Just Place new Order on Alibaba- 280AH x 8 for 1260.00 USD Delivered, Grade A to Canada

[Ralo]

Hey guys, I screwed up my batteries. I had trouble getting a BMS (lost shipment, out of stock, and finally, a non working BMS from China), so my batteries have been unprotected since day one. They have been completely drained several times and charged continuously since I've bought them. I've been using them like a lead acid battery. Now I can barely get 3 hours out them when I could get over 24 when they were new.

So I want to try again, but do it right this time. What BMS is recommended. I tried the one Will recommended with the low temp cutoff, but that's the one I had trouble getting and when I finally did get one, it was bad. So what should I purchase and where from? I'm running two dorm fridges via a 1000w PSW inverter, and either an exhaust fan or a RV furnace depending on the temperature. Thanks in advance.

Ralo

 

[Haugen]

Hey guys, I screwed up my batteries. I had trouble getting a BMS (lost shipment, out of stock, and finally, a non working BMS from China), so my batteries have been unprotected since day one. They have been completely drained several times and charged continuously since I've bought them. I've been using them by like a lead acid battery. Now I can barely get 3 hours out them when I could get over 24 when they were new.

So I want to try again, but do it right this time. What BMS is recommended. I tried the one Will recommended with the low temp cutoff, but that's the one I had trouble getting and when I finally did get one, it was bad. So what should I purchase and where from? I'm running two dorm fridges via a 1000w PSW inverter, and either an exhaust fan or a RV furnace depending on the temperature. Thanks in advance.

Ralo

@Ralo, I'm sorry to hear that your cells are damaged. I know it must be a significant disappointment to have them fail so quickly.
I had a similar experience when it came to getting my BMS. Mine took 84 days in shipment. It was at the height of the COVID-19 mess, so im sure that isn't typical. I refused to put them into service until they were hooked up and protected. My 4-cell setup is practice for my home battery backup for my solar panels.

I ordered the 120A version of the Smart BMS from the "thanksforyou Store" on AliExpress. Don't forget to get the Bluetooth adapter. It all worked perfectly from the very start.
US $7.56 12%OFF | smart BMS 4S 12V 60A 80A 100A 120A Li-ion LifePo4 Lithium Protection Board W balance High Current Bluetooth APP PC software GPRS

7.73US $ 10% OFF|smart BMS 4S 12V 60A 80A 100A 120A Li ion LifePo4 Lithium Protection Board W balance High Current Bluetooth APP PC software GPRS|Battery Accessories| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

 

[Ralo]

I ordered the 120A version of the Smart BMS from the "thanksforyou Store" on AliExpress. Don't forget to get the Bluetooth adapter. It all worked perfectly from the very start.
US $7.56 12%OFF | smart BMS 4S 12V 60A 80A 100A 120A Li-ion LifePo4 Lithium Protection Board W balance High Current Bluetooth APP PC software GPRS
[URL unfurl="true"]https://a.aliexpress.com/_msu8Omf[/URL]

That's the BMS that I ordered and either I'm doing something wrong or it doesn't work. It didn't come with any instructions, so I followed Will's video. It doesn't work as Will discribed in the video, and doesn't transfer the full voltage of the battery. Only 11.8 volts get through. That can't be right. Also, the bluetooth feature doesn't work. I'm highly disappointed.

 

[rbreding]

I have two of those same BMS's (ordered two so I would have a spare) and they did act a little wonky UNLESS the B- side was connected to the battery and the cell leads. In other words it had to all be connected for the bluetooth to operate without oddities.

I did make sure all the settings were good (they weren't) and configured correctly.

 

[Ralo]

I have two of those same BMS's (ordered two so I would have a spare) and they did act a little wonky UNLESS the B- side was connected to the battery and the cell leads. In other words it had to all be connected for the bluetooth to operate without oddities.

I did make sure all the settings were good (they weren't) and configured correctly.

Are there any instructions on how to use this thing and what to expect? Is there something more user friendly I can buy?

 

[Sgt Raven]

Are there any instructions on how to use this thing and what to expect? Is there something more user friendly I can buy?

If you're talking about the Bluetooth Smart BMS, there is a big long thread about it on here.
You can find a lot of info here.
https://github.com/FurTrader/OverkillSolarBMS

The long thread is here....
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/f...4-bms-with-low-temp-charging-protection.2884/

 

[Sgt Raven]

Are there any instructions on how to use this thing and what to expect? Is there something more user friendly I can buy?

Setup & working properly I don't know how a different one could be much easier to setup and use. If I needed more info or control, I'd connect a laptop to it and run the windows software there is for it. The only way I could see one being more user friendly, would be to give up the custom setup and control of it.

 

[Ralo]

Setup & working properly I don't know how a different one could be much easier to setup and use. If I needed more info or control, I'd connect a laptop to it and run the windows software there is for it. The only way I could see one being more user friendly, would be to give up the custom setup and control of it.

Then clearly mine is defective because it just isn't working. I'm traveling at the moment, but when I get home I'll make a video of what it's doing (or isn't doing) and y'all can tell me if it's normal. I'm mean If I'm connecting a battery with 13.4 volts and getting 11.8 out the other side, is that normal? If the bluetooth is not working, is that normal?

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

That's the BMS that I ordered and either I'm doing something wrong or it doesn't work. It didn't come with any instructions, so I followed Will's video. It doesn't work as Will discribed in the video, and doesn't transfer the full voltage of the battery. Only 11.8 volts get through. That can't be right. Also, the bluetooth feature doesn't work. I'm highly disappointed.

If it's the same as mine, it won't turn on until you put a charger on it (voltage applied needs to be higher than the battery voltage).

 

[Sgt Raven]

If it's the same as mine, it won't turn on until you put a charger on it (voltage applied needs to be higher than the battery voltage).

The Bluetooth feature won't activate till the app queries it, either. The blue light on it comes on when it sees a device with the app running. If it is defective, that's the chance you take buying dirrect from China. You have to deal with a Company over there for warranty problems.

 

[Download7]

Successful group buy just went down for Vancouver Canada more info here:

Vancouver CA group buy successful

A group of 4 of us just bought 44 cells from Amy over at Xuba, we just got the cells the other day and so far everything looks good. Amy took payment from each of us dividing up how many cells we wanted and the shipping cost evenly per cell. The shipment only took about 3 weeks which was...

diysolarforum.com

 

[mrzed001]

Hi
I am thinking about a 16s system with this batteries (mainly UPS).
But the huge capacity of this cells (the big difference compared to the Fortune cells) still makes me a bit cautious.
Some of you have them for months. What is your opinion of the cells? How are they behave in the long run?
A review, an evaluation, any test, any bits of info would be appreciated
Thanks

 

[Haugen]

Hi
I am thinking about a 16s system with this batteries (mainly UPS).
But the huge capacity of this cells (the big difference compared to the Fortune cells) still makes me a bit cautious.
Some of you have them for months. What is your opinion of the cells? How are they behave in the long run?
A review, an evaluation, any test, any bits of info would be appreciated
Thanks

There are quite a few threads about these cells that include testing results and feedback about different suppliers.
Here's one :

12V 280Ah LiFePo4 battery Build and Test

My cells definitely were not used when I received them. As I mentioned in posts above, there were a couple of light marks on the terminals which probably came from when they tested them. The internal resistance, voltages, and capacity all check out to the specification. The label had an edge...

diysolarforum.com

 

[timmypt]

Another Canadian (in BC) here. First off, big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread!

I'm in contact with Amy as a result of reading through all 48 pages of this thread (as well as many others on this forum). I'm hoping to order 8* 280AH cells for a 560AH 12V, 4S2P system. I hope it's okay I ask a few questions - please advise if I should post this in a separate thread.

1. I've been chatting with her about the battery box as well and am wondering if anyone here can advise if it's a bad idea to go with the Anderson plugs?

2. Is it better to go with a single BMS (e.g. 600A Chargery BMS and Relay), or two separate ones, one for each string of 4 cells (e.g. 2* 300 A Chargery BMS and Relay)?

3. Is there another well-reviewed BMS that comes with bluetooth option?

 

[Dzl]

2. Is it better to go with a single BMS (e.g. 600A Chargery BMS and Relay), or two separate ones, one for each string of 4 cells (e.g. 2* 300 A Chargery BMS and Relay)?

You will find different opinions on this. In the 9ish short months I've been here, I've perceived the majority opinion to have advocated for both options at different times (when I first joined, it seems cells in parallel with a single BMS was the more popular reccomendation, over the last 6ish months opinion seems to have shifted a bit towards multiple packs in parallel with multiple BMS). Some people have strong opinions about this, I suspect reasonable folks will acknowledge their are trade-offs and pros/cons to either approach, and the best option for you will possibly depend on your priorities and your system.

I do think, with these large capacity cells, there is more of an argument to be made for not putting them in parallel, and building parallel packs (I believe it was @Steve_S who first articulated this thinking to me--please correct me if I have misinterpreted anything). I haven't fully thought it through, but I think the idea is that a passive balancing BMS will already be struggling to keep unmatched/simply-matched large capacity cells in balance, doubling or tripling the capacity to 560 or 840 Ah 'cells' (from the BMS' point of view) would exacerbate that problem. Of course an active balancer or active balancing BMS could possibly mitigate this (not an area I have researched).

3. Is there another well-reviewed BMS that comes with bluetooth option?

If you desire Bluetooth (wait does Chargery have Bluetooth? I thought it didn't) some options are:

JBD Smart BMS (4S or 8S) -- this is the BMS line sold by Overkill Solar (and others)
Ant BMS (8S or 16S) -- this can be bought on Aliexpress or Ebay
123smartBMS -- a more high end, advanced option modular can be used with any number of cells.

 

[Luthj]

Major considerations are
Fault Tolerance
Balance current limits/needs
Pack current limits
BMS type
Monitoring
BMS to charge/load integration
Build labor/materials cost

There is no single best answer. Monitoring 3 separate packs can be more operator burden. If the BMS is to be integrated with loads/sources, having multiple ones can be problematic. When dealing with FET BMS, lower current per BMS is desirable. With BMS using external relays, you get much higher current limits. Multiple packs can provide better redundancy. This does not always translate to better reliability though!

Obviously this is a decision that needs to be made by a well informed user or consulting expert. General advice is just that, general, and any one of these considerations can drive it one way or the other.

 

[Dzl]

I'm hoping to order 8* 280AH cells for a 560AH 12V, 4S2P system.

adding to my last comment and @Luthj's comment which is spot on I think:

Just noticed you said you plan 4S2P, in which case there is no debate over 1 vs 2 BMSes. If you have settled on 4S2P (two parallel battery packs), than 2 BMSes is your only option.

4S2P = 2 packs, 2 BMSes
2P4S = 1 pack, 1 BMS

 

[timmypt]

@Luthj @Dzl Thank you for your input. Very helpful. I will certainly be researching those other BMS options, and no, to my knowledge the Chargery BMS does NOT have bluetooth.

I'm not set on 4SP2, certainly still open to 2P4S but just trying to consider the best option for my scenario; the end goal of which is a 560ah 12v system to use with a 3000W inverter for my van conversion. Any suggestions/ideas are most welcome.

P.S. If it's helpful to anyone else, Amy confirmed (via her engineer) that the Anderson plugs on the battery box are 2 * 350AH

 

[Luthj]

Do you need anderson connectors? They are designed for frequent disconnect, and can gradually build up resistance if not unplugged occasionally to wipe/clean the contact face.

 

[Gazoo]

P.S. If it's helpful to anyone else, Amy confirmed (via her engineer) that the Anderson plugs on the battery box are 2 * 350AH

I thought someone else reported they are 175 amps each for a total of 350 amps? Regardless I would prefer terminals.