Alert Battleborn battery safety alert

[Neal]

 

[Richpatty]

Thanks. I will have to take a look at mine.

 

[Underboss]

So Battle Born has had a great reputation for years and suddenly this issue arises. What other brands are going to eventually be outed as cheaply made and dangerous junk? How many folks are buying the cheap imports? Just like the thread from a few months back where some were offended because NIRVC would not store RVs with aftermarket lithium systems. This is exactly why. I would not want my rv stored next to some rv where an aftermarket system was installed.
Its akin to watching those DIY home remodel shows where I cringe at most of the stuff these homeowners do and the producers film it and put it on the air. Hacks out to save a buck.

 

[Holdmybeer]

Many multifamily buildings in NYC no longer allow ebikes to be housed in apartments due to the lithium battery fire hazard.

 

[Headhunter]

Great I have Battle Born Batteries in my new 2026 coach from the factory. Another thing I have to worry about.

 

[Richpatty]

I wonder if this issue only applies to to the standard battery or also the GC2 equivalent.

 

[Neal]

If I was a BB customer I would reach out to them to see what they have to say about it. See if it's a limited run, maybe some new hire didn't do a good job, who knows. Ask about a potential recall and warranty replacement.

Please keep us in the know via this thread to help others.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Last year I was given 2 dead battle born batteries. I don't recall a buss bar, so maybe some were built differently.

That said, how would you know?

The problem that I found was standing water in the case, on both batteries. The batteries were in a battery box that never showed signs of water.

Though I would not put lithium in my rig (not completely true,I have some tools with batteries, and a cellphone . . .) I decided that a battery in metal case that was vented, or was hermetically sealed using 'o'rings was the only truly safe packaging for lithium batteries.

 

[Richpatty]

I did email their support and received a pretty standard form letter back... Bottom line is that they said that this is part of a "Safety feature" and if I have any issues that I should take pictures and let them know what specific issues I have. I went out and checked my batteries (which are the GC2 type I pictured above) and all of the terminals were very tight. I am not sure what is causing these issues with the BB batteries, but I figure it could be be the way some people are installing them...and they are not staying firmly in place and the cables/bars connecting them are trying to pulling on them.

Either way, the design does not look like a good one. And this was shown again in a follow up video today by Will Prowse.

He agrees that this is a flaw in the design...even though BB says it is part of a safety feature...which I agree, looks dubious.

Going forward I will keep a close eye on these terminals and makes sure they never feel loose. I think (hope) I should be OK as my batteries are held in place by an aluminum frame and strapped down with multiple straps. They really cant move much. I also used cables to connect each one together which has some give instead of pulling to hard on the terminals. For example, a single busbar across all of the batteries may strain the terminals more than cables... Just a theory.

Like many of us, I will continue to follow this issue and watch my BB batteries for loose terminals, but for now they seem very solid.

Thanks for posting this thread.

 

[Neal]

Probably would be good to own a Thermometer Laser Gun and hit your connections from time to time, when you know it's charging. Maybe turn the charger off for a day then the next day turn it on so you have good amps flowing and check temps.

Amazon.com

 

[Buly]

Last year I was given 2 dead battle born batteries. I don't recall a buss bar, so maybe some were built differently.

That said, how would you know?

The problem that I found was standing water in the case, on both batteries. The batteries were in a battery box that never showed signs of water.

Though I would not put lithium in my rig (not completely true,I have some tools with batteries, and a cellphone . . .) I decided that a battery in metal case that was vented, or was hermetically sealed using 'o'rings was the only truly safe packaging for lithium batteries.

In my trailer I installed metal case SOK Li battery. In our two golf carts I also installed metal case Li batteries.No problems so far?

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

When dealing with power, in my opinion it is safer and smarter to overbuild.
We do have lithium batteries in our coach, made by Lithionics, back when Lithionics was getting a significant portion of their business building and selling to military (and building to military specs). Our system was installed by Lithionics at their facility in the Tampa Bay area. Now that they are owned by Winnebago, no longer sure how they build their batteries nor what specs they build them to meet.

Seems like too many companies (not only BB, but Tesla, Grand Design, and many others) start out with a big focus on customer service and really trying to make a better product - but as they scale they start to look for ways to reduce costs and increase margins.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

In my previous rig I upgraded to two Battleborn batteries back in 2018 and they were great. That said, both of these videos should raise some eyebrows. It does appear that when this is happening the color of the red around the positive terminal becomes quite discolored due to the excess heat at the terminal post connection internally. If I still had my previous rig and the Battleborns I'd check for any discoloration/darkening of the red around the positive terminal. Secondly, a thermo laser gun aimed at that positive terminal (as @Neal shared in his post) would also show if there are any internal issues going on.

I do hope Battleborn comes back with something other than a stock copy/paste answer upon reviewing the videos.

Hard to tell at this point if an isolated incident with a select run of batteries or systemic. As more owners who have this thermal issue at the positive terminal report it and share with others this will become clearer.

Best,
-Mark

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

When dealing with power, in my opinion it is safer and smarter to overbuild.
We do have lithium batteries in our coach, made by Lithionics, back when Lithionics was getting a significant portion of their business building and selling to military (and building to military specs). Our system was installed by Lithionics at their facility in the Tampa Bay area. Now that they are owned by Winnebago, no longer sure how they build their batteries nor what specs they build them to meet.

Seems like too many companies (not only BB, but Tesla, Grand Design, and many others) start out with a big focus on customer service and really trying to make a better product - but as they scale they start to look for ways to reduce costs and increase margins.

Yes, the Lithionics are built to crazy high standards. Survive crashing any one of them in a 60 mph collision is something not many others can do. And this is not that they are in a vehicle traveling at 60 mph and the vehicle crashes, but the battery itself being impacted at 60 mph!!!

My only 2 gripes with Lithionics is the ridiculous markups and the marketing of "plug-in play" by some manufacturers. For the markup by some of the RV manufacturers and their dealers under the Winnebago umbrella some appear to be 2x to 3x over where the same Lithionics could be obtained from another licensed source. With Lithionics purchase by Winnebago I've lost track if those other dealer outlets are still supported or not. My 2nd gripe is that when a manufacturer markets Plug and play upgrades, that should mean I can buy the extra battery and simply plug it in myself, not that I have to swap out and upgrade the battery combiner the RV manufacturer installed and upgrade that as well. Oh, and forcing me to go to the dealer for that upgrade? Might be plug and play for them, but not me as a consumer.

I have Lithionics in my new rig and upgraded after purchase to a 3rd battery (at a much higher expense than it should have cost). That said, I do like them.

Best,
-Mark

 

[Richpatty]

Probably would be good to own a Thermometer Laser Gun and hit your connections from time to time, when you know it's charging. Maybe turn the charger off for a day then the next day turn it on so you have good amps flowing and check temps.

Amazon.com

I agree! And I do have one of those thermal guns and will put it to use when pushing or pulling power from these batteries. I have a monthly run planned next week and will take a reading then.

And I will watch the color of the insulators around the positive terminals.