Leaking Electrolyte from Bigbattery Powerblock

[Forbisher]

Absolutely agree, NOBODY does! But if ONE does so should EVERYONE else that has the same issue. I actually paid for mine, Will got his FREE, then got 2 MORE FREE.

Will has 428,000 Youtube subscribers and a solar forum.
Will sent the defective free one back.
You however are just a customer.

 

[Bud Martin]

I examined the pictures Seth. The top top plate of the unit is stained with whatever killed the BMS. Underneath that top plate shows where it seeped thru the sides. The strange pattern in the 3rd pic looks to be from the plastic bag. This unit has 2 pieces (Wills Review Photo), the unit would have had to been upside down for battery juice to flow into this section. Because of the bag impressions I would agree this was packed in the bag this way. Did UPS (assuming it was UPS) somehow drop it on it's head in transit? If there is a busted battery, that could be the reason.

View attachment 40779View attachment 40781View attachment 40782View attachment 40784

May be you should read post #361 and later.

Leaking Electrolyte from Bigbattery Powerblock

If it was cell leakage that caused this corrosion, then it seem the pack would have to have been upside down for the electrolyte to get up into the top like that ..... and you didn't include any pictures of the cells or the area around the cells themselves. Something very corrosive got in there...

diysolarforum.com

White grease stain, really? So white grease corrodes all those parts in contact?
"
Hello Bud Martin:

Yes, Seth's pack had the padding installed. No, The pack was not leaking. There was a white-grease stain on the top of the unit but no functional issues were identified. We have already sent Seth a new pack and it's on the way. We honor our return policy and are happy to replace any battery for any reason, even cosmetic issues.

Thank you,

Eric Lundgren : CEO
BigBattery, Inc.

 

[Gazoo]

I examined the pictures Seth. The top top plate of the unit is stained with whatever killed the BMS. Underneath that top plate shows where it seeped thru the sides. The strange pattern in the 3rd pic looks to be from the plastic bag. This unit has 2 pieces (Wills Review Photo), the unit would have had to been upside down for battery juice to flow into this section. Because of the bag impressions I would agree this was packed in the bag this way. Did UPS (assuming it was UPS) somehow drop it on it's head in transit? If there is a busted battery, that could be the reason.

View attachment 40779View attachment 40781View attachment 40782View attachment 40784

If something leaked to the inside of the battery it had a terrible smell according to Seth. It's very possible the unit ended up upside down during shipping. But orientation should not matter. A cell should not leak....period.

Mr. Green avoided every single one of my questions I asked after he claimed it was some white grease...lol. We are waiting for an update from him after the battery is examined...he said he would post an update. From the photos posted it does appear a cell(s) leaked and badly. If it was something else I would like to know what it was and how it managed to get through a sealed box and plastic bag.

I asked him the following a couple pages back:

What about the strong smell Seth experienced?
What about the red and white wires coming off apparently due to the corrosion in that area?
What about the power button not functioning?
What about the 7 volt reading on the display?
Is this what you call a functional battery?
How do you know a cell or cells didn't leak?
Have you received Seth's battery back and inspected it?

It's clear from the photos something isn't right and there is more to this than just a white grease stain. How do you explain the corrosion shown in the photo posted by Seth? Let's start with that and the disconnected red and white wires.

 

[Bud Martin]

I wonder when we will hear the findings from BB on those two failed batteries.

 

[Bob B]

I think they are trying to figure out how to spin it.

 

[SethRR]

Sorry, but you need to drop this line of thinking or you are just going to cause people to have sympathy for BB.

BB had good reason to try to appease Will .... I don't have any idea the amount of sales he sends there way, but I'm sure it's a lot.

Expecting the same treatment as Will gets is a totally unreasonable expectation.

Ok sorry guys, I simply asked the question as it would be nice since my cabin is 3 hrs from where I live to have a backup pack so that if it failed I would have a back up and power when I made the trip there for a weekend. As soon as BB stated that Will was a "business partner" and obviously more important than customers, I no longer pushed it. I have defended my reasoning on here when others have attacked me for asking. Like I said, I just took the shot and asked...you won't make 100% shots that you take but certainly miss 100% of the shots that you don't. Don't know how this is becoming the topic of this thread instead of the real issue...

 

[Gazoo]

Ok sorry guys, I simply asked the question as it would be nice since my cabin is 3 hrs from where I live to have a backup pack so that if it failed I would have a back up and power when I made the trip there for a weekend. As soon as BB stated that Will was a "business partner" and obviously more important than customers, I no longer pushed it. I have defended my reasoning on here when others have attacked me for asking. Like I said, I just took the shot and asked...you won't make 100% shots that you take but certainly miss 100% of the shots that you don't. Don't know how this is becoming the topic of this thread instead of the real issue...

I don't think anyone meant to attack you. I think they were pointing out why Will got two replacements. It's not that Will is more important than anyone else...I don't look at it that way at all. It just part of the business relationship Will has with Big Battery.

Thanks for explaining your position and understanding. I agree it's time to put it to rest and stay with the issue at hand.

Let's hope Mr. Green will give an honest reply. It would be best for him and Big Battery rather than trying to spin things as he has done before. I really want to see the guy and Big Battery succeed. I googled Eric Lundgren and found he has quite a history...lol.

 

[Bob B]

Ok sorry guys, I simply asked the question as it would be nice since my cabin is 3 hrs from where I live to have a backup pack so that if it failed I would have a back up and power when I made the trip there for a weekend. As soon as BB stated that Will was a "business partner" and obviously more important than customers, I no longer pushed it. I have defended my reasoning on here when others have attacked me for asking. Like I said, I just took the shot and asked...you won't make 100% shots that you take but certainly miss 100% of the shots that you don't. Don't know how this is becoming the topic of this thread instead of the real issue...

That was my concern as well .... the issue of getting a 2nd device needed to end so the focus was where it needed to be.

 

[WoodyInAz]

Wanted to provide everyone an update. I did receive my replacement on Tuesday and this one arrived in much better condition and seems to be fully operation unlike my first battery.

The leaking unit was delivered to BB mid-day on Wednesday (3/10), No word on the inspection...

Wow - they sent you a replacement BEFORE receiving and inspecting YOUR unit? I would say a big thank you is in order.

 

[Gazoo]

if you bought a car last year, and a newer better safer one came out this year. Should you get a new model car for free each year for life? This is obviously a faulty vent on a cell and because it made news everyone is panicking. If their batteries aren't leaking it's not a problem. It's not like it will start.

Big Battery said the batteries sent out for review, like Will's, were all prototypes. They claim no prototypes were sold to customers. Therefore any customer who has received the battery should have the upgrades.

 

[DerpsyDoodler]

if you bought a car last year, and a newer better safer one came out this year. Should you get a new model car for free each year for life? This is obviously a faulty vent on a cell and because it made news everyone is panicking. If their batteries aren't leaking it's not a problem. It's not like it will start.

Apparently it might...Will’s didn’t at first, either.

 

[Gazoo]

• Those scratches barely make it through the paint. How could that cause the leak?
• All the talk makes it sound like BB is manufacturing the cells. Are they a cell manufacturer? OR Do they just buy cells and assemble them into a drop in replacement?
• Are the cells new or used on assembly into a BB?
• This sounds like overpressure? Did these get hot? Out there in the desert?
• Seeing they probably just use the same Chinese cells as everyone else, isn't this just a valve issue? They are side mounted, which sounds like poor design for the one in a million cells that has pressure or vent valve issues.

I am not Will but I will answer your questions. If you are referring to the scratches on the blue part of the cells that is not paint. It's PVC wrapping. Scratch marks are not acceptable and Big Battery has resolved that problem.

Big Battery does not manufacture any cells. The cells are 170ah Lishen cells made in China. There are not currently any cells manufactured in the USA and Big Battery is located in California.

Big Battery claims the cells are new.

I don't know how much heat it would take for a cell to vent. You can take a look at the Lishen spec sheet for these 170ah cells and you will find the maximum storage temperatures.

No one knows the cause of the leak. Big Battery claimed they found 11 out of 10,000 cells in their inventory that were leaking. That is more than one in a million and there might be others. Time will tell.

 

[MrNatural22]

"
"This sounds like overpressure? Did these get hot? Out there in the desert?"

It is winter in the desert in the southern Nevada area so there has been no high desert heat during this time period.

 

[Bud Martin]

if you bought a car last year, and a newer better safer one came out this year. Should you get a new model car for free each year for life? This is obviously a faulty vent on a cell and because it made news everyone is panicking. If their batteries aren't leaking it's not a problem. It's not like it will start.

So there should be no recall if they did not find the problem on ALL the car even though they know that some bad parts may be installed in the car? Same applied here for BB.

 

[Gazoo]

I think it's best to wait and see what @MrGreen has to say about all of this and hopefully he will update us as he said he would. I would like to hear his side of this story. I do find it hard to believe the battery was shipped in that condition.

I find the corrosion most interesting. Is there any way corrosion could have happened that quick between the time the battery was shipped and Seth received the battery, and was opened up for inspection? Even if there was a cell leaking? Or any other circumstances?

 

[DerpsyDoodler]

I think it's best to wait and see what @MrGreen has to say about all of this and hopefully he will update us as he said he would. I would like to hear his side of this story. I do find it hard to believe the battery was shipped in that condition.

I find the corrosion most interesting. Is there any way corrosion could have happened that quick between the time the battery was shipped and Seth received the battery, and was opened up for inspection? Even if there was a cell leaking? Or any other circumstances?

How quickly might corrosion like that occur?

 

[Picasso]

it can happen in hours, that is galvanic induced corrosion with a little electrical tingle.

 

[DerpsyDoodler]

it can happen in hours, that is galvanic induced corrosion with a little electrical tingle.

If I could just take a side of electrical tingle, that would be fine. Please and thank you.

 

[Bob B]

Glad you got all that off your chest .... but all that has very little to do with BB's response and spin on the leaking cells .... and trying to claim that @SethRR s pack was fully operational in spite of his report and the obvious damage ... and in the conversations with him, tried to blame him for the damage.

This is not the only BB problems we have seen on this forum ... in another one, they tried to claim a pack could be charged at -20C or something like that .... So, to me it is about whether or not we can trust this supplier.
Seems like they have had plenty of time to examine the pack from Seth that they got back ... and post some results. In the meantime, I'm a little suspicious that some of the posts are "ringers".

 

[Bud Martin]

BB also got the pack back from Will, but no word from BB.