Is my Renogy Lifepo4 battery faulty?

[oleksii.leon]

Hi everyone!
Desperately searching for any help! I became a ''happy owner'' of Renogy Lifepo4 100 ah battery w/Bluetooth.
Opened the box and measured the voltage on terminals - 12.75v. Connected Renogy app and it showed me 34% charge.
So I tried connecting it to Victron 100/20 mppt charger (PV was shut off). Surprisingly the MPPT charger didn't turn on so I checked the voltage on the terminals again and it was 2.81v. Disconnect the charger - 12.75v.
I tried connecting a different load and the same thing happens - voltage drops from 12.75 to 2.81 and nothing works, even a small led light doesn't shine if I connect it directly to the battery.
Just bought NoCo Genius 5 charger today and tried charging the battery but I think it doesn't accept the charge because it went to ''full charge'' almost immediately while Renogy app still shows 34% after being connected to NoCo for 3 hours.
Renogy support is taking so much time and I really need to decide what to do now: try to recover the battery or simply buy a new one, relax, and take my time with the long emails to support. Living full-time in my RV and every day without solar energy costs me money.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Can you connect with Bluetooth?

If so, what are the four cell voltages?

Can you place it in parallel with a 12V lead acid and charge?

 

[oleksii.leon]

Can you connect with Bluetooth?

If so, what are the four cell voltages?

Can you place it in parallel with a 12V lead acid and charge?

Thank you for your reply! The Bluetooth app shows 3.2v per cell and it doesn't change no matter what voltage I measure at the terminals.
Also, Bluetooth says that the battery voltage is 13.1v however it was never higher than 12.77v when I check it with a multimeter.

I haven't tried charging it parallel to a lead acid battery yet. However, I tried waking it up by hotwiring with another battery. In that case, the voltage went up from 2.81v to 7.1v but Victron MPPT won't start charging anyway.

Will try charging it in parallel with lead acid today. Which battery settings shall I choose in Victron Connect app then? Gel or Lifepo4?
Also, I only have 2m long 600A starter cables lying around. Can I use them for parallel connection?

I hope it won't make the faulty one even more ''faulty'' since I still hope to get a refund for it

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Thank you for your reply! The Bluetooth app shows 3.2v per cell and it doesn't change no matter what voltage I measure at the terminals.
Also, Bluetooth says that the battery voltage is 13.1v however it was never higher than 12.77v when I check it with a multimeter.

I haven't tried charging it parallel to a lead acid battery yet. However, I tried waking it up by hotwiring with another battery. In that case, the voltage went up from 2.81v to 7.1v but Victron MPPT won't start charging anyway.

Will try charging it in parallel with lead acid today. Which battery settings shall I choose in Victron Connect app then? Gel or Lifepo4?

Either. You just need to get it started.

Also, I only have 2m long 600A starter cables lying around. Can I use them for parallel connection?

sure.

I hope it won't make the faulty one even more ''faulty'' since I still hope to get a refund for it

Nah. Sounds like there's a BMS error of some sort.

 

[oleksii.leon]

Can you place it in parallel with a 12V lead acid and charge?

So I tried that parallel connection and nothing actually changed with Renogy Lifepo4. Victron MPPT started charging for about 5 min until the lead acid one was full and then went into float mode. During this time there were no changes in Renogy Bluetooth app, no sign of an incoming charge. After I disconnected the lead acid battery, Renogy went back to 7.1v and there was no current and no watts at MPPT side anymore. After disconnecting from Victron and connecting back the voltage was 2.81v and Victron didn't start.
So I assume when the batteries were connected in parallel there was actually only Victron and lead acid having fun while Renogy was completely out.
Basically, Renogy has 3 voltage modes:
- 12.75v without any connections
- 2.81v if connected to any load
- 7.1v after you take away another parallel battery and MPPT remains connected.

Any other ideas on how to make it work?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Sounds like the BMS is bad. Time for a replacement.

 

[HRTKD]

The symptoms you describe are similar to when an BMS has turned off charging. You get voltage with a multimeter, but any load causes voltage to plummet.

 

[TomC4306]

Is there a charging switch in the Bluetooth app? If yes try paralleling again and turn the switch on manually.

 

[Jordi]

Hi everyone!
Desperately searching for any help! I became a ''happy owner'' of Renogy Lifepo4 100 ah battery w/Bluetooth.
Opened the box and measured the voltage on terminals - 12.75v. Connected Renogy app and it showed me 34% charge.
So I tried connecting it to Victron 100/20 mppt charger (PV was shut off). Surprisingly the MPPT charger didn't turn on so I checked the voltage on the terminals again and it was 2.81v. Disconnect the charger - 12.75v.
I tried connecting a different load and the same thing happens - voltage drops from 12.75 to 2.81 and nothing works, even a small led light doesn't shine if I connect it directly to the battery.
Just bought NoCo Genius 5 charger today and tried charging the battery but I think it doesn't accept the charge because it went to ''full charge'' almost immediately while Renogy app still shows 34% after being connected to NoCo for 3 hours.
Renogy support is taking so much time and I really need to decide what to do now: try to recover the battery or simply buy a new one, relax, and take my time with the long emails to support. Living full-time in my RV and every day without solar energy costs me money.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Just received this battery yesterday at home. I can test it and let you know If I got the same results.
When I received voltage was 13,1V both on app and multimeter and state of charge 42,9%.
After some hours having the battery home the Bluetooth switched off. I think it got on at first because of the low Temperature in the transportation ban (<10*C).

Let me wake it up and see what it does. I also have a 100/20 Smart MPPT Victron so I can test the combo like you.

 

[oleksii.leon]

Is there a charging switch in the Bluetooth app? If yes try paralleling again and turn the switch on manually.

No, there is no switch there, unfortunately. The app is pretty useless, with only information and no controls.

 

[oleksii.leon]

The symptoms you describe are similar to when an BMS has turned off charging. You get voltage with a multimeter, but any load causes voltage to plummet.

Is there any way to hack it? I assume there must be some kind of software that can do this work.

 

[oleksii.leon]

Just received this battery yesterday at home. I can test it and let you know If I got the same results.
When I received voltage was 13,1V both on app and multimeter and state of charge 42,9%.
After some hours having the battery home the Bluetooth switched off. I think it got on at first because of the low Temperature in the transportation ban (<10*C).

Let me wake it up and see what it does. I also have a 100/20 Smart MPPT Victron so I can test the combo like you.

Ok, please! I'm curious since I have the same setup.

 

[Jordi]

Ok, please! I'm curious since I have the same setup.

I have tested the battery tonight. I have measured the no-load voltage with a multimeter and it was still 13,2-13,3V. Then I have connected a Phoenix inverter 12/500 and turned it on, the voltage was still 13,3V. Then I have connected a 100W load to the inverter and the battery has woken up becoming visible in the Bluetooth app. State of charge was 40% and voltage went down to 13V due to the load. I let the the load stay for 5 minutes. The voltage eventually went down a little further, like 12,7V, as well as SOC down to 38% but everything running as expected. Multimeter measurements, battery data and inverter data all came very accurately to the same numbers. It seems thus that your battery is somehow broken indeed. Do not waste your time on research, you could cause damage masking the real issue and be blamed for that. Request a replacement or refund. It is really disappointing you got a bad one, hope it can be solved fast.

If you want me to do some extra tests, I can do them the week after next. I could not use the Victron MPPT yet because it is night now and the coming days I won't be home for tests.

 

[HRTKD]

If the battery supports Bluetooth, get the Renogy app on your phone.

 

[oleksii.leon]

I have tested the battery tonight. I have measured the no-load voltage with a multimeter and it was still 13,2-13,3V. Then I have connected a Phoenix inverter 12/500 and turned it on, the voltage was still 13,3V. Then I have connected a 100W load to the inverter and the battery has woken up becoming visible in the Bluetooth app. State of charge was 40% and voltage went down to 13V due to the load. I let the the load stay for 5 minutes. The voltage eventually went down a little further, like 12,7V, as well as SOC down to 38% but everything running as expected. Multimeter measurements, battery data and inverter data all came very accurately to the same numbers. It seems thus that your battery is somehow broken indeed. Do not waste your time on research, you could cause damage masking the real issue and be blamed for that. Request a replacement or refund. It is really disappointing you got a bad one, hope it can be solved fast.

If you want me to do some extra tests, I can do them the week after next. I could not use the Victron MPPT yet because it is night now and the coming days I won't be home for tests.

Thank you so much for your feedback, Jordi. What you described is indeed the right way for a battery to function and I hope it stays this way.

My battery is definitely faulty and of course I'm not going to do anything that will cause harm to it since I still want to have my money back.
Really disappointed with Renogy products and their customer service. Waiting 4 days for the tech team to reply is really too much.
Their products are probably good if they work but this is not something for people who have limited time and want to hit the road asap.
This message is kind of a warning for anyone who is short of time and cannot effort weeks/months-long communications with tech support just to get a possibility to return or replace the faulty product: DO NOT BUY RENOGY.

 

[oleksii.leon]

If the battery supports Bluetooth, get the Renogy app on your phone.

Yes, I have it but it is pretty much useless since it is only for the information regarding battery status and has no controls.