$75 12V 7AH Dakota Lithium LifePO4 Battery Test

Dakota Lithium are great batteries, designed in the USA. Let's see how this one holds up...

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Mail: 2150 W. Northwest Highway STE114-1163, Grapevine TX 76051
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#Hamradio #kc5hwb #lifepo4battery

[raykiglu]

Back in 2020, purchased two of the 7AH batteries as a set and reduced cost. Don't remember what the cost was but it was very reasonable. Have used them in my back yard with my IC-7300 and have never had an issue. Would deffinitely recommend Dakota Lithium batteries.

[mrgunner]

I purchased 3 of the LiFePo batteries Gigaparts is selling (12v 12ah). Used them for field day, powering an Icom 7200 running at about 40 watts. Ran my station for the entire operating period without recharging.

[ahendrix]

...i looked at these long and hard...didn't get any, but still looking at them...what they offered looked promising...may make a purchase later! ...thanks for this review!

[betterbprepared]

Appreciate the battery tests. I am in the market for a battery now and you just put these on my radar. I love the fact that they are lightweight, even compared to the Bioenno. Pricewise I see that the Dakota 10ah battery is the same price as the Bioenno 9ah battery. Great performance, lighter weight, and more amp hours for the money. I'm in.

[youkilt]

I have a bunch of the 7ah and 10ah. Usually purchase directly from Dakota Lithium. Right now you can get a pair of the 7ah for $119 with free shipping to the lower 48.

[hdrider]

I have a 7 AH, 2 10 AH, and recently bought both the PowerBox 135 AH and a stand alone dual-purpose 135 AH battery, the latter two re used in a small solar array. They are very expensive, but so far very reliable. Both the PowerBox and the stand alone 135 AH came in boxes clearly identified as made in China.

[ericplatham]

I've had this battery on my watch list for some time... thanks for the video

[davidtangredi]

Apparently you didn't check the Battery Management System. Other reviews have shown that the advertised short circuit protection does not work.

[claudeintheshack]

I've had Dakota Lithium on my radar for a couple years now. They do have a section on their website that calls out "ham radio backup power solutions" so they are certainly marketing /positioning themselves to appeal to ham radio consumers. I'm waiting for a couple SLA batteries I own to fade before I buy a couple lithiums from them. Good warranty period, and good range of operating temps.

[brandonb]

I buy a lot of these for the product I sell. These batteries are pretty good. From what I understand they used to bring in all of the cells from China, then do a domestic assembly, but about 3 or 4 years ago they started also assembling in China as well.

[skyt]

I got three 12 volt Dakota batteries three months ago. They advertise an 11 year warranty. One of them would not take a charge. The company does not ever answer their phone and they do not respond to emails. That seems to be the case for a lot of reviews on Amazon. So it looks like I'm out three hundred dollars for nothing. I guess that is par for the course these days.

[Ghostbit]

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I'm in the market for a battery or two and had never heard of Dakota Lithium. Looks really solid. Adding them to my list of batteries to consider. You should evaluate your Bioenno for comparison, though I expect it to behave as expected based on their pricing and reputation. I know it's well beyond the scope of what you are trying to do here but it would be nice to be able to evaluate each battery's BMS setup to see how the cheap ones fair compared to the premium batteries. Thanks for another great video! 73

[johnk]

I just bought a "Weize" brand LifePO4 10 amp battery for $49.95 off Amazon. The case and construction of the battery I bought and the one you are testing is exactly the same except for color and branding. More amps for less $$$. I have to wonder if maybe these batteries are all made at the same factory and branded differently ? I don't have the tester, so I can't verify a true 10 amp output, but in use, it has been excellent. Maybe try out a Weize brand when you get the chance. For my 20 amp, I've gone with the Bioenno. Great battery. Just food for thought. Good review and test. It is possible that Dakota gives better factory support and that is the real difference, not the battery. Maybe you are paying for the name and both give decent support. That I don't know....Just thinking out loud.

[aldewitt]

I have the 18 AH battery from Dakota. Love it!

[KnurdMonkey]

Are those a direct replacement for sealed lead acid battery same size voltage and amps?

[KairosZenith]

i just took a look at the Weize (12V 10ah LiFePO4) battery John was talking about in the comments. They do look like the same casing (which doesn't mean anything), same (2, 000) discharge cycles, LiFePO4, Smart BMS, etc, for $25 less. Since you're doing a video on the Dakota anyway, could make for an interesting video to do a comparison on the 2 batteries. Do that test with the CBA-V on the Weize as well, then when you go out for the test, do the RFI check, longevity of the charge (but i guess you'd have to use the same radio on each battery to be fair, checking battery output at each hour, till it runs out), maybe even checking how much it effects the power output of the radio when you get towards the end of the battery capacity. Then if you feel adventurous, open up both batteries to see if the components are possibly the same on the inside (using safety precautions, of course) AND if you go that far, maybe even submerse it in water before opening the battery, to see how water tight they are :)

[robertmeyer]

I have been into radio from the 1970's . LiFePO4 is far the bast type of battery for the 12V world. would like to see a test on some old bioenno that has been well used, This will be a good test to see how they hold up over time. also charge on put in freezer over night and test it. a outher great test is fully charge on. let it set 30 days or more then test it. battery's are the hart of Pota .and Sota ! years back we used 6V golf cart battery's 2 to make 12V . big and heavy for field day. how many hams run LiFePO4 for Sota and Pota? I am running Power queen and some outers. 73's

[EverydayAdmin]

That’s the great thing of lifepo4 vs LliPo, LiPo will drop in voltage as it discharges requiring a regulator for 12v batteries, LifePo4 will remain 12v to the end ;). Better for sensitive electronics.

[Screamingtut]

Jason, they are made in the USA I have two of their 24Ah batteries I'm Making a battery box I still waiting for parts from China. I've talked to one of the Owners they had a backlog of orders

[jcvee]

Thanks for the fine video, Jason. I'm considering a number of brands of LiFePo4 batteries and was wondering if there is a universal charger that can be used with these batteries, or do you have to have a charger specific to the brand you buy? Thanks, and 73!