CALB 100 Ah smells bad during operation

[nemomaximus]

Hi,

I have some kind of problem (I think) with my CALB 100 Ah LFP cells. They are brand new and only cycled a couple of times and stored in a closed cabinet. However, after a few days inside the cabinet it smells really bad when I open the door.

What could be the problem? Is the smell dangerous?

I got this reply from my Alibaba reseller:

Hello, don't worry, this is the smell of electrolyte inside the battery, lithium hexafluorophosphate. As long as there is no leakage, there is no problem.

And they also included the attached document.

Anyone who knows anything about this? Should I be worried?

Thanks in advance for any help!

/Mårten

 

[NwCali]

I'd not use it in a "enclosed" space till either A. Your 100% positive its no big deal or B. It stops smelling for a few days

Thats just me though. I googled it, no one really has written about them smelling that I could find.

 

[wholybee]

They should not smell. It sounds like they are venting some gas, which is bad. Is there any possibility they were overcharged? What type of BMS do you have? What charger? And how did you top balance them?

 

[nemomaximus]

I found this when I googled it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/batteries/comments/l5yhti

Someone working with it doesn't seem to think that the smell is toxic at least...

 

[nemomaximus]

I am using a Daly BMS and the batteries was top balanced to 3,6V and then I had them paralleled for a few days without any charging.

Everything else with works fine. I have a 0.004 voltage difference between the 16 cells so far...

They are currently set to float at 54.4 V.

I have a MPP 10kW hybrid inverter connected to them.

 

[curiouscarbon]

Purchased 100Ah CALB LFP cell/s from aliexpress and they arrived in usa but bore chinese market sticker, so I knew they were almost by definition “grey market cell”. Single cell was in a plastic sealing bag like ziplock. When I first took the cells out of the plastic bag, they had a very faint licorice type smell. It was kinda reminiscient of the soda “dr pepper” or “mr pibb” in my now faded olfactory memory. That faint smell faded quickly within a day and did not come back.

If it smells really bad, please get some fresh air ?

Consider wearing a mask when opening it. P100 might help, probably wouldn’t hurt. Please update if you figure it out so we can all learn what this sort of symptom means.

 

[Gazoo]

I am using a Daly BMS and the batteries was top balanced to 3,6V and then I had them paralleled for a few days without any charging.

Everything else with works fine. I have a 0.004 voltage difference between the 16 cells so far...

They are currently set to float at 54.4 V.

I have a MPP 10kW hybrid inverter connected to them.

Not familiar with these cells. I would leave the cabinent open for a few days and see if the smell goes away. I don't think it's common for any LFE cell to gas. Are you sure the smell isn't coming from the plastic instead of the vent? Either way make sure there is plenty of fresh air around until you resolve this.

 

[toms]

The Sinopoly cells i use have a sweet solvent smell when they are new, it fades in time.

It would pay to run a thermal camera over the wiring to make sure the smell isn’t coming from an overheated poor connection.

 

[BlackBetty]

Hi,

I have some kind of problem (I think) with my CALB 100 Ah LFP cells. They are brand new and only cycled a couple of times and stored in a closed cabinet. However, after a few days inside the cabinet it smells really bad when I open the door.

What could be the problem? Is the smell dangerous?

I got this reply from my Alibaba reseller:

Hello, don't worry, this is the smell of electrolyte inside the battery, lithium hexafluorophosphate. As long as there is no leakage, there is no problem.

And they also included the attached document.

Anyone who knows anything about this? Should I be worried?

Thanks in advance for any help!

/Mårten

Did you find an answer? We had a van professionally built and I had an odor today and then my inverter shut off. When I asked they said they programmed it wrong and it was over charged slightly. But now I'm worried the thing will start on fire lol, and said the smell was normal when charging at a high rate. Not sure I'm good with that answer as nice as they are, but I've had problems with different things since I got it. They are a proper company so not sure what else to do other than spending money to have someone else look at it.

 

[nemomaximus]

No, I have not found out anything new. My supplier told me it was safe as long as there where no leakages from the battery cells. Not 100 % comfortable with that answer either, but it will do for now...