Off brand Lithium batteries

[jmedy1]

Eagerly awaiting the ice here in New England I was looking to replace my lead acid batteries in my flashers. I couldn’t find anything on iceahanty about the off-brand 16 Ah batteries on amazon, but for $50 a pop I decided to take a chance on them.
The only negative reviews I saw on amazon were a few instances of the batteries being delivered with low voltage.
Mine showed up today both 13+volts. They are a little wider than your standard flasher battery but Some minor adjustments made them fit.
Seeing if anyone has any experience with these batteries. I’ll be sure to report back once I get some hours put on them.

[DrummerManDrew]

What off brand are you talking about? I picked up (2) Miady 16ah LiFePo4 for 50$ ...

[pmaloney86]

I'm quite curious about these.  Please let us know how they hold up to cold and a year of use on the ice.  I've been jerked around by Dakata Lithium far too much for the price of their products.  They are supposed to send me a battery box for free because of all of the delays that I have experienced but I'll believe it when I see it.  It shouldn't take 4 months to get a freaking battery (Covid supply chain issues or not).

[Rebelss]

I went the off-brand route too....twice. Never again.  One wouldn't hold a charge, and the other lasted for about an hour of use. Two different companies. Hope yours is far better.

[Iceassin]

Mine from Amped Outdoors came with low voltage. They ship theirs that way. Recharge when you get it. Should be good. I did order a lead acid from Amazon a couple years ago. Junk. Never held a charge from day 1.

[skifisher]

Same goes for the “knockoff” Milwaukee Fuel batteries. You can find a bunch of them on the websites, but they’re all junk! You get what you pay for! Beware! 

[DrummerManDrew]

I’m running the two Miady 16s in parallel for a sled mode. I will post how they do for the season but from what I can tell everything looks, feel and tested great.

[hnd]

its all about the cells.  sometimes they use decent cells but the name brands ensure quality by using samsung/lg etc.   sometimes the el cheapo ones you luck out and they are using a batch of decent cells.   

[RapShack]

My Miady will start getting used any day now.  I'll let you know how it shakes out.

[ggpr]

I recently purchased two Marcum 12V 10AH lithium batteries to use for my portable fishing setup.  I am hoping they are good quality and reliable.  I am informed by my local fishing store that they have better faith in any warranty service if needed from marcum as opposed to dakota lithium for example.  The local store does a fair bit of business with marcum so it makes sense they would be well taken care of.  The price for the marcum batteries was significantly better than the dakota lithium options for me (in canada).  And unfortunately for me to get amped batteries in canada i would have to pay a large premium

I picked up my marcum 12V10AH including charger on black friday sale at the fishin hole for $100CAD (~$78 USD).  The dakota lithium i bought on a sale before black friday from cabelas was $115 for the battery (same specs) and $21 for the charger (CAD).

The regular price for the marcum lithium 12V10AH including charger is the same as the regular price of the dakota battery alone with no charger ($140 CAD).  The marcum 12V18AH is a real nice deal even at regular price at cabelas ($180 CAD and includes charger).

Im curious if anyone has any actual experience using the marcum lithium batteries, im not sure but i think they might be a new product, i couldnt find much while searching for info about them online.

Anyways, in Canada, they seem to be a fair priced option for lithium batteries.  I hope they stand up to the test of time!

[DR.SPECKLER]

I have no faith in marcum products.dakota lithium is a step ahead i chatted with them many times and they actually make their battery cells and have scientists that were starting to develop their own power for the cells here in the US.quite a step above getting a battery shipped over on a boat.jmo

[kpd145]

Lithiim batteries are one item I will not go cheap on.

I use a nocqua 10ah and my buddies use dakota lithium.

Both work very well

[RapShack]

Both work very well

Define "work very well".  Were talking about flasher batteries here, either they work or they don't.  Do you have any metric that shows a performance benefit for your battery compared to the others when powering a relatively low draw device?  Also your Nocqua is rated for 400 charge cycles, where a LiFePo4 is rated for 2000.  Your $130 battery is actually more like a $650 battery when longevity is taken into account.

[kpd145]

Define "work very well".  Were talking about flasher batteries here, either they work or they don't.  Do you have any metric that shows a performance benefit for your battery compared to the others when powering a relatively low draw device?  Also your Nocqua is rated for 400 charge cycles, where a LiFePo4 is rated for 2000.  Your $130 battery is actually more like a $650 battery when longevity is taken into account.

Meaning, I have had no issues with it charging, holding a charge, discharging too fast or heating up too much. My Nocqua is also a LI-Ion which is different than the LiFePo4. The latter is better suited for cold temps. While I could go possibly get into charge cycles, there are WAY to many variables that go into how many times a battery can be charged. How low were they before charging? What temps? Type of charger?

while your math on paper is accurate, I cannot say it is applicable to real world environments.  But assuming it is accurate, I pay a little over 3 dollars every time I use it, I'm good with that cost.

If anything I would ask the manufacturer what their metric is for advertising the charge cycles. Field tested, lab tested, how much draw (is it a range or static number)? ya know, seeing as your buying it from them and not me....

i.e. I have a battery in one of my cars that has lasted 7 yrs, my other car battery has been changed twice in the same time frame, both cars get used, the older battery is a Die-Hard, while the newer ones were all Interstate. Both are also same class 24 batteries.

[jmedy1]

Mid season update on my Amazon “Miady LIFEPO4 16 ah” battery. Very impressed so far. I have one in my humminbird helix 5 and one in my Lowrance flasher. Fished both heavy in all sorts of cold weather. Most notably 4 full days with the helix this past weekend on one charge. I’ll give another update at the end of the season, but far I would reccomend.

[tj_cubin]

Ive got a helix 5 for my kayak that i rigged up on an ammo box for ice fishing. Currently using an old motor sports lead acid battery out of my wife's Vespa but looking to switch to lithium.

If i buy a Miady 16ah battery, is this the kind of charger i would want?


https://www.amazon.com/BikeMaster-TS0207A-Lithium-Battery-Charger/dp/B0167JU8VI/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=lithium+battery+charger&qid=1613671092&sr=8-3


I like that it has the two-pole flat connector because that's what I already use on my waterproof battery box, and I can skip the big alligator clips for charging.

[jmedy1]

Yes, that’s the same charger I have

[RapShack]

End of season report and everything is still going fine.

Would I buy another or recommend this as a flasher battery?  Yes.

My honest opinion is that the lithium flasher battery is the MOST over-hyped piece of gear on the ice, pretty much the antithesis of lithium powered augers.  In some of these discussions you will hear about different cells, cheap cells, expensive cells, panasonic, etc. and it's true not all cells are created equal.  The most expensive cells are the most expensive cells because they can deliver a lot of power very fast.  This is a good thing for your drill because it needs lots of power on demand, but pointless for electronics that use a tiny trickle of juice over a long period. 

Your flasher battery has one very easy job, to run your flasher.  An SLA will run your flasher for $20, the Miady will run your flasher and save you a couple pounds for $30, a name brand lithium will run your flasher and save a couple pounds for $100-$120.  The idea of paying $100 to save 2 pounds is laughable to me, at that point it's no longer a tool in the tool box it's a fashion accessory.  The thing is I've never had anyone look inside my sonar bag to see what kind of battery I have.

[skifisher]

Well said Rap...thanks!

[jmedy1]

After a whole season of use I’ve gotta say I’m still a 10/10 would recommend. 20 full days of hard use with my helix and never ran out of juice even on the cold days. Battery was quick to charge.