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Leaking Electrolyte from Bigbattery Powerblock

It does look like the meter is out off calibration.
I believe that the built-in Voltmeter is connected to the Battery output terminal, so you have battery # 4th is not turned on connected another battery, I.E battery #1 in parallel then switched on battery #1, the built-in Volt meters of the battery #4 will show the battery Voltage of the battery #1, both meters (Batt #1 and Batt #2 Volt meters) should show the same reading since both meters are reading the Voltage of battery # 1. I hope that make sense..English is my second language so I may not explain it correctly.
 
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Picasso said:
those volt meters are all of $1, id check true voltage with a real meter.
Click to expand...
Yea real volt meter confirms it is off. So I'm betting the BMS is working on its own meter and that outside of the display this unit is functioning properly. I just don't understand out a QC/QA would have missed this very basic thing.

In any event, I am going to phone them today and see if the BMS is good to go or if I need to return. It will be interesting to see what they say. My other 3 units have been working flawlessly - which is why I bought the 4th.
 
I have waited a week so that BB can be given a chance to not only reply but revise their reply.

Their only reply so far was that I am "most likely experiencing is the batteries actively trying to balance themselves. ". Which is an odd statement given the fact that I sent them photos of the volt meter hooked directly into the anderson connector and the batteries could not have been balancing themselves. I ask them to review this and received no response. I also asked them to either cross ship & replace the unit or tell me that the BMS has its own volt meter and will function correctly.

They have chosen not to respond to these requests. Customer support so far has been bad (but not as bad as Renogy). They have until the end of the week before I open a charge back on my credit card for refusing to honor the warrany. I have requested a replacement in writing.

Very sad because the first 3 units were gold. The 4th appears to be working normally sans the external volt meter but who wants to risk using that from a company that won't even reply to emails any more?
 
Case closed I’m treating Big Battery like a criminal enterprise now. Enough fraud for me. Everyone is free to dissent and have a different opinion. I don’t care if their mission is to do green this or that. They are criminals evading responsibility for endangering human life.

It’s really easy to do green tech and not look like a scammer. One simply begins caring about human life and honesty.

Solution? Big Battery is on my special lifetime banned vendor list. Even 50 usd is too much to lose there, they would just gaslight me about it later....
 
What an eye opener to read about the Tesla crash Saturday that killed two men. The fire from the batteries constantly reigniting burned for 4 hours while 32,000 gallons of water were used to “try and put it out”.
 
Sun said:
The fire from the batteries constantly reigniting burned for 4 hours while 32,000 gallons of water were used to “try and put it out”.
Click to expand...
Which makes Big Battery's eensy weensy extinguisher look like the safety theater it really is. Good thing LFP thermal runaway usually stays below electrolyte ignition temperature, unlike Tesla's NMC cells.
 
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I think that BB's extinguisher works by vacuuming out all of the air. As you probably know, there are multiple types of fires and not all extinguishers are rated for all types. So probably cheaper for them to take out the air.

Anyway, update on the Renogy broken screen - they are going to cross ship a replacement. I think this has to be a software problem because it is very hard to replicate.

On the BB front, they have replied and are going to have me send the unit in for them to look at. They offered a refund but of course I would rather have the working battery. The first 3 are gold so worth it for me to have them repair / exchange. I'm really happy with the 3 units and if they make the 4th right, then I'll probably still do business with them. I could really see getting 8 of these evenutally and once they are in service, I feel like they will last longer than most of the rest of my system (sans then panels).
 
Checking in to say that BB issued an RMA. Apparently I missed it or it went to spam or something. Anyway, I'll let you know how the returns process goes but so far BB CS is way better than Renogy.

I did offer to keep the unit if they would say that the volt meter wasn't used by the BMS (because I'm getting correct voltage) but they still offered the exchange.

Which BTW, has anyone seen the YT video about the Hawk Max? It appears to have more capacity and the Anderson connector on the front. Which I assume is meant to make sure these are installed on their backs.

Edit: I guess I saw the wrong screenshot and the connector isn't on the front?

 
So I returned the unit today. Pro tip: Do yourself a favor and schedule the pickup. Most of the FedEx Locations will NOT accept these 'dangerous' packages. I had to run to the main dist center in my city because of this.
 
glad you were able to complete the mission

sorry about the obstacles, thank you for sharing that info for future reference
 
Looking back at it, I noticed that the hawk maxs have the white handles (like my 4th unit) but of course the regular hawks have the black handles. So maybe they were running out of handles? Or they are going to phase out the old hawks?
 
Will Prowse said:
More than likely, it is coming from the over pressure relief valve.

The evidence we currently have is that Big battery themselves found 11 leaky cells in their inventory, I had a leaky cell, and Seth possibly had a leaky cell. That is 13 cells in a single batch, and all were lishen cells.

I think it might be the supplier at this point. Bigbattery has a lot of people working their quality control, and they use good equipment. So I am starting to think it was the cell supplier.

Because bigbattery also has their own issue of leaking cells, I am guessing that we cannot blame their shipping company. These cells are leaking before they leave bigbattery.

At this point, I am thinking the problem is Lishen cells. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
@Will Prowse :

I respect your opinion and would love to see you review the mass-produced units that you have been using in your solar trailer.
All changes made to the mass-produced version were made prior to your video on the Beta-Version.
You have had these for some time now in your solar trailer, how are they working for you?

Since your prior review, we have sold over 3,800/Units of the OWL & HAWK without any complaints and have not had a single "Leaking Battery".

Our newest upcoming design is a LiFePO4 Battery capable of 8,000 Cycles at 80% DOD. We call it "The Razor-Back" and looking forward to getting UL Certification on this pack. We have already achieved UL Certification on our 12V Owl Packs as well.

Thank you for your great forum and all that you do. Viva La Prowse! : )

- Eric Lundgren
BigBattery, Inc.
 
solarbot said:
Hmm, I would not call the thread hostile. Justifiably skeptical perhaps. There is the matter of living down the white grease claim. I can understand some discomfort there. As things stand I will forevermore associate Big Battery with "white grease eats your battery".

Then there is the claim that Big Battery discovered 11 leaking cells at the factory by inspection. Please excuse me, but given the circumstances I can't help thinking that when they say they found 11 then the real truth must be "way more" and "it happened to customers".
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SolarBot,
Real number was (11) as stated and shown to Will Prowse. These are "Cells" not "Packs". Our "Packs" contain (4-8) Cells depending if it is our (12V) OWL or (24V) Hawk. We have successfully sold another (3,800) of these units from our mass-production line without any issues.

We have accepted that some people in this thread will forever disapprove of our company and our products. Honestly, that's ok with me.
My goal is to provide 30MWh in cost effective batteries this year to all those in need and more next year.

For all those whom have constructive criticism or advice, feel free to eMail me directly @ Eric@BigBattery.com
To all the "Trolls" too afraid to create; bless your hearts.


Best,
Eric Lundgren : CEO
BigBattery, Inc.
 
MrGreen said:
SolarBot,
Real number was (11) as stated and shown to Will Prowse. These are "Cells" not "Packs". Our "Packs" contain (4-8) Cells depending if it is our (12V) OWL or (24V) Hawk. We have successfully sold another (3,800) of these units from our mass-production line without any issues.

We have accepted that some people in this thread will forever disapprove of our company and our products. Honestly, that's ok with me.
My goal is to provide 30MWh in cost effective batteries this year to all those in need and more next year.

For all those whom have constructive criticism or advice, feel free to eMail me directly @ Eric@BigBattery.com
To all the "Trolls" too afraid to create; bless your hearts.


Best,
Eric Lundgren : CEO
BigBattery, Inc.
Click to expand...
So .... the participants in this forum who question your honesty based on your posts on this thread .... are trolls?
 
MrGreen said:
@Will Prowse :

I respect your opinion and would love to see you review the mass-produced units that you have been using in your solar trailer.
All changes made to the mass-produced version were made prior to your video on the Beta-Version.
You have had these for some time now in your solar trailer, how are they working for you?

Since your prior review, we have sold over 3,800/Units of the OWL & HAWK without any complaints and have not had a single "Leaking Battery".

Our newest upcoming design is a LiFePO4 Battery capable of 8,000 Cycles at 80% DOD. We call it "The Razor-Back" and looking forward to getting UL Certification on this pack. We have already achieved UL Certification on our 12V Owl Packs as well.

Thank you for your great forum and all that you do. Viva La Prowse! : )

- Eric Lundgren
BigBattery, Inc.
Click to expand...

My packs are working well, actually. No issues so far.

That is good news you do not have any complaints. Very nice.

What cell are you using that can pull off 8000 cycles? Are you building the packs? Which company is providing the UL Certification? Is it pack level or cell level certification for the OWL?
 
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