Most reacted posts

Thanks for the info :) seem like I should just go for the top balance and be done

Thank you so much! This was exactly the help I needed:) Could you explain to me about the tail current settings? I’m not sure I’ve seen that on my midnight controller or overkill BMS app?

That’s what I figured but was hopeful ? I do have a sort of backup plan for them. Powering a tiny house. Thanks much I

Thanks those are great thoughts:)

Hi folks I have not been around much but I have a small off grid home with lead acid and working on switching to Li fe batteries. Michael Caro helped me order cells back in February and I have not seen them yet. And now I can not seem to get ahold of Michael. any one have a contact for him? I...

Hi all I would love some quick help:) I final built my diy 16s battery with Catl 302 cells Have a charge profile I’m good with but does any one have a good recommendation for the absorption time? Thanks a bunch! Charge controller. Midnite classic 200

Reason why we haven’t done that? Not really sure other than when we originally had this system spec for us by a local solar company. This is how they told us to set it up. Also, I’m not really sure what a rectifier is, but if there’s a simple way to do that, it seems great.:) Not exactly sure...

Just wanted to get a quick opinions before I order one. Thanks so much Happy holidays!

This is a new lifep04 battery I am building. The battery are in an small out building a way from the house. Iv seen a lot of folks just using a plastic tote but I was thinking of building something my self so was thinking cement board.

That’s very helpful! And nice build! Have you heard of other pad suppliers or is ultra heat pretty much the best?

Great, thank for the thoughts, I will reach out and see what can be worked out

We have a fridge only unit, and a small chest freezer, which we keep outside, we have several small circulations pumps for our radiant floor system, all off which we have on timers so none of it runs till we have sun on the panels. we have washer , but also don't use it unless it is sunny. That...

Great info! Thanks!

Thanks. Where is that 65amp breaker in you system?

So basily what I am hearing form you all is I might as well just go for the thermal battery theory instead of an electrical solution ?

Steve S, Thanks you for all that info and your settings there is a lot there for me to read several times before I'm sure I truly understand it all=)

Hi all, Here is a bit of background, We live in a small off grid home in Wyoming. We have 2400 watt of panels, 4400 watt inverter and 8x6v agm cb6 batteries For the most part this systems does all we need, we are careful and powering off most big draws when we don’t have sun… how ever we...

,hi mud. thanks so much for the reply. This is sort of what I thought but I really appreciate the reassurance. I got a good feel from Michael it had just been nearly 9 months I’m in a good place to be patient my current set up is still working. Thanks again:) J

This is so helpful! I wont be able to test for a while but I am getting my plan together while I have internet =) I did not know I need to test at a low SoC . The well pump is a big load 1 hp,soft start varible speed 220V , we usaly shut it down when we get below 82% any way,

How had it been working for you? Have you had it tested with a some cold days ? So if you have 16 of them that’s like 112 watts Did you look at the links I included? Any thoughts? Truly appreciated the help!!!! ?

Thanks for the in put. There are Valence for sale on ebay for about 1/2 the price of battel born. which I was also looking at. Although I like the Idea if a DIY LFP battery at 7.2 kWh. I have a 48 Volt System so not sure what that doed to the #s Is there a link to the DIY LFP build. Any...

Id have to double check when I get home, but Im pretty sure our "service Main breaker" is a 60 amp. and we have never tripped it.

Ok so me being new here, I hope I not asking too many questions. but let me make sure I am understanding what you are saying. You are saying that as apposes to buying the Valence or other commercial batteries for 4-8K$ I can build my owns set. is that correct? If so what does that involve...

BTW here are the valence I am looking at. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Valence-U27-12XP-LiFePO4-12V-138AH-1-766-kWh-Lithium-Iron-Phosphate-Battery/254719630456

Getting ready to get into building my bank. I’ve got some time , I’ve heard you can top balance by hooking up the cells and waiting quite a while. Does anyone have experience and a method for this? How long does this take? Down sides? Is top balancing routine maintenance so I should just...

Interesting, so Im assuming with the thermal battery concept much of the space in the freezer is taken up with the coolant .. am I understanding that correctly? I think our AGM's have a good bit of life left.. we mainly needed more storage for our house so we swapped out.. We usually keep...

Thanks for the votes I’ll whip something up that’s fits my space working with cement board is no problem. I would definitely recommend Hardy board 1/2 in or fiberrock avoid durarock. Smells terrible and is too flexible.

I am planning to get 16 280 ah cells to build a bank, which seesm like it might be a bit bigger than I need and I saw thers on ebay sooo cheep.So what am I missing or do not understand about these cells I found on ebay? ( link below) I assume there is some reason why they are not what I...

I looks to me Like they are being sold in sets of 8 aren't they? so I would only need 2 of sets of 8 so 340$

Yup ac side. Thanks for the numbers. Still that seem to work for the overkill 16 s bms. That seem right?

So I ordered a 200 amp class T Sounds appropriate?

thanks! much appreciated!

Will do. Thank you all so much. I feel much better about this. truly appreciated

I got mine from Michael Caro on this site It was a bit of leap of faith but it ended up great, It took a while to get my cells due to supply Chain issues 9 months or so but I planned for that. Also at times it was hard to get ahold of Michael and it made me nervous at times. But it was very...

So it sounds like I need the following 1. 100 amp 16 s BMS 2. wiz bang Jr ( not sure what that is yet but hey! the internet !) 3. Heating pad system 4 Charging unit to top balance the batteries. 5 Posable assorted wire and cables. 6. Fuses for each cell? 7. Time to dedicate to doing this...

Wow, that is a great looking install! Well done. So it looks to me like that is a 16 S battery. Is that correct. If so that is what I will be building. Another question on that aluminum block. How big a block are we talking? It sounds like most folks are putting an aluminum sheet underneath...

From it sounds like it’s certainly the sort of system I was thinking about doing. I was thinking about using my own ink bird controller as opposed to the ones that come with it so I could set the heating pad to a cooler temperature Question, so you don’t mind running it on AC through your...

Ok I am starting to get caught up on what you are talking about. Do you have a recommend raw cell that provides that 280 amp hr? Is this the cells your were thinking of? It says 100 amp hr so how would that get me to 14.4 kwh? or am I looking at the wrong cells THakns!! this is great info...

Hi all, I’m new here and just feeling my way around and moving to upgrade to a DIY lithium battery build. Anyhow currently have a 48 V system with 8 6 v lead acid 200 ah batteries. We installed the system a little over three years ago and I really noticing some performance drop. We have done...

That is sure what It was looking like to me.

Wow that is great! Can you send me a pic of the configuration or described it. Solar shed is not heated at all but well insulated it stays pretty stable Really only 5 cm pad!

There are a number good resources here. Just do some checking on references

Hi 12. Sorry for the slow response I was traveling. I ordered16 lishen cells in February. I was real Hoping to get them installed before winter. But looking more and more unlikely

great! you are too kind=) Help me out with the math, If my existing system is 48V , eight 6v 200 am p hour batteries all in series. so 200x 8 = 1600 amp hs? but probably only 800 amp hrs usable. is that correct? The cells that I Found on l were 3.2 v and 100 amp hrs , I would need 16 of them...

I have a wizzbang,, just installed it today. So learning my way around, I see an “end amp” setting is that the same as tail amps? If so should I set it around 15? There also seems to be an “re bulk volt” setting. Do I mess with that? Truly appreciate this help!

It’s a small home we built entirely our self we knew we were off grid so we optimize for efficiency at every stage of the build. So far the 30 amp service has not seemed to be a problem. The breaker was size by a local reputable solar company who helped us source our components.

Hi everyone, truly appreciate any help that people might be able to send our way We have a small off grinding home. 2800 watts of pv 2 strings of 4 300 w panels Midnight classic 200 charge controller Magna sin 4000 watt off grid inverter 16s diy battery with overkill bms That we replaced...

Great I’ll look there

How essential is doing a capacity test?

Hey folks, As I said I finally got my 302 Ah CATL cells form Michel! ( big thanks there!) Now I need to hook them up!! ( so excited) I know there are couple of good write ups out there, but I seem to have lost my links for them also. I was hoping some folks might have some specific advice...

Couple more questions, mainly since my magnum 4400 Has a battery monitoring system link below is it still advisable for me to get the wizbang Junior? Or do they they serve different functions also if I get the wiz bang Junior can I connect it to the same shunt as my current battery monitoring...

Hi folks, Not Long ago we replacers our 8x200 AMPhr CB6 Agm batteries with a DIY 16 s 301 ahr battery bank.. This left us with 8 tired but still good AGMs We are a small off grid home, and we would love to run an additional freezer without pulling too much form our primary home system...

Good to know, how many pads are you using? How big is your battery bank if you don’t have a 12 V system how do you tie them in? I was kind of thinking about using something like this below it seems only be around 20 White’Good to know, how many pads are you using? How big is your battery bank if...

Ok for those of you that have not been. Following I’m just about to put together my catL302 in a 16s 48 v conversation Just want to make sure I’ve got the steps and not miss anything 1 top balance 2 hook up bms 3 class t fuse 4hook up to inverter 5Change charge proflie Am I missing...

OK thanks that seems like great information! Next question is I was just watching a video but I will prowes Building a 16 S battery almost identical to what I will be building and he said that he was not going to top balance connect given time the BMS will handle this. What is the downside of...

Wow that was fast, thanks for the info! It's aMagna sine 4000 was inverter. our biggest draw is a 1 hp 240V well pump

Maybe this is dumb question. But with my BMS being 100 amp. Wouldn’t I want a 100amp fuse+\- Not 225?

We are off grid. So longer may make sense. So is that like 2hrs?

Really good info! I will work some sort of heat into the build! Much appreciated !!

I can find out the surge load, it is a soft start pump with smart controller, not the mechanical pressure switch, but still is our biggest load. any recommended sources for 200 amp BMS?

So here is the deal. I’m building my new battery, (see other posts) it will be house in a well insulated but not heated shed that mostly does not get below 20-25 deg f. Usual the coldes it hits is 34 or so. But we do get some cold snaps out here I. Wyoming. And how if LFP batteries do...

Now that I’m getting ready to install my new batteries. I have my old lead acids to deal with. (Cb6) 48 volt system.) Is it possible to hook these up in parallel with my LIFEPO for just add more capacity?

Actually I’m not sure it has ever gotten down to 25. But I suppose it possible

Still think of building a insulated cement board box that will help keep them warm in winter. But will I then have to worry about over heating in summer. How bad is it to skip the whole box idea as long as they are out of the way?

Hi everybody, thanks so much for responding! Very much appreciated. The percent numbers are coming from the state of charge in the battery management settings on our midnight controller remote. I can’t remember what the absorption voltage is right now and I’m not at the house, since we have...

Yup it’s been chilly but makes up for the crazy warm start of winter we had. Nothing like when we lived Pinedale way. Actually Boulder. That was a cold spot.

Thanks for the thoughts:) truly appreciate! I think my plan for now is going to be: 1 install new batteries and assess how much extra storage we have over our amgs Amg have roughly 5000 usable watt hs New lifep04 have approximately 12000+ usable watt hr So might not need any extra storage to...

Hey Steve s Can you tell me that more about the wiz bang Jr. Is this different from what I have currently That calculates my state of charge?

Not exactly sure off the top of my head, I will check when i get home in a few days. It is a big black one that mounts on a wall, so probably the classic 150 or 200

Hi all~! Im new here but not that new to solar. My wife and I have built own off grid home in Wyoming and we power it with a 2400W system We are pretty very happy with our system except our batteries which we are pretty disappointed with. we have 8x 6 v 200 amp hr amg batteries and feel we...

Vigo Thanks for the response, Did you have a link to that handy " doodad" as you called it? here are sort of the parts that I was thinking Charge controler : https://a.co/d/eDFWx6H inverter : https://a.co/d/2FtNnH3 timer: https://a.co/d/86h4EqE I am fine doing 12 or 24 Volt too if it...

Hey folks at some point i found a nice step by step diy lifep04 battery write up but I can’t seem to find it. Anyone have a link to that sort of thing? Thanks a ton!

Just checking back at home and the whole house system is actually a 30 amp double pole breaker. So seem like a 100 amp bms should would. Seem right?

Nice!!!!

is it worth building a fire resistant battery box like out of cement board for my 48 v 16 s system?

Im not familiar with DoD and how to tweek it.. , If we can get our system to give us usable lights and well pump down to 50-60% that would be much more usable we are happy shutting off most aplances when we get below 82%

Dod Makes sence If we can get our system to give us usable lights and well pump down to 50-60% that would be much more usable we are happy shutting off most appliances when we get below 82% If what you say our batteris are 20% deplated. so 160 ah batters . is that likly why we nolonger...