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BLS Black Friday Sale

atatistcheff

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
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I had seen the same offer and find it very tempting. If they really are 150AH, you could build a 24V 150AH for the price of a Battleborn 50AH and have 3 times more power. It would be nice having someone who used them comment about quality.
 
I'm going to take the gamble on exactly this deal. $772 right now with the BF deal. I don't have a good capacity tester set up yet, but I do want to put them through the paces. Ordering up some gear for that. Hopefully I'll have good news to report.
 
I assume I'm not the only one to get this email from BLS Battery.


Sale price is $792 USD for 8x 150Ah LiFePO4 cells. Free shipping. Works out to 22 cents per Wh. Specs are below.
Seems like a killer deal.

View attachment 2590


that is there ''regular price -10-20$. it s been that price for the past 3 weeks. i m interested in the same deal. would make a nice 300ah 12v battery.
 
I have these exact batteries. I ordered them a few months ago and recieved them a few weeks back, but I haven't setup a rig to test capacity.

At the time I ordered, shipping was free. The total price I paid was $800USD. The cells arrived well packed with no damage or swelling and they all had a measured voltage of 3.66.

Edit: I'm in Canada, it appears shipping to the USA is still free.
 
I have these exact batteries. I ordered them a few months ago and recieved them a few weeks back, but I haven't setup a rig to test capacity.

At the time I ordered, shipping was free. The total price I paid was $800USD. The cells arrived well packed with no damage or swelling and they all had a measured voltage of 3.66.

Edit: I'm in Canada, it appears shipping to the USA is still free.

i m in canada also..... any import fees? TEST THEM!!!!!! ;) i m ready to pull the trigger!!!
 
From what I can tell they were handled by a few different couriers but ended up with Canada Post. No duty/import fees. Supposedly that was all included in the price I paid.

It might be a while until I get around to testing them because I haven't purchased an inverter or setup the rest of my solar system. I'll try and get some stuff together to do a test though.
 
I have them in my van. Had them for about six weeks. They test slightly above advertised capacity. I have induction cooktop and a 2000W inverter and they handle it with ease. They came balance charged and matched resistance. No regrets thus far.
 

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Hi atatistcheff.

About that sale, I can't say yet as my order for 16 of them hasn't showed up yet. They have some screwy shipping scheme. You can get a FedEx tracking number from them but it's only from the Los Angeles customs facility to my place and for more than two weeks the tracking has said, "When the shipment enters our system we will provide a delivery date". I think they strap them to sea turtles and collect them as they arrive. In their defense they said sometime in December.

Communications with them has been hit'en'miss. A buddy queried them three times about tariff questions and they never replied. I queried them and the first time they answered within an hour but a last Thursday AM question has not been answered. We shall see.


Keith_PDX that's a clean setup you have there!
 
I just ordered a set of 8 (150amp-hour size) batteries and AliExpress said the order has shipped. ETA is sometime later in December.
 
NOT directly related but I bought that ShunBin pack which included free shipping via Amazon and it shipped fast by UPS. Duties were handled, I only had to pay $97 on delivery for tax. On a $4K CAD purchase.

IF ordering something via AliExpress -> Canada you can get that same deal as Canada has different trade agreements with China than the US does. I've gotten a couple of other things and no problems... Also check shipping options carefully and choose wisely. VIA Amazon, they are more limited, seems same with Ebay purchases too... not sure why but likely there is a deal done with AliExpress & the various shippers.

NOTE there was a thread on BLS which highlighted a couple of things but they seem to have been resolved.

In any case. I strongly suggest incorporating a Good BMS to suit your build. For a good dollar value ands most flexibility & features I suggest a good look at Chargery who uses external heavy duty relays to manage power in from charger as well as power out. More info in this thread including some doc's https://diysolarforum.com/threads/need-smart-bms-as-replacement-for-shunbin-pack.2046/#post-18614
 
Can anyone explain the C ratings?

Recommend Constant Current:150A(1C)
End-of-Discharge Voltage:2.5V
Recommend Constant Current:75A(0.5C)
Charge Voltage:3.65V
Maximum Pulse Discharging Current:228A(3min)
Maximum Pulse Discharging Current:300A(30S)
Charge Voltage:3.65V
Max Continuous Discharge Current:150A(1C)

I'm assuming that bottom bolded figure is the important number for safe discharge rate. But what about the top 2 bolded figures? Is that the recommended maximum charging rate? Why the discrepancy between the two figures. I have seen this discrepancy on many Chinese battery cells (sometimes 1C and 0.5C, other times 1c and 0.2C).
 
The physics require the battery takes longer to absorb charge than to chemically discharge. Often charging is slightly less efficient than discharging. Frequently a battery will heat up more charging so they limit the charge rate to something less than the discharge to reduce mechanical stresses which harm all batteries. The mechanical stresses are generally what age-out a battery, that's why larger depth cycles are what shorten battery life.
 
I have them in my van. Had them for about six weeks. They test slightly above advertised capacity. I have induction cooktop and a 2000W inverter and they handle it with ease. They came balance charged and matched resistance. No regrets thus far.
Geez thats a nice install mate! Compression and ventilation too.!! Plastic protector over the top. Someone taught you well.
How did you separate the cells?
Can you give me a rundown of what the components are? I see a victron solar controller but what BMS did you use. Whats the other victron device. I guess the white device is an inverter . Whats the radiator cap device for?


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Sorry I think I wasn't clear with my question. I'm trying to figure out what the difference between the two bolded specs are:

Recommend Constant Current:150A(1C)
...
Recommend Constant Current:75A(0.5C)
...
Max Continuous Discharge Current:150A(1C)
 
They have a maximum discharge rate of 150 amps IC continuous
They have a maximum charge rate of 75Amps .5C and require the voltage to be set at 3.65V per cell
Pulse discharge etc can be a bit higher.
Running at these rates though will likely heat up the cells some.
 
They have a maximum discharge rate of 150 amps IC
They have a maximum charge rate of 75Amps .5C
Pulse discharge etc can be a bit higher.

are you sure? they list the max discharge rate (1C/150AH) and 3min and 30s pulse ratings lower down in the specs. But the "Recommend Constant Current" is listed twice with different values and no indication what they are referring to. Maybe I am overthinking things, but its confusing me.
 
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