Not happy about my recent Dakota Lithium order

Sorry, just a gripe post...

Had bit the bullet and bought a boondocking setup to use with my camper and went with  Dakota Lithium to buy a setup that can be easily expanded as needed and wont have to replace the battery when I decide to upgrade.  I saw a note on the site saying there is some backorder issues with the 100AH battery, but placed my order and then emailed them on Monday to ask about the inventory of the parts I requested and when it might ship.  They replied back simply with it will ship this week.  By Friday I had no update, so I emailed them again to ask for an ETA on shipping, and they then told me my order wont ship till the end of the month.  Sad, as I really wanted something sooner than that, but I can either wait, or cancel.  They did offer a 10% off the order for waiting, but wont commit to a specific date that they will be in stock and ship out. They only say sorry there was a miscommunication from the Sales department to the Warehouse.  I feel like I had my order stolen from me and they didn't give me any updates without me contacting them.  So I wonder when they were going to tell me after already sitting on my order for a week already...

End of rant.

sorry to hear about your experience with them...guessing you didn't see this post

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=92698.0

That's a bummer. My LiFePO4 batter is "K2 energy" brand, and they were great to deal with. But, mine is about 10 years old, and K2 seems to be way overpriced now...

Not surprised you got the same “quality” of customer support that I did, but sorry to hear you had to go through it!


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So what is the go-to kayak battery these days? I have a Chet battery which is great, but he’s not selling them right now, and I had a noqua battery that had flimsy connectors and died after a few years, so I don’t want to get another one of those. Is the best option just to get a generic  10 ah LiFePO4 on Amazon?

So what is the go-to kayak battery these days? I have a Chet battery which is great, but he’s not selling them right now, and I had a noqua battery that had flimsy connectors and died after a few years, so I don’t want to get another one of those. Is the best option just to get a generic  10 ah LiFePO4 on Amazon?

My 10ah nocqua is a beast.  Great battery.  Maybe you got a bad one? 

I have a Noqua right now, and it’s doing fine. Not sure it’s the “best”, but it’s working so far. I’m being very careful with the connectors, and bought the sacrificial extra cord thingy to hopefully buy myself more time.

There's a logistical problem. Parts of China are on lockdown. Many ships are stuck at port. Then there are problems with sourcing and manufacturing. All sort of industries are affected. On top of that, lithium battery prices had gone up 30 to 100% since Covid. The big name batteries that used to be abundant are now hard to find. And because the global market is hit with all sorts of issues, more people are trying to buy within the US and depleted the domestic sources.
I am trying to build a second battery pack for my trolling motor. Was happy to find that the domestic source I used still has the K2 LifePo cells I purchased before, and are available at the same price as last year. The first time I bought from them they shipped the next day. This time it took them 7 days to ship and they said they couldn't fulfill their orders fast enough due to the sheer volume of orders.

Since you're interested in bigger size batteries, check out this guy (DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse) on YT. He reviews many large capacity LifePo4 batteries.

Building your battery pack has some advantages. For example, this 30ah LifePo4 12v battery cost less than $150 to build. It has a smart BMS that allows you to control the charge/discharge characteristics of the pack through your phone app. You also know how much current your device draws and how much capacity is left.

Building your battery pack has some advantages. For example, this 30ah LifePo4 12v battery cost less than $150 to build. It has a smart BMS that allows you to control the charging/discharging characteristics of the pack through your phone app. You also know how much current your device draws and how much capacity is left.

About how much would that weigh?

About how much would that weigh?

I only have a bathroom scale. Roughly 9 lbs. Fits inside the Hobie round hatch.

I have two of Chet's battery and the case above (similar to one) does not fit into my tandem AI round hatch. Slightly too big to fit in 8" hatch.

I bought it in June 2019 and it's a 24.5ah w/charger.

It's available if anyone wants to throw me an offer or trade for trevala mh combo.
 
Between my FPV (10ah) and one of Chet's smaller battery (17.5ah) that's more than enough for me.

PM me if you're interested.

I have two of Chet's battery and the case above (similar to one) does not fit into my tandem AI round hatch. Slightly too big to fit in 8" hatch.

Mine fits barely in my Revo 13. I can imagine how it won't fit in some kayaks because the bottom of the hull needs to be deep enough. I don't put it in my hatch because it is for my trolling motor. I just clip it on my tank well.


To power my Lowrance TI-7, I use this little guy (11v 14ah) and it runs all day.

That's interesting and good to know. Thank you Ernest 

My batteries lasts between 1.5 to 3 days of fishing powering my 7" lowrance depending on which i was using.

I ordered two other times and it was no hassle.  Wasnt' expediant, took at least a week or so but no reason to complain. But spending as much as I did, and getting poor customer service and no ship date, ugh.  They make a 100AH Noqua?

Tried to call their number to talk to a live person.  After 15 mins of sitting on hold, it gives up and says leave a VM and we will respond in 1-2 business days and drops you to voicemail.