Good evening,
About a month ago, I posted: Why Has My 6-Month Old "Once Perfect" Solar system Failed? It became a long thread over several weeks. I learned a great deal and I will be forever grateful for everyone who helped this struggling beginner.
At that time, the consensus was that it was BMS failure in the cheap Chinese batteries I tried to get by with -- BTR Power 12V 150Ah sold for RVs. Ha! They worked perfectly and were fantastic for 4-5 months, and then something happened to cause the BMS failure. Maybe I did something wrong, but I have no idea what? And, I may never figure that out.
Since then, I bit the bullet and bought 200Ah of high-quality prismatic cells and a Daly Smart BMS because I had to have battery power. That's installed and my system is working well, albeit with only 200Ah of battery vs. my previous 450Ah.
Adhering to someone's previous comment of "what do you have to lose," I also finally got brave enough to start tearing apart one of the failed batteries. Three photos are attached of the first phase tear apart process.
Here's the kicker and big surprise for me. Tested with my multimeter, the battery read 13.45 volts ! ! ! Shocker, because it would not work at all connected through the BMS I bypassed the BMS when testing and used the positive connection and the solder point for the BMS (Pix) on the battery as the negative connection. So, it is well-charged, essentially. That, I assume, confirms the BMS failure.
Questions:
(1) Is there something I can try with the battery stripped apart at this stage to somehow shock the BMS back to working? I am not sure I will keep the existing BMS anyway, except temporarily. I am thinking I need a higher-quality BMS replacement.
(2) Theoretically, it seems to me I should be able to replace the BMS without tearing apart all of the cells? How do I determine what specs of a BMS to purchase, hopefully, to simply cut off the current BMS and solder on a replacement? Can it be that simple?
I now have Daly Smart BMS that is working well. Everyone recommends the Overkill BMS, which may be great, but last I looked it was out of stock and expensive. Is there any BMS anyone can recommend that is decent quality and cost effective? I am a retiree, and buying a new battery has really put me in a huge $$$ hole.
(3) The "BTR Power" people have been no help. I tried their "fully charge the battery and the BMS will reset" every way to Sunday. That did not work. I now have asked for the specs and number of cells in the BTR 12V 150Ah battery. That was sent 4 days ago, no response so far.
Obviously, I would like the simplest route, given my very limited knowledge.
Does anyone have suggestions about what I should do next to figure out the replacement BMS? Must I go the next step and unbolt all of the cells? What would I learn from that (as a total novice)?
I am certainly open to any suggestions and/or corrections in my thinking.
Again many thanks for the previous assistance. I am hopeful of figuring out a solution for the BMS replacement and resurrecting the battery.
Jim S.
jesfl
About a month ago, I posted: Why Has My 6-Month Old "Once Perfect" Solar system Failed? It became a long thread over several weeks. I learned a great deal and I will be forever grateful for everyone who helped this struggling beginner.
At that time, the consensus was that it was BMS failure in the cheap Chinese batteries I tried to get by with -- BTR Power 12V 150Ah sold for RVs. Ha! They worked perfectly and were fantastic for 4-5 months, and then something happened to cause the BMS failure. Maybe I did something wrong, but I have no idea what? And, I may never figure that out.
Since then, I bit the bullet and bought 200Ah of high-quality prismatic cells and a Daly Smart BMS because I had to have battery power. That's installed and my system is working well, albeit with only 200Ah of battery vs. my previous 450Ah.
Adhering to someone's previous comment of "what do you have to lose," I also finally got brave enough to start tearing apart one of the failed batteries. Three photos are attached of the first phase tear apart process.
Here's the kicker and big surprise for me. Tested with my multimeter, the battery read 13.45 volts ! ! ! Shocker, because it would not work at all connected through the BMS I bypassed the BMS when testing and used the positive connection and the solder point for the BMS (Pix) on the battery as the negative connection. So, it is well-charged, essentially. That, I assume, confirms the BMS failure.
Questions:
(1) Is there something I can try with the battery stripped apart at this stage to somehow shock the BMS back to working? I am not sure I will keep the existing BMS anyway, except temporarily. I am thinking I need a higher-quality BMS replacement.
(2) Theoretically, it seems to me I should be able to replace the BMS without tearing apart all of the cells? How do I determine what specs of a BMS to purchase, hopefully, to simply cut off the current BMS and solder on a replacement? Can it be that simple?
I now have Daly Smart BMS that is working well. Everyone recommends the Overkill BMS, which may be great, but last I looked it was out of stock and expensive. Is there any BMS anyone can recommend that is decent quality and cost effective? I am a retiree, and buying a new battery has really put me in a huge $$$ hole.
(3) The "BTR Power" people have been no help. I tried their "fully charge the battery and the BMS will reset" every way to Sunday. That did not work. I now have asked for the specs and number of cells in the BTR 12V 150Ah battery. That was sent 4 days ago, no response so far.
Obviously, I would like the simplest route, given my very limited knowledge.
Does anyone have suggestions about what I should do next to figure out the replacement BMS? Must I go the next step and unbolt all of the cells? What would I learn from that (as a total novice)?
I am certainly open to any suggestions and/or corrections in my thinking.
Again many thanks for the previous assistance. I am hopeful of figuring out a solution for the BMS replacement and resurrecting the battery.
Jim S.
jesfl