Thanks for reviewing both of these battery boxes which I was considering for my ute. In my case I mainly bought the Kings one because they were just down the road from me, whereas the iTechworld one is in WA. Also being a pensioner I already had a 100a/hr lithium battery I bought from Aldi at the time. I liked the Kickass one too but the hideous cost of freight put me off there. Anyway I will subscribe so you can explain what shunts do in more detail.
Lovely Ep and comparison , If I had that Kings Box Id fit a small computer 5cm fan inside the box to cool the DCDC charger, As our Renagy dcdc charger has a small fan in it and it runs very cool,
Do you think its necessary to ground a 1000w inverter plugged into the go further battery box? It seems to be a grey area earthing inverters in vehicles.
Yeah it is kinda and depends on the type of inverter, it's internal wiring set up, if the inverter runs an RCD /RCBO and is going to an AC distribution box which runs a grounding line. So there is no clear yes or no as there are so many variables. but for the battery boxes it is not worth it as most of the boxes are made of plastic.
Only way to get the right battery box is to make your own. I know that the 4AWG cable is copper! Let's not forget they're both made in China. Mine is made in my shed in Australia 😅😅
Great video mate. I was waiting for someone to do a comparison. All very valid points. I noticed that the kings main cable is open at where it connects to the lugs. Could look at that to tell if it is copper or aluminium?. Also wondering if it is easy enough to change the built in shunt in the kings box to a victron shunt which is Bluetooth so that the batt lock can be stored somewhere I don’t have to look at the screen to know the SOC. I like the Kings form factor, I hadn’t considered the heat dissipation issue so thanks for pointing it out. Well done.
I did look at the ends of the cable lugs and it's kinda hard to tell as some cable can be copper clad aluminum cable. The weight of the cable suggests it is not pure copper but it's probably still fit for purpose and a way they keep their costs down. Yes you could put a Victron shunt in as both the Kings shut and Victron shunts are similar in side so it be just a matter of swapping them over.
Did you end up working out whether the iTech box has a fuse on the input from the battery? It certainly doesn’t look like it has from the positive side at least. I’m wondering though if they’ve fused the negative side somehow, as it appears the negative lead goes to something with a yellow sticker and an arrow on it? Do you know what that is? If there is no fuse at all then I think that’s a serious concern for the iTech box, especially considering the Anderson plug for the inverter would not be fused at all.
Na it doesn't have a fuse on the battery lead unfortunately. The thing the negative cable goes into with the yellow sticker on it, is the shunt for the battery monitor.
It's the cable for the Renogy shunt I installed. The cable from the shunt to the screen is long and I didn't want to cut it shorter and have to resplice the cable. So I coiled up the cable as with the temperature sensor on the Kick Ass DC to DC, it was also long and had to coil that up as will.
Funny that stock standard its just about impossible to get a great battery box for a fair price. I have the Kings Battery Box unit thats about $70 and modified and added the hell out of it. Upgraded the battery leads, added a hall effect shunt, 20A Victron MPPT, XT60, 30A Anderson powerpoles, main terminal fuse and a few other dc outlets for flexibility. Such a pity that heavy guage cable isnt standard as sooner or later an unpleasant outcome for someone is in store.
Yeah good video imo. I've always wondered whether going down this path rather than the all in one units that are so popular is a better way to go. Seems that replacing a faulty part of upgrading would be simpler. I've seen some of the more expensive versions of these advertised so I wonder that they're like.
I would like to get hold of an all in one power station but the prices are not cheap. If you have a components failure, you have to send the entire unit in to be fixed Vs swapping out any failed parts.
From what I've heard Itech after sales is no better than Kings. Taking into account Kings's nationwide storefronts I would suggest that Kings is ahead in terms of after sales compared to itech. That alone puts me off itech. Thanks for sharing. Cheers
I think itech fell asleep when they planned this build. No fuse between battery cable is a total fail. Remember guys, they will fail when your outback away from any help turning your fun holiday into a nightmare.
I bought these with my own money. Both Kings and iTechworld don't know I exist, my channel is way to small. The iTechworld box runs the DC circuits in my cabin as I live fully off grid. The Kings box stays in the car to run the car fridge and DC loads when camping.
i think you might be too invested in the itech world one, the kings is clearly better, better design, better battery security, better fusing. the two disadvantages of the kings 1 not as many ports is only an issue if it's not enough ports for you i can't see too many people needing more than it has. 2 the dc dc charger being mounted inside would have to overheat before you could say it was a problem (kings dc dc chargers are known to fail anyway) the itech world packaging is a deal breaker, a box with a dc dc slapped on top and handles sticking out the side. both could be redesigned with the dc dc external but packaged within the footprint of the box and protected from damage but still allow airflow.
Sounds like your very biased to the Kings box and that's fine. Remembering at the start of this video I mentioned it was my own opinion of how I found the two battery boxes and other people may have a different opinion to mine. It all comes down to personal choice I guess. Yeah the iTechworld battery box has twice the amount of 50 amp Anderson plugs and I still need more for what I use this box for. It runs multiple DC circuits around my cabin but I have made some adaptors to fix that problem. Yes I do like the foot print of the Kings box and it fits better in my car compared to the itechworld box and a reason the Kings is in the car. I do find the itech box is way easier to pick up and move around with the bigger handles compared to the kings. So yeah it all comes down to the individual persons needs. With the DC to DC charger getting hot as they all do right on top of a Lithium battery is not a good thing and the reason I liked the external option of the DC to DC, but that's my thoughts. Someone suggested to put a cooling fan in the Kings box which I thought was a good idea.
@@TheSimpleLivingAussie i don't have either only watched for information. but if i was to buy my decision would be easy. the kings 120ah battery has a 120amp continuous output so having two 50a anderson plugs is on par with the battery if you had multiple lower load devices you can use a double or even triple adapters on both outlets and the inverter posts. there's also the option of adding more ports of your own which is cheaper and easier than adding a shunt battery monitor on the itechworld.
@@6226superhurricane yes having the pre wired shunt in the Kings box would definitely seal the deal for a lot of people and adds an extra cost if installing one to the iTechworld box.
I'd give the kings a slightly higher rating ,given it also has that fuse between bat and isolator
Now do the same with a kickass 100ah, they are a hell of a lot more expensive but the quality is second to none
Thanks for reviewing both of these battery boxes which I was considering for my ute. In my case I mainly bought the Kings one because they were just down the road from me, whereas the iTechworld one is in WA. Also being a pensioner I already had a 100a/hr lithium battery I bought from Aldi at the time. I liked the Kickass one too but the hideous cost of freight put me off there. Anyway I will subscribe so you can explain what shunts do in more detail.
Lovely Ep and comparison , If I had that Kings Box Id fit a small computer 5cm fan inside the box to cool the DCDC charger, As our Renagy dcdc charger has a small fan in it and it runs very cool,
Do you think its necessary to ground a 1000w inverter plugged into the go further battery box? It seems to be a grey area earthing inverters in vehicles.
Yeah it is kinda and depends on the type of inverter, it's internal wiring set up, if the inverter runs an RCD /RCBO and is going to an AC distribution box which runs a grounding line. So there is no clear yes or no as there are so many variables. but for the battery boxes it is not worth it as most of the boxes are made of plastic.
Only way to get the right battery box is to make your own.
I know that the 4AWG cable is copper!
Let's not forget they're both made in China. Mine is made in my shed in Australia 😅😅
Great video mate. I was waiting for someone to do a comparison. All very valid points. I noticed that the kings main cable is open at where it connects to the lugs. Could look at that to tell if it is copper or aluminium?. Also wondering if it is easy enough to change the built in shunt in the kings box to a victron shunt which is Bluetooth so that the batt lock can be stored somewhere I don’t have to look at the screen to know the SOC. I like the Kings form factor, I hadn’t considered the heat dissipation issue so thanks for pointing it out. Well done.
I did look at the ends of the cable lugs and it's kinda hard to tell as some cable can be copper clad aluminum cable. The weight of the cable suggests it is not pure copper but it's probably still fit for purpose and a way they keep their costs down.
Yes you could put a Victron shunt in as both the Kings shut and Victron shunts are similar in side so it be just a matter of swapping them over.
yes batbox does come with 4 stick pads.
I bought kings because been to many people have faulty itech gear. So does kings but they sell hell lot more
Thankyou for such a cool video. Ive always wondered what was inside those boxes.
Did you end up working out whether the iTech box has a fuse on the input from the battery? It certainly doesn’t look like it has from the positive side at least. I’m wondering though if they’ve fused the negative side somehow, as it appears the negative lead goes to something with a yellow sticker and an arrow on it? Do you know what that is? If there is no fuse at all then I think that’s a serious concern for the iTech box, especially considering the Anderson plug for the inverter would not be fused at all.
Na it doesn't have a fuse on the battery lead unfortunately. The thing the negative cable goes into with the yellow sticker on it, is the shunt for the battery monitor.
@@TheSimpleLivingAussie interesting, I would have expected iTech to do better than Kings on that kind of safety aspect.
Another great video: Do they put a warranty on them
yes both boxes come with warranty although I think that would be void by now with the mods I made 😆
On the Itech box what’s the coiled up black cables?
It's the cable for the Renogy shunt I installed. The cable from the shunt to the screen is long and I didn't want to cut it shorter and have to resplice the cable. So I coiled up the cable as with the temperature sensor on the Kick Ass DC to DC, it was also long and had to coil that up as will.
Probably go with kings simply because they are everywhere and generally getting warranty is easy.
Kick Ass vers Blue Apple next would be great
Funny that stock standard its just about impossible to get a great battery box for a fair price. I have the Kings Battery Box unit thats about $70 and modified and added the hell out of it. Upgraded the battery leads, added a hall effect shunt, 20A Victron MPPT, XT60, 30A Anderson powerpoles, main terminal fuse and a few other dc outlets for flexibility. Such a pity that heavy guage cable isnt standard as sooner or later an unpleasant outcome for someone is in store.
I like them both but Id build my own for cheaper with better components
Yeah good video imo.
I've always wondered whether going down this path rather than the all in one units that are so popular is a better way to go. Seems that replacing a faulty part of upgrading would be simpler.
I've seen some of the more expensive versions of these advertised so I wonder that they're like.
I would like to get hold of an all in one power station but the prices are not cheap. If you have a components failure, you have to send the entire unit in to be fixed Vs swapping out any failed parts.
Great video mate, thank you very much. I really appreciate your videos.
From what I've heard Itech after sales is no better than Kings. Taking into account Kings's nationwide storefronts I would suggest that Kings is ahead in terms of after sales compared to itech. That alone puts me off itech. Thanks for sharing. Cheers
I think itech fell asleep when they planned this build. No fuse between battery cable is a total fail. Remember guys, they will fail when your outback away from any help turning your fun holiday into a nightmare.
Great video, keep em coming. Any chance you know a Alan Parkinson? I saw your thiess shirt in a few other vids
Na I don't know him. I was given the thiess shirt from a friend, I have never worked for them though.
Dud you buy both of these or were they provided to you by the brands for review?
Transparency is everything
I bought these with my own money. Both Kings and iTechworld don't know I exist, my channel is way to small.
The iTechworld box runs the DC circuits in my cabin as I live fully off grid. The Kings box stays in the car to run the car fridge and DC loads when camping.
i think you might be too invested in the itech world one, the kings is clearly better, better design, better battery security, better fusing.
the two disadvantages of the kings 1 not as many ports is only an issue if it's not enough ports for you i can't see too many people needing more than it has.
2 the dc dc charger being mounted inside would have to overheat before you could say it was a problem (kings dc dc chargers are known to fail anyway)
the itech world packaging is a deal breaker, a box with a dc dc slapped on top and handles sticking out the side.
both could be redesigned with the dc dc external but packaged within the footprint of the box and protected from damage but still allow airflow.
Sounds like your very biased to the Kings box and that's fine.
Remembering at the start of this video I mentioned it was my own opinion of how I found the two battery boxes and other people may have a different opinion to mine. It all comes down to personal choice I guess.
Yeah the iTechworld battery box has twice the amount of 50 amp Anderson plugs and I still need more for what I use this box for. It runs multiple DC circuits around my cabin but I have made some adaptors to fix that problem.
Yes I do like the foot print of the Kings box and it fits better in my car compared to the itechworld box and a reason the Kings is in the car. I do find the itech box is way easier to pick up and move around with the bigger handles compared to the kings. So yeah it all comes down to the individual persons needs.
With the DC to DC charger getting hot as they all do right on top of a Lithium battery is not a good thing and the reason I liked the external option of the DC to DC, but that's my thoughts. Someone suggested to put a cooling fan in the Kings box which I thought was a good idea.
@@TheSimpleLivingAussie i don't have either only watched for information.
but if i was to buy my decision would be easy.
the kings 120ah battery has a 120amp continuous output so having two 50a anderson plugs is on par with the battery if you had multiple lower load devices you can use a double or even triple adapters on both outlets and the inverter posts.
there's also the option of adding more ports of your own which is cheaper and easier than adding a shunt battery monitor on the itechworld.
@@6226superhurricane yes having the pre wired shunt in the Kings box would definitely seal the deal for a lot of people and adds an extra cost if installing one to the iTechworld box.
Battle of the shitboxes lol
Both overpriced Chinese crap
Both built out of very cheap chinese parts, no good at all.
a fire waiting to happen in both