This review dives into the Temu 300Ah lithium battery, addressing concerns surrounding its surprisingly compact size compared to similarly rated batteries. Initial skepticism arose from the significant size difference between the 300Ah Temu battery and both a 260Ah and a 100Ah battery, raising questions about its advertised capacity. The author's investigation aimed to determine if this seemingly small battery could deliver on its promised performance.To verify the claims, rigorous testing was conducted involving both a high-capacity charger and two different inverters – a modified sine wave and a pure sine wave – to accurately measure charge and discharge cycles. The results, incorporating efficiency factors for the inverters and chargers, reveal the actual capacity and provide a definitive answer to whether the Temu 300Ah battery is a worthwhile purchase, especially considering its budget-friendly price point.
Pros And Cons
- Smaller size than a comparable 260 amp battery
- Higher capacity than expected for its size
- Held a charge for 5 hours under continuous load
- The actual capacity (approximately 3.2 kWh) was slightly lower than the labeled capacity (3.8 kWh)
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Initial Impressions and Size Comparison
Upon receiving the 300Ah lithium battery from Temu, I was immediately struck by its surprisingly compact size. This was significantly smaller than my previous 260Ah battery, leading to initial concerns about its advertised capacity. The physical dimensions were a stark contrast; the 260Ah battery was nearly double the size. This raised questions regarding the actual amp-hour rating.
Further comparison with a 100Ah battery highlighted the discrepancy. The 300Ah battery wasn't three times larger than the 100Ah unit as expected. While slightly bigger than the 100Ah, it certainly didn't match the expected size difference based on its claimed capacity. This fueled my suspicion that the product might be misrepresented.
Testing the Battery Capacity
To verify the battery's actual capacity, I decided to conduct a thorough test. I utilized a high-capacity charger capable of delivering up to 20 amps, fully charging the 300Ah battery overnight. This involved charging at the maximum 20-amp setting, a process that took over 12 hours.
After a full charge, I proceeded to discharge the battery using a 1000W Ryobi inverter, connected to a power meter to track kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption accurately. A radiator heater was used as the load, drawing around 600 watts at the low setting.
Discharge Test Results and Observations
Over a five-hour discharge period, the battery consistently powered the 600-watt heater. The power meter registered approximately 3.95 kWh of total consumption, a relatively close result to the manufacturer's claimed 3.8 kWh capacity. It's important to note that inverter inefficiencies need to be considered.
The inverter's internal consumption was also factored in, approximately 20 watts, to account for the fan and internal circuitry demands. Therefore, actual battery capacity was estimated to be slightly higher, around 3.1-3.2 kWh.
Retesting with a Pure Sine Wave Inverter
To refine the test and eliminate the influence of the modified sine wave inverter's inefficiencies, I repeated the process using a pure sine wave inverter. This would provide a more accurate measurement of the battery's true capacity.
A significantly larger and higher-quality pure sine wave inverter was used for the retest. This time, the battery was charged using a power meter connected to the main power source, avoiding any interruption or loss of data during the charging cycle.
Final Results and Conclusion
The retest using the pure sine wave inverter and a direct power monitoring setup revealed that approximately 5 kWh was drawn from the mains to charge the battery to full capacity. Accounting for charger efficiency (estimated at 88%), the actual energy stored in the battery is close to 4 kWh.
In conclusion, the Temu 300Ah lithium battery performed well during testing and proved to have a usable capacity of around 4 kWh, quite close to its advertised capacity. While initial concerns about its size were valid, the performance has proven to be satisfactory. For the price, it appears to be a good value if you're shopping on a budget.
