ItechWorld 120amp lithium battery review. 2 years on, would we recommend it?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 เม.ย. 2022
- This week we have a good look at our Itech World 120amp lithium battery. We've had it for 2 years and can now give it a honest review.
We could have never done our lap of Australia the way we did without this battery.
Check them out for yourself and sometimes they have a great deal on their website
itechworld.com.au/
linktr.ee/goingoverland - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
it worked very well for u guys . and wow that 2 years went quick ! I think there will be an even better product soon enough ! good review. !
Thanks Brent, is that right I haven't heard, but I've been so busy lately! Hard to imagine they can get better
Thanks for the review mate,heard qiute a lot about these batteries, when my AGM's give up
i know what i'll be getting.Thanks again.😎
Mate you'll wonder why you didn't change sooner! They are that good 👍
Good to hear your battery lasted. I have one for the past 18 months and have returned it twice as it would go flat or into safe mode after sitting for couple of months. Now having troubles with the company to exchange it with something else.
I had similar problems having my product replaced. Finally got the replacement but it was only because I made a complaint & asked Fair Trading to step in.
Another good informative video. 😊 I've heard good things about those iTech batteries. I'll have to consider them when it's time to upgrade. 😎
Definitely give them a go, I know the initial price is high, but they say the lithium lasts a lot longer than agm, so long term it does work out cheaper, and judging how quick my last agm died I totally agree
Great video of your experience, thoroughly enjoyed it. I am at a point of renewing AGM van battery’s x2 and battery for Waco 50 litre
Mate I know the initial cost of lithium is high, but it really amazing what the difference is. If you want more positive feedback check out the other comments on this video, a lot of people have a great experience with the lithium.
Wow, looks like you had an amazing trip around Australia.
It was incredible! The trip of a lifetime with adventure around every corner. If you want something to watch, go back to week 3 and watch from there th-cam.com/video/G29K0l3KeC0/w-d-xo.html
Love ours. I have mine in a sealed box with the 40amp charger. Runs the fridge / travel buddy in the ute permanently for the past year.
Great work, it's a fantastic battery
I really need to get out and explore Australia more. It's a huge beautiful country and I've barely been out of Victoria. Cheers for the video!
It's a beautiful country and so easy to see it your way. Thanks for watching and the support 👍
Thanks for the review. Love your work mate. With our first caravan with a 3 way fridge I purchased the same battery you have there mainly to save weight as we were on our limit. Unfortunately with our new caravan I asked for and paid accordingly for a 200Ah lithium battery because we have a two way fridge. However they installed this king solar rubbish. It couldn’t run our 2000 watt iTech inverter. So out of my own pocket I purchased a 200Ah ITechworld battery and it works like a charm. Noticeably bigger I might mention than the solar king 200Ah. Fortunately ITechworld had the battery in question on a killer sale so I snapped one before we left on our lap and then sold the solar king to my son for his caravan.
Isn't that typical, you pay good money and they give you rubbish! Glad to hear the itech battles are working great, I love ours, never had a problem and it's so great with a good solar system. Hope you are having a great trip around Australia, so jealous!
@@GoingOverland they told me on ordering they were fitting a Enerdrive battery. However at the time of build there none in the country. Which turned out to be true. The thing that bugs me is I paid accordingly and they fitted cheap rubbish. It’s an ongoing argument that I fear will go no where. 95% of the caravan has been good. BUT I have replaced the pressure reducing valve, fuse board and the tyres all total XXXX I can tell you. I don’t understand why caravan manufacturers insist of letting the show down by using rubbish? The new Michelin’s tyres have made a huge difference. The trip so far has had it moments with the weather. We have camped great places and it’s rained the whole time. Very disappointing.
Thank you for your review, we have 3 of your type in our motorhome and with 1200w worth of solar panels we can run everything in the motorhome and by lunchtime it’s back up to fully charged and that is in Winter. No more caravan parks and only free camping now.
That's fantastic to hear. We love free camps, and being able to be flexible (no bookings to stick to at a caravan park). They really are a game changer, enjoy your travels and happy to answer any questions 😀
Great video very enjoyable, I have just purchased one & also a Victron mppt & hopefully it will do the same as you set up. I have also purchase one of there cranking batteries & that works a treat as well so I have a total of 180ah between the to 2 in the vehicle so when we get out & do the lap we should be fine.
Sounds like a great set-up. Definitely interested in how the cranking battery goes too
I just bought a 300 ah LiFeP04 battery rated at 200 amps, a 2000 watt inverter, and a 60 amp MPPT charge controller for a bit of emergency air conditioning for a very small window AC after hurricanes. I need several more solar panels and a meter with shunt but it`s a start.
I have 3 of the 120X lithiums 1 in the rear of the Cruiser and 2 in the camper trailer. The one in the Cruiser is 4 years old now and still going strong. The 2 in the camper trailer are less than a year old. They are awesome!!
Thanks Carl for the feedback, 4 years ago you were probably one of the first people putting affordable lithium in, and I bet everyone else was saying that it would be rubbish and not last. Guess you proved them wrong 👍
@@GoingOverland Yeah the one in the back of the cruiser is the original iTechworld 120 (all black box) and the other 2 are the 120X (black and orange). Funny enough the prices were not that different back then as it was bought on a special price. I will never go back to AGM now that I have had lithium and it has proved to be a great choice.
Have had two of the tech batteries in my van and Ute for 4 years never missed a beat
Thanks Dale, great to hear. Lithium is definitely a good investment for the long term
Deadly video l got 2 in the back of Ute they are deadly as two years old runs fridge ,lights ,12v oven,water pump,coffee machine, induction cooktop , toaster and kettle l give them a good smashing and they haven’t missed a beat they are too deadly 😁👍🏾
Great to hear, sounds like you are getting your moneys worth out of them 👍
We replaced our 2 AGM batteries that came with our Breakaway after 4 years with 2x120AH ITechWorld batteries. Also have Victron 100/50 MPPT, 12-12 30 DC-DC and 25 Amp 240v charger. Runs our 75 Litre EvaKool fridge/freezer, 12v electric blanket when its very cold, lights, devices etc. Very happy with them so far after nearly 2 years.
I remember seeing the photos on FB around the same time we did ours and it looked so professional. How good is camp life now!
@@GoingOverland yes was about the same time Adam. Haven’t been away in a while. Hoping to get away early next month, hoping…
You'd be glad you have the older Aussie made Lifestyle Breakaway camper hey! Great video thank you, liked and subbed.
Thanks mate for joining us, definitely love the Aussie made stuff and didn't mind pay the price of a new china built breakaway for a 3 year old Aussie one. Getting service parts was a big concern for us going remote
@@GoingOverland if you saw the problems my mate Kev from Woolgoolgaoffroad has had with his Breakaway (newer one) you'd be shocked! But never hear of issues with the Aussie ones! We have the Reconn R2 that is brilliant but still lots of teething issues. Safe travels, really enjoying your content 🤙
Nice review mate
Thanks mate, it's a great battery. I'll never go back to AGMs
Good video, those 120X’s are regularly on sale for $800 and you can also get a extra 10% off with a code.
They do appear to be good but I personally wouldn’t be paying the full retail of over $1000 for one as there’s better out there for that sort of money 👍
Yeah I think 2 years ago retail prices were around $1200 or more and I was worried about quality from the batteries that were any cheaper
Rebadged cheapies i think
Lithium tech has many good features, but I reckon the real bonus for many users is it solves problems they didn't know they had, problems that only existed with AGMs or other lead-acid batteries because of their chemistry limits. These are generally over-consumption and/or under-charging issues due to mismatched components and/or incorrect configurations for the intended use.
The couple you related to us about their lithium battery in a poor state of charge is one such situation. You solved their problem for that day, but by doing what you did for them you showed them there was something lacking in their system that needed addressing. They still have (or had, at the time) one or more issues at play with their set-up and/or with how they use it. Now, had they had an AGM it would have been worse. That is, the failure would have been more noticeable and notice it much earlier on.
For many years the battery has been the weakest link in these mobile systems. Once we moved away from manual switching to VSRs to DC-DC chargers things have improved with respect to engine alternator charging. The same with solar, going from switching relays to PWM and now MPPTs solar charge controllers, the panels can charge more efficiently, making solar more effective and reliable. And good AC-DC chargers have been around for a while, so if parked up with an AC supply, everything is good. Overall, the charging component of these mobile set-ups have been very efficient, reliable and robust for some years, yet the battery technology remained largely unchanged, and as people want more from their system, more failures occur usually due to either over-consumption versus the time taken to recharge the batteries (unless poor component choice or failure was the problem, then it was that). The natural choice was to go more with capacity to solve the problem, which mainly meant more weight.
Lithium tech can soak up current very quickly, that's for sure. The same example of the 3.5hr charging time producing 99Ah is a 28A/hr charge rate. Compared to an AGM the same size, that's impressive. AGMs generally like to live in the 10-15% charge rate of their C20 Ah capacity for battery longevity, so the same 120Ah battery would need 8.25 to 10 hours to accept 99Ah (those people idling their engine into the night you mention). One way to increase ability of any battery bank to accept charge is put them in parallel, so those times can be halved with two batteries, about 4-5 hours, but the weight penalty is double and the cost is getting to at least half that of a lithium.
Lastly, the price of solar panels over the last few years makes them so cost effective as a passive source of charging, there's very few reasons not to put whatever you can on top of the vehicle or trailer.
Another good video. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks Michael, sounds like you know a heck of a lot more then I do, your spot on with your comment. Our friends did end up opening up the fridge compartment every time they stopped, pulled the fridge out and covered it. Also pulling out the solar panels every stop. They told us doing this they had no more problems keeping the fridge running and keeping up the battery voltage.
And your so true about the price of solar, it's amazing how much watts and the quality too your can get. Thanks for watching and the support and positive feedback 😀
I have 2 of them in my little pod very happy with them
They are great, 2 would be awesome. Is that a J pod you have? We were considering one or something similar before we found our camper
@@GoingOverland yes it is a jpod
Great video and great review .. The downside is no you can't put your lithium under the hood .. The extreme heat kills all deep cyle batteries .. Lithium, AGM and gel all will die prematurely.. Your short lifespan on your agm dont make sence unless you killed it somehow .. My AGM is going like new still some 7 years old .. But I do baby it ... I'm dieing to jump into the lithium market .. But really still can't justify the huge cost output .. over $2k to get setup like i have with my AGM .. I would love to see if your lithium is going strong in 7 years ...
Thanks Sam, I know it's expensive but it provided its worth on our lap. I've heard back from a couple of people that there 10 year old lithium batteries are still going strong, but I'll definitely be interested in how long we get out of our budget set-up
glad that you can't find fault with the battery, I've had a few for a few years myself and I'm the same, mine are the same as yours and they are ip67 rated so they can get wet ,if you're looking for information on having it under the bonnet jafffa adventure's on TH-cam has had one under the bonnet of a cruiser for over 2 year's, have a look at his video lithium battery test and review . it's very informative watching. he's got 3 videos on it , i think that for the money the itech 120x is good value
Thanks JC, I'll have to check it out. Definitely something I'm considering
The VictronConnect is your DC-DC charger
Thanks for the great review and a love your style. Get a bit sick of the people who have big new 4wds and big new vans with all the bells and whistles. A lot of the time they have some type of conection with with suppliers.
Is it correct that you can recharge the Li with the AGM as I didn't think so. I ask this as most people don't realise that this is an option if the 2nd battery is running low and you need more capacity to keep your fridge gunning. You can always jump start your 4wd if needed but a fridge with no power is not so good. Currently I have 2 x 120ah 1000cca AGMs under the bonnet with a switch to join them together for the winch and to charge either battery from the other. I also have a Li i the van. Since having the Li I can't wait until the agms die so I can change to Li.
I am a new subscriber and will have to cat h up
Thanks red rocket for joining us, so for the delay in getting back to you, been away on a adventure and I try really hard not to look at the phone and really switch off.
On our trip to the snow this year our lithium battery had to run the diesel heater and after a week with lots of cloud and rain it was getting down to about 40% so I started the car up, connected the main battery directly to the lithium and upped the idle for about 1 hour or so. Got the lithium up to about 85% from memory and was fine for thr next couple of days until we left the area and found sunshine again.
I completely recommend the ItechWorld battery and I would definitely buy it again. The charge time is so fast, even with just 1 solar panel it is enough to run all our gear and the fridge at night and be full charged with only half the day in sunshine
Great review Adam, did you wire it all up yourself or did you get an auto elec to do it.
Cheers Scoot
Did all the wiring for the solar, extra lights, outputs, and Inverter. It's nothing technical, main thing is good quality wiring the correct thickness, good connections and spend the time thinking about where to run the wires.
As allways mate very informative , Im thinking if a battery box setup with the charging DCDC and MPPT from Itech would be the go for me if I only run a fridge and of course the wifey"s hair dryer occasionaly. Cheers from 2 west aussies in Saudi
Thanks mate, that set-up sounds perfect, keeping it simple is the way to go.
Very late to the party, but the 120X Pro is guaranteed and warranted for use under the bonnet. The 120X has the same specs except for amperage, so should be able to use under the bonnet. Even still, it is probably a good idea to use some insulation around it to help the BMS.
Yes I do hear they are warranted for that, but the heat would definitely reduce the battery life span. I've been stripping a heap of weight out of the rear of the patrol (65kg so far) so next time the 2nd battery needs replacing, it'll be lithium behind the back seat. Cheers mate 👍
@@GoingOverland Yes most likely will reduce battery life, but I'm eager to give it a go, as it's the best place for my setup. That's great, hope to put my GU on a diet as well. Thanks for your response and look forward to your next adventure. 👍
Great vid like all ways how Iteach world see your vid and give you a battery for the car
😆 probably not likely. But I'm sure if I asked I could get a free sticker
I bought the iTechworld bcdc40 charger. It has an internal MPPT included internally. I also bought the 120x battery and 240 volt charger. I ended up buying the Kings 3000 watt inverter on special for $299. It only has to run the coffee pod machine, toaster etc. I won't be asking too much of it and I couldn't resist the price.
Yeah $300 is a incredible price especially when you consider what redarc charge. I am thinking about the bcdc40, looks like a good charge and easy to wire up
I have had one of there batteries for that past 16 months and can’t fault it.
Good to hear, I know you can get similar batteries a lot cheaper, but I think you lose quality. ItechWorld have nailed it
Yep i was one of those people idling their 4by at camp got the same as you now I'm not wasting fuel
Mate that northern heat was crazy 🥵 and our lead acid battery under the bonnet couldn't run the fridge overnight either. The lithium was amazing
Hi mate great video do you charge that battery with your alternator while driving
No, only off 1 160watt panel and a mppt regulator. And on our 6 month lap it didn't need anything else. Main thing that uses a lot of power is the fridge/freezer, and during the day it is running off the car battery, allowing the itech battery to charge fast off that solar panel.
What about a 1000 watt microwave will that switch the overload protection? Some are complaining about it. I'm planning ti but a battery. Yes it is a big outlay for me too
Wouldn't know. We don't need any big 240V while on the road, we sort of leant to live without that stuff and didn't really notice not having the creative comforts. Biggest draw for us was the fridge and diesel heater last winter in the snow, and was fine after a week of extreme cold and clouds, snow and rain.
Can these lithium batteries be linked in parallel with AGM using normal dual system battery like SBI12? Or will it damage the battery or the alternator itself?
No. Different charge, discharge characteristics.
Did you buy the battery or was it goven to you ? I had trouble with my iTechworld product lasted less than 12 months.
We bought it, and had no problems, I've even bought a 50amp from them for the patrol. I've got no complaints
I love your Q&As ... live or not
Thanks Ian 👍
Be good if you could do a capacity test to see how well it performs after 2 years.
That model I'm told you only get 100ah from a 120ah. The professional model fixed that. They deliver over 126ah. I see on TH-cam. I want to know if it will handke 1000watt drain without protection
Is that the one that is actually only 105 ah as the 120x is just a name
Correct, I keep calling it 120amp, bit of a bad name choice I think. But either way that battery has changed how we camp and how much extra power we have.
Is it still working mate
Yeah works great, even bought a smaller battery from them for the patrol
120x is a 105ah battery
It’s 120 but goes into sleep mode at 105
The new 120x is rated at C20 Rating usable amps 10v:105Ah in their specifications. As an example, voltx are rared at "Nominal Capacity:i120A" and "total ah available" and no low voltage rang quoted. Nominal is close to useless where 105ah down to 10v is better. However it would be nice if everyone used a standard rating
Defrost your fridge it's frosted up a lot, you'll find it runs better and doesn't use as many amps they just don't work efficiently when they're frosted up like yours is. Cheers Chappy
Yes correct, the footage was taken on our lap of Australia and we had to defrost the fridge every 3 weeks or so. And it's amazing how much difference it can make. 👍
Get ep and review Adam.
Thanks 👍
Thanks Adam,new sub and will endeavour to catch up 👁👁🙃🙃🐕🦺🙏👍🍺🐨🦘🇦🇺
Thanks Graham for joining us 👍. If your looking for something to watch, I recommend going back to week 3 of our lap of Australia, it's were the adventure really kicks off. Happy to answer any questions
I have 2x 120ah itech batteries. I have had them 3 years and 2 months and one has died. Confirmation of from itech after paying $30 postage to return it to them. We will look after you they said.
Well if looking after you is trying to sell you a new itech battery, at a 8% discount after one fails 2 months out of warranty. What bullshit is that, they wont stand behind their product. This battery has been well looked after and never discharged below 50%. Has probably only done 500 cycles or less.
Also their 120ah batteries also only have 96ah of usable power before the bms cuts out.
Buyer beware buying itech
I have 2x180ah for the last 10 years in our van and wouldn’t have anything else.
10 years! That's fantastic to hear, I did hear that lithium last twice as long but still amazing to actually hear someone who has got 10 years and still counting. Thanks for letting me know 👍
itech are sly with there lithium batterys the 120x has only 105 useable amps to cut off at 10v where near all other lithiums are rated at 100% usable amps at 10v cut off, and if we adhering to the australian standard of usable amps to 10.5v thats 100amp battery so just lost 20% out of the box from theoretical capacity/ marketing
Strange, my lithiums cut off at 12v, I have 3, 1x120ah, and 2x180ah for the last 10 years
You need to do a capacity test otherwise the review is worthless. Do a capacity test and see how much it is now after 2 years of use. Mine after 7 months has lost 10% and its barely used at all. Capacity test is easy and cheap.
Mine doesn’t hold its charge when at home. Not reliable and iTechWorld world continues to give the run around. If you have a problem they won’t help you. Mine is dead at home after sitting there for 8 weeks without a charger attached. Get a better brand that won’t let you down.
Have you tried disconnecting the battery from every thing and seeing if the voltage holds? In the patrol We pull 1-5amps every day from electrical gear even though we have nothing on, so we need to charge that battery constantly
@@GoingOverland thanks for your reply … really liked your video. Yes it holds its charge for approximately 8 weeks then literally overnight will go from 13.8 Ish volts to zero. Strange but as a result of this I can’t trust it for overlanding without an alternative power source. When I did take it I found myself stressing out - checking the voltage and % to empty every hour… was driving my wife mad. When I wasn’t checking % I was either repositioning my solar or thinking about when I’d be driving next to top it up with alternator. Wish it was set and forget like your experience.
@@jezmendoza1718 could it just be in safe mode?
I,am a ex sparky and i,m building a 280 amp/hr lithium battery for my GQ to run two engel fridges and a 1500 watt inverter and 100 amp/hr lithium battery for my caravan too run and waeco fridge and otther things in the van lights ect, all will be charged via dc/dc chargers also solar imputs ,i can,t wait too have it all up and running later this year as finances allow it should cost me around a bit over $ 2.5k or so it sounds alot but it should me out and never have to buy another battery.
2.5k but you are getting such a amazing set-up! It would cost double that a couple of years ago. And sounds like you'll be able to be offgrid for longer saving money on caravan parks definitely keep us posted with how it goes