Leaderboard

Will Prowse does a comparison between Lion Energy and Battleborn in this video, explaining some of the price difference. Edited to add this earlier Will Prowse video, where he talks about an earlier product, Lion Energys "lifetime" warranty, and opens up the case so we can see the components and construction.

There was an Oliver owner near us that was having trouble with two of his batteries. We took those two out of service so they would not pull his other two down with them. He went to the big tent and looked at all the different brands of lithium. He came over to the solar tracker booth I was helping with and asked me to go with him to look at the Lion Energy battery. That was when I asked the factory rep to explain about the warranty. The Oliver owner bought a set and installed them while we were at Quartzsite.

This is the standard pin, it has a very slight and rough 45 degree bevel on the small end: I used a file and a belt sander to make a nice tapered bullet contour. I polished it with 360 grit sandpaper after reshaping it. Optional: the holes in the ball mount did not have much of a taper: I used a 1” drill bit plus tapered polishing stones to open it up and smooth the inside edges where the pin will slide past. You only need to do the left side, the one you normally insert the pin from Now it slides in with much less fussing and swearing. John Davies Spokane WA

There's a lithium battery company in Grand Forks that I've been looking at lately, Dakota Lithium. Factory in North Dakota, and an office in Seattle. They discount for pre-order and bulk purchase (2 +), and offer an 11 year warranty. In business since 2004. https://dakotalithium.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw_-D3BRBIEiwAjVMy7OcTsd8O-dRXtIODk__7xfORms8Oac4l32e867tTKY5Ww4CD24nexBoCzmYQAvD_BwE You may think the guy in technical support in this video looks a bit like he could live in Canada. Grand Forks is less than 150 miles south of Winnipeg. 😁 Sherry

I do love his enthusiasm for all things solar. And his book and forum are great reference tools. Mossey

Three days after we took delivery of Mouse, I climbed up my ladder for a check of the roof. Everything looked fine, except for the solar panels. Three knobs were slightly loose, perhaps a 1/16th of a turn. One was a full half turn loose. This is dangerous since a loose or lost knob could wreck the panel and possibly the vent and AC unit behind it, especially if you are towing into a stiff and gusting headwind. I got out my Dewalt driver drill and modified the knobs so that I could secure them tight. I can't recall the hole size, probably 1/4 inch, big enough for a standard sized nylon wire tie. This is just like safety wiring a bolt using steel wire, but the advantage is that the big white ties are highly visible from the ground, so you can include a visual check of all four as you do your final walk around before leaving. You must route the tie so that all the forces are acting to tighten the knob. I think this should be done at the factory, but in the meantime I strongly recommend that everyone with panels on the roof secure the knobs. A better fix would be to drill out the threaded inserts and install through bolts with self locking nuts, but this would make it very hard to reposition the panels for cleaning the roof underneath.... Here is a question: have you ever checked them? If not, then please do so before your next trip. They may be loose.... Be safe. Here is my Werner convertible ladder in action. It is good to have access to your roof, always. John Davies Spokane WA

I haven't looked at the specs, but I think you could add a heat mat in the battery compartment and that would keep them toasty enough. My concern is the opposite, since it's been shown that high temps can degrade LFP batteries over time.

We paid $774/ea for our Battleborns in 2017(?). From what I've been told, there's a substantial markup for the retailer - and at the time, they were still trying to to make a name for themselves. Plus I was buying all of my Victron stuff from the same guy (Inverter Supply). It seems like in the following few years there has been enough demand that they've been able to sell at full retail, but I imagine now that some worthy competitors are showing up, you might be able to find a retailer or two who are willing to deal.

Steve, the Lion 1300ut is on sale at Costco.com through July 5, $749. Or, $700 each in a two pack. Did you meet anyone at Quartzite who was actually using these batteries? Sherry

While at Quartzsite this past winter, I spoke at length with the Factory rep for the Lion Energy Safari UT1300 battery. They advertise a limited lifetime warranty. I asked him to explain exactly how that would work. He stated that if one of their battery's ever fail for any reason other than physical damage (like a shattered case) it would be replaced at no cost to the owner, no questions asked. At the show we could buy them for $775.00 each, out the door. They seemed like the best buy on the market to me. Now if my seven year old Trojan AGM's would play out...just kidding.

Thank you Susan for asking this question about redundant CO detectors. My 2017 LEII came with two CO detectors. One of them is paired with the Atwood Propane/CO detector under the dinette. The other is paired with the First Alert Smoke/CO Alarm unit, which is under the attic near the television. And I will state that I am not sure if the 2020 or 2021 Oliver’s are equipped with two CO detectors, so there is a small chance that topgun2 is correct. I must admit to a small amount of pleasure I gain when correcting a forum moderator.😂😂😂 Mossey

“Mouse” is sometimes 28 feet tall..... I have not towed with the pole extended .... yet. John Davies Spokane WA