Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus Lithium LiFePO4 Battery

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus Lithium LiFePO₄ Battery is an ultralight deep-cycle Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery intended for off-the-grid, RV, marine, e-vehicles, and similar applications.

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus Lithium LiFePO₄ Battery features a very large number of charging/discharging cycles, small discharge rate, stable output voltage, improved BMS (compared with the previous Zooms 12V 200Ah LiFePO₄ battery), etc. It is a very popular battery in its class that comes at a very acceptable price.

Published: February 22, 2022.

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus Battery Features and Specifications

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery is based on the Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry and features physical dimensions of 20.5 x 9.37 x 8.54 inches (~52.1 x 23.8 x 21.7 cm) and it weighs only 49.6 pounds (~22.5 kg) - we say "only" since this is the battery that is able to store up to 2560 Wh of energy.

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery is often labeled as BCI Group 4D battery, but it is actually slightly larger than 4D - it is closer to BCI Group 6D batteries:

- 4D Batteries: 20.75 x 8.75 x 9.875 inches,

- Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus: 20.5 x 9.37 x 8.54 inches,

- 6D Batteries: 20.75 x 10 x 10.25 inches.

Note: when looking for a new battery or batteries, always check the actual dimensions, not just the BCI Battery Group - this goes for all the batteries, not just Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus.

As its name suggests, Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery features a nominal voltage of 12.8V and a nominal capacity of 200Ah.

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery features M8 battery ensuring firm contact between the battery and the cables.

The battery is designed for deep discharge applications and as such supports 4000+ charging/discharging cycles and has 10+ years predicted lifespan.

Also, it comes with an improved Battery Management System (BMS) - Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus supports charging/discharging currents up to 200 Amps, while older Zooms 12.8V 200Ah battery (note missing "Plus"!) supports charging/discharging currents up to 100 Amps.

Also, the BMS provides the battery with over-discharge protection, over-current protection, overcharge protection, over-voltage protection, short-circuit protection, and thermal protection.

Note: over time things change with new features being added as the new submodels appear on the market - for short, read the instructions/Owner's Guides.

As such, Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery is advertised as being good for loads of up to 2560W - personally, as the current is increased and as the battery is being discharged, the battery cannot provide full 2560W, but it can for sure support 2000-2300W during the entire discharge cycle, depending on the battery condition and the depth of discharge (DOD%).

One of the advantages of Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery is the fact that the built-in BMS supports connecting up to 4 batteries in series (battery packs with 12V, 24V, 36V, and 48V - actually, 12.8V, 25.6V, 38.4V, and 51.2V) and up to 4 batteries in parallel (battery packs with the capacities of 200Ah, 400Ah, 600Ah, 800Ah) - maximum 4S4P.

For example, the battery pack consisting of 8 batteries connected in 4S2P configuration, features a voltage of 25.6V and capacity of 800Ah and is able to provide 200 Amps for an hour.

Such battery pack is able to power, for example, an average 10.000 BTU air conditioner requiring 1200 Running Watts and 2000 Starting Watts for up to 14-15 hours using a power inverter with 85% energy efficiency.

How To Charge Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus Battery?

Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery officially supports a charging current of up to 200 Amps. But, such a charging current can trip the thermal protection during warmer days in battery compartments without enough cooling.

Personally, keeping the charging current down to 50-100 prevents thermal issues and prolongs the battery lifetime.

There are several ways of charging Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus and similar batteries, including solar panels combined with MPPT solar lithium battery charge controller, lithium battery charger, or even using power generators.

Solar panels combined with MPPT solar lithium battery charge controller collect the energy during the day and store it in the battery.

Since single Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus battery can store ~2560Wh of energy, using 800W solar panels with an average efficiency of 50% and MPPT solar lithium charge controller with an efficiency of 85%, one can fully recharge one Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus battery in 8-9 hours with currents of 20-25 Amps.

The actual time depends on the solar panel orientation, weather conditions, season, and similar - hence such low solar panel efficiency of "only" 50% which can be much better in certain conditions, but it is energy efficiency in real-life situations.

Note: power stations that support pass-through charging and enough solar panels, can also be used to charge the Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus battery - actual charging current depends on the number of solar panels, solar charge controller in the power station, and similar.

For example, Bluetti AC200P Portable Power Station/Solar Generator features 700W max. solar charge controller and supports pass-through charging and is able to power 12V 25-35 Amps lithium battery charger easily.

Such battery charger can recharge the Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus battery during the day in 6-8 hours.

Lithium battery charger charges the batteries using a charging algorithm optimized for lithium batteries, most often Constant Current/Constant Voltage (CC/CV) algorithm.

Using a good 50 Amps lithium battery charger, one can fully recharge the Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery in ~4 hours, without overstressing the battery.

One of such battery chargers is NOCO Genius PRO50 which is able to charge 12V lithium batteries with 50 Amps current.

Also, NOCO Genius PRO50 is a rather versatile battery charger, supporting various battery chemistries (wet/flooded lead-acid, AGM, lithium LiFePO4), various voltages (6V, 12V, 24V), can be used to recover deeply discharged lead-acid batteries, can be used as 12V and 24V power supply, etc.

Obviously, NOCO Genius PRO50 is not a cheap battery charger, but neither are the batteries that it is intended to charge!

For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check the NOCO Genius PRO50 Amazon link (link opens in the new window).

Power generators can be used to recharge using either 12V charging ports that can be found on some power generators or using 120V AC receptacles to power lithium battery chargers that can be used to charge the Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery.

Note: most 12V ports found on the power generators are unregulated and intended for lead-acid 12V batteries. If You intend to use power generators to charge the Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus or similar battery, it is highly recommended to use a 120V AC port and a proper lithium battery charger.

For example, if You intend to charge the Zooms 12.8V 200Ah Plus battery using a NOCO Genius PRO50 battery charger, You will need a power generator of at least 900-1000W that can run for at least 4 hours (@1000W) - it is good to over-dimension power generator a little bit, just in case.

The following comparison chart lists some of the quietest power generators that can be used to recharge Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus battery in 4 or fewer hours using NOCO Genius PRO50 or a similar lithium battery charger:

Obviously, having some extra power, receptacles and a large enough fuel tank can come really handy when camping, during emergencies and blackouts, and similar situations.

Long Story Short: Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery is a very popular battery in its class due to its ultralightweight design, large capacity, stable output voltage, a large number of charging/discharging cycles, long lifespan, and similar.

The battery is protected via BMS and is very safe to use - it can be even recharged using older lead-acid battery chargers that don't support desulfation and equalization charging modes, but such battery chargers cannot fully recharge the Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus battery, since its end charging voltage is higher than the charging voltage of older lead-acid batteries.

If the battery is being charged using a modern AGM battery charger, desulfation and equalization charging modes can destroy the BMS - for short, charge the battery using either a dedicated lithium battery charger or an advanced AGM battery charger with dedicated lithium battery charging mode.

For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check the Zooms 12V 200Ah Plus Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Battery Amazon link (link opens in the new window).