280AH EVE CELL LASTED ONLY TWO YEARS

I cant get the video to play but I can see it frame by frame when I pull the play slider.
Why is it that I am not seeing any BMS? That would be another reason the cell might have burst open.

Oh man, bummer. But yeah you cannot put tension on the corners of the cells like that, you absolutely must have a rigid plate on the ends.

Ralo said:

This battery cost me over $500 and didn't last 2 years. So much for 3000 cycles.

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So if you had bought a complete battery - what would you have spent? Did you get $500 out of them?

I build my own. There are risks involved. I willingly take those risks.

Usually cells that bloat like that were severely overcharged and that is why people are asking about the BMS.. not because of how they are strapped. People are using these cells with no compression and don't bloat like that.

Edit: That and/or charging when frozen

sunshine_eggo said:

Unfortunately, your clamping method may have contributed to failure, and if I was Xuba, I would claim that was the cause. You ensured the clamping force was concentrated at the edge of the cells. Had you simply placed plywood or some other rigid plate at each end of the battery, there would have been no stress concentration.

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nothing useful to offer after rereading your post. IE I was wrong.

rhino said:

Usually cells that bloat like that were severely overcharged and that is why people are asking about the BMS.. not because of how they are strapped. People are using these cells with no compression and don't bloat like that.

Edit: That and/or charging when frozen

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I originally just had the cells taped like Will does in some of his videos. When I noticed them expanding is when I put the clamps on them. Again, I'm not sure where I saw that clamping method but I did see it done somewhere. I did not tighten them down enough to collaspe the corner of the cells as you can see in the photos.

And I did have a BMS. The overkill 200amp. But it didn't arrive when the cells did and when I made that video, but I did add it soon after. The battery was never overcharged and was not charged below freezing.

Did I get my moneys worth? I don't think so. Would I do it again. I'm definitely hesitant. Not anytime soon. I'll just use lead acid. At least I know how long it will last and it's cheap. All those selling points for Lifepo4 didn't play out for me. Not with these cells.

And yes, Zuba jump on the fact that I used clamps to deny any warranty. If not that I'm sure it would have been something else. But those cells were swelling before I used the clamps. That's the reason I used them. But it's all good.

Ralo said:

Did I get my moneys worth? I don't think so. Would I do it again. I'm definitely hesitant. Not anytime soon. I'll just use lead acid. At least I know how long it will last and it's cheap. All those selling points for Lifepo4 didn't play out for me. Not with these cells.

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Yours is an anomaly since so many people use these cells and don't have issues like that. Did you change the settings on the BMS with the phone app or leave them at default?

rhino said:

Yours is an anomaly since so many people use these cells and don't have issues like that. Did you change the settings on the BMS with the phone app or leave them at default?

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I learned how to configure the BMS and create 3 custom profiles. High, Mid and Low. These were different levels of charge and discharge. I many used the Mid profile. This wasn't a charging issue. I had a runner from the very beginning. It wasn't that bad but it got gradually worse. I should not have excepted the shipping damaged cells and I should have never used the clamps. From recently research, it's not required, but would supposely increase cycle life. At least it wouldn't have given Xuba a easy excuse to deny a warranty clamp but I still believe that they would have come up with something else. Hopefully I'm wrong and others have/will have better results. I was a guiena pig.

Ralo said:

I learned how to configure the BMS and create 3 custom profiles. High, Mid and Low. These were different levels of charge and discharge. I many used the Mid profile. This wasn't a charging issue. I had a runner from the very beginning. It wasn't that bad but it got gradually worse. I should not have excepted the shipping damaged cells and I should have never used the clamps. From recently research, it's not required, but would supposely increase cycle life. At least it wouldn't have given Xuba a easy excuse to deny a warranty clamp but I still believe that they would have come up with something else. Hopefully I'm wrong and others have/will have better results. I was a guiena pig.

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How damaged was the shipping? Any kind of denting should be considered non-usable. I'm sure a few people get away with dented cells, but every time I've had dented cells be it cylindrical, or prismatic have ended up problematic. The problems may not manifest until later.

Also the clamping would have been perfectly fine had you used rigid plates at both ends. Not saying that was your problem, but it sure looks suspect.

And lastly, don't fall for the fixture, compression, clamping (whatever people call it) as being not needed. It is, prismatic cells will bulge overtime, and the fixture will help keep that in check even if it's just fiber tape. I've used these types of cells since 2011.

BradCagle said:

How damaged was the shipping? Any kind of denting should be considered non-usable. I'm sure a few people get away with dented cells, but every time I've had dented cells be it cylindrical, or prismatic have ended up problematic. The problems may not manifest until later.

Also the clamping would have been perfectly fine had you used rigid plates at both ends. Not saying that was your problem, but it sure looks suspect.

And lastly, don't fall for the fixture, compression, clamping (whatever people call it) as being not needed. It is, prismatic cells will bulge overtime, and the fixture will help keep that in check even if it's just fiber tape. I've used these types of cells since 2011.

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Here is a video I took of the damage. Yep, I made some mistakes with these cells. Oh well, I guess that's the dangers of diy.

I'm really not trying to be a dick, but it looks like you just presented evidence that you charged without a BMS:


No BMS installed, and you literally state you're going to charge it to 14.46V with your PD9200 series converter.

If you charged without a BMS, damn good chance you started this failure the first time you charged without a BMS.

sunshine_eggo said:

I'm really not trying to be a dick, but it looks like you just presented evidence that you charged without a BMS:

No BMS installed, and you literally state you're going to charge it to 14.46V with your PD9200 series converter.

If you charged without a BMS, damn good chance you started this failure the first time you charged without a BMS.

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Charging to 3.65V per cell without a BMS ? I would not attempt that even with the most perfectly balanced pack I've ever seen. The difference between 3.65V and a cell being permanently damaged is like the equivalent of a percent or two SoC.

sunshine_eggo said:

I'm really not trying to be a dick, but it looks like you just presented evidence that you charged without a BMS:

No BMS installed, and you literally state you're going to charge it to 14.46V with your PD9200 series converter.

If you charged without a BMS, damn good chance you started this failure the first time you charged without a BMS.

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The problem with my statement and your conclusion is my charger could not and did not charge the battery fully because it is a lead acid charger. It fact, I originally thought there was something wrong with the battery because the charge would not last very long. I later learned after connecting the bms that trying to charge the battery with a 1000w inverter connected running two refrigerators would not allow the battery to fully charge, not even to 13.6. In fact, with that charger, even without the inverter connected, it would never charge the battery above 13.6v.

So you are dead wrong. And I must say, you clearly don't have to try and be a dick. It appears to come naturely to you. Please ignore my post going forward. Your feedback is not helpful to me. Never has been. Thanks!

Ralo said:

The problem with my statement and your conclusion is my charger could not and did not charge the battery fully because it is a led acid charger. It fact, I originally thought there was something wrong with the battery because the charge would not last very long. I later learned after connecting the bms that trying to charge the battery with a 1000w inverter connected running two refridgerators would not allow the battery to fully charge. In fact, with that charger, even without the inverter connected, it would never charge the battery above 13.6v.

So you are dead wrong. And I must say, you clearly don't have to try and be a dick. It appears to come naturely to you. Please ignore my post going forward. Your feedback is not helpful to me. Never has been. Thanks!

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Having owned 5 RVs, I'm painfully aware of the shit wiring between the converter and the battery, and the resulting voltage drop. I'm also aware of just how fully you can charge a 4S LFP battery at only 13.6V.

13.6V is not a safe voltage. Your grade B cells could have been at substantially different states of charge. When I ordered my 9 cells from Amy, I discharged them to 2.5V in the as-received state. They ranged from 27.97% to 40.43% SoC. What do you think would have happened If I put those in series and charged them? The 40.43% SoC cell would have it full while the 27.97% SoC cell was only at 87.5% SoC.

So, you actually monitored all 4 cells at all times, and you are 100% certain that no cell ever went over 3.65V? I didn't see a BMS or 4X voltmeters on that battery, so I doubt it. 13.6V is 3.4V/cell. You can say it's not likely, but you can't say it's impossible.

You may not find my feedback helpful, and you may think I'm being a dick, but that's on you. I'm being blunt and direct, and I suspect it chaps you because it forces you to consider that this is your fault. Few enjoy accepting responsibilities for their mistakes and want to blame others. Fortunately for me, I've screwed up enough shit that I'm used to taking the blame for my own stupid.

Here's basically what I've said in summary form:

You never charge or discharge a battery without a BMS.
You never use damaged cells.
You never clamp without rigid end plates.

All common knowledge on this forum even two years ago.

You violated all of those.

Hopefully, someone will come along later and learn from this. Hopefully, you will too. I wish you much better fortune on your next build. Truly.

Hover over my name and click Ignore. You'll never have to hear from me again, but I'll still get to comment so others may learn.

sunshine_eggo said:

Hover over my name and click Ignore. You'll never have to hear from me again, but I'll still get to comment so others may learn.

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Over 4000 post in less than a year. Don't you have anything else to do....a life outside of this forum? Is this your only way to feel important?

Ralo said:

Over 4000 post in less than a year. Don't you have anything else to do....a life outside of this forum? Is this your only way to feel important?

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LOL.. you know you've won when somebody gets defensive and starts attacking you on a personal level. Oh well. I showed you the Ignore button.

sunshine_eggo said:

LOL.. you know you've won when somebody gets defensive and starts attacking you on a personal level. Oh well. I showed you the Ignore button.

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So this is your idea of winning? Well congratulation! You are such a winner. Hopefully someone will give you a medal.

And I will ignore you. And hopefully you would ignore me.

Ralo said:

So this is your idea of winning? Well congratulation! You are such a winner. Hopefully someone will give you a medal.

And I will ignore you. And hopefully you would ignore me.

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LOL... that was context specific. I've won the argument on merit. You have no choice but to attack me personally since you have nothing substantive.

I'll never ignore you unless you turn into a political nut job.

Again, seriously, I truly wish you better fortune on your next build. Hopefully, you'll follow the guide in resources.

Looks like a learning experience we all fear could happen during a first build. Much knowledge has been gained. I would go again with some new cells, proper retention and BMS connected from the start.

All that can be done is move forward.

Ralo said:

Over 4000 post in less than a year. Don't you have anything else to do....a life outside of this forum? Is this your only way to feel important?

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I'm having a harsh moment of introspection.