Fogstar drift eco (1 Viewer)

[Lenny HB]

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

My strimmer is like that, they shout about fast charging but it's not very fast when you have to wait an hour for it to cool down.

 

[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

So if I got one of these without a BMS as it seems most problems are with the bms will it work just fine with 400w solar into a victron 100/30 controller and a Orion xs 12/12 50amp B2B….?

 

[Lenny HB]

So if I got one of these without a BMS as it seems most problems are with the bms will it work just fine with 400w solar into a victron 100/30 controller and a Orion xs 12/12 50amp B2B….?

It will still have a BMS you just won't be able to see what it's doing.

Have a word with RogerIvy see what he thinks.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

So if I got one of these without a BMS as it seems most problems are with the bms will it work just fine with 400w solar into a victron 100/30 controller and a Orion xs 12/12 50amp B2B….?

Effectively what I have, albeit smaller capacity, with a Sterling lithium (which is unheated but inside the van so if I were trying to charge when it's cold outside the van heater would have put something in) where the bluetooth to the BMS doesn't work so I can't check the battery itself, and only know it's SoC based on using a Victron SmartShunt. As far as I can tell for 4 years the 120Ah battery is fine.

These Fogstar Eco batteries could be an excellent value.

 

[ChrisL]

So if I got one of these without a BMS as it seems most problems are with the bms will it work just fine with 400w solar into a victron 100/30 controller and a Orion xs 12/12 50amp B2B….?

If you add a Victron shunt to that, I think you would be okay, you need some method of knowing what the SOC is, as voltage won't tell you much until it is pretty much flat, the shunt also needs setting up correctly for it to be useful.

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[headlight]

So if I got one of these without a BMS as it seems most problems are with the bms will it work just fine with 400w solar into a victron 100/30 controller and a Orion xs 12/12 50amp B2B….?

Very few BMS problems, I think that I was just unlucky.
Having the app and built in heater is worth paying the extra for IMO.

 

[JockandRita]

Having the app and built in heater is worth paying the extra for IMO.

At £149 difference in price per battery? I would need 4 x 105Ah batteries bringing me up to £1476, whereas for 2 x 305Ah without heaters or Bluetooth, (which we don't need), I'd only be at a grand, all but tuppence).

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Pausim]

Lithium leisure batteries have been around for several years without bluetooth or heaters. Neither are essential, the BMS should be protecting and balancing the cells without any input (interference?) from the user. For many users the extra information seems to be causing more anxiety than enlightenment. My new battery has bluetooth and I will probably spend hours worrying about minor variations that for the last six years have passed me by. My period of blissful ignorance appears to be at an end.

Fortunately a battery heater is not included in my Roamer battery which is one less thing to worry about.

 

[suavecarve]

So if I got one of these without a BMS as it seems most problems are with the bms will it work just fine with 400w solar into a victron 100/30 controller and a Orion xs 12/12 50amp B2B….?

I would say yes based on reading numerous threads this week and looking at numerous different solar set ups which are sold by reputable companies and I can see what sizes they sell with what what equipment. I almost feel like an expert just without the knowledge.

From what I can work out 400 watts of solar requires the 6mm2 wires and the 100/30 Victron and will pump in (on a good day) over 1.5kw or 125 ah.

But I might be wrong !

 

[BusyBuilder]

Can someone explain the different numbers on these Victron solar controllers please ?
There are 75/15, 100/50, 100/30 for example, and what's a SOC ???

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[ChrisL]

Can someone explain the different numbers on these Victron solar controllers please ?
There are 75/15, 100/50, 100/30 for example, and what's a SOC ???

The first number is the maximum input voltage from the solar panels, the second number is the maximum amps it can deliver if you have sufficient solar input. SOC = State Of Charge.

 

[RogerIvy]

It will still have a BMS you just won't be able to see what it's doing.

Have a word with RogerIvy see what he thinks.

IMO if you get that battery you're going to want to get a SmartShunt ... so factor in the extra £99
The reason I say this is because in MANY of the discussions I have with people not knowing what is left in the tank is a problem (i.e. is my heating going to turn off halfway through the night).

 

[RogerIvy]

The first number is the maximum input voltage from the solar panels, the second number is the maximum amps it can deliver if you have sufficient solar input. SOC = State Of Charge.

Correct
You MUST NOT exceed the first value (voltage). You'll blow the MPPT.
You can exceed the 2nd value (current) ... the MPPT will stop and retry.

 

[RogerIvy]

Lithium leisure batteries have been around for several years without bluetooth or heaters. Neither are essential, the BMS should be protecting and balancing the cells without any input (interference?) from the user. For many users the extra information seems to be causing more anxiety than enlightenment. My new battery has bluetooth and I will probably spend hours worrying about minor variations that for the last six years have passed me by. My period of blissful ignorance appears to be at an end.

Fortunately a battery heater is not included in my Roamer battery which is one less thing to worry about.

Whilst I agree with you in principle, the MANY discussions I've had with people at shows etc has me thinking that not knowing is a big deal to loads of people. For example (as I said to Lenny), not knowing if you'll wake up to no heating. So many people ask me if they will be able to see what's left in the tank if they upgrade to lithium ... always a smile and relief when I say "Yes".

But the heaters, I'm not sure how useful they really are. External lockers? ... probably.

 

[BusyBuilder]

But doesn't the motorhome display show state of batteries voltage ? Or does this shunt thing do that?
I put a solar panel and extra battery in my first van with an mppt that showed the battery input output and state of batteries iirc. Can't remember which mppt it was, German aluminium type, quite expensive.

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[ChrisL]

But doesn't the motorhome display show state of batteries voltage ? Or does this shunt thing do that?
I put a solar panel and extra battery in my first van with an mppt that showed the battery input output and state of batteries iirc. Can't remember which mppt it was, German aluminium type, quite expensive.

Lithium batteries provide an almost constant voltage until they are almost flat so a conventional volt meter type display is not of much use in determining the state of charge, shunts count amps in and out so are more useful for lithium batteries.

 

[Pausim]

Whilst I agree with you in principle, the MANY discussions I've had with people at shows etc has me thinking that not knowing is a big deal to loads of people. For example (as I said to Lenny), not knowing if you'll wake up to no heating. So many people ask me if they will be able to see what's left in the tank if they upgrade to lithium ... always a smile and relief when I say "Yes".

But the heaters, I'm not sure how useful they really are. External lockers? ... probably.

I have found my Victron BMV useful for keeping tabs on the state of charge which is useful. The bluetooth battery bit that I am less sure about is the cell balance figures, which seem to cause lots of concern. I know that having these figures available I am likely to be checking them regularly and worrying about any disparity. I know the BMS will be actively managing the balances on my battery but being a worrier I will probably still obsess about them. Active cell balancing seems to be an extra on some batteries which surprises me because I thought that was one of the basic functions of a BMS.

 

[BusyBuilder]

Can someone show their bluetooth display ? does it show on your mobile or do you have a display in the moho ?

 

[bigtwin]

Active cell balancing seems to be an extra on some batteries which surprises me because I thought that was one of the basic functions of a BMS.

Not all have active cell balancing, some use passive cell balancing.

The primary function of the BMS is to protect the cells. You might consider the act of balancing the cells as a ‘maintenance’ function.

Ian

 

[ChrisL]

Can someone show their bluetooth display ? does it show on your mobile or do you have a display in the moho ?

It shows on your phone or tablet. Here are my BMS screens at 09:30 today.

And my shunt.

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[Pausim]

Not all have active cell balancing, some use passive cell balancing.

The primary function of the BMS is to protect the cells. You might consider the act of balancing the cells as a ‘maintenance’ function.

Ian

As far as I am concerned a leisure battery should be maintenance free. My first LiFePO4 battery was a Relion and it came with only a + and a - negative terminal . It looked after itself perfectly well for 6 years without any noticeable loss of performance.

 

[bigtwin]

As far as I am concerned a leisure battery should be maintenance free. My first LiFePO4 battery was a Relion and it came with only a + and a - negative terminal . It looked after itself perfectly well for 6 years without any noticeable loss of performance.

It is ‘maintenance free’. The fact that you weren’t aware that the cells were balancing doesn’t mean that they weren’t.

Ian

 

[AdrianChen]

Whilst I agree with you in principle, the MANY discussions I've had with people at shows etc has me thinking that not knowing is a big deal to loads of people. For example (as I said to Lenny), not knowing if you'll wake up to no heating. So many people ask me if they will be able to see what's left in the tank if they upgrade to lithium ... always a smile and relief when I say "Yes".

But the heaters, I'm not sure how useful they really are. External lockers? ... probably.

I did monitor the battery temp sensor on our system over the winter, but the data has now gone from VRM, from memory the batts did not go below three degrees on the unheated van, with the batteries in the garage. Charging stops at 5°c as set in the Victron kit but would have been within a safe level of charge at that temp in any case since solar is pretty poor over winter. It was a mild but wet/cloudy winter on the south coast. I don't remember ever seeing the batteries at or below 0 for the last couple of winters, or the SOC going below 60, and since every now and then I give the van a run for an hour or two, once warm the battery gets a good top up then. Actually on a sunny day it warms up a little as well.

So I don't feel the need for heaters but would certainly if based in a colder environment like a trip to Norway over winter or something.....

 

[AdrianChen]

It is ‘maintenance free’. The fact that you weren’t aware that the cells were balancing doesn’t mean that they weren’t.

Ian

Schrodingers battery!

 

[Pausim]

It is ‘maintenance free’. The fact that you weren’t aware that the cells were balancing doesn’t mean that they weren’t.

Ian

That is the point I am making, we shouldn’t have to worry about cell balancing but there are now batteries without active cell balancing.

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[bigtwin]

we shouldn’t have to worry about cell balancing but there are now batteries without active cell balancing.

You don’t have to worry about it. There are many batteries without active balancing but I’d be surprised if there were any without passive balancing.

Ian