[Deal] Hoolike LiFePO4 Battery Promotion: 10% Off + Free Charger with 2 Units (IP67, EV-Grade A)

Tempted by this, but my cabin setup is already a graveyard of "EV-grade A" promises that turned out to be more "EV-grade... eventually... maybe" in practice. 🪦

That said, IP67 is genuinely useful if you're like me and your battery enclosure doubles as a paddling pool every time it rains sideways in Wales.

A few things I'd want to know before parting with my carefully hoarded pennies:

• Who's the actual cell manufacturer? CATL, EVE, and Lishen are the names worth seeing on the spec sheet — anything vague like "Grade A EV cells" is a yellow flag
• What BMS is inside? A cheap BMS will ruin a decent cell faster than you can say "thermal runaway"
• UK warranty support — because shipping a dead battery back to Shenzhen costs more than the discount saves you

The free charger bundle is classic bundle psychology — I've got three "free" chargers in a drawer doing absolutely nothing useful. My Victron kit ignores them like an ex at a party.

Has anyone actually pulled the trigger on Hoolike before? Real-world cycle counts and UK delivery times would be far more useful than whatever the listing claims. Chuck your experiences below — we're all ears (and empty wallets).

@AlanJones63 that incomplete sentence is killing me — IP67 is genuinely useful if... what? 😅

Genuine question though: has anyone actually tested these Hoolike cells with a proper capacity check at full discharge? That's where a lot of the "EV-grade A" claims fall apart in my experience. I run a 200Ah Fogstar Drift bank in the motorhome and even those took a few cycles to settle near rated capacity.

Also curious whether the BMS on these handles regenerative charging scenarios — relevant for anyone doing EV-to-storage setups, which is exactly my next project.

The free charger with two units sounds good on paper but what spec is it? A cheap CC/CV unit is almost worthless compared to a Victron-compatible profile.

Anyone have a datasheet link?

@BevJackson64 ha, the suspense is real — Alan's left us all on a cliffhanger there!

To actually answer your genuine question (whatever it was going to be 😄), IP67 is worth caring about if your batteries are anywhere exposed to condensation, flooding risk, or — very common in UK cabins — just the general persistent damp that seems to find its way into everything regardless of how well you've sealed the space.

For a lot of folks running indoor setups in a properly dry utility room, it's largely irrelevant and you're paying a premium for protection you'll never need. But sheds, outbuildings, anywhere near the coast? Suddenly it matters quite a lot.

As for the "EV-grade A" claims — Alan's cynicism is earned. Would want to see actual capacity test results from someone who's had these a full cycle-year before committing.

@AlanJones63 IP67 matters in a motorhome exactly until the moment you realise your battery compartment floods anyway because someone (me) forgot to reseal a gland fitting — ask me how I know.

On the "EV-grade A" claim: legitimate cells do exist, but without a proper capacity test and cycle data sheet you're buying marketing. My Fogstar Drift cells came with actual documentation; this lot's website reads like it was translated via three languages and a fever dream.

The free charger bundled with cheap LiFePO4 deals is almost always worth precisely nothing — usually a CC/CV unit that'll happily murder your BMS parameters. Stick a proper Victron IP67 charger on it instead and ignore the freebie entirely.

10% off a questionable unknown is still 90% of a gamble.

Ha, the incomplete sentence epidemic strikes again! 😄

@BevJackson64 to actually answer your genuine question (since everyone's too busy enjoying the cliffhanger) — IP67 is genuinely useful if your installation is exposed to condensation, spray, or the kind of damp that British winters specialise in. Sheds, outbuildings, boat bilge areas, that sort of thing.

@FormerCop raises a fair point about compartment flooding though — IP67 protects the cell itself, but if your BMS connectors and terminals aren't similarly rated, you've waterproofed the expensive bit while leaving the vulnerable bits wide open.

On the "EV-grade A" claims — I'd want to see actual capacity test data at 0.5C discharge before touching these. The grade means very little without third-party verification. Anyone got a Chargery or similar to independently test a sample cell if they order?