Mecer 200ah battery health

Hi all,

I’ve got a Mecer 200Ah LiFePO4 (12.8V) battery, about 2 years old, running with a RCT VM1 1000w 12v inverter. Because load shedding has been minimal, the battery hasn’t worked hard – maybe 200 cycles total, mostly shallow.

I recently tested it with a constant 500W load through the inverter. It only lasted about 2 hours before low-voltage cutoff. That feels way too short – I was expecting closer to 4–4.5 hours for a healthy 200Ah battery, even with inverter losses.

The battery label says:

• Bulk/absorption: 14.6V

• “Recommended for inverter”: 14.1V (which I’ve been using daily)

• Cut off 10.5v, I've set the inverter to 11.5

From what I’ve read, LiFePO4 batteries balance best at higher voltages (around 14.4–14.6V). So maybe charging at 14.1V all the time has prevented proper balancing, especially since the battery rarely gets a full charge?

Questions:

• Is this safe, and will occasional full charges at 14.6V help re-balance?

• Has anyone else with a Mecer 200Ah seen low capacity like this, and fixed it with higher voltage charging?

• Could there be other causes (BMS issues, early cell degradation, inverter cutoff too high)?

• After testing, should I go back to 14.1–14.2V daily and just do a 14.6V top-up monthly?

Any advice or experiences with these batteries + Axpert/Mecer inverters would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Dale