ScoTTyBEEE
New Member
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- Sep 23, 2019
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- 112
Yeah, I'm guessing the NMC cells are for cars and the lifepo4 ones behind are the cells being sold by this company. I'm only going on physical looks.
190ah Lifepo4 $590
- Thread starter Altide8
- Start date
Yeah, I'm guessing the NMC cells are for cars and the lifepo4 ones behind are the cells being sold by this company. I'm only going on physical looks.
b.james
New Member
Well CALB is a different chinese company for one .
The weight quoted is for a normal alloy cased cell.
Tesla has been using LiFePo4 in some of its cells but have not seen them go forward with that yet.
TL;DR: Well packaged. Got rated capacity. So far, so good.
Brief review of the shipping:
I bought 8x 123AH(120AH) LiFePO4 from BLS through their AliExpress Store earlier this summer. There was a slight delay due to a typhoon. Once it reached UPS, it arrived quickly. They came in 2 boxes with batteries individually boxed in anti-static bags with foam padding.
Testing:
Most of the cells were closely charged but it took a bit to match one cell with the rest. I've only done one full charge-up/discharge test and got the estimated 3kWh after bottom balancing. So far, so good.
Brief review of the shipping:
I bought 8x 123AH(120AH) LiFePO4 from BLS through their AliExpress Store earlier this summer. There was a slight delay due to a typhoon. Once it reached UPS, it arrived quickly. They came in 2 boxes with batteries individually boxed in anti-static bags with foam padding.
Testing:
Most of the cells were closely charged but it took a bit to match one cell with the rest. I've only done one full charge-up/discharge test and got the estimated 3kWh after bottom balancing. So far, so good.
b.james
New Member
I'm looking at your meter. 3.5V per cell is where I run mine up to max . Thats 28V neat. usually I stay at about 27.5V while working . .
That's a long way from your 25.04 V Your meter is showing 100% for that voltage .
I just wonder what you have your pack set at? High and low voltages .
Is there a reason for it being set on CLR?
I'm interested because I have 3 of those type of meter . Not JUNTEK but same display and shunt etc. I've blown up 2 learning how to wire them and stupid shorts.
I too buy from Ali Express and have had no problems except being another country you can not expect a warranty to apply. Anyway if they work even reasonably with an active balancer set up on them and daily solar charge up I'm finding the cells stay spot on.
Ive bought 7 times so far and planning a 200Ah buy again now with one of those 48 volt MPP PIP inverters.
That's a long way from your 25.04 V Your meter is showing 100% for that voltage .
I just wonder what you have your pack set at? High and low voltages .
Is there a reason for it being set on CLR?
I'm interested because I have 3 of those type of meter . Not JUNTEK but same display and shunt etc. I've blown up 2 learning how to wire them and stupid shorts.
I too buy from Ali Express and have had no problems except being another country you can not expect a warranty to apply. Anyway if they work even reasonably with an active balancer set up on them and daily solar charge up I'm finding the cells stay spot on.
Ive bought 7 times so far and planning a 200Ah buy again now with one of those 48 volt MPP PIP inverters.
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This was a discharge capacity test. I boost charged up to 27.6V then stopped and let it settle down (about 27.0V). I disconnected the solar panel and cleared the stats before I began testing capacity through discharging. The 25.04V is where I stopped as I was satisfied with how much I pulled (3kWh). The meter registered it discharged 118.70AH/3000WH. The batteries were advertised as 123AH/120AH.
My current settings I keep the top around 27V after it settles. I cut-off the load at 24V which the cells bounce back up to about 25V resting.
As for the meter showing 100%, I haven't played around with the configuration to figure out how to set/calibrate that properly. I use it more for power draw monitoring.
My current settings I keep the top around 27V after it settles. I cut-off the load at 24V which the cells bounce back up to about 25V resting.
As for the meter showing 100%, I haven't played around with the configuration to figure out how to set/calibrate that properly. I use it more for power draw monitoring.
I’ve purchased similar cells from BLS battery, (16) 200Ah 3.2v cells in July for my RV. They exceeded their AH capacity and have performed very well. Jason from BLS, whom you may text with thru the app was very helpful in matching a 400A BMS. I also secured a second, lower rated Daly BMS as a backup.
I ended up on Ali express After purchasing three lion energy batteries and as I was waiting for delivery I watched Wills video that they were overstating their capacity.
after peeking inside the Lion batteries and seeing The same blue batteries you see on BLS, YouTube videos of Victron lithium batteries containing yellow Chinese Thundersky or Winstons, It should be evident that China makes quality lithium batteries.
While I did need to make my own low temperature solution I have no doubt that these batteries will perform as expected for significantly less money.
I would like the terminals to be more robust and for them to provide BMS solutions with remote
Monitoring and low temp cutoff. I’m never the less completely satisfied with my purchase.
Attachment is capacity at a 50-60A discharge. There was still more to give.
I ended up on Ali express After purchasing three lion energy batteries and as I was waiting for delivery I watched Wills video that they were overstating their capacity.
after peeking inside the Lion batteries and seeing The same blue batteries you see on BLS, YouTube videos of Victron lithium batteries containing yellow Chinese Thundersky or Winstons, It should be evident that China makes quality lithium batteries.
While I did need to make my own low temperature solution I have no doubt that these batteries will perform as expected for significantly less money.
I would like the terminals to be more robust and for them to provide BMS solutions with remote
Monitoring and low temp cutoff. I’m never the less completely satisfied with my purchase.
Attachment is capacity at a 50-60A discharge. There was still more to give.
Attachments
I bought the 190ah battery pack and am charging it with the 12V MPP solar all in one off shore power right now. The 4 cells arrived very well matched matched at 3.1V, which I thought was a bit low. The pack wont seem to charge past 13.55 volts. I do have the daly BMS 100A on it.
I'm new to this, but I was expecting a much higher voltage before they stopped accepting charge. I have the bulk charge set to 14.6 as recommended by BLS. Wasnt exactly sure where to set the float but have tried changing it to see if that was holding up charging. Cells were 4 mV out of balance, so balancing now. I didnt think that was too bad.
Any ideas on the voltage? I'm waiting for a hall effect monitor and then will do a capacity test.
I'm new to this, but I was expecting a much higher voltage before they stopped accepting charge. I have the bulk charge set to 14.6 as recommended by BLS. Wasnt exactly sure where to set the float but have tried changing it to see if that was holding up charging. Cells were 4 mV out of balance, so balancing now. I didnt think that was too bad.
Any ideas on the voltage? I'm waiting for a hall effect monitor and then will do a capacity test.
gnubie
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2019
- Messages
- 3,844
Sure does, making sure you get the quality ones is the trick!
LiFePO4 batteries have a very flat voltage curve for majority of their state of charge. The voltage will rapidly increase sometime after 90%. Same on the other side, voltage will rapidly drop somewhere under 10%. You can search for "lifepo4 charge curve" for lots of graphs.
Yeah. It just seemed to be sitting exactly at this voltage for a very long time with no change. I just asked jason at BLS and he said "this is normal", so not 100% sure.
What does your charge controller report for energy generated? How big is your solar system?
For reference, it takes my 330W system roughly 2 days to charge my 24v 120ah bank.
I'm using the utility charger. I don't ont have it in my trailer conversion yet so no solar. Should be charging at 20A. That is the rating of the utility charger in my unit.
after a full charge the voltage settles to around 3.4-3.5v Per cell. My pack will reach 14.4/14.6 volts while taking a 75a charge but then drops to around 13.5v. All the capacity is there.
Did you order from aliexpress?
Yes
I bought similar from BLS (aliexpress): 16pcs 130Ah to build a 48v battery. As written above they are shipped in a great package, very well covered, each in a box with foam, and the boxes additional in a foam in the package.
My arrived well balanced, but I did an additional bottom balance (around 2.8/2.9V).
I use them at home with my solar, not sure if I would recommend them for outdoor like marine or RV. They have a alu case with this blue foil, but if you need to pull them in/out I assume the foil does not live long.
I have no capacity meter but comparing the kWh of my charger without a load on an empty battery or vice versa just discharging a full one with constant power without charging they provide roughly the capacity I would expect.
What I like is that the buses are a bit longer as required, so I can arrange the cells in a zigzag with better air flow between each other.
My arrived well balanced, but I did an additional bottom balance (around 2.8/2.9V).
I use them at home with my solar, not sure if I would recommend them for outdoor like marine or RV. They have a alu case with this blue foil, but if you need to pull them in/out I assume the foil does not live long.
I have no capacity meter but comparing the kWh of my charger without a load on an empty battery or vice versa just discharging a full one with constant power without charging they provide roughly the capacity I would expect.
What I like is that the buses are a bit longer as required, so I can arrange the cells in a zigzag with better air flow between each other.
ScoTTyBEEE
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2019
- Messages
- 112
I just capacity tested my 190ah.
Bottom balanced at 3.0v, charged at 20A
I achieved 190ah with all cells within 42mv of each other
Final capacity was 193.1ah when cells started to unbalance by 175mv odd with one hitting 3.65
I would like to see how other cells appear once they start getting above 3.5v, as it only takes 1 cell to be out by a fraction to cause large imbalances, the voltage climbs so quickly I would guess even very well matched cells would get unbalanced at the top of the charge cycle.
Anyway, I easily have 190ah usable as I didn't take the bottom voltage down too low, if there's another 5ah there these cells are pretty close to being 200ah
Daly BMS balancing at 3.6v seems to be useless but I am using a 12v wall charger that goes into absorbtion at 10A at this point which is perhaps too high to get them to balance, maybe it will work better under solar.
My thinking now is, use a victron protect to protect the low side, charge to 14v to get 190ah without cells going unbalanced and leave an active balancer connected. These daly bms's seem ok but I did start seeing the voltage creep over 3.65v on the one cell before I stopped the charger, and other people mention they've seen cells hit 2.4v so I don't think they're reliable enough. Plus it's easier to connect big inverters without having to go through the small wires of the bms.
Bottom balanced at 3.0v, charged at 20A
I achieved 190ah with all cells within 42mv of each other
Final capacity was 193.1ah when cells started to unbalance by 175mv odd with one hitting 3.65
I would like to see how other cells appear once they start getting above 3.5v, as it only takes 1 cell to be out by a fraction to cause large imbalances, the voltage climbs so quickly I would guess even very well matched cells would get unbalanced at the top of the charge cycle.
Anyway, I easily have 190ah usable as I didn't take the bottom voltage down too low, if there's another 5ah there these cells are pretty close to being 200ah
Daly BMS balancing at 3.6v seems to be useless but I am using a 12v wall charger that goes into absorbtion at 10A at this point which is perhaps too high to get them to balance, maybe it will work better under solar.
My thinking now is, use a victron protect to protect the low side, charge to 14v to get 190ah without cells going unbalanced and leave an active balancer connected. These daly bms's seem ok but I did start seeing the voltage creep over 3.65v on the one cell before I stopped the charger, and other people mention they've seen cells hit 2.4v so I don't think they're reliable enough. Plus it's easier to connect big inverters without having to go through the small wires of the bms.
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They seem legit. As many others have posted. Finishing up tests now
I just got mine in and started testing. Electrodacus sbms default top end cut off is well below 3.65v. I think this could be because of the likely hood of getting unbalanced, as you said. Have you tested further?
somewhereinusa
Solar Enthusiast
You should be able to very carefully tap the hole for a larger bolt. Since the hole is so shallow you will need to use a bottoming tap which, you may have to make. If you don't know what it is do a search for it. Use lots of forward/reverse of the tap. Don't try to cut the threads all at once. Make sure you have the right size hole for the tap you use.
Thanks!
now to figure out what to buy and how to do it. family is on isolation lockdown due to severe immunocompromise in my family. could be in this state for a couple of months. Any suggestions for sources on taps, inserts and terminal studs?
somewhereinusa
Solar Enthusiast
I saw this style, can't remember brand name, at a truck show and thought they looked like a good product. Better than Heli-coil. Even then in an expensive battery I think I would use a real tap to cut the threads.
Thread insert
Thread insert
Dave,
If your going to disassemble and reassemble that battery you might want to go the helicoil route. Aluminum threads will wear far more than the helicoil insert.
If you get a kit you will have to grind the tip off of the supplied tap a bit so it does not go thru the bottom of the terminal while tapping.
Here is a link to a M7 kit at Amazon
M7 Helicoil
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