DIY DC-Only UPS from salvaged Power Station

[Fritzycat]

A friend gave me his BigBlue Cellpowa 500 Power Station after it let out the magic smoke. It was completely dead - it would not indicate it was charging and would not turn on.

I was hoping to salvage the Batteries (and perhaps the BMS?) to make a DC-Only UPS to power my home networking equipment (Modem, Router, Switch, Security NVR). All devices run of 12VDC and combined use about 60W. I'm new to working with battery storage, BMS devices etc, so I was hoping you all could help provide some guidance on how to achieve this. At this point I don't know enough to know what I don't know. This is my first foray into a DIY power solution and I'm looking forward to the education.

For reference, I'm currently using three of these Belkin devices to provide power to all my networking components (they use Lead-Acid cells). I was hoping to replace these three devices with a single DIY LiFePO4 battery solution.
Belkin Residential Gateway (RG) Battery Backup (BU3DC001-12V)

I've disassembled the BigBlue Power Station, and here's what I can tell you so far:

BigBlue CellPowa 500 Power Station

• Capacity: 537.6Wh 24A / 22.4V
  • Note: Using a voltmeter I get a reading of 23.1V on the battery pack
• LiFePO4 Battery Cells: SL-ITR26/70-40E 4000mAh 3.2V 12.8Wh
• Configuration: 6P / 7S
• Power supply for the Power Station: 24.0V 4A Switching Power Supply

Can you help provide some guidance that would help me build this DC-Only UPS? Let me know if there is more information I can share that would help.

Battery and BMS from BigBlue Cellpowa 500

 

[Geno Velasco]

A friend gave me his BigBlue Cellpowa 500 Power Station after it let out the magic smoke. It was completely dead - it would not indicate it was charging and would not turn on.

I was hoping to salvage the Batteries (and perhaps the BMS?) to make a DC-Only UPS to power my home networking equipment (Modem, Router, Switch, Security NVR). All devices run of 12VDC and combined use about 60W. I'm new to working with battery storage, BMS devices etc, so I was hoping you all could help provide some guidance on how to achieve this. At this point I don't know enough to know what I don't know. This is my first foray into a DIY power solution and I'm looking forward to the education.

For reference, I'm currently using three of these Belkin devices to provide power to all my networking components (they use Lead-Acid cells). I was hoping to replace these three devices with a single DIY LiFePO4 battery solution.
Belkin Residential Gateway (RG) Battery Backup (BU3DC001-12V)

I've disassembled the BigBlue Power Station, and here's what I can tell you so far:

BigBlue CellPowa 500 Power Station

• Capacity: 537.6Wh 24A / 22.4V
  • Note: Using a voltmeter I get a reading of 23.1V on the battery pack
• LiFePO4 Battery Cells: SL-ITR26/70-40E 4000mAh 3.2V 12.8Wh
• Configuration: 6P / 7S
• Power supply for the Power Station: 24.0V 4A Switching Power Supply

Can you help provide some guidance that would help me build this DC-Only UPS? Let me know if there is more information I can share that would help.

Battery and BMS from BigBlue Cellpowa 500
View attachment 101687

View attachment 101691View attachment 101692

Need more info, did the display work?
Can you charge the unit from DC in or USB-PD port?
Does the DC auto socket work?
What's bad?

 

[Geno Velasco]

Sounds like the inverter might have blown a capacitor and or fuse.
Since you have this unit disconnected it makes it easier to salvage.
You should have 3 components.
First the battery which looks like is has an EC3 or EC5 connector.
Second the inverter board which has either blown fuses and/or capacitors, resistors. Test the fuses and looks for any fried components. Any blown fuses would need to be replaced. Discharge any capacitors to avoid shocking yourself. The inverter is likely to be bad at this point.
Third the control panel which can be plugged into the the blue EC3 connector.
With the control panel plugged into the battery and the 2 black temperature sensors from the battery plugged into the control panel connectors, see if the control panel will power on. If it doesn't then the control panel has a problem and you will only be able to use the battery pack.
If it powers on then the inverter is bad.
Let us know what happens and we can proceed from there.
I forgot to mention, you may have cooling fans also.