Finally adding a battery to my house stuff.. and its not the mower yet.

[Crowz]

Well I pulled the trigger and bought a battery that shipped today. I'm still not sure exactly when it gets here as its showing "label created" so maybe more info on that tomorrow.

Here's what I bought.

CHINS Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery Smart 48V 100AH Lithium Battery Peak Current 500A, Mobile Phone APP Monitors Battery SOC Data​

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B96ZDVW8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

I also ordered a victron smart shunt.

Victron Energy SmartShunt 500 amp Battery Monitor (Bluetooth)​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0856PHNLX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also the cable to hook the smart shunt to solar assistant.

Victron Energy VE.Direct to USB Interface​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZ6WTLW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The shunt and cable shows wednesday for delivery so I should be able to get that installed before the battery arrives.

I'll post pics of the install when I get that done.

I guess the mowers on the back burner right now since I don't need it connected to the house power with this battery taking its place. I'll probably still buy server rack batteries or diy for the future ones. I just couldn't pass up the lightning sale plus the $70 off coupon too on this battery. I would connect the mower too but with it being 4 lead acid 12volts making up its 48 volts it wouldn't play well with the lifepo4 in parallel best I can tell.

Eventually this battery will probably go into the mower when the agms in it fail.

 

[Crowz]

Oh the final price on the battery was $1,119.99. Figured that was a good deal.

 

[Crowz]

The company claims 4 of these max in parallel. Is there a reason I can't use more or is this marketing or them covering their butts?
I don't really want to buy more since with a server rack battery I can replace bad cells easily and all but if they keep lightning selling this from time to time it will be hard to pass up $1,119.99 a battery.

 

[#40Fan]

I doubt the 500A claim. Not sure any other BMS out there will go over 200.

Depends on how you parallel them, more shouldn't be an issue.

 

[#40Fan]

Even though the title says 500A, the info further down says 300A peek.

 

[Crowz]

I imagine the 500a crap is a split second thing. Not a problem with how I will be using it.

Its the 4 in parallel max they claim which will make it not so useful to buy more than one of them since I can use it in the mower one day but I need more than 4 to supply my stuff for the house in the long run.

I just can't see how there would be a max on parallel.
Series sure but parallel?

 

[Shimmy]

Just curious, but why didn't you go with a server rack battery instead? Sure, it won't fit in the mower, but for a little more than the Chins you can eliminate the Victron equipment and have 5x the capacity.

 

[Crowz]

Just curious, but why didn't you go with a server rack battery instead? Sure, it won't fit in the mower, but for a little more than the Chins you can eliminate the Victron equipment and have 5x the capacity.

Well it was $500 less than the server rack battery so I figured it was worth it.

As for the 5x capacity where are you getting that? The specs are the same amp/hr and watts as the server rack ones I'm planning to go with.

The victron is going to stay there even when I go server rack since I want solar assistant and home assistant to be able to monitor and change the charge rates on the controller as needed. It will act as a fail safe even when the batteries are in closed loop. I may go closed battery eventually though with the server rack batteries.

I needed something now to protect the tp6048 from power outages where it blinks on and off power wise. It jams up the inverter at night since it doesn't have a battery right now. I had planned on using the mower to power it but when I spotted this deal I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone since I want to convert the mower from agm to lifepo4 eventually.

 

[MisterB1959]

Well it does say it's a 100AH battery on the front ...

 

[Crowz]

Well Ive progressed all I can till the battery gets here and its showing monday as the delivery date (fingers crossed).

I just got thru programming the tp6048 with the settings for the chins lifepo4 battery.

I have the victron shunt wired up and mounted to the wall.

I have the cable to hook the victron shunt on hand.

When the battery arrives I'll use a pencil to do the pre-charge routine and then connect it up.

After that I can program the shunt and connect the usb cable for solar assistant to monitor the shunt thus showing battery info.

 

[pollenface]

you "could" charge the AGMs on the LFP profile in the short term. 2hrs @ 56.8v then float @ 54v, something like that

 

[Crowz]

Battery arrived today and is installed.

It arrived at 50% soc and is charging now. Should be full charged in about an hour from now.

Next I need to do a discharge test to see if it delivers like it claims.

I couldn't get over how large the battery is compared to the 12 volt lifepo4's I already have. That's one HUGE battery and pretty heavy too.

 

[Crowz]

Before I got the tp6048 charging the battery I did get to see actual idle consumption and was constantly 45 watts. Much lower than I had read it was supposed to be. Nice surprise.

 

[pollenface]

I just can't see how there would be a max on parallel.
Series sure but parallel?

i believe many of us feel the same

 

[Shimmy]

I just can't see how there would be a max on parallel.
Series sure but parallel?

If it is actually a proper UL design then the interrupting rating of the contactor might be limited, so in a fault it would weld closed. I tend to doubt that is the issue though.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Before I got the tp6048 charging the battery I did get to see actual idle consumption and was constantly 45 watts. Much lower than I had read it was supposed to be. Nice surprise.

I'd test that again... I'd bet the inverter was turned off and it was in idle / power saving mode.
I metered mine multiple times with a shunt and clamp meter and saw ~135w consistently.

 

[Crowz]

The victron shunt is what was showing that with it running not turned off. I'll do some more testing later today when I figure up how long it will power the house.

I'm trying to figure out how to setup the charge parameters for the battery since it won't be used except when the powers out. Since that hopefully won't happen that much I don't want it staying at 100% all the time since that is supposed to be bad for the battery.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Iirc that isn't possible with the 6048...
I tried various ways. Unfortunately the back to utility voltage can't be set high enough to keep the battery above ~30% capacity.

 

[Crowz]

6 Hours run time with ac off and 4 hours run time with ac. Freaking amazing with one battery.

As soon as I turned the ac breaker back on it charged the battery back to 100%.