Choosing Between Roamer and Fogstar Lithium Batteries for Seat Base

[WESTY66]

So guys it would appear I can only fit a “seat base” lithium battery where the two 80ah gels are on the carthago, so both Roamer and Fogstar do them at at £1125 and £799.99 respectively. Now at £325 difference is the Roamer that much better than the Fogstar? Oh yes I’ll have to get a B2B with lithium setting fitted, and a victron MPPT

 

[Andy MacD]

I’ve had the Fogstar 280ah for 6 months. No issues at all.

 

[Roger S]

We have a Fogstar had that for Bout 8 months, very happy

 

[Al n Val]

So far my 2 x 280ah Fogstar drift batteries are performing superbly, I had high hopes for them and they are fulfilling all my expectations.

Roamer didn’t seem to want to engage with me and not want me to go and pick them up, whereas Fogstar were completely the opposite.

The icing on the cake was going the Fogstar route I gained 100ah and saved a grand, no brainer and certainly no regrets.

 

[Dave101]

KS Energy also do a seatbase battery, I have had one for about 2 years with no issues. I can't tell you much about the difference between the Roamer & Fogstar, to my knowledge they both use prismatic cells, whereas the KS Energy seatbase battery has always used cylindrical cells... that said, since ownership of KS has changed they are now using prismatic cells in some of their new range of batteries, but as far as I know the seatbase battery is still cylindrical.
My personal choice is to use cylindrical celled batteries but they are getting more difficult to find now days and they are generally more expensive.
The only cylindrical cell batteries that I can think of now are Battleborn (Transporter ), Polinovel and KS energy..

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[GMLS]

I understand while the Roamers are slightly better in some regards (possibly allow a greater max current draw?), the Fogstars are more than adequate for the vast majority.Both have good length warranties. I plan on getting Fogstars.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

So guys it would appear I can only fit a “seat base” lithium battery where the two 80ah gels are on the carthago, so both Roamer and Fogstar do them at at £1125 and £799.99 respectively. Now at £325 difference is the Roamer that much better than the Fogstar? Oh yes I’ll have to get a B2B with lithium setting fitted, and a victron MPPT

Has Brian Jackd signed off for this extra spend?

 

[WESTY66]

Has Brian Jackd signed off for this extra spend?

Price have risen so much on the chic c line market that he’s out of the running for mine now, I think he’s half wishing he’d have raided the piggy bank for that one he looked at a few months ago!!
The more I spend on it the more he has to work to buy it

 

[WESTY66]

Has Brian Jackd signed off for this extra spend?

Still waiting for Simon Select to get a nice, cheap pre loved Concorde in

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Still waiting for Simon Select to get a nice, cheap pre loved Concorde in

You never know what’s around the corner

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[Steve and Denise]

I fitted a 300ah Roamer 18 months ago never had any problems.

 

[St3v3]

Ecotree do them as well.

12V 230AH UNDERSEAT Lithium Leisure Battery LiFePO4 - Eco Tree Lithium

Over double the power and less than half the weight of your Lead Acid or AGM battery. Powered by the latest and safest Lithium Iron phosphate technology (LiFeP04), this is a simple drop-in replacement that provides more than double the power, 10x the cycles, 10x the life, and at less than half...

ecotreelithium.co.uk

 

[WESTY66]

Ecotree do them as well.

12V 230AH UNDERSEAT Lithium Leisure Battery LiFePO4 - Eco Tree Lithium

Over double the power and less than half the weight of your Lead Acid or AGM battery. Powered by the latest and safest Lithium Iron phosphate technology (LiFeP04), this is a simple drop-in replacement that provides more than double the power, 10x the cycles, 10x the life, and at less than half...

ecotreelithium.co.uk

But at twice the price of a fogstar

 

[St3v3]

But at twice the price of a fogstar

No idea. Does the fogstar have all of the same features? Particularly the case that you can unscrew and change individual parts if required. Genuine question, I have no affiliation with them, just fell into having two in the van. Little else was in stock at the time and I didn't pay that price

 

[stevewagner]

Imported mine from China myself and they have been faultless

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[cyberyacht]

WESTY66 I've got 2 KS Energy 120AH lithiums in the battery trough in my Compactline.

 

[bigtree]

I’ve just fitted a 280ah Fogstar in my eline, they have a good app that tells you what’s going on. Will get a test run at the end of the month when we head down to Engerland for a few days.

 

[Al n Val]

bigtree

i’ve renamed mine Rapido 1 & 2 so I know which one the app is showing me, just hold your finger on the name/numbers and you can edit it to anything you want

 

[bigtree]

I have only one so maybe I’ll call it Pinky as I didn’t buy Perky.

 

[Raul]

One of the roamer features that others don’t have, is short circuit protection. The roamer bms settings can be changed to allow for inverter surge. Yes it’s that sensitive. If a circuit goes faulty a small short, a bad fuse will trigger the bms short protection. These feature I liked very much for a mobile installation, where things can deteriorate with vibration movement etc. Also the cells are serviceable by supplier if ever needed.

On the other hand, fogstar it’s been good so far, and the price is very competitive. Choices.

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[WESTY66]

WESTY66 I've got 2 KS Energy 120AH lithiums in the battery trough in my Compactline.

Mine fit in the side locker, useless for anything other than small batteries but the seat base battery will just fit

 

[G1969]

I’ve just fitted a 280ah Fogstar in my eline, they have a good app that tells you what’s going on. Will get a test run at the end of the month when we head down to Engerland for a few days. View attachment 783203View attachment 783204

Did you have to change the charger or any other electrics? I am considering for my (yet to be received) C Line?

 

[bigtree]

Did you have to change the charger or any other electrics? I am considering for my (yet to be received) C Line?

I had to fit a bigger solar charge controller as it was only a 10 amp one for the original 100w panel. On the mains charger they say to switch it to gel batteries as that’s the nearest to lithium charging, I found the Schaudt B2B and you can switch that to lithium. You get apps to monitor the solar controller and Fogstar battery.

 

[Guigsy]

I've squeezed a FogStar 280Ah standard battery into a Ducato seat base. It's a very tight fit, it's not going anywhere! The issue is the handles on the sides are a few mm wider than the gap. But with enough swearing and wiggling at odd angles, it slots (scrapes!) in.

 

[WESTY66]

I've squeezed a FogStar 280Ah standard battery into a Ducato seat base. It's a very tight fit, it's not going anywhere! The issue is the handles on the sides are a few mm wider than the gap. But with enough swearing and wiggling at odd angles, it slots (scrapes!) in.

I’ll double check the dimensions

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[Guigsy]

I’ll double check the dimensions

Squeezing a Fogstar 280Ah lithium battery under the seat

My Fogstar Drift 280Ah LiFePO4 battery arrived a few weekends ago, but this weekend was the first time I had a chance to try to fit it. My existing setup was a 95Ah AGM battery under the driver's seat and Victron SmartSolar MPPT charger. Despite the van being registered in 2020, it doesn't have...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[WESTY66]

Squeezing a Fogstar 280Ah lithium battery under the seat

My Fogstar Drift 280Ah LiFePO4 battery arrived a few weekends ago, but this weekend was the first time I had a chance to try to fit it. My existing setup was a 95Ah AGM battery under the driver's seat and Victron SmartSolar MPPT charger. Despite the van being registered in 2020, it doesn't have...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Mines not going under the seat, it’s going in a side locker of very similar size

 

[bigtree]

Someone cut the handles off for it to fit in their van.

 

[Guigsy]

Someone cut the handles off for it to fit in their van.

That certainly would have helped. But I wasn't sure if it would affect the warranty.

 

[bigtree]

The battery I received last week was only at 9%, I asked Fogstar this morning what they usually ship at and how low can you take the battery. I got a prompt reply that they normally ship between 30-50% and it's not advisable to discharge it more than 80%, I then sent another email explaining how I received mine including a screenshot, since then there has been a deathly silence. I will update when I get a reply.
TBH I've had no end of problems since I started to upgrade this van, first I ordered wheels and when they came one was chipped. The company were brilliant and got another one out to me quickly (Performance Alloys), next I ordered solar panels. I checked the tracking and they weren't to be found, turns out they were on back order so I got my money back and ordered elsewhere only for them to come damaged. Back they went and another pair arrived which were also damaged, I asked for my money back and the seller removed all his solar panels for sale pending a resolution. I then bought another pair but the smaller size (140w) which arrived very well packed and they are now on the van.
So,Wheels,Panels and battery all wrong. Hopefully that's the end of my problems but fingers crossed the install of full VB air turns out ok.

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