Cheap 4kwh LiFePO4 batteries from Battery Hookup

[Will Prowse]

They are back in stock (3000 units available), and after looking them over and asking Tom (owner of battery hookup), a daly bms is what most people are using. I should also add, that they do not have low temp cut, so you need a victron controller w/ battery sense (with low temp cut off enabled) if you wish to use it with solar.

Because I am getting a lot of emails about this, lets throw together a battery package so that you do not damage the batteries (affiliate links below):

1. Click Here for the Batteries. And use coupon code "SOLAR" (my affiliate code) for 10% off entire order
2. Click here for a 200 amp Common Port 8S Daly BMS (if you need more than 200 amps, use a 500 amp relay, and trigger it with this bms)
3. Click here for victron SCC's. Be sure to add a battery sense and enable low temp protection.
4. If you want check the individual cell voltages, click here for a balance lead and click here for a cell monitor

Attached below are pictures from Tom showing how most people are charging (ISDT or similar chargers). This works well for most people, but if you do not have a low temp disconnect, and your batteries get cold during the winter and it charges with solar, the battery will be destroyed. But for some of you, it will work well:



So yeah, pretty simple battery to use at a good price. The next thing you guy's need to know is that the shipping charges are extreme unless you order more than one battery. So it is best to order multiple batteries, or pick them up at the warehouse (1375B Adams Road Bensalem PA 19020 )

Let me know if you guys want to know more about these batteries. Pretty simple to use and require your own low temp cut off, but crazy cheap!

 

[Piett]

I am really excited to see a new thread on these batteries. My question is how well could you pair these BYD batteries with an MPP AIO like the 2424LV or the 5048LV? Is there a limit to the number of the BYDs that one of these could reasonably charge? Can the AIO work with the Daly BMS with low temp protection? The automatic transfer switch of the AIO is why I am interested in these vs a stand alone SCC since I am looking to use this for partial home backup.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Supervstech]

I got two on the way.
I will post up my plans when they get here...

 

[Will Prowse]

I am really excited to see a new thread on these batteries. My question is how well could you pair these BYD batteries with an MPP AIO like the 2424LV or the 5048LV? Is there a limit to the number of the BYDs that one of these could reasonably charge? Can the AIO work with the Daly BMS with low temp protection? The automatic transfer switch of the AIO is why I am interested in these vs a stand alone SCC since I am looking to use this for partial home backup.

Thanks a bunch!

Thats the beauty of it. They are lifepo4, so they will work perfectly. Unlike tesla or any NMC pack. Those are cheap, but have a horrible voltage to work with. lifepo4 works perfect with 2424lv

 

[HMR]

Hi All: I am a newbie to the forum. Hats off to you Will for hosting this forum and all your previous good work with your book and YouTube. I just bought 4 of these BYD arriving Monday Nov. 18. Purpose: powerbank to support 16 KwH off-grid solar for small mountain top home in North Carolina. Will, I hope you do something with these batteries to help us get set up using them. At $100 or so per KwH they appear to be the bargain of the decade. But they have no functioning BMS. The sellers, Battery Hookup, posted a couple of Youtube videos by David Poz dealing with bypassing the current BMS to create access to a new one. One of my main uncertainties so far is how do I connect a BMS with four of these 24 v batteries connected in parallel for a 24 v 16 KwH battery bank?

 

[Supervstech]

I have two coming myself.
I will be building in a bms and battery protect.
With 4, you will need a relay to handle high amp control, I dont live too far from the NC mountains, once I'm done, or have it worked out, I can post solutions or maybe drop by and help ya.

 

[No_Grid_No_Problem]

Hey guys... I'm new to this forum but reading voraciously about solar and wind power. I'm very interested in buying a few of these to make a move in this direction. I'm not a die hard environmentally motivated "solar at any cost" person... but I'm more motivated by self-sufficiency and if I can help the environment in the process... then fantastic!

I'm hoping that Will or someone on this forum will post some videos on how to take a home partially off grid in piecemeal sections. My goal is to gradually take circuits off my 200 amp panel into another hybrid panel that can be fed primarily from a battery system and switch over to grid power only during the winter when I can't generate the power needed for those circuits.

My goal is to only do 110V circuits leaving the furnace, AC, dryer, and other 220V heavy energy hogs on the grid perpetually until my system can be expanded enough to fully take the house off grid. I have about 2.5 kW of solar mounted and ready to go once I have batteries installed. I only have one 1000W inverter and a 60amp mppt right now. Pretty early in my process but eager to expand as I save up.

That's my dream... to eventually tell the utility company to take hike. I need some additional technical knowledge to take the first storage steps. I live in OH where it gets pretty cold, but due to how my home is built, I'm going to have to build an outdoor insulated battery shed to house my batteries and inverters.

Any pointers or suggestions?

Will - can you do any videos on taking circuits off grid and using a switch system? You had one previously on a MOES Dual Power Controller 50A 5500 Watt Automatic Transfer Switch but I'm not sure if I can utilize multiples of this to serve my needs... and if so how to wire through a sub-panel.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JAC]

What a great resource forum! Thanks Will.

I picked up ten 38120s, which are arriving today. I’ll post more info once I complete my build in a week.

 

[bmtrirow]

Thank you for this information and all of the videos and help your provide Will!

These batteries seem like an amazing deal, but when looking at other videos, it seems like incorporating a BMS is a bit of a challenge. I created the schematic below to try and avoid using a BMS. Can anyone look this over and let me know if you think this would work without destroying the batteries? Is there anything I am missing? Thank you for your help!

 

[krby]

You're wiring the batteries in parallel, so you shouldn't need to balance across them, but I would put a fuse between the two batteries just in case one has a problem.

 

[Luc]

Will, DIY off-grid / grid-tied battery storage is going to be BIG, we all want a Powerwall so we can have energy independence. I think the bigger market will be the reuse of batteries on the secondary market just like these BYD modules. Better yet the whole battery pack from a Tesla S, X, 3, Y, and others.

Looking forward to Jack Rickard solving the Model 3 pack BMS hack, but Jack like I am not getting any younger. I see you, Will, following in Jack's footsteps.

Next, hacking the Model S DC fast-charging port to power our homes.

 

[Picasso]

BYD has an external control box for the built in BMS so that it can talk to SMA and other inverters/chargers via rs485/CAN. These BYD modules are the first gen version as far as I can tell. MFG date is gonna be around 2013 I would guess. This is for the 2.0 version https://www.cclcomponents.com/byd-b-box-battery-management-unit

 

[RogerD]

I really want to buy 3 of these because this is the best I have seen yet, but they are 164 lbs each ... 492 pounds.

It will be for a box truck conversion, so the weight isn't really an issue. Just bothers me that I will be carrying around an extra 200 pounds.

What is everyone using them for that purchased?

 

[Bluemalibu]

What is everyone using them for that purchased?

I purchased three to increase the capacity of my residential battery bank.

 

[RogerD]

I purchased three to increase the capacity of my residential battery bank.

Yea, then the weight is irrelevant.

 

[Ron]

Thats the beauty of it. They are lifepo4, so they will work perfectly. Unlike tesla or any NMC pack. Those are cheap, but have a horrible voltage to work with. lifepo4 works perfect with 2424lv

2424LV? So what batteries are inside the unit?

 

[RogerD]

2424LV? So what batteries are inside the unit?

It's a 24v all-in-one inverter. mppt controller, charger.

 

[Picasso]

I'm going to have to build an outdoor insulated battery shed to house my batteries and inverters.

One of the best (read cheap) outdoor boxes I've seen was a broken ice chest like in the front of gas stations that hold bags of ice for sale. Nice big weatherproof insulated boxes.

 

[No_Grid_No_Problem]

One of the best (read cheap) outdoor boxes I've seen was a broken ice chest like in the front of gas stations that hold bags of ice for sale. Nice big weatherproof insulated boxes.

Great idea! I will need something bigger that I can walk into and stuff due to the size of my family and energy usage needs (I'll need quite a few batteries) but that's a very creative solution!

I have a whole house energy monitor (Sense product) and during the winter my highest usage per day is about 155kWh. Trying to decide how to size the battery bank if I wanted to take half the house off grid. Living in the midwest, heating via heat pump is the highest consumption during winter. We are dual fuel with propane based on where we live (no natural gas opportunities) but electric is still cheaper than propane.

Any ideas on how to calculate what was need in batteries at 24V?

 

[HMR]

"BYD has an external control box for the built in BMS so that it can talk to SMA and other inverters/chargers via rs485/CAN. These BYD modules are the first gen version as far as I can tell. MFG date is gonna be around 2013 I would guess. This is for the 2.0 version https://www.cclcomponents.com/byd-b-box-battery-management-unit "

Thanks for this link, Picasso. I did a quick search beginning with this information. Confusion: all I found refers to BY 2.5 Kwh modules, not the 5.6 nominal KwH modules we are buying. Is this version 1 vs version 2? Most interesting is that Victron has linked up with BYD to provide access to the interal BMS. See: https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:byd_b-box . Notice the very informative wiring diagram contained on this site for an entire BD - Victron system. Can someone with more knowledge than myself analyze this new information? Q. Can we use the Victron link with our batteries to use the installed BMS directly without having to remove it and rewire? Q. Does the wiring diagram look good for putting an entire small home system together?