Hello everyone, been lurking here awhile after seeing Will’s diy lifepo4 battery videos on YouTube while researching battleborn batteries. Thank you for the wealth of knowledge, I’d never consider buying from alibaba and especially not batteries but here I am, patiently waiting for 8 EVE 280ah batteries from Amy lol.
A little background, I have been off grid for about 4 years now. 8- Trojan L-16 e-ac batteries, aimes 24v 6000w inverter, 2-250 watt 24v panels 4-260 watt 24v panels, 1-2000w (supposedly, I haven’t ever seen close to that) mwands freedom 9 blade turbine on a 70’ tower. 2 panels paralleled per wire and then into a combiner box. I definitely am no electrical expert, but I absolutely love being off grid and I love to learn so here we are!
Now, for the hard part. My lead acid is dying, 4 years of hard cycling and some abuse from me definitely hasn’t helped. I had just finished up my wind turbine project, along with a new charge controller and dump load when I decided that now I felt confident I wouldn’t be abusing batteries as much so I could upgrade to a better set. Call battle born at first they say yes my system is a perfect candidate for lifepo4 and all is well. Then I talk to the guys at Missouri wind and solar and they say my charge controller is incompatible with lifepo4 and I need to spend $3000+ on 2 midnight 150’s and a clipper for the wind turbine. Ugh. Took the wind right out of my sails, literally.
So I regroup. Look at all available options, go down all other battery chemistry’s and because of my weight limit 1,200lbs and wanting at least 500ah of storage capacity pretty much everything is out the window except lifepo4. Find the diy batteries and figure heck if I can save several thousand that will sure help me afford all these crazy expensive charge controllers.
now, if you’re still with me. Thank you. My question is, with the Diy batteries and bms systems do I really need a different charge controller? The controller I have is pretty barbaric lol. It’s basically a 440amp relay with an adjustable voltage set point at which it opens and connects to a dump load. Basically just 4 giant resistors. I have been using versions of this controller for the last 4 years. Besides a few $12 relays it’s worked without a hitch. But, is it trash for lifepo4? It’s called the sky max 440 and it’s made by Missouri wind and solar. From what I’m understanding posting links is okay as long as I’m not benefiting from them hopefully ?. But here’s a link, for some reason I always have trouble finding this controller on their website. https://mwands.com/skymax-440-diversion-controller
what do you think? Trash? If so that’s okay. I can lay the turbine down and keep it offline for awhile while I save my pennies and just run a single midnight 150 on my solar if need be. I definitely don’t want to kill my new battery’s or bms. Thanks in advance!
A little background, I have been off grid for about 4 years now. 8- Trojan L-16 e-ac batteries, aimes 24v 6000w inverter, 2-250 watt 24v panels 4-260 watt 24v panels, 1-2000w (supposedly, I haven’t ever seen close to that) mwands freedom 9 blade turbine on a 70’ tower. 2 panels paralleled per wire and then into a combiner box. I definitely am no electrical expert, but I absolutely love being off grid and I love to learn so here we are!
Now, for the hard part. My lead acid is dying, 4 years of hard cycling and some abuse from me definitely hasn’t helped. I had just finished up my wind turbine project, along with a new charge controller and dump load when I decided that now I felt confident I wouldn’t be abusing batteries as much so I could upgrade to a better set. Call battle born at first they say yes my system is a perfect candidate for lifepo4 and all is well. Then I talk to the guys at Missouri wind and solar and they say my charge controller is incompatible with lifepo4 and I need to spend $3000+ on 2 midnight 150’s and a clipper for the wind turbine. Ugh. Took the wind right out of my sails, literally.
So I regroup. Look at all available options, go down all other battery chemistry’s and because of my weight limit 1,200lbs and wanting at least 500ah of storage capacity pretty much everything is out the window except lifepo4. Find the diy batteries and figure heck if I can save several thousand that will sure help me afford all these crazy expensive charge controllers.
now, if you’re still with me. Thank you. My question is, with the Diy batteries and bms systems do I really need a different charge controller? The controller I have is pretty barbaric lol. It’s basically a 440amp relay with an adjustable voltage set point at which it opens and connects to a dump load. Basically just 4 giant resistors. I have been using versions of this controller for the last 4 years. Besides a few $12 relays it’s worked without a hitch. But, is it trash for lifepo4? It’s called the sky max 440 and it’s made by Missouri wind and solar. From what I’m understanding posting links is okay as long as I’m not benefiting from them hopefully ?. But here’s a link, for some reason I always have trouble finding this controller on their website. https://mwands.com/skymax-440-diversion-controller
what do you think? Trash? If so that’s okay. I can lay the turbine down and keep it offline for awhile while I save my pennies and just run a single midnight 150 on my solar if need be. I definitely don’t want to kill my new battery’s or bms. Thanks in advance!