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  1. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    Hi Manuel, I’ve had the battery built with the cells installed in my caravan (RV/Trailer) for almost two months with no issues. I haven’t done a full capacity test but we’ve discharged them down to about 30Ah during normal use. I installed a renogy shunt with screen inside the van to monitor...
  2. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    My RD6018w kit arrived a week or so ago and has been put to good use. Charging my LiFePO4 cells, running a CB radio, charging my car battery, and helping to diagnose a parasitic draw issue on my car when using a multimeter and ammeter weren't quite enough for the situation. Really like it, easy...
  3. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    Cells, RD6018w bench power supply and Daly BMS have arrived. Connected everything and doing an initial charge before top balancing. Tested low temp cutoff set at 15C and 0C using salty ice water, works great and immediately. Did some tests on voltage protection as well, setting the cutoffs...
  4. Cannabat

    Finally found a LiFePO4 BMS with Low-temp Charging Protection

    I searched this thread but didn’t see this mentioned, figure this should be noted in this thread. The Daly Smart BMS I just received - 4s 12v 200A model R05W-FL04 - does have a working low temperature cutoff. Just tested cutoff set at 15C and again at 0C, disconnects immediately when the set...
  5. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Nice find! To clarify, the review says the 1200W fits inside the RD6018 case, so that is great.
  6. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    The power supply they sell with it is 800W so you can do 12v or 24v stuff at 18A but not 36v or 48v. It can use any power supply that's 65v+, given a high enough wattage. But over 1000W PSUs probably won't fit in the housing they offer.
  7. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Riden sells 6, 12 and 18 amp 0-60v bench power supplies. Search RD6006 on Aliexpress. I have just purchased the 18A version based on reviews here and YouTube, haven’t received it yet though so can’t comment myself. It seems fairly well regarded and there is even a Russian guy who has coded...
  8. Cannabat

    Clamp Meter < $100?

    I just bought this same meter (branded as AUTENS, but actual branding on the meter is HABOTEST) on Amazon's Australian storefront: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07WJ99RP1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 More robust than my rinky-dink Jaycar meter. (Jaycar, an Australia...
  9. Cannabat

    Newbie question about panels in RV

    Another factor is how shading will affect your power generation. Shade will, of course, prevent power from being generated - it significantly reduces the current (amps) a panel puts out. It does not affect the voltage of the panel. When you have your panels in series, the voltage gets added but...
  10. Cannabat

    New cells and balancing

    Oh gotcha. Yeah that's very close to the recommended charge profile for LiFePO4. I think it's fine, can't imagine it would hurt anything and you'd just end up with slightly less capacity with the lower voltages - but I'd also hope for somebody with more experience and knowledge to confirm.
  11. Cannabat

    New cells and balancing

    you’ve got 8 x 200Ah lifepo4 cells yeah? If you connect them all in series you will have a single 24v battery, 14.4v isn’t enough to charge them. You could make two 4S batteries and charge each with 14.4v, but it’s not enough to get them to 100% SOC. You need 3.65v * 4 cells = 14.6v to get to...
  12. Cannabat

    New cells and balancing

    The voltage may be the same but due to the voltage profile of LiFePO4 cells the state of charge may be significantly different. The possible consequence of not doing a top balance is that the BMS is never able to fully balance the cells and you end up with less capacity. The BMS will stop...
  13. Cannabat

    Caravan Alternator + Solar - wiring review & sanity check

    I remade my diagram with images as the boring shapes were kinda hard to read for me. I realised my main breaker was far over-rated. I've changed it from 200A to 150A. Calculation: ((1000W / 0.85 / 12v) + 20A) * 1.25 = 147.55A ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | |...
  14. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Besides the discomforting name “Chance Electric”, this review has me concerned on a few levels: “Since the order in 13 days! The BP fan turns on only when heated, what!? Check yet failed, everything is adjustable, there are multi-werewolf summaries, satisfied while” I do not want multiple...
  15. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Oh, right, I missed that the psu is adjustable. I didn’t realize some of them had this feature, thought you’d have to buy a converter of some sort to get that. Good to know.
  16. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Am I understanding correctly that you would use this to get your drained cells from 2.5v or whatever up to 3.3v (roughly 70% SOC), then use the 3.6v mean well to finish the job?
  17. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Thank you for sharing your experience and another vote for this kind of unit.
  18. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    Thank you and @Steve_S for your sacrifice, I will skip this unit. I am sketched out now by how insistently they say not to change the length of the cables, and how some reviews suggest they have calibrated the ammeter to the length of cabling used. I’m not sure if this is normal but yeah it...
  19. Cannabat

    Benchtop Power Supply for under $100.

    I am researching benchtop power supplies and LiFePO4 chargers. Ideally, I can purchase one device and do both top balancing as needed and charge the battery bank every now and then when I have 240v mains/shore power available. I don't need it to function as a power supply for any DC loads...
  20. Cannabat

    Caravan Alternator + Solar - wiring review & sanity check

    Have made two changes: - I had a big 300A switch on the battery negative. I realised it's better to have this on the positive. I have replaced the 200A fuse with a 200A Blue Sea Systems breaker, which will be panel-mounted and act as master kill switch, cutting off loads. It won't disconnect the...
  21. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    Sure, that may be what I find. I'm just relaying information about the seller for the benefit of consumers. Seems like most of the vendors do not want to post on this or other forums so of course the buyers are the ones who inform other potential buyers. If it's useful to understand more...
  22. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    James sent me some videos of them doing IR testing and also capacity testing. I don't think I really need to post them here, but anyways, it's just confirmation that they do indeed offer these services with what appears to be capable equipment.
  23. Cannabat

    Caravan Alternator + Solar - wiring review & sanity check

    I have made up a rudimentary diagram for my WIP off-grid caravan build. Would some experienced folks please review my setup, particularly cabling and fuse sizing? I think I've chosen the correct cable sizes and appropriately conservative fuse/breaker sizes for the max load of the system (2000W...
  24. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    I've chatted with James about matching and capacity testing. For prismatic LiFePo4 cell orders, voltage is matched to 0.01V and IR to 0.1mΩ across all cells in the order. For a fee (around $4 USD per cell), a full capacity test can be done and results provided. James and Dongguan Lightning...
  25. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    Thank you Steve! I am reviewing your thread now, this is important info that seems to be glossed over by the vast majority of people (including myself).
  26. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    Thanks, yes I have a Renogy shunt on the way which I will use to do a capacity test with an inverter. I'm considering buying of the the dedicated battery testers that lets you select the discharge rate and such with a heating element as the load. The supplier in that post is not the one from...
  27. Cannabat

    Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

    After doing quite a bit of research on this forum (thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge and experience!), I decided to go with a DIY 280Ah LiFePo4 battery bank for my caravan build. I enquired with Xuba and Dongguan Lightning New Energy on Alibaba. Xuba took a few days to get me...
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