with a 3000w inverter. They have been running 24/7 for the past 14 months since new powering what's in the back of ute as well as some other loads in the shed and house such as computer, refrigeration etc and the worst of the 4 has a capacity of 99.97% of original 100ah according to the app which never showed more than 100ah for any of the batteries. I'm no expert on batteries but that seems pretty good to me.

3:21am in PuertoRico always tune with master Will hi brother!

I really admire People that can design such clean , well-laid-out Batteries !! Super well made ! I would still buy the Battleborn but the RENOGY is competition for sure .

Another great vid, Will. Thank you. I’d still go with Battle Born. I have 5 of them and am extremely impressed with their performance and build quality (not to mention the warranty).

Will, the Com Port was designed to work with the Renogy Lycan Power Box. I have one and have found flaws with it. You should look into one. I can share my thoughts with you and issues I have came across. Also with multiable batteries the com port will help with balancing of all batteries.

I would bet that the Renogy Engineers have been referencing your videos in an attempt to design & build a better product.

Well done Will. Another brutally honest review. Although for once you didn't have to be brutal to be honest. A very nice product with quality. You are having an effect on the industry. They are watching you. And people are spending their hard earned cash wisely based on your reviews. Thanks for being there and doing such a great job.

Thanks Will, I was waiting for you to tear this one down! Have you done their previous model yet? I own two of the previous model. One failed, Renogy replaced it no charge.

Will, good job, like the tear down videos. I have and use the 170ah Renogy battery in my motorhome and love it. Only problem with it is they limit charge to 50 amps so it's not in the motorhome charging system I have it on it's own 45 amp charger. Keep up great information.

Impressive build quality, thanks for the video Will, really like you're tear down's.

I just ordered this battery to run a fridge off solar at camp, now i'm pumped also knowing I can use a 3rd party bms should the onboard one fail. Almost seems impossible for this battery to do the job of a large lead acid and do it better, Thanks for the vid

No series connection kills it for me.

HUGE difference with the Chinese copy brother!!! Thanks, is worth pay the price difference between this one and the copy

Dang i was hoping for the older style renogy battery teardown. i own 2 of them and was curious whats inside.

I see a battery called VoltaX Lifepo being advertised everywhere. Any Idea if these would be any good?

Thank god......have been "scared" that my $3596 investment was going to be negated by "tear" down. Thanks Renogy AND Will.

Great video I am so relieved it's a good thing. I bought this as a second battery in my Isuzu Mu-x and it has been FANTASTIC at running my camping gear and it's fast recharge rate.

The only thing I don't like is the fact you can't put them in series.

Glad you did this Will, I purchased 2 of the 170AH I was worried about the parts you can't see (inside) thanks to your video I feel good about my purchase. I do run mine in parallel in my RV.

The fact they can't be put in series is very disappointing and would be a reason I wouldn't buy them.

I am looking at 12v batteries but didn't know what was inside. Good video.

This review is compelling, but renogy's amazon reviews are awful unfortunately. Seems like there is a lot of dead batteries being sent out with zero support after purchase. Shame

I love your channel. I use lithium batteries for my bubble machines.

Do you know the warranty? If it’s less than 10 years, I’d stay with BB.

When you connect these in parallel the BMS communicate so individual cells get the charge they need, instead of all just being fed the same charge. It's clever!

25.3 pounds = 11.47 kgs 👍

Thank you thank you thank you! Just got a small sponsorship with Renogy and wanted to use their batteries as well. Now I will for sure! 👌

For the algorithm

I've gone sealed lead acid in my new build, the reasoning being by the time i need to replace them LiFePO4 batterys will be cheaper than they are at the mo, i've (hopefully) future proofed the system to cope with the upgrade later (fingers crossed). cheers Will, enjoy your channel and the forum !

No glue amazing.. that's a first

Thanks for the detailed review and tear down. I was on the fence, but you have sold this battery. It is on Amazon now for $815 (shipped and sold by Amazon). I am going to use it on my mini-camper van build. By the way, your eyes are amazing, and you need to look directly into the camera and better mesmerize viewers more :-) !

I am looking to buy a battery soon for my van. I think I am going to wait for the new BattleBorn batteries to come out before deciding. I like the data port on this battery ( assuming it can do what I think it could ) and the ease of opening it ( for future repairs if needed ) but the downside is thatit only has a 5 year warranty.

Will, I would say Renogy, but then theres the series, so a little towards battle born. But so expensive. Keep up the great work you are doing Will.

I am not a big fan of pauch style cells. Had them expand or even blow up several times. Would be great if you could do some more testing with them. But I have to say the build quality is mint 👍

Now I would be the first to admit that I have not seen all of your videos. I have spent a lot of time on your side and I have done some due diligence to try to find what I'm looking for. The only thing I see missing from your channel is a start to finish system they could handle an entire average house. And I mean to keep it off grid. Grid would be available for backup only. I've seen all the little pieces involved on your Channel but I don't understand how big it would need to be to handle realistically a full house load. I know it would be a huge hit for your channel if you did a video that built a really large robust system for an entire house. Or maybe there already is one and you simply point me to it. Thanks for your attention.

Man I like how this guy gets right down to the truth of the matter. Great advice and informative

For 24v - 48v use a 12v battery balancer in between each series string. Simples :) The problem with series strings, is that chargers (& dischargers) cant see the individual battery voltages. Hence when batterys get out of bakance you have problems. I.e. One battery could be at 10v, the second 14v. Charger sees 24v, and continues to charge. Second battery is either overcharged, or bms disconnects. The first battery is chronically overcharged. A active string balancer solves this by monitiring individual strings, and moving power from battery a->b (or vica versa) to keep the packs balanced :)

UP is Coms port for for BT-2 blluetooth module to use with their Renogy BT app. When connecting batteries in parallel you go from UP to LINK and the BT-2 connects to the UP port of the last battery

I'm on the fence! Here in Quebec it's hard to find Battleborn batteries but Renogy have distribution in canada!! I just bought a 2000w Inverter/charger from them. It would be nice from you to do a review about that. Really appreciate your passion and enthusiasm about solar. Your like ''YODA'' of solar power! Keep up the nice work.

Thank you for understanding this stuff - your video here is absolutely welcome as I was looking hard at Renogy. Great video buddy, excellent

Nothing like competition to slowly drive prices down.$50. Dollars/$25. There and boom better value for customers.Thank you will for all the education.

Thanks Will, another excellent review video. I totally agree with your findings BUT I can't stress enough, Renogy have built a good battery which is NOT future proof. Without the ability to series connect, as your system developes, it soon becomes obsolete!! I knew nothing about solar 6 months ago and thanks to your videos, I have built a crude off-grid home system - 90% down on grid use during the summer months. With small non-South facing rooves UK folkes often have to resort to 24v systems and you can NOT get many of the component you review on your channel in the UK. A video a work around the Renogy 12v trap to upgrade to a 24v Solar components would be appreciated.

I just purchased one of these batteries with a portable charger. The battery was on sale and the willprowse discount got me another 10%. $746CAD for the battery! How an a guy go wrong at that price point after seeing Will tear it apart and talk about it the way he did. I don’t need series connection capability so it made sense!

Good job sir. Looks like it’s well made I could see the connection system monitoring all the batteries in parallel and it could tell you if you have a problem with one of the 12v battery units that could drag the system down.

I like this construction build better than the Battleborn. No cutting plastic.

Will your face says it all on a review. As a retired Voc Ed Automotive instructor I am proud or your success, Will Lithionics seems to be gaining traction in the RV world and yes it is now 8/2021.I am looking for 600 + amps of battery for our trailer. I live in Florida would like to support a local US manufacturer. Politics?or are they snubbing the public end user and more for manufacture ? Very surprised why they have not had you review their UL battery.

REAL competition for drop in replacement batteries! YES!!!