Most reacted posts

Just to give feedback on the heating system I set up to warm up the two 280Ah packs in my van, thanks to the info I found here on this forum. I have four 12W heating pads wired in parallel that make up an external DC circuit (fused), controlled by a thermostat. The pads make contact with the...

Well, I was going to use Permatex orange in my terminals, but after reading this thread, I got tempted by a permanent solution. So I got some two-part JB Weld this morning. After cleaning the terminals and grub screws with acetone, I mixed a very small amount of epoxy and tried it on the first...

Problem solved. As suggested by Gary, measuring the voltage at the cell terminals and comparing to the voltage on the bussbars did the trick. The lug on the main negative cell terminal was not making good contact. Again, thank you for the help!

Well, that was an interesting read, and it certainly makes me realize how lucky we are here in Quebec, Canada. Considering the low price of electricity here, a home solar system would make no sense. I just went and checked my consumption for the last 12 months, and I paid 7.6 cents (in US...

I put M6 screws because that is what I had and that fits fine. Not sure M8 would work. The Heater port is M4.

Well I did go that way, after testing blue loctite in gel form on grub screws (like I have on my cells) and serrated nuts. I feel it is safe to unscrew, especially that I can limit the torque using an Allen key on the grub screw. I am confident that I can easily disassemble the packs if need be...

So I have done a final top balance on my eight 280 Ah Eve cells and assembled them in two 4S packs with two Overkill BMSes. Since it will be a few days before I install them in the van, I decided not to leave them at full charge, so I put the packs in parallel and I am slowly discharging them to...

All I can say is that I have two 15W pads wired to the H- on one side and the main battery positive terminal on the other side (through a fuse and a LED switch outside the battery box) and it works. I am curious as how you are going to wire your pads. From your drawing, you are planning five...

I mounted my 4S Heltec’s on the outside of my battery cases, so that I can disconnect them easily. If you have PCB soldering skills (I do not), there is a place on the board where I assume you can install a connector, and then a switch.

The red is out of the question for me. I do have braided busbars, so my goal is only to prevent loosening from vibrations (the battery is for a van). Apparently, the Permatex orange is 3X stronger than the blue, but you can still break the bond with hand tools.

I also had similar problems with the two 280Ah packs in my van during my first season. Everytime, the problem was with the busbar connections getting loose, and the busbars themselves (braided, with connecting ends not sufficiently compressed). This resulted in cell imbalance. I reworked my...

I’m OK with that. I did retest the capacity after the stud glue-down to get some re-assurance that I had not messed up the terminal surface, even if I thought I had done a good job cleaning the excess with acetone at the time.

Good idea. It depends where you live and travel, and what you want for the batteries when the RV is not in use. I am in Canada and have two DIY 280Ah LiFePo4 in my van, in insulated ABS cases. I do have heater pads in the batteries, but mostly use them (along with a 950 watts 120V portable...

When I reassembled my packs last month (mainly to replace the busbars), I decided to skip the step of reconnecting the cells in parallel to top balance, and do this operation solely with the active balancers. I was able to bring all the cells between 3.60 and 3.65 volts, using the Xiaoxing app...

This is indeed what I have been using. I mounted them externally to my battery cases to have the possibility of connecting and disconnecting them if need be. There is a way to add a switch, but you need some PCB soldering skills to do it. (I did try and actually ruined one balancer...)

It sure helps, thanks. Sounds good then. I am already using serrated nuts, and the fact they all remained tight on the large cable lugs points to my braided busbars, which were not made for this purpose. Maybe I could go to a metal shop and have them hydraulically pressed harder, but at this...

I am replacing my two Overkill Solar 4S 120A BMSes with more powerful JBD's, so I am putting them up for sale. I purchased them in the Fall of 2020 and have actually used them for less than a year, and they have worked flawlessly. Included with each BMS: - 8 AWG wires (with ⅜ and ¼ lugs)...

I ordered 280Ah cells to build a 4S pack with an Overkill BMS, and I am reading all I can on this great forum and getting ready while waiting for the cells to arrive. When they do arrive, I intend to assemble the pack with the BMS and pre-charge (as much as possible) in an attempt to speed up...

Great info here on this BMS. I ordered two and am planning the install. What is the diameter of the holes in the B-, C- and B+ copper plates? I cannot seem to find the info on the Jabaida page on Alibaba. Thanks in advance

I am considering these busbars in my mobile application (van), but I have a question. My current commercial braided busbars somewhat feel spongy when I tighten the nuts, and I suspect this, along with vibrations, caused some of the nuts to loosen over time (the connecting sections on the busbars...

Can someone indicate the screw size for the heater connector on the board?

Yes, I saw LithiumSolar do this on his packs and thought it was a good idea. I will steal that idea as well. :) As an extra step, I might try using a touch of blue loctite in the serrated nuts. I do have a tube in paste form, and I am thinking that if I put the pack on the side when tightening...

I am now testing the BMS 200A low temp disconnect and heating function, before I put the pack back in its box. I was probably a bit ambitious with the heating pads: my intention was to put four small 15W silicone pads wired in parallel, two on each side on an aluminum plate to distribute the...

Thank you both for the replies. The current readings I am getting from the Klein meter concord with those from the BMSes, and they do add up. I switched the parallel leads to the inverter and I am getting the same current readings from the same batteries, so it appears one of them has higher...

Question concerning active balancing: since some cells receive current in the process, is this actually a form of charging that could damage LiFePO4 cells in subzero Celsius temperature? Edit: I realized after posting this that the question has already been asked...

No pics, I just disconnected the setup. I was discharging the packs through my Samlex PST inverter. Both batteries were hooked up in parallel (positive to positive and negative to negative) using 2/0 gauge wires of the exact same length and the positive from one pack was connected to the...

Got it. I’m ok with the deviation, but to answer Pykes question, yes, I did measure the voltage under load at the main + and - terminals on the pack and at the tester. If I recall, the difference was around 0,1V.

Forgot to mention, wiring was 14 inches of 6AWG, bolted to the terminals.