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Xuba Electronics: DEAL - 280AH LiFePo4 cells. Purchase & Review

From Post 3 on this Thread: more diagrams & schema's on post 3. Will be updated too...
24v-8s-square-pack-jpg.7910


I'm setting to the following:
BULK 28.8 (3.60 per cell)
* absorb 28.2 {0-15 min]
* float 28.2
* equalize OFF
* = not needed

Voltage cutoffs : LOW = 22.0V (2.75 per cell), HIGH = 29.2 (3.65 per cell)
Thank you Steve, for extra picture too :) . Now, I'm assuming the absorb time is relative to the rate of charge, correct? I see you state up to 15 minutes, but I'm guessing that would differ with different amperage coming into the battery. As far as float, is it true that it could harm the battery? I think I've seen someone mentioning that somewhere, I'm not sure where it was though.
 
I put the rest up because different folks have different equipment.
@Sgt Raven I just told Amy to sit down and have her dinner with her daughter she IS working on your and 4 other orders but she wasn't gonna stop for dinner... Give her about 30-45 minutes. ;-) I happen to be in chat with her … LOL.... AND I GET NOTHING out of this but knowing I helped folks along the path to Energy Freedom !
 
I put the rest up because different folks have different equipment.
I'm transitioning from AGM to this chemistry so please bear with me , although I used these cells in small sizes for RC models etc... So to be 100% clear on this, these cells only really need bulk charging to 3.6V, no need for the absorb or float? I think my MPPT60 can be programmed for custom profile, so I should be covered then.
 
LFP is CC/CV charged. No Float, No EQ none of that. Now some will "Float" at .5V below full level because they have an inverter ON 7/24 and that is always eating a certain amount of juice, in in power save & idle mode.. some are actually pigs too but I won't go there, I learned that one quickly.

Just remember to do your math by calculating at the Cell Level … so 3.60V X # of Cells for example. and use the manufacturer specs for that, they can vary a little.

Rob Beckers of Solacity Kemptville wrote up this article below and did a very good job of putting into plain English for all to understand. I KNOW Rob personally and they actually have supplied me with a lot of my gear over the years (only a couple of hundred kilometers from me), so I can drive there when I feel up to it. https://www.solacity.com/how-to-keep-lifepo4-lithium-ion-batteries-happy/ If you follow the guidelines in this doc you won't go wrong and you can tweak to your specific needs / wants.
 
I put the rest up because different folks have different equipment.
@Sgt Raven I just told Amy to sit down and have her dinner with her daughter she IS working on your and 4 other orders but she wasn't gonna stop for dinner... Give her about 30-45 minutes. ;-) I happen to be in chat with her … LOL.... AND I GET NOTHING out of this but knowing I helped folks along the path to Energy Freedom !

One of those is my order of 16 of the 3.2v 280 ah cells. Amy is easy to work with and very prompt. I appreciate the hook up and she tossed in the busbars for free. The total, with slow 30-day shipping, was just under $1900. Now I need to figure out the BMS dilemma.... Ordered a Victron 150v/100amp and a Victron low temp sensor, so I believe I still need a BMS or is there something else I could use that goes with the Victron such as a low voltage battery disconnect? First battery and solar build so trying to work through this all. Will be running a 24volt system with about 2900 watts of solar.
 
One of those is my order of 16 of the 3.2v 280 ah cells. Amy is easy to work with and very prompt. I appreciate the hook up and she tossed in the busbars for free. The total, with slow 30-day shipping, was just under $1900. Now I need to figure out the BMS dilemma.... Ordered a Victron 150v/100amp and a Victron low temp sensor, so I believe I still need a BMS or is there something else I could use that goes with the Victron such as a low voltage battery disconnect? First battery and solar build so trying to work through this all. Will be running a 24volt system with about 2900 watts of solar.
24V so 2, 8S packs for 24v/280ah ea for a total of 560ah.
I'm partial to Chargery BMS... see link in my signature. The Chargery BMS8T-300 would work best (300 denotes the shunt amperage that is supplied). There are other Good BMS' with different features & functions, it all depends on what your after.

AMY IS WORKING ON CASES ! After some discussion, she has twigged management that they should also offer cases suitable for 4, 8 & 16 Cell builds. It's a product area they could certainly be able to fill, and they have some darned nice cases too (as shown on company main page but not offered in their current listings). She finally went to bed 2 hours ago after finishing her last batch of orders.
 
AMY IS WORKING ON CASES ! After some discussion, she has twigged management that they should also offer cases suitable for 4, 8 & 16 Cell builds. It's a product area they could certainly be able to fill, and they have some darned nice cases too (as shown on company main page but not offered in their current listings). She finally went to bed 2 hours ago after finishing her last batch of orders.
When you talked to her about it, did you talk about some extra space for different kinds of BMS people have? Hopefully those cases accommodate BMS as well.
 
Sounds great, got my quotation back as well.
$82.67 each, shipping 12 cells by plane for total of $667.
Total costs: $1659,-


I did however spoke to a dutch lifepo4 enthousiast and he told me to stay away from battery with aluminium cases and go for the slightly more expensive hard-plastic ones. Apparently they are more durable, have more solid connectors (up to M10 screws) and worst of all, he said they sometimes put in old li-ion batteries in the aluminium cases.

What are your thoughts about this?
Planning on using the batteries in combimation with a sinus inverter on my liveaboard sailboat for lighting, refrigerator, radio, tv, etc.
 
Sounds great, got my quotation back as well.
$82.67 each, shipping 12 cells by plane for total of $667.
Total costs: $1659,-


I did however spoke to a dutch lifepo4 enthousiast and he told me to stay away from battery with aluminium cases and go for the slightly more expensive hard-plastic ones. Apparently they are more durable, have more solid connectors (up to M10 screws) and worst of all, he said they sometimes put in old li-ion batteries in the aluminium cases.

What are your thoughts about this?
Planning on using the batteries in combimation with a sinus inverter on my liveaboard sailboat for lighting, refrigerator, radio, tv, etc.
As far as I know, the guy that first posted about these 280Ah cells here have them installed on his boat , he tested capacity and all is working great and within specs. I'm sure there are shady sellers on Alibaba or Aliexpress doing all kinds of gymnastics with the products, but it seems these cells are legit. I will post here as well as soon as I get mine and test them.
 
Sounds great, got my quotation back as well.
$82.67 each, shipping 12 cells by plane for total of $667.
Total costs: $1659,-

I did however spoke to a dutch lifepo4 enthousiast and he told me to stay away from battery with aluminium cases and go for the slightly more expensive hard-plastic ones. Apparently they are more durable, have more solid connectors (up to M10 screws) and worst of all, he said they sometimes put in old li-ion batteries in the aluminium cases.

What are your thoughts about this?
Planning on using the batteries in combimation with a sinus inverter on my liveaboard sailboat for lighting, refrigerator, radio, tv, etc.
Part hogwash & part wives tales. Nothing wrong at all with aluminium, they actually cool better and weight less too. In mobile application, common sense & good sense dictate you build your pack and bundle it snugly, as you see Will uses metal straps, many use fibremesh strapping (like used to wrap crates & packaging). Packs should e "in a battery pack box" which are "snug" for the cells so they do not move or rub at all... as a solid block.

If you have exposed cells and things are loosy goosy things will happen, I therefore like to aim people at this for study:
http://nordkyndesign.com/category/marine-engineering/electrical/lithium-battery-systems/ 6 articles that cover everything really well.
 
Form the current Spec Sheet.
....

I may have missed it (I just marathon read all 8 pages so I probably missed many details), but I don't think anyone has posted the spec sheet yet.

If you have it handy would you mind linking to it or uploading it here?

Who manufactures these cells? Has anyone verified QR codes w/ the manufacturer?
 
I put the rest up because different folks have different equipment.
@Sgt Raven I just told Amy to sit down and have her dinner with her daughter she IS working on your and 4 other orders but she wasn't gonna stop for dinner... Give her about 30-45 minutes. ;-) I happen to be in chat with her … LOL.... AND I GET NOTHING out of this but knowing I helped folks along the path to Energy Freedom !
No update yet, but that's OK. I'd like to get it finalized by Monday their time, so they can get working on the order sooner.

If I understand it right. It 11am Saturday, there right now.
 
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LFP is CC/CV charged. No Float, No EQ none of that. Now some will "Float" at .5V below full level because they have an inverter ON 7/24 and that is always eating a certain amount of juice, in in power save & idle mode.. some are actually pigs too but I won't go there, I learned that one quickly.

Just remember to do your math by calculating at the Cell Level … so 3.60V X # of Cells for example. and use the manufacturer specs for that, they can vary a little.

Rob Beckers of Solacity Kemptville wrote up this article below and did a very good job of putting into plain English for all to understand. I KNOW Rob personally and they actually have supplied me with a lot of my gear over the years (only a couple of hundred kilometers from me), so I can drive there when I feel up to it. https://www.solacity.com/how-to-keep-lifepo4-lithium-ion-batteries-happy/ If you follow the guidelines in this doc you won't go wrong and you can tweak to your specific needs / wants.

This is from the chart for my DC-DC w/MPPT. My understanding is I can change the Custom settings.

Float (Note 1)
Lithium(Note 3)... Bulk...13.9-14.6V(0.1Vstep).....Float...13.5-14.2V(0.1Vstep)
(Custom Settings)...Bulk...13.8-14.8V(0.1V step)....Float....13.0-13.8V(0.1V step)

Note 1:Charger is acting as a power supply with selected constant output voltage and preset maximum output current.
Note 3:Charger will terminate charging when charging current drops to below the set charger termination value

I'm pretty sure I'll need to tweak the settings, once I get it all set up.
 
OK Amy posted a message with both shipping prices and asked which I would like to use.
I replied I picked the 10 day air. What do I do now, click the "start order" button or wait till Amy answers?
This is my first picnic ordering from China.
 
I would ask her, she may receive a commission or at least recognition for her efforts if you order through her, and from the sound of it she has been quite helpful and deserves it. But IDK, I also haven't picnic'd in China much.
 
I would ask her, she may receive a commission or at least recognition for her efforts if you order through her, and from the sound of it she has been quite helpful and deserves it. But IDK, I also haven't picnic'd in China much.
Yeah, she answered back and is drafting the order right now. I told her this was my first order on Alibaba, so she could walk me thru the process.
 
Order written, accepted, and paid by credit card.
My CC company sent a one time code to my cell phone to make sure it was me,
so no picture of ID and CC needed.
This turned out to be easy and smooth.
 
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