Fogstar drift eco (3 Viewers)

[Lee bay]

Hi
Anyone out there using the drift eco batteries from Fogstar thinking of 2x 100Ah if so do you find it a problem not having Bluetooth or heating?

 

[bigtwin]

My concern regarding the lack of bluetooth would be how will you know what’s going on when you are having problems? Particularly if you plan on using two batteries. The ability to diagnose what’s happening is crucial.

Ian

 

[paddymcc]

Agree with bigtwin regarding Bluetooth. Heating is less critical if you are aware that you shouldn't charge at or below freezing . The battery can be discharged below freezing so you should be able to start the heating to bring the battery up to temperature, provided it is within the insulated envelope of the van. So you will need a way of ensuring you don't charge it when cold: Votronic equipment has temperature sensors that can be placed on the battery negative to avoid this.

 

[68c]

Would it be cost effective to fit a bluetooth BMS to a cheaper Lithium battery?

 

[68c]

Would it be cost effective to fit a bluetooth BMS to a cheaper Lithium battery?

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[Steve N Tracy]

If you want slightly cheaper with Bluetooth https://aolithium.co.uk/collections...ithium-lifepo4-battery?variant=43878510330080
I have had 2 fitted for a while, the BMS must be very similar as the Fogstar app works ok with them.
They do not have any internal heating system but obviously the BMS inhibits charging when too cold anyway.

 

[suavecarve]

Just purchased the 280ah Fogstar which fitted under the seat of our Fiat based vehicle.

Charged it up for first time overnight and checked the working to us app and unfortunately they have given us 304 amps

With the MHF discount that works out at £720 for 300 ah for an under seat battery.

The really gutting part is they have just dropped this price to £680 this morning and I dont know whether you can get another 10% off that with MHF.

SO that could be £612 for a confirmed 280 ah and possibly more

https://www.fogstar.co.uk/products/..._2r479RKdYHXonlTVrrLKXhgTZa4jivhoCyb0QAvD_BwE

 

[suavecarve]

Hi
Anyone out there using the drift eco batteries from Fogstar thinking of 2x 100Ah if so do you find it a problem not having Bluetooth or heating?

From reading all teh different threads, bluetooth seems to be a bit of an issue if you put 2 batteries in parallel and dont charge them both fully prior to putting them in the van.

 

[nabsim]

My concern regarding the lack of bluetooth would be how will you know what’s going on when you are having problems? Particularly if you plan on using two batteries. The ability to diagnose what’s happening is crucial.

Ian

I fitted a couple of 100Ah lifepo4 battery’s around 5 years ago before bluetooth and heaters were seen, (think Relion were just starting to advertise one). I fitted a Victron shunt when I fitted the battery’s and have to date had absolutely no problems of any kind with the battery performance.

 

[Jim]

Just purchased the 280ah Fogstar which fitted under the seat of our Fiat based vehicle.

Charged it up for first time overnight and checked the working to us app and unfortunately they have given us 304 amps

With the MHF discount that works out at £720 for 300 ah for an under seat battery.

The really gutting part is they have just dropped this price to £680 this morning and I dont know whether you can get another 10% off that with MHF.

SO that could be £612 for a confirmed 280 ah and possibly more

https://www.fogstar.co.uk/products/..._2r479RKdYHXonlTVrrLKXhgTZa4jivhoCyb0QAvD_BwE

They have a sale on at the mo, so all discount codes are suspended.

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[Lenny HB]

Would it be cost effective to fit a bluetooth BMS to a cheaper Lithium battery?

Almost impossible as you would have to cut the case open to access the cells.

 

[JockandRita]

Hi
Anyone out there using the drift eco batteries from Fogstar thinking of 2x 100Ah if so do you find it a problem not having Bluetooth or heating?

I have been looking at these too, as I have no need for built in heaters, nor of Bluetooth, as the batteries would be stored internally, and the Victron Bluetooth shunt as well as the Victron Smart Battery connection would give me all the info I would need. The built in BMS would prevent any charging, until the temperature reached above the minimum temperature.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1347/0997/files/100ECO_SpecSheet.pdf?v=1719231311

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Raul]

My concern regarding the lack of bluetooth would be how will you know what’s going on when you are having problems? Particularly if you plan on using two batteries. The ability to diagnose what’s happening is crucial.

Ian

Not necessarily crucial, but easier to diagnose potential problems. I run two 200ah ultra max without any BT or any other coms. A good multimeter capable of measuring DC amps, clamp meter, and voltage sampling is all I need.
The ultramax have been in parallel since 2019 when I built the van, and last year I added another 300ah home made with eve cells. All play nice.
Would I buy again without BT? Yes.

 

[Lee bay]

Hi all
Thanks for your replies something to think about sounds like you need to keep an eye on lithium batteries from the posts I have read in that case would it be better to just fit 1 larger battery not have to worry about balancing ect

 

[bigtwin]

Hi all
Thanks for your replies something to think about sounds like you need to keep an eye on lithium batteries from the posts I have read in that case would it be better to just fit 1 larger battery not have to worry about balancing ect

Redundancy benefits aside, if the BMS in your single larger battery can cope with your maximum possible load (typically, an inverter at full chat (close to 300A for a 3kVA inverter)) then it’s probably simpler to stick to one battery.

Ian

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[headlight]

Hi all
Thanks for your replies something to think about sounds like you need to keep an eye on lithium batteries from the posts I have read in that case would it be better to just fit 1 larger battery not have to worry about balancing ect

I had 2 x 105AH LifePo4 and I couldn't get them to work properly together.
Swapped to a single 230AH LifePo4 and have had no problems in the 6-7 months I've been using it.

 

[Just smiffy]

The 305a Fogstar eco at £499.99 looks appealing….

Drift ECO 305Ah 12V Leisure Battery

The Fogstar Drift ECO is your gateway to reliable, budget-friendly off-grid power. With a superb 305Ah capacity and 3904Wh of usable energy, the Drift ECO is perfect for powering everything from leisure applications like camping and caravanning to professional use cases like solar energy storage.

www.fogstar.co.uk

 

[Lee bay]

The 305a Fogstar eco at £499.99 looks appealing….

Drift ECO 305Ah 12V Leisure Battery

The Fogstar Drift ECO is your gateway to reliable, budget-friendly off-grid power. With a superb 305Ah capacity and 3904Wh of usable energy, the Drift ECO is perfect for powering everything from leisure applications like camping and caravanning to professional use cases like solar energy storage.

www.fogstar.co.uk

Yes like the look of that good price for the power out of stock now but i am in no rush going away soon think I will put my name down.

 

[Raul]

I had 2 x 105AH LifePo4 and I couldn't get them to work properly together.
Swapped to a single 230AH LifePo4 and have had no problems in the 6-7 months I've been using it.

What were the symptoms/ problems you encountered?

 

[suavecarve]

The 305a Fogstar eco at £499.99 looks appealing….

Drift ECO 305Ah 12V Leisure Battery

The Fogstar Drift ECO is your gateway to reliable, budget-friendly off-grid power. With a superb 305Ah capacity and 3904Wh of usable energy, the Drift ECO is perfect for powering everything from leisure applications like camping and caravanning to professional use cases like solar energy storage.

www.fogstar.co.uk

The measurements on that one are very very close to being able to fit that under a seat. 380 mm is the absolute max measurement across but you can take off the handles (Fiat Ducato seat on a Dethleffs) it will need to be on its side.
The 280 ah from Fogstar does fit under our seat.

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[Carpmart]

What were the symptoms/ problems you encountered?

headlight - I would be keen to understand your problems too?

 

[headlight]

What were the symptoms/ problems you encountered?

The batteries were wired in parallel.
Both negatives to a bus bar with equal length and rating wire and both positives to a bus bar with equal length and rating wire.
The set up appeared to work fine.
However upon looking at the app as soon as I put a drain on the batteries battery 2 would immediately turn off discharge.
Turn discharge back on on battery 2 and battery 1 would immediately turn off discharge.
Turn discharge back on on battery 1 and battery 2 would turn off discharge and so on.
In effect I only had 1 battery working at a time.
They were identical batteries bought together.
They were both charged to 100% and all cells were within 0.002v of each other.
I tried un-paralleling them then spent days discharging them and charging them back up several times each incase it was a balancing or SOC problem.
I swapped their position with each other.
But I couldn't get both batteries working at the same time.
I then swapped to a bigger single battery and have had no problems.

 

[bigtwin]

What were the symptoms/ problems you encountered?

headlight - I would be keen to understand your problems too?

I seem to remember someone (headlight ?) reporting this some time ago and it turned out that they had a faulty battery so the issue wasn’t actually the ability to work in harmony. Was it you headlight that had a faulty battery?

Ian

Edit: Our posts crossed in the ether!

 

[bigtwin]

They were identical batteries bought together.

Which brand were they?

Ian

 

[Raul]

The batteries were wired in parallel.
Both negatives to a bus bar with equal length and rating wire and both positives to a bus bar with equal length and rating wire.
The set up appeared to work fine.
However upon looking at the app as soon as I put a drain on the batteries battery 2 would immediately turn off discharge.
Turn discharge back on on battery 2 and battery 1 would immediately turn off discharge.
Turn discharge back on on battery 1 and battery 2 would turn off discharge and so on.
In effect I only had 1 battery working at a time.
They were identical batteries bought together.
They were both charged to 100% and all cells were within 0.002v of each other.
I tried un-paralleling them then spent days discharging them and charging them back up several times each incase it was a balancing or SOC problem.
I swapped their position with each other.
But I couldn't get both batteries working at the same time.
I then swapped to a bigger single battery and have had no problems.

Bms bad settings, it had values that was was not compatible with your use and was disconnecting for whatever parameter was set.
Generally, parallel batteries contribute each to the capability of its connection/ cable. Other than that, without bms coms, each battery is governed individually by its own bms.
Even identical batteries will differ by a bit, but, as long as the bms settings are close to each others, they will work fine.

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[Lenny HB]

The batteries were wired in parallel.
Both negatives to a bus bar with equal length and rating wire and both positives to a bus bar with equal length and rating wire.
The set up appeared to work fine.
However upon looking at the app as soon as I put a drain on the batteries battery 2 would immediately turn off discharge.
Turn discharge back on on battery 2 and battery 1 would immediately turn off discharge.
Turn discharge back on on battery 1 and battery 2 would turn off discharge and so on.
In effect I only had 1 battery working at a time.
They were identical batteries bought together.
They were both charged to 100% and all cells were within 0.002v of each other.
I tried un-paralleling them then spent days discharging them and charging them back up several times each incase it was a balancing or SOC problem.
I swapped their position with each other.
But I couldn't get both batteries working at the same time.
I then swapped to a bigger single battery and have had no problems.

I think you were just unlucky myself and quite a few others are running Fogstar batteries in parallel without any problems.

 

[headlight]

I think you were just unlucky myself and quite a few others are running Fogstar batteries in parallel without any problems.

I agree.
The only thing I did notice was that one battery behaved strangely when being charged.
One battery would charge straight to 100% no problem but the other one would charge to 80% then turn charging off.
Turn charging back on and it would charge to 85% then turn charging off.
Turn it back on and it would charge to 90% and so on until it was at 100% SOC.

 

[BusyBuilder]

Why all the fuss over charging lithium batteries when cold ?

Most of my tools have lithium batteries, they get charged in my workshop (unheated) and on site and never had a problem. These batteries get thrown around and some real abuse on site.

 

[ChrisL]

Why all the fuss over charging lithium batteries when cold ?

Most of my tools have lithium batteries, they get charged in my workshop (unheated) and on site and never had a problem. These batteries get thrown around and some real abuse on site.

I believe tools use a different Lithium chemistry then Lifep04 leisure batteries and therefore have different charging requirements.

 

[Raul]

Why all the fuss over charging lithium batteries when cold ?

Most of my tools have lithium batteries, they get charged in my workshop (unheated) and on site and never had a problem. These batteries get thrown around and some real abuse on site.

Not quite, the power tools use different Li chemistry that are tolerant to different parameters, compared to LFP. But, even so, my dewalt and makitta chargers, will not charge on cold or overheated batteries. If I pull a used hot battery out of the saw, it will not charge it, the charger will blink fast till battery has cooled down sufficiently. The same goes for cold, it will allow discharge but not charge, and the rate of discharge is limited on sub 0deg. I notice the grinder spins slower with a cold battery, same as the saw.

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