Fogstar drift batteries

[Mobilvetta]

This seems a good price at the moment from Renolgy eBay site, using the code HAPPY20 which knocks 20% off the price.

 

[Admin]

This seems a good price at the moment from Renolgy eBay site, using the code HAPPY20 which knocks 20% off the price.

These inverters are very inefficient, they draw around 3500w at 12v to provide 2400w output at 230v.

 

[rugbyken]

non technical on phils post above i do notice that the renogy 3000 inverter uses about 2A an hour so almost 50 a day we have used the electric kettle almost exclusively since we got the 460 fogstar plus an airfyer a lot and when the suns shining the fridge freezer , as david said the more you have the more you use we have recently added a further 200W of solar because the input is so low in winter when the sun is low in the sky even in the south of portugal

 

[Mobilvetta]

These inverters are very inefficient, they draw around 3500w at 12v to provide 2400w output at 230v.

Is that all makes of inverters Phil or just the Renolgy ones, what type of inverter would you recommend for efficiency, given your expert knowledge when it comes to motorhome electrics.

 

[merl]

These inverters are very inefficient, they draw around 3500w at 12v to provide 2400w output at 230v.

Really Phil? So the inverter must be dissipating the other 1.1kW. They must have massive cooling fans just to get rid of the wasted power? Or do they just catch fire pretty quickly?

 

[davep10000]

These inverters are very inefficient, they draw around 3500w at 12v to provide 2400w output at 230v.

This cant be right, Renolgy quote 90%, which admittedly is quite poor, but that would be 250W wasted, not 1100W...

For comparison, Victron 2000VA inverter quote 92%, although widely tested as low as 89%. They all seem to be fairly inefficient...

 

[merl]

This cant be right, Renolgy quote 90%, which admittedly is quite poor, but that would be 250W wasted, not 1100W...

For comparison, Victron 2000VA inverter quote 92%, although widely tested as low as 89%. They all seem to be fairly inefficient...

Around 90% efficiency seems about par for the course TBF. Same for B2Bs and mains chargers. MPPT charge controllers seem to fair somewhat better for some reason and never seem to need fan cooling, I get 93% from my ancient Eco sources ( now eco worthy) unit.

 

[PeteandJules]

I'm toying with the idea of putting a lithium battery into the motorhome, I have definitely have room for the 300 amp Fogstar drift, but the 460 amp looks better value for money per amp, but it would be a very tight squeeze and on on the specs it's say this

• Nominal Capacity 460Ah
• Nominal Voltage 12V
• Recommended Charge Voltage 14.4V
• Max Cont. Discharge 200A.
• 
  
• Yet on the 300 amp battery in the specs it states that the max Cont discharge is 250 amp which is higher than the 460amp one, could someone please explain what this means please.
• I hoping to run my Renolgy 2000watt Inverter for charging our electric bikes, wife's hairdryer and a 900 watt microwave and a 900 watt air fryer, obviously not all at the same time. Would the 300 amp Fogstar drift and current inverter be sufficient .
• 
  
• I currently have 260 watt of solar going through a Victron MPPT. I'm also looking at the Victron Orion XS 50 amp DC to DC charger and the 30 amp Victron IP22 mains charger. I currently have two AGM 110amp batteries which I bought last year, which I would be swapping out for lithium. Thank you

300 amp more than sufficient. Comparing the 110 amp AGM batteries to the Fogstar is a Total discharge from the AGM of approximately 110amp before they are flat. The Fogstar will give close to 300 amp of discharge.

I draw 115 amp off my Lithium batteries for up to an hour and still everything works.

You are dealing with a battery that absorbs power. Mine draw 35 amp at 14.4 volts. No solar 3 hours to recharge.

Usually do this running around like normal.

Hope this helps you.

 

[Admin]

This cant be right, Renolgy quote 90%, which admittedly is quite poor, but that would be 250W wasted, not 1100W...

For comparison, Victron 2000VA inverter quote 92%, although widely tested as low as 89%. They all seem to be fairly inefficient...

A member with a Fogstar Pro battery could not run his Ninja dual-door air fryer at 2400W because the battery cut out after 10 seconds. When checking this on the battery shunt and a clamp meter, they both showed a nearly 3500w draw at 10 seconds. I expect a peak on startup but not at 10 seconds. He may have had a bad inverter. As per usual, Renogy ignored all his support requests.

In my experience, Renogy inverters are no better than any other cheap inverter. I have only worked on around 20 installs with them so my experience is limited, if there is a member with more experience than that then please take their opinion over mine.

 

[merl]

A member with a Fogstar Pro battery could not run his Ninja dual-door air fryer at 2400W because the battery cut out after 10 seconds. When checking this on the battery shunt and a clamp meter, they both showed a nearly 3500w draw at 10 seconds. I expect a peak on startup but not at 10 seconds. He may have had a bad inverter. As per usual, Renogy ignored all his support requests.

In my experience, Renogy inverters are no better than any other cheap inverter. I have only worked on around 20 installs with them so my experience is limited, if there is a member with more experience than that then please take their opinion over mine.

That could be because the manufacturers stated wattage cant be relied on to give you an expected maximum wattage. In my experience manufacturers often state the AVERAGE wattage over a longer period of time, this gives the customer a decent guide to the cost of cooking ie 20 mins at 2400W = 800Wh. Ovens are thermostatically controlled so they consume a lot of power (Full power) for a few mins and then throttle back when cooking temp is achieved, (they actually switch the heating element on and off at regular intervals). So it could well be that the Ninja in question had an average consumption of 2400W but it's peak consumption was well over 3000. Kim's hair straighteners are rated at around 100W but actually take around 800W but only periodically.

 

[Admin]

That could be because the manufacturers stated wattage cant be relied on to give you an expected maximum wattage. In my experience manufacturers often state the AVERAGE wattage over a longer period of time, this gives the customer a decent guide to the cost of cooking ie 20 mins at 2400W = 800Wh. Ovens are thermostatically controlled so they consume a lot of power (Full power) for a few mins and then throttle back when cooking temp is achieved, (they actually switch the heating element on and off at regular intervals). So it could well be that the Ninja in question had an average consumption of 2400W but it's peak consumption was well over 3000. Kim's hair straighteners are rated at around 100W but actually take around 800W but only periodically.

I should have stated the air fryer was tested on a Victron inverter that reported between 2380 - 2450 watts after the initial 1 second surge

 

[merl]

I should have stated the air fryer was tested on a Victron inverter that reported between 2380 - 2450 watts after the initial 1 second surge

Puzzling Phil but that's electronics for you. I can't see how ALL Renogy inverters could be so inefficient AND have relatively high customer feedback because they'd burn out/ catch fire on a high load with that sort of inefficiency. Most reservations about the product seems to be the rubbish cables they supply as standard.
I have no blue items in my van, I have a Renogy B2B, the first one wasnt perfect set up wise but Renogy sorted that reasonably efficiently, and the replacement has worked perfectly for several years. I have a cheap Chinese inverter too which I've abused at times and has survived admirably too and still powers stuff at well over 2Kw at around 90% efficiency.
I understand that buying cheap stuff is always a bit of a lottery but it's not all crap, in fact mine has been great and it's saved me a considerable amount.
If I were in the business of supplying, installing and guaranteeing equipment then the bulk of what I'd be fitting would be Victron for sure.
I'm currently helping Robmac with his install and if he suggests Victron for ANYTHING I certainly don't suggest otherwise, even though I'm only holding his hand so to speak I feel I'm putting my neck on the line if I did so I fully get where you're coming from

 

[Nabsim]

@merl i would rate Votronic on a par with Victron. It’s only recently that Renogy seems to have become a brand to go for, not sure why that should be so but it’s not that long ago they were very much looked down on. Not had any Renogy kit myself so no idea how good or otherwise it is. I only have Votronic and Victron

 

[rugbyken]

i had one of the really cheap chinese inverters when it blew we stripped it down & there were 32 fuses in the build but the capacitors had gone i went online to a tech comparison site and the victron was rated 100% but the renogy 95% for a fifth of the price , i got the 2000w after 18 months someone put the kettle on while the fridge freezer was already on then put the toast down ? it went kaput though renogy clearly state that opening the case will void the warranty we were down in the Algarve and we had no choice but to have a look there were 8 x 35a fuses that had melted the biggest ones we had were 30a fitted those and it worked fine for the rest of the trip , when we got back i bought the 3000 for just under £200 replaced the fuses in the 2000 & carry that as a spare

 

[merl]

i got the 2000w after 18 months someone put the kettle on while the fridge freezer was already on then put the toast down ? it went kaput

REALLY! Cant imagine why! Poor little thing, I hope I dont return in another life as one of your inverters Ken!
Yep, typically all inverters are stuffed with protection fuses that blow in the event of serious overload but they dont always work and often a bank of mosfets (those devices clamped to the heatsinks) get taken out too, it's a pretty simple fix usually but some mosfets can be destroyed just by touching the pins so you need to observe static protection, basically you just earth yourself and the workbench while dong the repair!

 

[wildebus]

I would not be surprised if an given inverter used way more power than it should and the owner usually never noticed.
There is a tendency to buy a much larger inverter than needed - as spend a wee bit extra and get more power, so seems like a bargain even if you don't need the extra power? End result is loads of people are using a 2000W inverter to run a TV or charge a laptop battery for example. And as they typically have no idea how much power is being drawn or used, they won't realise what is happening.
Not a criticism, just reality.

REALLY! Cant imagine why! Poor little thing, I hope I dont return in another life as one of your inverters Ken!
Yep, typically all inverters are stuffed with protection fuses that blow in the event of serious overload but they dont always work and often a bank of mosfets (those devices clamped to the heatsinks) get taken out too, it's a pretty simple fix usually but some mosfets can be destroyed just by touching the pins so you need to observe static protection, basically you just earth yourself and the workbench while dong the repair!

This is where the Victron Inverters are so handy... It is virtually impossible to break them with overloads. my 1600VA (1350W) inverter will take an overload of upto 3000W for 30 seconds and if the overload is too high, the inverter shuts itself down without any damage.
I don't make a habit of overloading it but I found my 1300W coffee machine actually peaks at 2000W a few times while making a drink. I run that from the 1350W Victron and just accept I get the overload beeping while it is running. Still makes the drinks fine

 

[wildebus]

@merl i would rate Votronic on a par with Victron. It’s only recently that Renogy seems to have become a brand to go for, not sure why that should be so but it’s not that long ago they were very much looked down on. Not had any Renogy kit myself so no idea how good or otherwise it is. I only have Votronic and Victron

Product placement and youtube influencers....

 

[Sid]

So that means my three Relion RB100 batteries with a 100amp draw each is 300amp draw in total

So would two 230ah be better?

I see they have introduced an Eco Drift series, seems to have no heat pads, which I haven't got now or bluetooth which if you already have the Victron set up is no real hardship. Downside is the 6 year warranty instead of their normal 10 years. They will be available in August, 306ah for £499.00.

Drift ECO 305Ah 12V Leisure Battery

The Fogstar Drift ECO is your gateway to reliable, budget-friendly off-grid power. With a superb 305Ah capacity and 3904Wh of usable energy, the Drift ECO is perfect for powering everything from leisure applications like camping and caravanning to professional use cases like solar energy storage.

www.fogstar-drift.co.uk

Regards,
Del

So the 306Ah batteries are very new tech. The 230Ah are old chemistry. I think Fogstar use EVE MB30 cells which is what I recently received. If this is the case you will probably find that your actual capacity is north of 330Ah. Each of my cells were above 333Ah ,with extremely consistent rest voltages and internal resistances. This cell capacity will give an output greater than 4kW. The max current draw is a function of the cell chemistry and the BMS fitted. All the data and more is available from EVE.

I wouldn't worry about warranty from a good manufacturer, the available cycles is so high that won't be a problem. The first thing manufacturer will do is interegate the BMS and find how it has been used and then go "you did this or didn't charge like that" . Likely they will have more info than you.

Basically why I built my own, I have no body to blame but myself!

 

[Bouydog]

I have had my 300ah Fogstar drift in for a few days now and fully charged it is showing 319.5ah/304ah capacity on the Fogstar app. So have I gained a few ah ?

 

[Mobilvetta]

Well finally all my stuff has now arrived ready for the install, hoping to fit it all next Thursday. It's added up to a tidy sum, I hope it will be worth it.