Fogstar Friday - 15% off lithium batteries

[MisterB]

Swifter - there you go!

Amazon product ASIN B07W8D36M2
I could just have used the bolt type terminals that came with the battery

 

[rwg]

My 105Ah arrived this morning with DPD - wasn't expecting it until Monday, so that was a nice surprise.

Nicely packaged in a sturdy outer box with foam surrounding the battery. As well as the battery, there was a brief instruction manual and a pair of bolts and washers for the mate terminals



To see the data from the battery you need to install the Fogstar Drift app on your phone (Android/iPhone). On Android you have to grant location permission or it will not work - this is something forced onto the app by Google permission policies - the App cannot scan for nearby devices without location permission.

When you start the App (Android anyway) you see a list of bluetooth things nearby. My battery shows up as 'xiaoxiang BMS' - click on the 'Off' toggle to the right of the battery entry and it will go to 'On' and connect to the battery. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to remember the last connection choice, so you have to do this each time the app is restarted. A minor annoyance.



The main screens of the App show the battery status, cell status and a few links

A couple of the things on the final page do nothing (UFP Battery care and operation manual). The Advanced setting link gives you a warning not to change anything if you want to keep your Warranty and then a list of about 50 to 80 voltage, current and reset time settings. There was nothing in there that I would even know how to change sensibly, so I left well alone and won't be bothering with that again.

The main page showing the current state of the battery is fairly self-explanatory. The battery arrived at 68% charge, so I set a bench power supply up to 14.4V to test charging it.


The app responds within a few seconds to the change in state and shows charging current and power as well as an estimate of how long charging will take. All good so far. You can turn off charging with the toggle at the bottom (I tested this) and discharging too (untested so far).

Finally, I decided to test a bit of discharging to make sure it 'did what it said on the tin' as it were. Rather than wire it up to the van (still waiting for some ring terminals and terminal covers to be delivered), I connected up my tyre compressor which can draw up to 23A, so needs to be connected direct to the battery with crocodile clips. With no pressure to work against it only drew 12.2A, with the app showing both that and the time left


So, the results of a quick test all look positive - when I have all the bits I will be fitting it to the van. By chance the height is exactly right to fit in tidily in the under-seat locker on a raised section *and* just let the seat close This will free up space in the deeper section of the locker to the right where the current battery is.



cheers,

Robin

 

[Swifter]

Swifter - there you go!

Amazon product ASIN B07W8D36M2
I could just have used the bolt type terminals that came with the battery

Thanks for the link . In the end I decided to go for another Ultramax to match what I have because I think having the same BMS in each will work better together. It should arrive on Tuesday so ready for the Halloween Rally ( don’t forget my fridge please ) I think the Fogstar are better value at the moment , especially as they have a Bluetooth connectivity app and heat mats as standard.

 

[MisterB]

rwg

What make us your bench top power supply please? If I go down the home battery bank I'm going to need one to top balance the cells (I've been reading a lot and watching Will Prowse)

He suggests a simple one from Amazon or similar but there are so many to choose from!!

Ps good review and very informative!

 

[rwg]

MisterB ,

It's a Circuit Specialists make, which is to be honest just a cheap Chinese one with someone's logo stamped on the front. I bought it on Amazon several years ago, and on the plus side it still works. On the minus side, the current readout has been wrong for about 3 years now and the coarse/fine dials to adjust the voltage and current are awkward to use. I don't think I could really recommend it.

Glad you liked the review, of course the important thing is how well it is doing in a year or two's time!

Cheers, Robin

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[rwg]

I just worked out that you can set the Fogstar app to autoconnect. On the first screen where you see the list of Bluetooth devices, slide the one for the battery left and an auto connect button appears that you can click.

Found this out totally by accident, still at least its possible.

The history graphs are totally weird though. The newest data is on the left hand side of the graph, which is unique to say the least, and the date labels are like 23 11 34 which means 11:34 on the 23rd. It's almost like it was designed by someone who had had a graph described to them but never seen one! Still, I don't think the slightly odd history graphs matter.

Cheers, Robin

 

[pacman]

Fogstar Friday again today. 15% off with code NOVEMBER4

 

[Vansflyer]

A great "tear down" video of a Fogstar battery here. Very clear information on how it works with regard to the heating and temperature protection. If you can't be fussed to watch it this guy rates it highly.

 

[BILL 875]

I am about to order a fogstar 300 A battery the price they gave me was 999.99 minus any discount code, the question is who has or who knows the latest discount code or is it just fridays date?

 

[MisterB]

I am about to order a fogstar 300 A battery the price they gave me was 999.99 minus any discount code, the question is who has or who knows the latest discount code or is it just fridays date?

I have just asked Becs to send it me - it might even be on my email, let me check ..

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[MisterB]

I am about to order a fogstar 300 A battery the price they gave me was 999.99 minus any discount code, the question is who has or who knows the latest discount code or is it just fridays date?

BILL 875


Try November4 - . I spoke to her earlier and she said they only have a few left. They've sold 190 in the last two weeks!

She said use NOVEMBER4
PS it's not Friday yet ...

 

[MisterB]

A great "tear down" video of a Fogstar battery here. Very clear information on how it works with regard to the heating and temperature protection. If you can't be fussed to watch it this guy rates it highly.

Fogstar managed to track him down and sent him a replacement case,

 

[BILL 875]

Thanks I have tried the codes no go im afraid i will wait for the latest code Bill

 

[Paulypaul]

Haven't used Fogster for anything large, mainly rechargeable batteries for night vision scopes etc, but they send out an email every Friday with a discount code if you subscribe to their email.

 

[MisterB]

Thanks I have tried the codes no go im afraid i will wait for the latest code Bill

All upper case, no spaces?

I will check with her again

She said it's still live or even try MotorhomeFun15

Fogstar Batteries | The UK’s #1 Lithium Battery Retailer

18650 Battery Retailer | 12V Leisure Batteries | 48V Solar Batteries | UK Based | 5* Reviews | Fast & Free Shipping - Same Day Despatch

www.fogstar.co.uk

BILL 875

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[pacman]

I am about to order a fogstar 300 A battery the price they gave me was 999.99 minus any discount code, the question is who has or who knows the latest discount code or is it just fridays date?

If you ring or email them tomorrow and tell them you are a member of MHF they will give you a 15% discount code.. Unfortunately cannot find the email with the code. Bought a 300ah 2 weeks ago for £850 and currently on first trip with it to test it out.

 

[BILL 875]

Thanks all, ordered and paid with discount, what a great bunch, regards Bill

 

[Jev88]

When I enquired last week any new orders were for delivery January

 

[Lenny HB]

Started my battery swap using a Fogstar 300ah battery. I replaced two 130ah
I collected the battery and it was well packaged - it came with threaded terminals so I have ordered a couple of standard posts to arrive tomorrow so I dont need to change the battery connections - I prefer the clip on/clip off types.

View attachment 679322

View attachment 679324


For a size comparison

View attachment 679325
Slightly bigger than one of the 130A batteries and lighter than them in total. I did like the handles on the new battery - really useful for lifting and manoeuvring as you can take the weight in both hands, making it so much easier.

Those battery terminals in your pic are rubbish they are pressed steel really not suitable when drawing high currents when running an inverter.
Crimp new terminals on your cables and connect straight to the battery a far better solution.

 

[Lenny HB]

Swifter - there you go!

Amazon product ASIN B07W8D36M2
I could just have used the bolt type terminals that came with the battery

I'm in a rubbish mood tonight, rubbish cheap & nasty zinc alloy.
Do the job properly, crimp new terminals on the cables and bolt direct to battery.

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[MisterB]

Those battery terminals in your pic are rubbish they are pressed steel really not suitable when drawing high currents when running an inverter.
Crimp new terminals on your cables and connect straight to the battery a far better solution.

Thanks I will sort it before I actually use the inverter.

 

[Marie-Claire]

Motorhomefun15 works to get the discount, doesnt need to be on a friday

 

[BobJayne]

Doesn't appear to be anywhere to insert a discount code now, have they removed the option to add one or is it just me?

 

[Lenny HB]

Doesn't appear to be anywhere to insert a discount code now, have they removed the option to add one or is it just me?

They no longer give discounts as they reduced their prices it says about it on their website. Although prices only reduced by around 8%.

 

[Jev88]

Thet seem to have a regular offer.....

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[BobJayne]

Thet seem to have a regular offer.....


View attachment 696653

Is that recent? Says use code but no where to insert it. See Lenny's reply above.

 

[PaulC70]

Is that recent? Says use code but no where to insert it. See Lenny's reply above.

View attachment 696666

yes very recent, in fact pretty much the day before I pulled the trigger :-( I may wait on the offchance there is one that works this friday to make a final decision.

 

[PaulC70]

it didn't

 

[RichardB]

it didn't

I spoke to them last week. No more discounts on leisure batteries as they’re discounted already.
Still a good price so ordered a 300ah one

 

[MisterB]

I'm in a rubbish mood tonight, rubbish cheap & nasty zinc alloy.
Do the job properly, crimp new terminals on the cables and bolt direct to battery.

Thanks, I did as you suggested plus added an isolator so that I dont have to lift the seats to isolate the leisure battery.

Just need to sort out the precharge for the inverter caps for my next task!

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