LiitoKala/Varicore 90Ah Cell Test

[Diysolar123]

I was talking about AliExpress on-time delivery guarantee. ALL sellers are required to provide it, no exceptions.

ahhh...ok didn't realize it was just about delivery.

yes "something" will arrived on-time; no they are not as advertised and you really cannot do anything about it hehe

 

[Gertie]

Thanks to 3d0g I was patient, cancelled my dispute, and my first box arrived today. Interestingly I ordered a lot of 10 and a second lot of 6 (so that I could build a 180ah 24V battery), but rather than shipping them as 10 and 6, I received a box of 8 today. Hopefully the next 8 come soon. They look like perfect A quality batteries and are already balanced at 3.1V.

 

[olivdeso]

Hello guys,

I just received 8 LiitoKalla 90Ah cells that I ordered last November from the LiitoKala official store

I am currently testing them, but to my surprise, the first test shows a capacity of about 60-63 Ah for all the cells

I am running a second test for each individual cell to confirm

I use a slow CCCV charge @6,5A and 3,65V

and also a slow discharge @ 3A constant using an active charge (actual discharge 3,02A) and cut of @ 2,55V


tough this very conservative charge/discharge curent, the actual capacity is far from the nominal capacity

did I miss something ? has anyone experienced the same recently with this 90Ah LiitoKala cells ?

 

[Honuz]

Hello guys,

I just received 8 LiitoKalla 90Ah cells that I ordered last November from the LiitoKala official store

I am currently testing them, but to my surprise, the first test shows a capacity of about 60-63 Ah for all the cells

I am running a second test for each individual cell to confirm

I use a slow CCCV charge @6,5A and 3,65V

and also a slow discharge @ 3A constant using an active charge (actual discharge 3,02A) and cut of @ 2,55V


tough this very conservative charge/discharge curent, the actual capacity is far from the nominal capacity

did I miss something ? has anyone experienced the same recently with this 90Ah LiitoKala cells ?

How did trhe second test went ?

 

[Honuz]

I finally receive my LIITOKALA 90Ah batteries that I order on Septh 6th (there was a delay of about 2 weeks due to I did not provide my phone araea code and I did not check the measage from Aliexpress seller requesting that info for FEDEX), I get about 88Ah ( open Voltage is 13.6V). The batteries show about 3.28V when I receive them. I top balance them to 3.6V. I am satified with them. Now I am waiting for LISHEN 272Ah I order from BASEN (ALIBABA), they should be here by the end of this month. BTW, the tester Volt meter is off by about 0.20V, My Fluke shows 12V when I stop the test.

How are your Litokala as for now ..? Still ok, it's now 2 years .. so maybe... we can start to talk about their lifespan .. :D

 

[Gertie]

My batteries have powered my RV for more than a year now. I have been very pleased with how they perform and I have not seen any degradation. I keep them charged with 500 watts of solar running through an MPP PIP-LV-MR Series 2724LV-MR off-grid inverter charger. The only trouble I have experienced is with the Overkill BMS. When the BMS thermostat triggers a shut down, it doesn't come back online even after the temp has been returned to normal. I must disconnect it and run the batteries directly through the inverter. Then after bypassing it for awhile, when I reattach it, it starts working again. Does anyone know why that happens?

 

[Honuz]

My batteries have powered my RV for more than a year now. I have been very pleased with how they perform and I have not seen any degradation. I keep them charged with 500 watts of solar running through an MPP PIP-LV-MR Series 2724LV-MR off-grid inverter charger. The only trouble I have experienced is with the Overkill BMS. When the BMS thermostat triggers a shut down, it doesn't come back online even after the temp has been returned to normal. I must disconnect it and run the batteries directly through the inverter. Then after bypassing it for awhile, when I reattach it, it starts working again. Does anyone know why that happens?

Thanks for your fedback Gertie, i do not own Overkill BMS ... only Jk... sorry

 

[Bud Martin]

How are your Litokala as for now ..? Still ok, it's now 2 years .. so maybe... we can start to talk about their lifespan .. :D

I did the capacity test in March 2022, it is not too bad.

 

[Honuz]

I did the capacity test in March 2022, it is not too bad.
View attachment 122829

87Ah for a 90Ah is pretty good, specially for a pack of 4, meaning your worst one is 87Ah ...
Thanks a lot for your feedback Bud.

 

[Honuz]

Hello all,

Just received the 16x90Ah that i bought on 11/11 for 590€ shipped.

I received 2 boxes containing 8 cells :





Label say they are CATL FFH3D3 which are not 90Ah but 85Ah cells => 5% missing already on paper, but seeing at which price i got them .. i will say nothing if everything else go well (capacity test).
I can't do the test right now cause there is little sun those days and i will certainly do not have enough power to recharge them.
I will post results here as soon as test is done.

 

[TRW]

Thanks for the update, and the follow-up! It will be fun to see how they work out.

 

[Honuz]

First step .. full charge :



Second step,i use a DL24, setting to cutoff at 2.0V, constant power of 100W....
Edit : Small cables, DL24 can only draw 40W-50W





So ... advertised at 90Ah, sticker say they are CATL 86Ah and in reality 73Ah

Is a 86Ah cell suppsoed to charge at this low rate ? (it started at 10A (max of my pwoer supply) but pretty fast .. gone down.
Edit : Cables are too small, upgraded to bigger ones (Thanks Bud to pointing the problem)

 

[Bud Martin]

What is the DL24 max test current spec?
You also need to upgrade use ring lug and good size wire gauge (for the current test), the Voltage sense wire can be small.
100W/ 3.3V = 30A.
You cannot exceed tester max test current handling, max Watt?
For example, if the DL24 has 20A max current, then at 3.3V the max power will be 66W.
Is this the DL24 you have?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800293309316.html?

-Product Parameter--
Electrical parameters
Test voltage：2~200V
Working current：0.2~20A
DL24 Discharge power: Voltage * current < 150 W
DL24P Discharge power: voltage * current < 180 W
(The actual running current is limited by the maximum power, please adjust the current according to the law of energy conservation)
The built-in over-current, over-temperature, over-power safety protection functions, if the protection interface is popped up, please pay attention to the parameter adjustment, shall adjust to the maximum power, and then discharge, you can first slowly and smoothly adjust the preset value in the start and discharge, in order to adjust up to the maximum power for discharging

Four operating modes of operation
1.Constant current operation（CC）
2.Constant resistance operation（CR）
3. Constant power operation（CP）
4. Constant voltage operation（CV）

 

[Honuz]

What is the DL24 max test current spec?
You also need to upgrade use ring lug and good size wire gauge (for the current test), the Voltage sense wire can be small.
100W/ 3.3V = 30A.
You cannot exceed tester max test current handling, max Watt?
For example, if the DL24 has 20A max current, then at 3.3V the max power will be 66W.
Is this the DL24 you have?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800293309316.html?

-Product Parameter--
Electrical parameters
Test voltage：2~200V
Working current：0.2~20A
DL24 Discharge power: Voltage * current < 150 W
DL24P Discharge power: voltage * current < 180 W
(The actual running current is limited by the maximum power, please adjust the current according to the law of energy conservation)
The built-in over-current, over-temperature, over-power safety protection functions, if the protection interface is popped up, please pay attention to the parameter adjustment, shall adjust to the maximum power, and then discharge, you can first slowly and smoothly adjust the preset value in the start and discharge, in order to adjust up to the maximum power for discharging

Four operating modes of operation
1.Constant current operation（CC）
2.Constant resistance operation（CR）
3. Constant power operation（CP）
4. Constant voltage operation（CV）

Hi,
Yes this is my tool, i got the 180W version.
I'll make a better test, it got bluetooth and i'll graph the discharge curve.

The problem still is strange with the charger, if i put 4V it will charge at 12A(max of my charger) but not at 3.65V where it will only charge at 7.2A... it's not a probe problem cause it can reach more then those 7.2A. I also swapped the crocodile connector for a round one ..same result, the contact is on a small area, but still...7.2A is very low.

If i stop charging and check battery voltage : 3.2V, still not full. It should charge at higher rate at this voltage.

I will check that tommorow, maybe i've missed something.

 

[Bud Martin]

Hi,
Yes this is my tool, i got the 180W version.
I'll make a better test, it got bluetooth and i'll graph the discharge curve.

The problem still is strange with the charger, if i put 4V it will charge at 12A(max of my charger) but not at 3.65V where it will only charge at 7.2A... it's not a probe problem cause it can reach more then those 7.2A. I also swapped the crocodile connector for a round one ..same result, the contact is on a small area, but still...7.2A is very low.

If i stop charging and check battery voltage : 3.2V, still not full. It should charge at higher rate at this voltage.

I will check that tommorow, maybe i've missed something.

Are you saying you set the power supply Voltage to 4V while charging the cell which is rated 3.65V max? Please do not do that or you will damage your cell.
You cannot get good current flow if the wire gauge is small and poor contact between clips and the battery terminal.
So you use ring terminals on both ends of the wires? Did you also use large wire gauge, I.E. 10Awg?

Thicker Wires Top Balancing makes huge difference!!

I made thicker leads for my Bench Top Power supply, and this made a huge difference while charging the batteries. Went from 3.6 amps in Constant Voltage with the tiny terminals that came with the power supply to 10 amps in constant current mode for the 10 AWG wires. This should cut down charge...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Honuz]

Are you saying you set the power supply Voltage to 4V while charging the cell which is rated 3.65V max? Please do not do that or you will damage your cell.
You cannot get good current flow if the wire gauge is small and poor contact between clips and the battery terminal.
So you use ring terminals on both ends of the wires? Did you also use large wire gauge, I.E. 10Awg?

Thicker Wires Top Balancing makes huge difference!!

I made thicker leads for my Bench Top Power supply, and this made a huge difference while charging the batteries. Went from 3.6 amps in Constant Voltage with the tiny terminals that came with the power supply to 10 amps in constant current mode for the 10 AWG wires. This should cut down charge...

diysolarforum.com

You are most certainly right, it's about my wires, they are said to be 10A but .. they do not seems to be.
I double the single wire and i can now charge at 10A.

I've created a new thread for this "problem", i suppose it's an operator error... so .. will certainly be usefull to others.

Lifepo4 CATL 86Ah Cells - Very low Charging/Discharging Curent

Hi all, I've received cells, they are CATL 86Ah, i only tested 2 for the time being and they both show the same behavior : - Using 3.65V and limiting my charger to 12A, charge current do not exceed 10A when cell is near empty (2.5V) and near 7.2A when cell is 3.2V. - I used a capacity tester...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Honuz]

I did an other charge / discharge test, 3.65V fully charged, discharged under 40W load till 2.00V => 73.5Ah
This was on a different cell, so the conclusion is ... do not buy from "GlobalPower Co., LT Store", it's the second ime i do .. and both times their cells capacity was overestimated by 15-20%

I've opened a dispute on Aliexpress :