Dakota Lithium – Issues

Hey all, trying to find some support for a couple batteries (12v – starter & 32 v trolling). Bought two DLs last year right from the company. Installed them with Powerpole to give extended water time via charge and lithium life.

Question(Help Please)- anyone know how to get a hold of them other then their listed # and or email address?

August 2022 installed both brand new batteries and charger. Ran great over the fall. Took out of storage and unwrapped boat last weekend. Both batteries dead flat. The 32 is showing 1.7 V on the meter, the starting batter nothing. Even plugged in – nada. Put in a standard deep cell had in the garage boat powered up.

Having a hard time getting a hold of them. Called 11 times in the last week. Always goes to voice mail. Emailed them six times. Get the auto-response we will try and get back you in 24-48 hours.

Bought the Dakotas due to the 11 year warranty. ( was 2400 bucks for the pair).

Sincerely appreciate the time and response.
Aaron Otto

I wish you the best in getting ahold of them ! Check all the outlets, phone, Facebook, email . Could be on vacation too . That said – all these lithium company’s with 11 year warranty’s is suspicious to me . Lots of China rebranding going on I think .

Thanks Andy. Went to face book . Posted on their site, they took my post down 20m later…..

Doubt they are fake, bought them from their site directly.

They need to be woken up. The 12v take a lithium jump starter or another charged lead acid battery and put it on the battery for a min or so before you plug the charger in and leave it connected when you plug the charger in. This will let your batteries bms allow the battery to take a charge. You will need a 36v charger with wakeup feature or connect 3- charged 12v batteries in series and use jumper cables to wake it up. That is one of the reasons I didn’t get a 36v battery and went with 3 12s

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I’m looking to make the jump as my batteries age in both boats. It looks like Dakota will be an easy brand to pass on.

Dakota lithium was not an option at all for me. Cost more for what I’ve read is the absolute worst customer service in the business. That 11 year warranty is really only 6. After that they give you a discount on a new battery.

Pays to read the warranty information and not take their word for it

Within the first 6 years of the Warranty Period, subject to the exclusions listed below, the Manufacturer will credit, replace or repair, if serviceable, the Battery and/or parts of the
Battery, if the components in question are determined to be defective in material or workmanship. After 6
years and up to 11 years, if the components in question are determined to be defective in material or
workmanship, and the Manufacturer deems the components to be repairable, the Battery will be repaired
and returned. If the Manufacturer deems the components to be not repairable, a new, similar Battery will be offered at a discount of 60% off the price listed at the time of the offer. The offer will be valid for a period of 30 days after the date of notification.

I’ve been looking into lithiums for when my current batteries need replacing. Looks like Dakota lithium is off my list as well.

Thats really unfortunate with the Customer Service. I have a Dakota Lithium for my LX7 and really happy with it, but I havent had to use customer service yet and now I am concerned.

A $1,200 battery…. That thing aught to give you below the belt kisses

Did you disconnect them from any possible draw during storage?
Have a charger plugged in full time or even monthly during storage?
Those are both basic battery storage rules.

mark-bruzek wrote:

A $1,200 battery…. That thing aught to give you below the belt kisses

Did you disconnect them from any possible draw during storage?
Have a charger plugged in full time or even monthly during storage?
Those are both basic battery storage rules.

I was thinking the same on all accounts Mark. I do not leave any batteries in the boat when storing.

I had a similar issue this spring with my Dakotas that are hooked up for my Humminbirds. Dakota’s website says to “reset the batteries” by hooking it up to a Dakota Lithium brand charger. I use a different brand for on board charging (NOCO) and it read as constantly charging but would not fully charge. I took the advice from Dakota, tried it and it did a total reset for the batteries, charged them up and problem solved for me.

It is my understanding it’s not good to store a lithium battery for long periods of time at a full charge. They recommend you store them in the 40 to 80% range.

Dakota lithium batteries might be assembled in the US however there cores still come from China.

Onthewater wrote:

They need to be woken up. The 12v take a lithium jump starter or another charged lead acid battery and put it on the battery for a min or so before you plug the charger in and leave it connected when you plug the charger in. This will let your batteries bms allow the battery to take a charge. You will need a 36v charger with wakeup feature or connect 3- charged 12v batteries in series and use jumper cables to wake it up. That is one of the reasons I didn’t get a 36v battery and went with 3 12s

You are correct and definitely something every LFP battery owner should understand. I own 4 Ionic brand lithium’s. Could not be happier after I fully understood the needing to wake them up. When I first bought them my onboard charger was a Minnkota MK-460PC. It worked fine in the AGM mode to charge the LFP. Lightning took out a bank (another story) so I replaced it with Minnkota’s new MK-460PCL, with a true LFP algorithm for charging and waking up one that has gone to sleep. All LFP batteries will do this and it is not talked about very much. I bought mine from Drewcraft and they have been excellent to work with. I also agree with you about the 3 x 12V vs 1-36V. The 36 volt although has some size advantages however it really limits your options for charging, emergency starting, and of course waking up.

Also, living in the Minneapolis area I leave my batteries in place each year. I read that long term storage charge level should be 60% as a lithium battery usually needs to be charged prior to first use. I did that this year and check them once a week via my Bluetooth built in battery status. In January one of my trolling batteries did not register. I emailed Drewcraft and Andy stated that it doesn’t hurt them to be stored in cold but if so leave the charger plugged in. My MK-460PCL woke up that battery, kept it fully charged the rest of the winter without an issue and they performed great at Lake Erie last month.

I’m glad to see somebody calling them out, especially if they are ignoring you and not honoring the warranty as quickly as humanly possible.

I buy lithium batteries like candy, and as far as I’m concerned Dakota Lithium at this stage is a brilliant marketing company not a battery company.

As others mentioned, their cells come straight from China (just like virtually every other battery in the world) and at least some of their models are now entirely assembled in China in the exact same factories that make almost identical batteries that often cost 75% less than their amazing “Made in America” batteries.

I enjoy actual Made in USA products as much as anybody, and will often pay a premium (e.g. Redwing boots) but I also have no problem accepting that most of the world’s goods are made in China, and I’ve been ordering Life PO4 batteries from the same company for 5 years now without a single issue.

If I did ever have an issue, they would probably treat me exactly how Dakota Lithium is treating you, but that is exactly what I would expect. To pay 3-4 times the cost for the same treatment is pretty hard to swallow, especially when it is all based on bullshit marketing and image.

Resolution- Bought Nordak’s today. Missed Wisco opener for first time in 28 years today thanks to Dakota Lithium.

broeker wrote:

I’m glad to see somebody calling them out, especially if they are ignoring you and not honoring the warranty as quickly as humanly possible.

I buy lithium batteries like candy, and as far as I’m concerned Dakota Lithium at this stage is a brilliant marketing company not a battery company.

As others mentioned, their cells come straight from China (just like virtually every other battery in the world) and at least some of their models are now entirely assembled in China in the exact same factories that make almost identical batteries that often cost 75% less than their amazing “Made in America” batteries.

I enjoy actual Made in USA products as much as anybody, and will often pay a premium (e.g. Redwing boots) but I also have no problem accepting that most of the world’s goods are made in China, and I’ve been ordering Life PO4 batteries from the same company for 5 years now without a single issue.

If I did ever have an issue, they would probably treat me exactly how Dakota Lithium is treating you, but that is exactly what I would expect. To pay 3-4 times the cost for the same treatment is pretty hard to swallow, especially when it is all based on bullshit marketing and image.

Care to share the brand of batteries you buy? You get them from Amazon or elsewhere?

aaron otto wrote:

Resolution- Bought Nordak’s today. Missed Wisco opener for first time in 28 years today thanks to Dakota Lithium.

Any answer yet ? Seattle WA address. Id be taking a trip to Seattle Washington and kicking them between the shorts.

The answer is: I bought 4 new Nordaks. Doing the return paperwork right now. They got back to me 5 days after my last reach to them via email. No phone call no anything. Posted on their facebook page.. they took it down five minutes later… Went to their facebook chat option… no one answered.

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@walleyeyevision it is a brand called “Chins” I found in 2019 on Amazon after reading a lot of reviews and watching too many Youtube tear down videos. I own 4 of them (two 50ah and two 100ah) without a single issue so far.