WorldwideDave
Solar Enthusiast
Hi friends. Thanks for reading.
I bought a new CHINS battery from a couple who was going off-grid, but due to personal finances, decided to scrap that plan.
They sold me the battery with no owners manual and no battery bolts.
It is a 12.8V 200 AH 2560WH LiFePO4 deep cycle battery.
It has no number on the top, so CHINS support has been helpless.
I accept the fact now that it might be stolen or that it was acquired in an illegal manner, but I have no idea. They seemed like a sweet couple who are facing difficult life challenges.
I also am not sure if this is a knock-off chins or what. It sure looks like one. Not seeing a need to post a photo at this time. The battery has some sort of flap on the top.
Anyway, I do not know if this has a smart or dumb BMS.
I cannot tell if it has the internal heater or not.
I don't know which type of cells it has inside either.
I don't know if it is balanced.
I haven't really used much, and they claim they never used it.
I put it on a 0.8 amp trickle charger designed for LiFePO4 batteries. It charged up for a few days. I put a shunt on it to watch the charge and discharge.
Next I connected a 100 w panel to a Renogy Solar Charge Controller. I could see that it was charging it just fine.
Next I connected a 200 w panel in parallel with the 100 w panel for 300 w total, and it also charged fine.
After almost a week the renogy reported that the battery was finally 'full'. As it would not take anymore charge.
I am discharging it using DC loads for past few days. Working great I think.
I don't have an inverter purchased or connected yet. Getting to that later.
Do I have a good battery or a bad battery?
So far I have charged about 2000 w hours and discharged it 2400 w hours. I'm going to keep discharging it until the battery indicator on the renogy tells me it is getting low, then I will connect the solar panels to the SCC again.
What if anything else can I do?
The logo on my chins does NOT have the lightening bolt the way some models do.
I think this is a year or two old based on their estimate. Could be older I don't know.
The orange flap on the top of the battery casing looks like it could be pried open, but I don't know that I have a need to do that.
The battery seems to be working, but I have no knowledge of whether any cycles were run on it at all.
It looks brand new in every way. Super clean on all 6 sides. Threads looked unused.
I bought a new CHINS battery from a couple who was going off-grid, but due to personal finances, decided to scrap that plan.
They sold me the battery with no owners manual and no battery bolts.
It is a 12.8V 200 AH 2560WH LiFePO4 deep cycle battery.
It has no number on the top, so CHINS support has been helpless.
I accept the fact now that it might be stolen or that it was acquired in an illegal manner, but I have no idea. They seemed like a sweet couple who are facing difficult life challenges.
I also am not sure if this is a knock-off chins or what. It sure looks like one. Not seeing a need to post a photo at this time. The battery has some sort of flap on the top.
Anyway, I do not know if this has a smart or dumb BMS.
I cannot tell if it has the internal heater or not.
I don't know which type of cells it has inside either.
I don't know if it is balanced.
I haven't really used much, and they claim they never used it.
I put it on a 0.8 amp trickle charger designed for LiFePO4 batteries. It charged up for a few days. I put a shunt on it to watch the charge and discharge.
Next I connected a 100 w panel to a Renogy Solar Charge Controller. I could see that it was charging it just fine.
Next I connected a 200 w panel in parallel with the 100 w panel for 300 w total, and it also charged fine.
After almost a week the renogy reported that the battery was finally 'full'. As it would not take anymore charge.
I am discharging it using DC loads for past few days. Working great I think.
I don't have an inverter purchased or connected yet. Getting to that later.
Do I have a good battery or a bad battery?
So far I have charged about 2000 w hours and discharged it 2400 w hours. I'm going to keep discharging it until the battery indicator on the renogy tells me it is getting low, then I will connect the solar panels to the SCC again.
What if anything else can I do?
The logo on my chins does NOT have the lightening bolt the way some models do.
I think this is a year or two old based on their estimate. Could be older I don't know.
The orange flap on the top of the battery casing looks like it could be pried open, but I don't know that I have a need to do that.
The battery seems to be working, but I have no knowledge of whether any cycles were run on it at all.
It looks brand new in every way. Super clean on all 6 sides. Threads looked unused.