Just purchased 4 BATTERY HOOKUP 3.2V 100ah MODULES
- Thread starter Torben J
- Start date
I am as well.
I just purchased the Battery Hookup 4 x 3.2v 100Ah cell kit. I wish they published a bit more about it so I could plan on what hardware to get for the nuts and bolts and washers to connect the ring terminals.
Does anyone know what size those ring terminals are? And can anyone point me to what screw/nut/washer hardware I should be using to connect them in series once I top balance in parallel? I think I saw someone mention washer, lock washer, bolt, but I don't know if I should put the two ring terminals together or with something between them. Advice or pointing to a guide is appreciated.
Also, does anyone know of a solid, reliable terminal kit on Amazon? Walmart is not near me, Home Depot's option was disappointingly narrow, and AutoZone and Advance Auto selection is pricey -- I'm not making a fleet of these!
I just purchased the Battery Hookup 4 x 3.2v 100Ah cell kit. I wish they published a bit more about it so I could plan on what hardware to get for the nuts and bolts and washers to connect the ring terminals.
Does anyone know what size those ring terminals are? And can anyone point me to what screw/nut/washer hardware I should be using to connect them in series once I top balance in parallel? I think I saw someone mention washer, lock washer, bolt, but I don't know if I should put the two ring terminals together or with something between them. Advice or pointing to a guide is appreciated.
Also, does anyone know of a solid, reliable terminal kit on Amazon? Walmart is not near me, Home Depot's option was disappointingly narrow, and AutoZone and Advance Auto selection is pricey -- I'm not making a fleet of these!
It SEEMS like a smarty buy! 12.8V 100Ah LiFePo4 for $301.24 shipped plus a $30 DALY 60A BMS? With the pricing on Amazon, and Battery Hookup's reputation on finding great battery deals, and that these are NEW cells, it seemed like a worthwhile risk. Battle Born is $950 for a similar battery, Renogy is $720, both on Amazon.
I'll let you know if anything goes wrong with mine, but so far, so good. Waiting on my BMS.
Works great here. I'm hung up on waiting on a late Amazon delivery of 8 awg 5/16" lugs so I can finish my build. I've had no problem pulling a few amps through the 4-pack. I haven't tested 100A, but I'll do what I can when I have a chance to finish things!
I pulled the trigger about a week ago but I haven't recieved them yet.
I've got my beast working, but for the Inverter (Amazon lost my 8 AWG 5/16" ring terminals... argh).
Here's a weird thing. I had plugged my AC Charger into the Rich Solar input overnight, set at 32V. When I turned it on, it dropped to about the battery nominal voltage, but was pushing 11.x amps into the batteries. Great!
When I woke up this morning, the batteries were at 14v, the AC Charger was back at 32V, and the battery pack was not charging.
I went out and plugged in the solar instead of the AC Charger, and same thing -- no more power was going into the batteries, despite full sun and the PV input showing upwards of 38V.
The Rich Solar PWM Controller is set to Sealed based on the sticky post from Will on ideal BMS settings for 12v systems (Absorption: 14.5V (14.4V for sealed), Float: 13.6v). There is no load on the batteries currently.
Is this expected or weird? At what point would the individual cells get charged above 3.5V each (max charge is 3.65V). I have a 12v 4S 60A Daly BMS managing the 4 LifePo4 cells.
Here's a weird thing. I had plugged my AC Charger into the Rich Solar input overnight, set at 32V. When I turned it on, it dropped to about the battery nominal voltage, but was pushing 11.x amps into the batteries. Great!
When I woke up this morning, the batteries were at 14v, the AC Charger was back at 32V, and the battery pack was not charging.
I went out and plugged in the solar instead of the AC Charger, and same thing -- no more power was going into the batteries, despite full sun and the PV input showing upwards of 38V.
The Rich Solar PWM Controller is set to Sealed based on the sticky post from Will on ideal BMS settings for 12v systems (Absorption: 14.5V (14.4V for sealed), Float: 13.6v). There is no load on the batteries currently.
Is this expected or weird? At what point would the individual cells get charged above 3.5V each (max charge is 3.65V). I have a 12v 4S 60A Daly BMS managing the 4 LifePo4 cells.
Normal.
Your batteries are full, and receiving no charge.
Huh, OK. I guess I'm confused about what device(s) are deciding what is full and how.
AFAICT, the BatteryHookup.com website says max charge voltage is 3.65V, which for a 4-cell setup is 14.6V.
The Daly BMS over-voltage protection is set to 3.75V, release at 3.65V (with a margin of error).
The Rich Solar PWM is set to Equalizing Voltage: 14.6V, (Absorption?) Boost Voltage: 14.4V.
So which of the three devices is considering the batteries full, if they are measured at 14v? I'll bust out my multimeter later and check, but if "full" is 14.6V per the specs, why are the batteries stuck at 14V? And is the BMS or Solar Charger limiting the charging?
The batteries themselves stop pulling amps when saturation voltage at cv is reached.
Got it -- so with CV charging, I'll hit a voltage plateau of 3.5V per cell (14.0V system voltage).
I'm confused as to why the Absorption (boost) Voltage is set on my Charge Controller as 14.4V, but the charger stops charging at 14.0V. Is this because the Charge Controller is not CV+CC? Will the Solar Charge Controller never charge the batteries up to a 100% SoC, or 3.65V per cell (14.6V for the 4S)?
I have a ToolkitRC M6 on order so I should be able to see the individual cell voltages on Thursday.
I'm confused as to why the Absorption (boost) Voltage is set on my Charge Controller as 14.4V, but the charger stops charging at 14.0V. Is this because the Charge Controller is not CV+CC? Will the Solar Charge Controller never charge the batteries up to a 100% SoC, or 3.65V per cell (14.6V for the 4S)?
I have a ToolkitRC M6 on order so I should be able to see the individual cell voltages on Thursday.
If voltage is set to 14.4, (3.6V per cell) the cells should still draw watts. Check the controller settings...
The Controller says "SEL" which is Sealed, which sets the Equalizing Voltage to 14.6V and the Boost Voltage to 14.4V, with a float of 13.8V. Beyond the three fixed settings (Sealed, Gel, Flooded) I don't seem to have much control, unless there's another setting somewhere.
One thing that I know understand after a bunch of reading tonight: PWM is fine when you match your input (charger, solar panel) to your battery voltage. E.g. use a 12v (17v) solar panel or a 12v (14.6v) charger to charge your 12v batteries. But if you have a higher voltage panel, say 36v, a PWM charge controller just throws out 2/3rds of your generation to match your 12v battery system. Ooops.
Good to know. I mis-read the Rich Solar site for the Max Input Voltage and the Max Battery Voltage (why they put the max PV Input Short Current and Max Solar Input Voltage NOT next to each other, and use differing terms is beyond me), which is why I got the PWM version. But I'll probably sell the PWM and get the MPPT version for $90 as it would be more efficient with my 315w 36v panel (or maybe it's 24v, I'm still learning that) at charging my batteries.
One thing that I know understand after a bunch of reading tonight: PWM is fine when you match your input (charger, solar panel) to your battery voltage. E.g. use a 12v (17v) solar panel or a 12v (14.6v) charger to charge your 12v batteries. But if you have a higher voltage panel, say 36v, a PWM charge controller just throws out 2/3rds of your generation to match your 12v battery system. Ooops.
Good to know. I mis-read the Rich Solar site for the Max Input Voltage and the Max Battery Voltage (why they put the max PV Input Short Current and Max Solar Input Voltage NOT next to each other, and use differing terms is beyond me), which is why I got the PWM version. But I'll probably sell the PWM and get the MPPT version for $90 as it would be more efficient with my 315w 36v panel (or maybe it's 24v, I'm still learning that) at charging my batteries.
Not sure what the individual cells are but they're advertising 100ah packs. If you series 4 packs for 12v nominal, it should be 1200wh or 1.2kw. If they're using the 5.5-5.7ah cells, the math comes to about 110ah. (5.5ah x 20 parallel cells per pack). I just received tracking info so I should be able to test mine in a couple weeks!
I need to test my battery capacity, but I don't know how to get it up to the correct voltage. I guess I can set my AC to DC Charger to 14.6v and wait until the pack gets there, then start doing a discharge.
Is there a guide somewhere (full disclosure: I haven't looked very hard yet) that explains how to ensure your pack is topped off to 100% SOC and then discharge until the BMS cuts things off? I have a heat gun, so I think I can pull off the load to test the whole system.
I'll probably send back the PWM Solar Charge Controller and get an MPPT version. It's twice the price, but it will be far more efficient in the future when I pair it with a 315W 24V panel, even though my battery is a 12v system (12.8v nominal).
Is there a guide somewhere (full disclosure: I haven't looked very hard yet) that explains how to ensure your pack is topped off to 100% SOC and then discharge until the BMS cuts things off? I have a heat gun, so I think I can pull off the load to test the whole system.
I'll probably send back the PWM Solar Charge Controller and get an MPPT version. It's twice the price, but it will be far more efficient in the future when I pair it with a 315W 24V panel, even though my battery is a 12v system (12.8v nominal).
Finally got my batteries & Power supply figured out. The battery packaging from BatteryHookup.com left a little to be desired. There were 2 boxes of 8 packs. There was one side of each box that had no padding. The packs were fine but I believe they could have been better protected. They were definitely NOT packed as pictured on the website. (8th cell pack was very well packed within its own box atop the other cells)
I am currently top balancing these cells. I put together a Riden 6006 60v 6A supply for the task. This sucker gets hot! At 60v-6A it clocked over 120°F & climbing. I ducted the switching power supply fan to the case cooling sots with a cut up beer can & 3M aluminum tape. It consistently stays around 100°F now. I may add an intake fan or reconfigure the existing fan in the future if needed.
I am currently top balancing these cells. I put together a Riden 6006 60v 6A supply for the task. This sucker gets hot! At 60v-6A it clocked over 120°F & climbing. I ducted the switching power supply fan to the case cooling sots with a cut up beer can & 3M aluminum tape. It consistently stays around 100°F now. I may add an intake fan or reconfigure the existing fan in the future if needed.
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I just received my cells. Memorial Day sale had the 4pack delivered for $257. Too good a deal to pass up.
Overkill Solar BMS enroute for $142. I need the cold temp protection here. 100ah battery for $400 total.
Now to work on charging and top balance.
Overkill Solar BMS enroute for $142. I need the cold temp protection here. 100ah battery for $400 total.
Now to work on charging and top balance.
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