Renogy 'Smart' 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery Tear Down

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[WillProwse]

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Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :)

DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

[t.c.]

Duuude!!, I HIGHLY respect your intelligences, not only in the field of electronics, but the ability to teach & articulate in layman's terms how to become a DYI in electronics w/disclaimer warnings! I'm a 65yr old guy that has worked closely & under the guidance of a chief engineer close to my age and too come across someone in you age bracket w/so much knowledge & education in this field is totally superb, unbelievable, & awesome!!! Keep on keeping on man & I wish you the greatest in your future endeavors!!!

[alanprudhomme]

This has to be the the only case I have seen you dis assemble without cutting the case open. NICE CASE!

[lunatik]

Battery tech is advancing.
Thanks to Will for in depth analyses.
I am sure the manufacturers watch his videos.
I think WiIl has single handedly done more for solar and battery consumers than anyone else.

[Rabs]

It's about 4 years since i first watched this video and then purchased this battery. Has run my 4wd 12v system flawlessly since and only lost 2 to 3ah of capacity. Nice!

[IllumTheMessage]

Like them both. A healthy ecosystem of quality battery manufacturers means everyone wins.

[energiewender]

3:35 The branding under the sticker says PylonTech, so that is probably the manufacturer not only of the BMS but of the whole battery. Thank you for the interesting review. I would always prefer Battleborn‘s cylindrical cells over pouch cell as they keep the electrodes in their place more precisely than pouch cells and they can dissipate heat much better.

[KakaDanny]

All the way from Africa ( Arusha, Tanzania ) ! Thanks a lot Will !

[PeterMilanovski]

Secretly, I reckon that Renogy were praying for you to open up the battery to show of all the hard work they put into it! All that is missing is the ability to series connect and the trademark black and blue colour scheme!

[ChrisHolt]

I ordered two of these because they are group 24 size and will fit in the battery tray of my RV. They are lower in price now than when you tested and tore down, so that is good. Thanks for the teardown, it was really nice to see how well that is built.

[rebeccadavitt]

I purchased three of these during renogy’s flash sale and scored them for $599 each! I’ve only been using them for one month now but I do really like them so far. Thanks for taking it apart so we can see inside! Super cool!!

[caddyzig]

I’d be really interested in a follow up video when you learn more about the safety features of the pouch cells. Looks like a really well made battery! Really looking forward to comparing the new Battleborn batteries whenever they’re released.

[azeissler]

I just bought this battery, this video makes me feel even better about my purchase

[davidlane]

Love these teardowns. I keep checking back every day to see if you've uploaded a teardown of the basic Renogy 100ah that so many of us got on Black Friday. The suspense is killing me 😂

[janralphalicida]

From philippines. I really appreciate your passion in sharing knowledge about solar energy. Keep sharing video sir, im on track.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[wtcamer]

That battery chemistry is pretty safe in any packaging factor. LiFePO4 pouch cells are about as safe as you can get. You can run a nail through them and not start a fire or cause an explosion. They will get hot, but they will pretty much just fail in the damaged area and cauterize. It's not like Lithium where whey vent extreme amounts of gas and risk run away damage from extreme heat leading to explosions.

Also, since that XT 90 plug isn't running negative and positive (90 up and 90 down for a combined 90 amps circulating) you can get 180 amps (the same 90 + 90). So technically those plugs could support 360 amps :)


The 4s setup probably allows the batteries to run many more amps than the BMS will output. This keeps the cells cooler and means that even during heavy usage the cells will remain very healthy.

It's very over-engineered!

[adventurefuel]

This review push Renogy over the top for me. I only run all 12 volt gear to avoid the inverter conversion power loss, so this is perfect. The smart battery network feature was an added benefit. First on came this week. I’ll add a second next big sale. Thanks Will for you hard work and great evaluations.

[michaelrodriguez]

Hello! Love the videos.
Did you ever do an update on this? Figuring out more on the pouch cells, and such

[smde]

Not being able to series connect them is an absolute deal-breaker for me. Winston batteries are looking sweeter and sweeter - How about a Winston battery "un-boxing" - that would be fun.

[andycanfixit]

I like that fact that you can disassemble it with standard tools and not having to cut apart the case, so if the bms fails it could be repaired. Be nice if they could do series connected even if just to 24 volts as 12 volts limits what you can do, but still it's a pretty cool build.