Disappointing Vendors

[shavermcspud]

I have held off naming and shaming as I have been an advocate of this suppliers products for some time and actively supported their UK buyers despite not being affiliated with them at all.

As some of you may know, I purchased four of their 280ah cells cases including BMS which they shipped but without the BMS due to shortage but left the import paperwork as the full price for the cases including the BMS units, so I paid full import duty but for half the items delivered, two weeks later they send the BMS and also leave the full duty value on those so I had to pay again, so I'm now out of pocket by quite a lot.

Contacted Seplos via messenger who said they would sort on my next order, went to place an order today and they offered me a whole $5 off. I'm currently out of pocket. To make matters worse, they raised the order for a single BMS and invoiced me $270 including my whopping $5 credit, when I had a look directly at their Alibaba page I can buy the exact same unit from Seplos storefront for $225 shipped which is what I have paid in the past. So also trying to stealth overcharge now.

Add in to the mix the four DOA BMS units I received in March that I haven't got anywhere getting replacements.

I have spent a considerable amount of money with Seplos over the last 18 months so I kind of expected a little assistance with issues.

Rant over.

 

[JoeHam]

@Seplos Chris Ren any response ?

 

[Supermo26]

Good to see this post. I was considering Seplos mason but will now hold off.

 

[LarryLenz]

I have 2 lithium 100 amp hour batteries from a well-known company. One of the BMSs went bad and will not charge above 13.6. The company told me that because I have a 3000-watt inverter, and not a 2000-watt inverter, I will void my warranty without having 3-100 amp hour batteries. That inverter will put too much pressure on the BMS of the 2 batteries. I have never heard anything like that before. Are they correct or are they blowing smoke?

 

[Kapow_Network]

I very much appreciate this "Disappointing Vendors" thread / concept. Important that consumers have an idea of how companies behave - especially when things don't go as planned.

 

[Lt.Dan]

I have 2 lithium 100 amp hour batteries from a well-known company. One of the BMSs went bad and will not charge above 13.6. The company told me that because I have a 3000-watt inverter, and not a 2000-watt inverter, I will void my warranty without having 3-100 amp hour batteries. That inverter will put too much pressure on the BMS of the 2 batteries. I have never heard anything like that before. Are they correct or are they blowing smoke?

I don't see battle born or sok saying they void your warranty if you use too big of an inverter with it.

Besides, they couldn't tell unless you tell them

 

[LarryLenz]

I don't see battle born or sok saying they void your warranty if you use too big of an inverter with it.

Besides, they couldn't tell unless you tell them

They asked me and I told them. But you didn't answer my question. And Yes they did tell me my warranty would be void if I didn't use a 2,000 watt inverter. So are they correct that a 3,000 watt inverter could hurt 2-100 amp batteries?

 

[Lt.Dan]

If you are constantly hitting over current, it will wear out the mosfets that disconnect the battery. Even if you aren't hitting the overcurrent protection, you could be running the BMS at its upper limits which creates more heat and will wear it out prematurely

 

[LarryLenz]

If you are constantly hitting over current, it will wear out the mosfets that disconnect the battery. Even if you aren't hitting the overcurrent protection, you could be running the BMS at its upper limits which creates more heat and will wear it out prematurely

Thanks for your comment. I never put too much pressure on the batteries. I never run my Microwave or Air Conditioner. I only run my coffee pot once in a while and my laptop. I do use an Amazon cube and charge my phone. And some LED lights at night. I've used it this way for over 2 years with no issues. The company is now working with me as they are unsure if a 3,000 watt inverter will put too much pressure on the mosfets. So they will check both of my batteries to verify what went wrong. And they are not saying anything about voiding my warranty. We will have to wait and see what the tests show. I'll keep you all informed as to my outcome.

 

[polar ape]

Sorry wrong thread. Please delete

 

[dddem]

They asked me and I told them. But you didn't answer my question. And Yes they did tell me my warranty would be void if I didn't use a 2,000 watt inverter. So are they correct that a 3,000 watt inverter could hurt 2-100 amp batteries?

Regardless of the power of the inverter, aren't you supposed to set the max battery charge / discharge current in the inverter's settings so that it does not exceed the max charge / discharge current of the battery? Relying on the BMS to do that job doesn't seem a good idea to me. In my view, the BMS tripping is a safety feature that is only meant to be activated in exceptional circumstances, not to act as the normal regulation mechanism.

 

[LarryLenz]

Regardless of the power of the inverter, aren't you supposed to set the max battery charge / discharge current in the inverter's settings so that it does not exceed the max charge / discharge current of the battery? Relying on the BMS to do that job doesn't seem a good idea to me. In my view, the BMS tripping is a safety feature that is only meant to be activated in exceptional circumstances, not to act as the normal regulation mechanism.

The Charge controller manages the charge/discharge current of the batteries.

 

[dddem]

The Charge controller manages the charge/discharge current of the batteries.

Yes sorry, I had all-in-one inverters with integrated MPPT in mind.

 

[The Terrible Triplett]

They asked me and I told them. But you didn't answer my question. And Yes they did tell me my warranty would be void if I didn't use a 2,000 watt inverter. So are they correct that a 3,000 watt inverter could hurt 2-100 amp batteries?

It is best to read the battery suppliers' terms and conditions. You may have done it the right way, but they have to have rules in place for them to honor their warranties over the period they give.

Having said that, you can have a big inverter on a smaller bank if you have set the settings properly on the inverter, as well as on the MPPT. Settings like the charge volts, float, and the big one, the max charge amps, even on some inverters, the max discharge watts.

When that has been done properly, the inverter and MPPT are basically "throttled" to fit the bank. The question is then why have a larger inverter if you cannot use it?

Obviously some start with a smaller bank with the intention to add more banks, so yeah, it is an interesting situation, hence the importance of reading the T&Cs of the supplier's warranty documentation.

 

[LarryLenz]

It is best to read the battery suppliers' terms and conditions. You may have done it the right way, but they have to have rules in place for them to honor their warranties over the period they give.

Having said that, you can have a big inverter on a smaller bank if you have set the settings properly on the inverter, as well as on the MPPT. Settings like the charge volts, float, and the big one, the max charge amps, even on some inverters, the max discharge watts.

When that has been done properly, the inverter and MPPT are basically "throttled" to fit the bank. The question is then why have a larger inverter if you cannot use it?

Obviously some start with a smaller bank with the intention to add more banks, so yeah, it is an interesting situation, hence the importance of reading the T&Cs of the supplier's warranty documentation.

The charge controller and NOT the Inverter control the volts, float, and max charge and Not the inverter. I have a 3k inverter as most china inverters say they are 2,200 but are not. My friend proved that. He didn't get a 3k and got a 2,200 inverter to run his microwave. It wouldn't. So he got a 3k inverter, just like mine and it runs it just fine. That is why I have a 3k inverter. So I never have to fear that something I'm running can't run because of the inverter.

 

[LarryLenz]

UPDATE: The battery company fixed my problem very quickly. I only had to mention Will's name and everything was just fine after that. They replaced the battery as it did have a bad BMS. They said they actually gave me a brand new battery and not my old, repaired battery. Now everything is working perfectly, just like it did before the battery BMS died.

 

[The Terrible Triplett]

The charge controller and NOT the Inverter control the volts, float, and max charge and Not the inverter.

Depends on the equipments functionality one uses.

My case:
1) Inverter itself, as it can run standalone. Set it there first.
2) MPPT's, as they can also run standalone. Duplicate inverter settings, in case the inverter is off, MPPTs are not.
3) Cerbo/Venus control if one uses the ESS functionality of Victron, takes over the inverter/MPPTs control to a central control function.
4) Then also DVCC, to override control of the volts/charge amps of the entire system if needed to facilitate balancing Lifepo4 faster.
5) And then also some settings on my BMS.

It all depends on the system used.

 

[Warren Dallas]

Speaking of bad vendors, I had a nightmare problem with Renogy. I bought $6000 worth of solar equipment from them before I discovered what poor customer service they have. To be fair, I believe their product are generally good. But when the Lithium batteries I bought from them failed it was VERY difficult to get them to honor the warranty. They were very polite on the phone (when I could get through). They made all kinds of promises about how they would handle it, but none of them were kept. After months of battling with them and multiple complaints to the Better Business Bureau, they finally refunded my money on a prorated basis. The problem was finally resolved to my satisfaction but only after a great deal of effort. If I have warranty problems with the rest of my Renogy equipment, I think I would rather just absorb the loss as to have to do business with them again.