SOK 206ah doesn't take a charge, only reads 11 volts from main terminals

[Neo Anderson]

Hi all, hope you're doing well.
I am a beginner solar DIYer and currently without permanent housing trying to fix a houseboat so this thing means a lot to me. (I had quite a few responses to my last post about this, so i decided to write a new post after checking every instruction from the comments)

I bought this battery 2 months ago and it does not seem to take a charge, I don't know what I'm missing. I've been charging it for 5 days with a Victron 12V 7A blue smart charger. It does not appear to be in safety mode, The main terminals read 11 Volts. I have opened up the battery and all cells put out the same voltage. I checked for pinched balancing wires and haven’t seen any.

I have set the Victron app settings to li-ion (there is no lifepo4 option) That should work fine right ? I have contacted SOK before buying a charger and this is the charger they recommended to me. Now that it doesn’t work they say the charger (that they sent me an Amazon link to) is not suitable for LiFePo4 batteries, that is strange to me. Could the charger be a problem ?

Checking with volt meter shows the charger outputs around 14.4 volt, and when disconnecting the charger and charger cables the battery only puts out 11 volt.

I was planning on building a solar system but I got caught up in a situation so I decided to buy a charger too prevent the battery from getting damaged from sitting too long without charge.
Thanks so much in advance ! I really need this battery I hope it's still usable. Cheers

 

[Bob B]

Do you have a shunt or clamp meter to check the amps actually going into the battery?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Please include a screen cap of your "li-ion" setting. Li-ion generally refers to NON-LFP lithium types and would be completely inappropriate for your SOK. I've used VictronConnect in demo mode for that model of charger, and I see only Lithium iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) as a Lithium option.

Regardless, I recommend you set it to power supply mode instead of charger mode with an output voltage of 12.8V and try again via disconnecting all leads, remove power from the charger, re-energize the charger and connect the battery charge leads. See if the SOK will "wake up" and take a charge.

 

[rmaddy]

I used that same charger (though mine is the 13A) for my SOK 206Ah batteries. It works great. The default Li-Ion setting is fine for the battery. But at 11V your battery is really low. At 7A it will take over 24 hours to charge.

Post a screenshot of the charger screen from VictronConnect while hooked up to the battery.

 

[Neo Anderson]

I used that same charger (though mine is the 13A) for my SOK 206Ah batteries. It works great. The default Li-Ion setting is fine for the battery. But at 11V your battery is really low. At 7A it will take over 24 hours to charge.

Post a screenshot of the charger screen from VictronConnect while hooked up to the battery.

thank you I will post a screenshot tomorrow. Have a good day

 

[Neo Anderson]

Please include a screen cap of your "li-ion" setting. Li-ion generally refers to NON-LFP lithium types and would be completely inappropriate for your SOK. I've used VictronConnect in demo mode for that model of charger, and I see only Lithium iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) as a Lithium option.

Regardless, I recommend you set it to power supply mode instead of charger mode with an output voltage of 12.8V and try again via disconnecting all leads, remove power from the charger, re-energize the charger and connect the battery charge leads. See if the SOK will "wake up" and take a charge.

Thank you I will try that tomorrow, and let you know the results. Have a good day !

 

[sunshine_eggo]

You may find that you need to lower the voltage to something a little over the battery voltage and increase it incrementally. Once the battery reactivates and begins increasing in voltage, you can revert to charge mode.

 

[Tjeerdpeerd]

I used that same charger (though mine is the 13A) for my SOK 206Ah batteries. It works great. The default Li-Ion setting is fine for the battery. But at 11V your battery is really low. At 7A it will take over 24 hours to charge.

Post a screenshot of the charger screen from VictronConnect while hooked up to the battery.

As you can see it shows no amps output so it doesn't seem to charge. The main terminals of the battery still show 11 volts

 

[Tjeerdpeerd]

Thank you I will try that tomorrow, and let you know the results. Have a good day !

I have tried this and the battery does not seem to respond to this method unfortunately. Still 0 amps

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Contact SOK. Something is wrong with the battery.

 

[Tjeerdpeerd]

Contact SOK. Something is wrong with the battery.

I have spoken with them a bunch and they say this charger model is not suitable. I find that hard to believe, also because they are the ones that recommended this exact charger to me.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

I have spoken with them a bunch and they say this charger model is not suitable. I find that hard to believe, also because they are the ones that recommended this exact charger to me.

Here's what I would say:
"My battery is at 11V"
"I have charged with the charger you recommended, and it still is at 11V."
"You refuse to honor warranty or provide support"
"I am contacting credit card company to dispute charges"
"I am also going to post my experience with SOK on social media and the DIY Solar Forum."

Given that @Will Prowse is still promoting these batteries on his site, I suspect he might be concerned about your experience.

 

[Will Prowse]

Who sold you the battery? There are a few distributors of SOK.

 

[Will Prowse]

Also, post screenshots of your charge profile. And some pictures of your wiring.

 

[Tjeerdpeerd]

I bought them right from the SOK website link through one of your video descriptions

Also, post screenshots of your charge profile. And some pictures of your wiring.

 

[Tjeerdpeerd]

Also, post screenshots of your charge profile. And some pictures of your wiring.

Here's another screenshot.

 

[Will Prowse]

I only sell through SOK w/ min, and current connected. Shows that you bought it thought Alibaba. I don't have links to Alibaba at all. Not sure how you purchased that one. Do you have a link for the product on Alibaba that you can share?

There are lots of knock offs coming to the market, and I have no clue who is selling the Alibaba packs.

Can you try another charger or power supply? Do you have an adjustable power supply just in case it's in safety mode?

 

[camelCase]

Just a thought, but have you checked that inline fuse on the charge wire?

Edit: oops, never mind, just saw your pic testing the voltage coming out of the charger.

 

[Tjeerdpeerd]

I only sell through SOK w/ min, and current connected. Shows that you bought it thought Alibaba. I don't have links to Alibaba at all. Not sure how you purchased that one. Do you have a link for the product on Alibaba that you can share?

There are lots of knock offs coming to the market, and I have no clue who is selling the Alibaba packs.

Can you try another charger or power supply? Do you have an adjustable power supply just in case it's in safety mode?

I got it through the sok site under "available in other countries" because i live in the EU so I'm pretty sure this is the real deal. Will try to send a screenshot when i get home

 

[sunshine_eggo]

I only sell through SOK w/ min, and current connected. Shows that you bought it thought Alibaba. I don't have links to Alibaba at all. Not sure how you purchased that one. Do you have a link for the product on Alibaba that you can share?

There are lots of knock offs coming to the market, and I have no clue who is selling the Alibaba packs.

Can you try another charger or power supply? Do you have an adjustable power supply just in case it's in safety mode?

You likely missed it above, but he's tried that charger in dedicated power supply mode @ 12.8V