BigBattery 'OWL' 12V 170Ah LiFePO4 Battery, Review and Teardown

Today, we will be taking an in-depth look at the 12V 170Ah LiFePO4 batteries that BigBattery has for sale. I will disassemble the battery to show how it's put together, then complete a capacity test to see if the specs match as advertised. This is one of two types of LiFePO4 batteries that we will be taking a look at over the next few weeks.

*WARNING:* Lithium batteries are dangerous and can result in fire! This video is NOT intended to be instructional or a "how-to" lesson. I am not a professional. Do not attempt anything you see here without first contacting a certified and/or licensed professional.

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*Disclaimers and Statements:*
► I receive a small commission on purchases made using my affiliated links shared the video description and comments section. The views and opinions expressed here are my own, unbiased, and not influenced by this commission in any way.
► My videos are in no way intended to be instructional "how-to" lessons. I am simply documenting my project for informational purposes. Property damage, personal injury, or death may result, even when following manufacturer's instructions. I cannot be held liable for such damage or injury. It is YOUR OBLIGATION to ensure that you are complying with any local and federal laws as well as code and permit requirements.

[DCGULL]

McLovin' LithiumSolar's Review of the Big Battery 170AH Battery. Loved Will Prowse's review & also appreciate LithiumSolar's work as well. How awesome is that- (2) GREAT reviewers & add in a dash of the ultimate DIYer- David Poz, and- it's a trifecta of lithium goodness!!! Golly, it makes feel all warm inside... Ok, even I can't take all of this 'seasonal goodness', but...Gotta do my part!

[offgridmgtowhomestead]

I got 4 of the 24v versions for my rv. So far they are outstanding

[andystewart]

I just checked on line, backorder but love the 10 year warranty... looks like battleborn has finally met its match..

[jjthegreat]

The nerd community thanks you for your service! Perfect review, down to the point with relevant information, no fluff..

[rongray]

Good to know BigBattery is doing their part with supplying quality product. Thank you for the test and review! How many actual minutes did your heater operate before the inverter shut down?

[mikepettengill]

Thanks Man. I dig your DIY stuff and it is always nice to see what the market is providing and what sort of quality exists in those products.

[sreekumarUSA]

121720/1448h PST. Thanks for the new presentation. This new LiFePo4 battery unit from BIG.BATTERY is a perfect and well designed unit, than many I have seen. The printed battery series connector and the balance modular unit seems to be quite unique, that too, I have not seen before. Well done, BigBattery people. The other salient feature that attracted the attention is the clear acrylic cover placed on the battery PCB and the rubber padding on the metal outer cover, which’d hold the Acrylic board in place from rattling. Very intelligent design, indeed.
What is the display unit, if you may, please, shed some light on that device. Thanks once again. Stay safe. 73s...

[jacarajc]

i am not in the market for any batteries personally, but have been loving these videos lol. I've been binge watching them the peast couple days now

[isitrigged]

I like the Batrium addon you've got going there....
Killer review as always!

[thonatim]

Thanks for sharing the fact that you bought this with your own money, hopefully at random. Great review

[spider]

Nice review! You mentioned that you didn't want to pull too much through that thin wire, why on earth would they sell 6awg for their batteries?

[zpower]

The shunt isn't affected by the losses in the cable. Since its measuring amps, they are going to be equal through the whole circuit, and the shunt doesn't care if the energy/heat is being dissipated in the inverter or the wires. I think the test came in a bit lower than rated because of the high draw rate. If it was a 34A load (0.2C) instead of 80 or so amps you would have likely gotten the full 170Ah.

[robbiewright]

Great video! I really wanted to see the inside of this battery. Thank you. I am impressed with the quality of the battery. Thanks again!!

[NamesGolden]

I wish you and projectfarm had video production teams, so yall could do more nerd stuff and not have to focus on the horror that is editing. great work as always.

[CraftsmanontheLake]

I've been watching videos on making your own system. I was going to do that for my small camper and have it portable for my electric boat. After watching this video I'm deciding that what I was going to make is done much better here with this unit. Thanks for the video. I'll be ordering one of these this summer. I just need to find out which anderson connectors I need to connect both the charger and camper to the thing. I think it's the parallel one. I'll have to make sure.

[michaeldoherty]

I believe Big Battery uses Lishen cells. Very good review. Thanks for taking your time to do it.

[danielardelian]

Build quality looks good.
The Ah capacity measurement is not affected by cable drop, just the Wh capacity is affected.
Another explanation for the lower-than-rated Ah measurement result could be that the battery was NOT BALANCED.

[ranakhandkar]

Awesome review! I wish other tech stuffs (that I am interested in) has detailed and honest review of similar quality. Thanks for your dedication and spending on cool batteries. Please go for a Patreon campaign so that we can be a part of it.

[Pifreek]

So I've really been getting into LFP recently, and I have a hypothesis for why you didn't pull full capacity. At 13.57V, you were at 3.39V per cell, which is pretty close to fully charged. However, 3.7V per cell is considered fully charged for LFP, or 14.8V for a 4s pack. Big battery recommends 14.6V charging voltage, for 3.65V per cell. I personally charge my 4s LFP packs to 14.4V during use, but 14.8V for testing.
Anyway, there is barely any capacity gained by charging to 14.6V vs 13.57V, but we are also looking at barely any capacity missing. 161Ah is only ~5% off from the 170 mark.
Try charging all the way to 14.6V cc/cv, and wait for the current to go to just about zero. On a pack this large, 100mA is probably close enough, but when I do my own capacity testing I go all the way to zero.
LFP voltage does settle lower and quicker vs NMC, but it shouldn't settle THAT much overnight.
Great video, keep up the good work!

[GoatZilla]

Good review, i like it when reviewers actually open things up.