Life In The Time Of The Cheap Battery

You young whipper-snappers don't know how good you have it. In my day (like, way back in 2020), if we wanted to power a full-sized rig in the field we'd have to lug around big old lead-acid batteries that barely dribbled out 12 volts for an hour or two, and then would quickly die. Lord help you if you let the voltage drop below 11 volts, or you'd start damaging the cells. Need to keep track of that voltage? Make sure you brought along your multi-meter. And you better have a bottle of distilled water handy to keep the cells topped off - don't want those lead plates getting exposed!

Sure, back in 2020 this new-fangled battery technology called Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePo) was available, but it was frightfully expensive, particularly large capacity units that could keep a full size radio operating for days. Think prices approaching $1,000 for a 100 amp-hour battery from a well regarded US-based company like Bioenno Power out of California. These sexy new LiFePo batteries offered amazing performance - very safe (LiFePo won't burst into flames like other lithium battery technologies), high energy density, excellent power discharge management, thousands of recharge cycles, built-in battery management systems (BMS), and extremely light weight. It's everything every field operator wanted, except cost. 

Like many, I started small - picking up 3 and 4.5 amp hour batteries to test with my QRP rigs. The performance was amazing. These little batteries effectively eliminated the dreaded battery angst that plagued us - 'do I have enough battery capacity for a long activation?' One local ham reported running his Yaesu FT-817 on regular POTA activations for almost a year before needing to charge his 4.5 Ah Bioenno battery! These small blue-wrapped batteries became ubiquitous at field operation everywhere. The phrase 'just buy a Bioenno' became the modern equivalent of 'just buy an IBM' - a pricey but totally safe purchase decision that came with great performance and manufacturer support

Bioenno makes great products, and they have bent over to support the ham radio community.
These batteries fundamentally changed QRP operations by providing stable, high current output
over incredibly long run times, all in a small and lightweight package.
Operators using radios like the Elecraft KX2, the Yaesu FT-817, the Xeigu G90  and the Icom IC-705
switched en mass to these batteries, and they became ubiquitous at POTA, SOTA
and Field Day activities. One of these batteries, the somewhat beat up 4.5 Ah one on the
middle right, is almost 5 years old and still holds 100% capacity

On a recent camping trip, a Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery powered my KX3 at 15 watts out, 
over the course of several activations

Yet, we continued to lug our boxes of lead and acid out to Field Day, because high capacity LiFePo batteries were beyond most ham's means. We're talking about batteries that cost more than some of the radios they were powering. Lead acid batteries soldiered on because the price/performance ratio was still in their favor, until...

A few years ago, offshore battery manufacturers (i.e., 'China, Inc.') spotted an opportunity, and stared to flood the US market with inexpensive, high capacity LiFePo batteries that offered very good quality and performance. Overnight they broke the lead acid battery lock on the price/performance ratio. There was no longer any reason to choose lead acid over LiFePo. While LiFePo batteries are still more expensive than equivalent lead acid batteries, the price gap had shrunk, and the improved features and performance of the LiFePo battery more than makes up for the price difference. These LiFePo batteries are clearly the better value.

Tracy at Outdoors On The Air lays out the arguments nicely in this video:

So let's look at a current example. The Power Queen (the brand I buy) LiFePo 12.8 volt, 100 Ah battery is on sale right now for $219 direct. Something to point out here is that these Chinese manufactured batteries are always 'on sale'. An equivalent generic lead acid 100 Ah deep cycle battery from Wal-Mart currently sells for $159. That's a $60 difference, but the Power Queen offers considerably more - up to 4000 recharge cycles (vs. hundreds for the lead acid battery), has a built-in battery management system, has a flatter discharge curve (more rated power for a longer period of time), has built-in Bluetooth to monitor battery performance via a smartphone app, is IP67 rated, and is much lighter (by at least 50%) than the lead acid battery. Plus, the LiFePo chemistry is much safer than lead acid. Based on recharge cycles alone, the Power Queen is the cheaper buy. All the other features are free candy. 😊

Power Queen is one of five or more Chinese-based battery manufacturers that do direct sales in the US, and they all offer LiFePo models with equivalent capacities and features. I bought Power Queen based on a personal recommendation from another ham, but I've also heard good things about the LiTime, AmpereTime and other brands. There are a number of YouTubers who revel in tearing these batteries apart to see what's inside,  and they all appear to have the same internal components. Some reviewers claim the manufacturers all buy their battery cells from the same factories in China, and there are only slight differences in the BMS and Bluetooth boards, internal component configurations and construction methods.

In this video, Will Prowse at his DIY Solar Power channel tears apart two LiFePo batteries (one of them a Power Queen) and compares the interior components. I wouldn't be at all surprised if both of these battery brands were owned by the same company, and the batteries came out of the same factory.

BTW, Will's channel is an excellent resource for anyone looking for answers and advice on batteries and solar systems.

There is but one caveat to all this lithium love - LiFePo batteries don't do well in very cold temps, and the cells can be ruined when charging in sub-freezing temperatures. In fact, some LiFePo batteries have built-in heating systems to warm the cells in low temp conditions. This is usually not an issue in the south where I live - if I'm out in the field in sub-zero temps, I'll be in a camper or a tent with a heater going. The BMS in many batteries will also shut the battery down in very cold situations, to protect the cells.

So where does all of this lead us? To me, the clear lesson is that lead acid batteries, in the amateur radio use case, are dead, dead, dead. Say it with me now: 'lead is dead'. There simply is no justification for choosing a lead acid battery over an equivalent capacity LiFePo. These new batteries are an amazing leap in power technology for ham radio, and there's no reason to stick with now obsolete lead-acid batteries.

(Time for a hypocrisy alert? Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog, knows that I loudly state that I do not buy Chinese manufactured products, unless there's no other option. I still stand strongly by that rule, and I practice it daily. The caveat here is 'unless there's no other option'. There are no US-based manufacturers of LiFePo batteries that offer all the features the Chinese manufacturers offer - at any price. There are US-based 'assemblers', like Battle Born Batteries and Dakota Lithium, but the key components - battery cells, BMS boards, etc., are sourced out of China. As far as I can tell, there is no LiFePo battery cell manufacturing taking place in the US - everything comes out of China. So in this case, I feel we're in the 'unless there's no other option' category.) 

W8BYH out