Hobbydarren
New Member
- Joined
- May 8, 2022
- Messages
- 11
Hello there, before I get started I.d like to point out this is not a sponsored post or review. It is simply my own opinion for the tiny bit that it.s worth.
I was recently blessed with a free battery from Alberta Lithium for the purpose of tear down and inspection. This will be solely a mechanical inspection as the unit was returned do to a failed BMS.
This particular battery was returned as faulty and I was given permission to open it up and see what i might find. Since I saw a few people on here asking if anyone had a teardown video available, I thought I'd see what I could do. Now, Having a face for radio and being no Will Prowse, I thought iI'd do a picture based review instead.
Getting this puppy open was no picnic, after some struggling, a small saw, couple screwdrivers as well as a wood chisel and a hammer, I managed to get a peek inside.
Admittedly I am no expert nor do I proclaim to be. I will say, based on many tear down videos I have seen this battery was certainly well sealed. Inside everything was well organized and firmly fixed into position. in my opinion it seems to be well secured and durably built.
Getting the cells out took a bit of work as the foam was packed tightly again the pack. The pack stayed tightly arranged due to the fiber tape once it was removed. The cabling seems sufficient and well arranged, should be able to carry the rated load.
In this photo I believe that is the low temp cut off, I like that it is not only under the tape but glued to the cells themselves. Yes, in case you are wondering, I have noticed that there are 8 cells, I will get to that in a sec.
I was surprised to find the eight cells in a series parallel configuration. I also didn't expect the cells to be welded. The layout and welding seem to be excellent and the charge leads being soldered to the bus bars was a nice touch, though they are firmly fixed, the solder joint does seem to be a bit of a cold solder in my opinion. I did wiggle and tug on the wires to see if I could get one to fail and I could not.
The cells were still holding a charge after the fault in the BMS and I will try to get another BMS installed on this battery to test the cells themselves due to the blown BMS on this unit. The balance leads were well organized and I like that they are taped to reduce movement.
Another Pic of the temp sensor. I would also mention i like the balancing leads being glued to the connector. I have seen videos where the connector came loose on a battery before.
Here is one for all those who would like to research the cells and see exactly whats in these batteries.
In conclusion, mechanically these batteries seem well built and should last anyone a good long time. I did inspect the BMS and although I am a layman in every sense when it comes to the onboard circuitry, I believe the failure may have been caused with the end user. one row of transistors was burned out completely. I wonder if a possible explanation could have been this unit may have been added to a bank of batteries, the newer unit being at a different state of charge, Allowing a huge inrush of high current, Thus only frying one bank of transistors.
??possible the charge side rather than the surviving discharge side??? Again I am guessing,
As I have six of the 12v 100AH heated batteries and each one has tested out at numbers from 100.6AH to 106.7AH. My experience with this particular company has been nothing but excellent. Any questions I have had have been promptly and knowledgeably answered, Any problems I have encountered have been resolved in a prompt manner and to my satisfaction.
Any input or additions to this post are welcome and I hope this answers some of your questions.
I was recently blessed with a free battery from Alberta Lithium for the purpose of tear down and inspection. This will be solely a mechanical inspection as the unit was returned do to a failed BMS.
This particular battery was returned as faulty and I was given permission to open it up and see what i might find. Since I saw a few people on here asking if anyone had a teardown video available, I thought I'd see what I could do. Now, Having a face for radio and being no Will Prowse, I thought iI'd do a picture based review instead.
Getting this puppy open was no picnic, after some struggling, a small saw, couple screwdrivers as well as a wood chisel and a hammer, I managed to get a peek inside.
Admittedly I am no expert nor do I proclaim to be. I will say, based on many tear down videos I have seen this battery was certainly well sealed. Inside everything was well organized and firmly fixed into position. in my opinion it seems to be well secured and durably built.
Getting the cells out took a bit of work as the foam was packed tightly again the pack. The pack stayed tightly arranged due to the fiber tape once it was removed. The cabling seems sufficient and well arranged, should be able to carry the rated load.
In this photo I believe that is the low temp cut off, I like that it is not only under the tape but glued to the cells themselves. Yes, in case you are wondering, I have noticed that there are 8 cells, I will get to that in a sec.
I was surprised to find the eight cells in a series parallel configuration. I also didn't expect the cells to be welded. The layout and welding seem to be excellent and the charge leads being soldered to the bus bars was a nice touch, though they are firmly fixed, the solder joint does seem to be a bit of a cold solder in my opinion. I did wiggle and tug on the wires to see if I could get one to fail and I could not.
The cells were still holding a charge after the fault in the BMS and I will try to get another BMS installed on this battery to test the cells themselves due to the blown BMS on this unit. The balance leads were well organized and I like that they are taped to reduce movement.
Another Pic of the temp sensor. I would also mention i like the balancing leads being glued to the connector. I have seen videos where the connector came loose on a battery before.
Here is one for all those who would like to research the cells and see exactly whats in these batteries.
In conclusion, mechanically these batteries seem well built and should last anyone a good long time. I did inspect the BMS and although I am a layman in every sense when it comes to the onboard circuitry, I believe the failure may have been caused with the end user. one row of transistors was burned out completely. I wonder if a possible explanation could have been this unit may have been added to a bank of batteries, the newer unit being at a different state of charge, Allowing a huge inrush of high current, Thus only frying one bank of transistors.
??possible the charge side rather than the surviving discharge side??? Again I am guessing,
As I have six of the 12v 100AH heated batteries and each one has tested out at numbers from 100.6AH to 106.7AH. My experience with this particular company has been nothing but excellent. Any questions I have had have been promptly and knowledgeably answered, Any problems I have encountered have been resolved in a prompt manner and to my satisfaction.
Any input or additions to this post are welcome and I hope this answers some of your questions.
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