Deal or no deal

Trying to help my old man not get ripped off again he is looking to buy a power wall that is lifepo4 48V 10 KWH from buychapsolar.com to replace the forklift batteries that have gone bad after 4 years.

I cant find anything on these guys, should he just request a compasity test before purchase?

We are not Solar Savvy so any info or recommendation will help, the off grid 48V system was professionally installed in 2010 Loc NV. Any info recommendation would help.

I know none thing about that company.

For a price comparison- look at electriccarpartscompany.com they have some power walls listed like that one.

For a lithium power wall there will be some stuff around it that may need looked at and changed. Chargers, etc.

A new forklift battery should have lasted much longer.
Is it completely bad, or can be recovered with equalization?

To use a different chemistry, the charge controller and inverter may have to have settings changed to match it. Make sure that can be done.

A dead FLA battery is likely due to not getting full charge. Is there enough PV to supply all loads and hold the battery at absorption voltage?
You need production and consumption to be in line for any battery to work (although, with LA batteries about 70% efficient, you would have more usable power with LiFePO4.

Used PV panels are so inexpensive that adding more, or possibly replacing existing panels with ones that produce more power in the same area, would probably be a good upgrade.
In winter you either have to use less power or run a generator.

I suggest you start with a voltmeter and hygrometer (and goggles & old clothes)

Hedges said:

I suggest you start with a voltmeter and hygrometer (and goggles & old clothes)

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LOL I second the goggles & old clothes.

Yeah that's very, very strange (4 year failure). Any chance you could give us an idea of the overall specs of your system? Specs of the forklift battery would be nice to know as well.

One of the great things about forklift batteries is the ability to measure each cell AND to use active balancing (balancers) to help keep the cells healthy. If you happen to have any interest in checking to see where we are at with regards to reviving the battery, checking the cell voltages open circuit is a good place to start followed by checking the specific gravity with a hydrometer (basically the same thing @Hedges said).

Payton265 said:

replace the forklift batteries that have gone bad after 4 years.

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Payton265 said:

the off grid 48V system was professionally installed in 2010

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Looking at this timeline, your first set of batteries (installed in 2010) lasted 6 years. Were they also forklift batteries or some other type of battery that is not compatible with your 4yo fork lift batteries?

Do you have any info on what was installed in 2010 (SCC and battery info)?
Were the SCC settings compatible with forklift batteries and if not, were correct settings entered?

It does seem odd that forklift batteries went bad after 4 years, just trying to see if we can determine why to keep from making a similar mistake going forward.

Payton265 said:

buychapsolar.com

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buychEapsolar.com ?

MisterSandals said:

buychEapsolar.com ?

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Im looking at this battery bank for my first solar, so, if anyone has any thoughts on it I'd love to hear it.... Or the company as well.

I've been contemplating making a post on these and the rack units that are natively compatible with Victron/Deye/SMA etc.

I can't speak for the website but the units sold by that website are made by Shenzhen UFO Power TECH CO.,LTD.

Website: https://www.ufo-battery.com/

The one being offered on that site is the older model. Here is an example of UFO's newest model (photo from the factory) with a touchscreen LCD and inverter RS485/CAN protocol selection. Supports up to 15+ inverter protocols including (this is directly from them):

DEYE
GROWATT
SOFAR
SACOLAR
LUXPOWER
Amensolar
SOLIS
SOROTEC
GOODWE
Voltronic
SMA
Victron
Solark



They have a YouTube video demonstrating it:




I've been in talks with them for a while now. Both for the complete units and just the BMS with the protocols built-in (they offer both). The BMS is not as advanced as Orion or REC but for low-cost systems it will do fine and it's a great price. Offered in either 15s or 16s versions.

If anyone wants one, feel free to PM me. They offer the following sizes:

Powerwall:
48V 200AH
48V 150AH
48V 100AH
48V 50AH

Rack-Mount:
48V 50AH
48V 100AH

Attached are the manuals for the older rack/powerwalls and the newer powerwall. I don't yet have the manual on the new rack-mounted versions.

Does anyone know the price on this battery and if they are shipped from the US ?

I use one of their 10kwh ones, had it a year + and paid like $2,600 for it, no problems at all for it. I've been looking at adding another.

I’ve sold them to clients. DDP delivered anywhere in the USA. Good units. The BMS is not as advanced in some ways as Seplos but we have a good relationship with the UFO factory so I would still supply them if a client or customer were to inquire or want to purchase some.

NwCali said:

I use one of their 10kwh ones, had it a year + and paid like $2,600 for it, no problems at all for it. I've been looking at adding another.

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Thanks on the reply ! I have 2 racks (6 batts per rack) of the GYLL (12 batts total 48v)...but thinking of adding a UFO... but also couldnt find em on ebay either ;(

Did your ship to you from the USA or from China ?

A year ago USA and took about a week to get here, weighs like 200 pounds so it was freight. That company doesn't have them in stock atm. I'll probably get the order in soon though...

I peeked inside when I got mine and it seemed (to me) well made. Like I said, no issues. Given the price can you do a DIY build and build it this nice for that much less? Meaning encased in steel/bms/lcd/breaker? It also came with the power cord. I know I have a quote for battery's alone as like $2400 atm...

Thanks on the reply ! Im just looking to add a batt to my setup... and since ive filled 2 6 batt racks from sig... wanted to add a different batt

at 10 (well 9.5kw) it seems cheaper than TWO of the EG4's which are $1749ea and are only 5kw ea.... So 2 would be $3500 for 10kw compared to the $2400 9.6kw batt
So I was exploring my options...

Seems like UFO is shipping them from china to the US and if you order one (and your in the US) they will send it from the US Ill have to drop them a email I guess