Disclaimer: Power Queen sent this product to us for free for a review. That does not affect our opinion about the product. In this article, we list both what we like and dislike. Read more about this here.
Intro
Power Queen is a company that makes lithium batteries, I have reviewed one of its batteries before (click here to view).
They sent me a new model made for trolling motors, which can be used to power trolling motors with 30-120 lbs thrust. That means it’s a little bit more powerful than the previous battery I reviewed, so I agreed to do a review.
Check price on iPowerQueen.com
In this article, I am going to share the specifications and my thoughts about it.
Whether you should buy this instead of a “regular” LiFePO4 battery for your trolling motor should depend on the price, in my opinion. Unless your motor requires a 500A peak output for a second (which is highly unlikely).
Battery Specifications
As the name implies, this model uses LiFePO4 battery cells. These are known to be more durable and safe than the more commonly used Li-Ion.
The battery is rated at 100Ah at 12.8 volts, which equals 1280Wh (watt-hours).
100Ah is also the maximum charge and discharge currents supported by the BMS. Remember that you must use a battery charger that supports lithium batteries to properly charge any lithium battery.
Power Queen makes lithium chargers in different sizes. Here is a link to its 20A battery charger, perfect for a battery like this.
It has a built-in low-temperature cut off, which will prevent charging in below freezing temperatures, and discharging in temperatures below -4℉.
Since charging a lithium battery in freezing temperatures can cause permanent damage to the cells, this is great feature to have. Especially for a battery meant to be used in a trolling motor.
Leaving the battery on a charge in a location where it might go below 32℉ is fine, since the BMS will prevent charging when it gets cold enough to hurt the battery, and resume charging when it gets warm enough again.
As mentioned in the introduction, the built-in BMS can withstand up to 500A for a second, and power trolling motors with 30-120 lbs thrust.
If you have two or three batteries, wiring them in series will make it possible to power a 24 or a 36 volt motor as well, in addition to the 12V a single battery provides.
The battery weighs 22 pounds and measures 6.8 by 13 by 8.4 inches.
Build Quality And Design
While the battery box design uses plastic parts, it’s moisture and dust-proof, with an IP65 rating. It’s also salt-spray-resistant.
It has a built-in strap that sits on top, where you will also find the two battery terminals. These are colored red (positive) and black (negative).
One of the best things about lithium batteries, especially LiFePO4 batteries, is their durability.
This model can be fully discharged up to 4000 times before you’re going to notice at least a 20% decrease in total capacity. If only discharged down to 20% before being recharged, you can expect almost twice as many cycles.
Buying lithium batteries instead of lead-acid might cost more initially, but over time it can save you a lot of money.
Performance
In my tests, the battery performed great. I was able to continuously discharge at a 100A rate, and it drained the battery completely in about 45 minutes.
The battery stayed cool throughout the test and I didn’t see any voltage drops at any time.
It reached 103Ah in the total capacity tests, which tells me that it has pretty much the same number of cells as the other model I reviewed.
I also performed a test to make sure the low-temperature cut off protection works. It took a second for the BMS to notice the drop in temperature and stop charging, but that’s likely because the battery doesn’t immediately get cold on the inside when brought from room temperature to freezing.
As soon as it did notice, the charge stopped and I have not noticed any issues with the battery since that test. It still works as it should, and I have been able to use the full capacity of the battery.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a trolling motor to test the battery with, but I can tell you that it can handle the rated 300A peak discharge current.
Compatibility and Integration
The battery is expandable, and can be wired in both series and parallel.
It supports up to a 4S4P configuration, meaning a total of 16 batteries. That would equal a 400Ah battery bank at 48V.
Even though it’s a battery perfect for trolling motors, you can use it for other purposes as well, like you would use any other LiFePo4 battery. It would be great for solar and RVs.
If you plan on replacing your RV batteries with lithium, you must make sure that the converter charger in your camper supports lithium. Otherwise the battery might not charge properly, which overtime can damage it.
Price, Value & Conclusion
This battery is currently on sale at ipowerqueen.com for $239.96. I think that’s an unbelievable price for a 100Ah 12V LiFePO4 battery, and the value is hard to beat.
I have been using the other Power Queen battery for months and haven’t run into a single issue, because of that and how well this battery has performed I can confidently recommend this brand.
I don’t think anyone should be buying lead-acid batteries when these lithium batteries can be found at these prices.
My only complaint is the handle. I wish it was a folding handle that felt a bit more robust.
I think this is a great battery that can be used in a lot of different settings, and at the price it’s selling at, it’s possible to build a very powerful battery bank at a fraction of the cost it used to be just a couple of years ago.
Please leave a comment down below if you have questions.
