3 years later...batteries swelling

johnontheweb · Jun 18, 2024

About three years ago I built a 24vt battery from 8 280ah cells from shazen. everything seemed to work fine up to about a month ago when a couple of the cells register 0v. Taking things apart I find that they are pretty swollen. I assume the cells are no longer safe to use? How might I dispose of them? Should the BMS be suspect as well?

SparkyJJO · Jun 18, 2024

Yeah I wouldn't be using those anymore. That's quite the puff!
I have no idea how to recycle them. I have seen they can be, but no one seems to know exactly where or how, at least around here.
Was this battery in active use when it suddenly went flat, or were there any warning signs that something was off (poor battery performance, early shutdowns, etc)?

Mattb4 · Jun 18, 2024

Looking at your picture it looks like you taped over the vents for the cells. Not sure if that was any correlation to the swelling, or not, just something I see.

Brucey · Jun 18, 2024

Were these compressed in some manner?

meetyg · Jun 18, 2024

johnontheweb said:
About three years ago I built a 24vt battery from 8 280ah cells from shazen. everything seemed to work fine up to about a month ago when a couple of the cells register 0v. Taking things apart I find that they are pretty swollen. I assume the cells are no longer safe to use? How might I dispose of them? Should the BMS be suspect as well?View attachment 222940
View attachment 222941

What were your settings in the BMS ?
How were you charging them?
Before you rebuild your pack with new cells, I think it would be wise to figure out was went wrong.

profesor79 · Jun 18, 2024

the BMS settings will be a crucial thing to know the root reason. I would like to believe that the tape was put on the vents after they were removed from the pack, otherwise the pressure had no room to escape.
Did you have them in the car or always in a cool and dry place?

.

Suijkerbuijk · Jun 18, 2024

Mattb4 said:
Looking at your picture it looks like you taped over the vents for the cells. Not sure if that was any correlation to the swelling, or not, just something I see.

No if you look again you see that the volt are on that tape
So i think this after he have test them and set a sticker on it.

Mattb4 · Jun 18, 2024

Suijkerbuijk said:
No if you look again you see that the volt are on that tape
So i think this after he have test them and set a sticker on it.

I certainly hope so but even now it is not a good idea to block the vents.

Suijkerbuijk · Jun 18, 2024

What Causes Swollen LiFePO4 Batteries?

Causes of swollen LiFePO4 batteries

Abuse like over charge, over discharge;
Environmental reasons like high temperature, high humidity, ultra low pressure;
Production process reasons

I do not know if you can read the bms History.
See what happened on that moment.

time2roll · Jun 18, 2024

OK BMS should protect the battery if a cell drops to zero.
I would call those done. And the BMS suspect, although should be under warranty.

I see lithium battery recycling at Lowes etc. I would cover the terminal and drop it in the bin. Otherwise our county has a hazmat waste collection.

Brucey · Jun 18, 2024

Mattb4 said:
I certainly hope so but even now it is not a good idea to block the vents.

I don't think that blue painters style tape will seal off the port if it does blow.

ScrotpusGobbleBottom · Jun 18, 2024

Brucey said:
I don't think that blue painters style tape will seal off the port if it does blow.

Agreed.

johnontheweb · Jun 18, 2024

Brucey said:
Were these compressed in some manner?

Yes they were compressed...until they stopped working and I dissambled them

johnontheweb · Jun 18, 2024

Brucey said:
I don't think that blue painters style tape will seal off the port if it does blow.

I just put the blue tape so I could mark the current voltage....was not there when assembled

johnontheweb · Jun 18, 2024

ScropusGobbleBottom said:
Agreed.

I just put the blue tape so I could mark the current voltage....was not there when assembled

johnontheweb · Jun 18, 2024

profesor79 said:
the BMS settings will be a crucial thing to know the root reason. I would like to believe that the tape was put on the vents after they were removed from the pack, otherwise the pressure had no room to escape.
Did you have them in the car or always in a cool and dry place?

.

They were in a van and at times definately not cool

Suijkerbuijk · Jun 18, 2024

johnontheweb said:
They were in a van and at times definately not cool

So it overheat .
Max temp is about 60 celcius (140f)
A car / van temp in side in the summer can go fast up.

A vehicle parked in the sun for one hour reached an average cabin temperature of 116 degrees.
• In a locked vehicle, a dark dashboard, steering wheel or seat can often reach temperature ranges of 180 - 200 degrees F, which then warms the air trapped inside a vehicle.

740GLE · Jun 18, 2024

So you were daily cycling these when they failed, or were they in “storage” sitting at 100%

What were you’re charge parameters/BMS OVP limits?

Daddy Tanuki · Jun 18, 2024

johnontheweb said:
Yes they were compressed...until they stopped working and I dissambled them

so when you released compression they swelled up? I really do not understand how they could have swollen up if they were compressed.

3 years later...batteries swelling

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What Causes Swollen LiFePO4 Batteries?​

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