LiFePO4 battery sizes that fit in 200 drawer wings (1 Viewer)

[DPA200]

I searched around for a while, found a few scattered posts, but I thought it may be helpful to have the reference info in one place for others that are in the same situation. Lithium appears to be the direction the industry is going as far as house batteries, so this would be a good place to add to as it becomes more widely adopted. I'm shopping for a 200 drawer system and I am trying to find which specific off the shelf LiFePO4 battery options I'd be able to fit in the drawer wing. Looks like a tight fit for most who have succeeded in this route, so being that 1" here or there looks like it makes the difference between it working or not working, I think it'd be great to see exactly what others fit and exactly where they fit it. Specific brand and model LiFePO4 batteries are all over the place as far as shape and size, so there is no such thing as a standard size 100 Ah battery. Whether you have the drawer system already and are looking to add a LiFePO4, or are shopping for both (like me), If others could post up here what specific battery they have fit in what specific drawer system I think it'd be a great resource. Photos strongly encouraged. Also, list any issues you've had to workaround. I know some have had to work around blocking the driver's side A/C inlet. Anybody had to cut any plastic? I've yet to see anybody install on the passenger side (not sure why).

Personally, I'm looking at buying the Dobinsons drawers within the next week. I am hoping to able to put a 100 Ah LiFePO4 in 1 of the 2 wings. Battery-wise, If I'm spending the money, I'd rather just stick with the hi-end choices with the best warranty. My top 2 choices, after watching way too many Will Prowse YouTube reviews are:

Battle Born BB10012 100Ah
12.75 × 6.875 × 9 in- (Length/Width/Height)

100Ah 12V LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery

The 100Ah 12V LiFePO4 Deep Cycle battery is the pinnacle of battery technology and the lightweight drop-in replacement for lead acid batteries.

battlebornbatteries.com

RELiON RB100 100Ah
13 × 6.8 × 8.8 in - (Length/Width/Height)

12V 100Ah Lithium Battery for Solar Power, RV, and Marine Applications | RELiON

12V 100Ah rechargeable, lithium drop-in replacement battery that can solve most power source needs. Longer-lasting, more lightweight and safer than lead-acid.

relionbattery.com

So far none of the posts I've seen match what I'm trying to combo up. The ones I've seen with photos so far are:

ARB Drawers:
This is the same Battle Born BB10012 I'm interested in, placed a heavily customized 200 ARB wing by @Eric Sarjeant . Not sure if the wing was customized at all to fit, and for me, I'm not sure of any size differences between ARB and Dobinson interior wing dimension

Next Level - Triple battery setup

I figured I should share this video as it was a very special modification for a very special customer (fellow Mudder) giving us the patience and budget to make a next-level off-grid solution- “ultimate” power management setup. This is a triple battery setup using two Odyssey Extreme AGMs under...

forum.ih8mud.com

Dobinson Drawers:
Same drawer system I'm buying, but different battery installed by @TheGrrrrr . He went with what looks like a solid battery choice, the Renogy RBT100LFP12S. Looks like a snug but good fit, in PM's with him he said he has extra space on top. That particular battery is smaller than either of the 2 options I listed above. It is spec'd at 11.38 × 6.77 × 7.38 in- (Length/Width/Height). So my main concern is the height difference. Based off the spec sheet the Renogy is about 1.5" shorter than either the Battle Born or the RELiON. Would the drawer top still be able to close with a taller battery? Also other concern is the Battle Born and the RELiON are also about 1.5" longer as well, so with it being such a tight squeeze, would they then black the A/C air intake too much if placed on the driver's side?

Builds - What did you do to your Land Cruiser/Toyota/Lexus 4X4 this week?

So is the black truck going up for sale? Wheels and Nittos are installed, thanks for the deal! Good I'm glad it worked out for you. Yes, it will be up for sale hopefully by the end of July. A few things need to be sorted and I need to decide how far to take it before I put it up for sale...

forum.ih8mud.com

Trekboxx Drawers:
This is the same RELiON RB100 I'm interested in, placed a very nice Trekboxx wing by @mrburlingame . The pics on this look the most spacious of all, but the Trekboxx being a completely different design compared ARB or Dobinson, I really don't know how to compare. As much as they would be my #1 choice, the Trekboxx drawers are outta my price range. This RELiON looks like an ideal fit with those drawers. It looks like it fits further towards the back of the truck, and also has some space so it's not pressed against that A/C inlet. Very nice.

Builds - Mrburlingame’s 200 Series Build - Garlic

Electrical System & Communications My previous experience with a dual battery setup in my 80 was a positive one, though I wished the second battery held more juice, and longer. Fortunately, technology has improved, and I was super curious about lithium batteries for a 200 build, particularly...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[DPA200]

Here are the relevant pics from the above 3 threads I mentioned;

ARB with Battle Born BB10012 100Ah: @Eric Sarjeant

Dobinson with Renogy RBT100LFP12S 100Ah: @TheGrrrrr

Trekboxx with RELiON RB100 100Ah: @mrburlingame

 

[sdnative]

The reason no one installs on the passenger side is the plastic trim encroaches on the space much more. Simply not as much usable space on the PS as you have on the DS.

In my research, most of the "drop in replacement" 100Ah batteries are close in dimensions and are a hair too big. The ones that do fit are very tight and will scratch up the plastic or block the AC vent. Every quarter of an inch matters. This is with the ARB drawers, I can't speak for the others.

 

[DPA200]

The reason no one installs on the passenger side is the plastic trim encroaches on the space much more. Simply not as much usable space on the PS as you have on the DS.

In my research, most of the "drop in replacement" 100Ah batteries are close in dimensions and are a hair too big. The ones that do fit are very tight and will scratch up the plastic or block the AC vent.

That's crazy that I've never heard of or noticed that. It's really not symmetrical? What area of the trim specifically, towards the back where the subwoofer is, or further forward towards the wheel arch? I just went and looked in my truck, visually hard to tell....but I don't have drawers yet so hard for your eye to judge with just a big open space. I'm sure much easier to see with drawers installed how much less room there is in the PS wing. Thanks for the info, I was wondering why everybody was doing DS even though it had the A/C inlet issue.

 

[sdnative]

Here is my install.

DIY LiFePO4 battery install under ARB drawer wing

I have been considering a second battery for aux loads since I bought the truck about a year ago. I went through a few iterations before ending up where I am now. Goals were to power aux loads like the fridge, lighting, radio gear, charge devices, etc for several days while camping, jump start...

forum.ih8mud.com

I went the DIY route and fit 210Ah worth of battery, BMS, fuse and shunt in that space.

The disconnect switch is just resting there for now but I will put some attach Velcro eventually to attach it to the drawer carpet.

DC distribution, DC-DC charger and ham radio on the front of the drawers. I left space to mount a MPPT charger as well.

 

[DPA200]

Here is my install. I went the DIY route and fit 210Ah worth of battery, BMS, fuse and shunt in that space.

The disconnect switch is just resting there for now but I will put some attach Velcro eventually to attach it to the drawer carpet.

DC distribution, DC-DC charger and ham radio on the front of the drawers. I left space to mount a MPPT charger as well.

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Very slick! I had just finished reading your thread on that setup. Such a better use of space to be able to build it long like that, but still have all the width space to not block the A/C. Way outside of my skillset, impressive. I like your wood mounts on the back. I heard the Dobinson has a bit more space there than the ARB, so my hope is to do something like that where at the very least the BCDC goes there. I gotta relook at RELiON, I did hear they had more size options than anybody else. From what i remember as expensive as the one i listed was, all the alternative sized one went even further up and up and up in price.

 

[Surfy]

Are you shure you need that much Power?

I did have currently a 95AH AGM Battery, who was able to fire up two compressor fridges a fridge and a freezer for my africa yourney.

Bulky and heavy, too not cheap!

My Plan is too Replace my current 35kg Powersetup which just this device: 8.5kg, small

Here I did wrote about: Portable Power solution: Battery, Power Inverter, Solarcharging - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/portable-power-solution-battery-power-inverter-solarcharging.1219046/

Smaller, more capable and it seems not possible to do at your own. My Plan is to use that that device stationery, not mobile inside of my car.

 

[DPA200]

Here is my install. I went the DIY route and fit 210Ah worth of battery, BMS, fuse and shunt in that space.

The disconnect switch is just resting there for now but I will put some attach Velcro eventually to attach it to the drawer carpet.

DC distribution, DC-DC charger and ham radio on the front of the drawers. I left space to mount a MPPT charger as well.

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Can you give me the external dimensions of the wood box in the wing that holds your batteries? Just visually comparing it to the off the shelf sizes I'm comparing. Width wise it looks like you have close to 1" empty space between your box and the A/C inlet plastic vents. That looks ideal. This is the part I'm currently concerned on my battery choice, the 100Ah option mostly measure around 6.875" w

 

[sdnative]

Can you give me the external dimensions of the wood box in the wing that holds your batteries? Just visually comparing it to the off the shelf sizes I'm comparing. Width wise it looks like you have close to 1" empty space between your box and the A/C inlet plastic vents. That looks ideal. This is the part I'm currently concerned on my battery choice, the 100Ah option mostly measure around 6.875" w

Just the wood "box" measures 13.25" x 5.5" x 9.25". This doesn't include the BMS, fuse holder and shunt hanging off the ends.

 

[sdnative]

This is the part I'm currently concerned on my battery choice, the 100Ah option mostly measure around 6.875" w

That was my experience as well. You could consider a shorter battery that wouldn't block the vents as much. Renogy, ReLiON and probably others make a ~50Ah battery that is a few inches shorter in length. 50Ah may not be enough depending on your needs and charging sources, but it would still be significantly more usable Ah than a group 35 lead acid.

I see several people have installed a drop in 100Ah battery in that space, but haven't seen any feedback on how the AC performance is affected. Maybe a non-issue? I wouldn't feel comfortable about blocking the vents though..

Or you could just get a 1000Wh / ~78Ah power station like the Jackery and put it somewhere else? These types of systems are more light duty, less warranty, less cycle count, less discharge depth and sometimes even a different chemistry than something like a battleborn however, but they are convenient!

 

[DPA200]

Just the wood "box" measures 13.25" x 5.5" x 9.25". This doesn't include the BMS, fuse holder and shunt hanging off the ends.

Yeah it's that 5.5" width you have any drop-in option beat by far.
Well RELiON offers more size options than Battle Born. The 100 Ah still doesn't fit, it's even bigger than the Battleborn.

For reference with these specific Dobinson drawers I ordered, @TheGrrrrr put a Renogy measuring:

11.38 × 6.77 × 7.38 in- (Length/Width/Height).

His is space in the wing is pretty much maxed out in there. He's blocking about 1/2" of the intake, but still has enough open area It's been fine.
So that's the max size I know for sure has worked, and almost any other 100Ah is bigger than the Renogy.

As far as RELiON goes If I dropped to 75 Ah it would fit nice, 80 Ah possibly. With the 80 its about 1/4" less wide than even the Renogy, so that 1/4" might be enough of a gap to still get good air intake? Thoughts? You think dropping to 75 or 80 would really matter in the end. I know it's still much more usuable Ah than the 100 AGM I was gonna use when my quest started. Just don't want to still spend $900 and then find it's less than i need in a couple of years. Or better going for the Renogy that I know will fit and has the 100 Ah?

 

[DPA200]

A positive review on the Renogy........but I just noticed it has no Cold temp charging shutoff. Saw several comments below the video and some Amazon reviews saying the same. Will surprisingly doesn't even mention it in the review. Bummer size is perfect, and everything else about it looks like a great quality product. I'm sure the cold temp part wont matter to plenty.



I've camped many times where it dropped way colder overnight than I'd expected, that'd be a pain to have to turn off your battery overnight. Don't think that's gonna work for me, we do a lotta high elevation camping and have some cold climate trips in the planning stage. I'm ok if it can't charge when it gets too cold, but charging and ruining the battery no bueno for me

 

[TheGrrrrr]

My understanding is that without the cutoffs its doing the dame damage that is done to any other battery in those temps. At some point you just can't avoid that certain conditions are going to be harder on your battery than others. Its about limiting the exposure to those conditions, not eliminating them completely.

 

[sdnative]

Do you already have a charger? Some chargers like the Victron have a configurable low temp cutoff. Low temps are more of an issue for charging not so much discharging.

Are you planning on storing the battery indoors between trips? I would avoid leaving the battery in the hot truck for extended periods of time.

 

[sdnative]

This is a game of fractions of an inch unfortunately. My experience has been with ARB drawers on a 200. The Dobinsons drawers may be slightly different. I would wait until the drawers are installed if possible before deciding if the battery will fit, especially if 1/4" will make the fit a go / no go. Not sure if the Dobinsons drawers are slightly different to allow more (or less) flexibility.

 

[DPA200]

Do you already have a charger? Some chargers like the Victron have a configurable low temp cutoff. Low temps are more of an issue for charging not so much discharging.

Are you planning on storing the battery indoors between trips? I would avoid leaving the battery in the hot truck for extended periods of time.

Yeah I ordered the RedArc BCDC 1225. I went back and forth between the 1240 and the 1225 but my end result was just based on a RedArc article saying under 200 Ah it's better on the battery to only give it 25 amp charge. Not sure if either charger has a temp disconnect for low temps. I did watch this Battleborn video and apparently, this is the most common question they get asked about charging in low temperatures. Most of the video is just all the tests about how much it outperforms AGM, but this is what they said specifically about the low temp charging in 26-32° F range:

The next range of temperatures is, truthfully, the most controversial range when it comes to cold temperature and lithium batteries.
This is the most heavily discussed range because at 25° F the Battle Born battery will no longer take a charge due to the BMS. And it won’t recharge the battery until it comes above 32° F. This is to protect the battery in these cooler temperatures. Naturally, most of our customers are curious and ask questions about this temperature range specifically.

So that feature does interest me having that already part of the BMS so there is nothing I'd have to do manually. I had heard from other sights that on some batteries just sending a charge to it one below 32° F can ruin the battery completely. Would be nice not to worry about that. I do plan to store the battery inside in the AZ summer months....I think.

This is a game of fractions of an inch unfortunately. My experience has been with ARB drawers on a 200. The Dobinsons drawers may be slightly different. I would wait until the drawers are installed if possible before deciding if the battery will fit, especially if 1/4" will make the fit a go / no go. Not sure if the Dobinsons drawers are slightly different to allow more (or less) flexibility.

Yah you might be right on this. Most of these batteries look like you could get them in a day or two, so maybe best just to have the shop that's doing the install order the battery after doing the drawers. It really could be down to as little as 1/4" like I said. I talked with the shop briefly about it, and they just said if it didn't fit they put it somewhere else. Knowing our 200's cargo limitations I really can't see anywhere else I'd want it. A box or exposed on top of the drawers? Not a big fan. I will have a dog crate on the non fridge side though so potentially could go on top of that drawer behind the dog crate.

 

[DPA200]

This might be a viable option. Battle Born looks like they also just came out with a heated battery.

Heated BB10012 Battery is Now Available!

Click here to read our announcement about our heated battery, the BB10012H! They are now available in kits, which you can purchase online.

battlebornbatteries.com

 

[Hants]

I have the Relion RB75 with a Redarc 1240BCDC mounted on the driver’s side. Custom mount by Slee - rock solid.

As you can see in the pictures, snug as a bug in there - not even sure an SB80 would fit.

Slightly blocks the AC vent, and is right up against the plastic trim both at the wheel well and at the bulge by the AC outlet.

Will more fully exercise the battery this coming summer - so far, SB75 looks fine for a couple days with fridge, lights, radios, etc. As we wheel and drive around most days, and the BCDC charges so quickly, I doubt we’ll need solar or a higher capacity battery.

 

[Hants]

12V 75Ah Lithium Battery for Renewable Energy, RV, and Marine Applications | RELiON

12V 75Ah rechargeable, lithium drop-in replacement battery that can solve most power source needs. Longer-lasting, more lightweight and safer than lead-acid.

relionbattery.com

Charge and discharge down to -4F. That’s painfully cold. Note the heater/ac vent right next to the battery - If you’re relying on the alternator or BCDC to charge, shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[DPA200]

I have the Relion RB75 with a Redarc 1240BCDC mounted on the driver’s side. Custom mount by Slee - rock solid.

As you can see in the pictures, snug as a bug in there - not even sure an SB80 would fit.

Slightly blocks the AC vent, and is right up against the plastic trim both at the wheel well and at the bulge by the AC outlet.

Will more fully exercise the battery this coming summer - so far, SB75 looks fine for a couple days with fridge, lights, radios, etc. As we wheel and drive around most days, and the BCDC charges so quickly, I doubt we’ll need solar or a higher capacity battery.

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Thanks for posting up the detailed pics and info! I have a fe questions for you

1 )Are those ARB or Dobinson drawers?

2) 1st time I've seen a mount like that, Does Slee sell that, or they made it for you? Did Slee do the install? If so was this the battery/charger config they recomeneded?

Let me know, that may end up being the specific battery I go with. I really want 100Ah, but that 75Ah is only 10.2 in in length vs the 13in on the RB100. That extra 3" sounds like it would block way too much or all of the A/C inlet. I am getting 160W solar on the roof rack, so with that I may be fine with only 75Ah