I put mine in a harbor freight apache case, the 3800 model. The height is perfect for fitting 4 cells laying on their sides, stacked one on top of the other. After VHB taping them together and adding a silicone baking sheet top and bottom, the lid closes tightly and evenly on the cells. I'll be VHB taping the bottom cell in the stack to the bottom of the case and using thin wood strips screwed in from the bottom to further prohibit movement. Beats spending any additional time figuring out how to compress them. Thing is, the 3800/4800 cases that have the depth for this also are much larger than 4 cells. Could fit 8 in the 3800.
LittoKala 100AH Cells
- Thread starter TheGriz
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I bought pvc trim board from Lowe’s and built my box. It is just screwed together for now. I will pvc cement the sides and bottom together to make it as waterproof. I’ll leave the top removable with some type of gasket seal. Pretty happy with the way it turned out. A 12 foot board is only about $20 and I only used half of it.
TheGriz
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See my previous post of this thread (#65). I am using the same MTM Mag Carrier referenced in this video.
I will be building a very similar power station w/solar. If you just want to hold the four cells, it will be a bit big. But if you plan on replicating something similar to what's in video, it's perfect. Let us know what you decide? Thanks and good luck!!!
Mike
Mike Jordan
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Mike Jordan
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I have a 3800 case. It swallows a single 4s pack. But 2 would be nice
Mike Jordan
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I saw that vid. Good size box for a 12v power station. But I also want to put an inverter for some 120v power, and the SCC in my power station. I don't think all of that will fit. I just bought a right size box (I think) from Home Deport. I don't have it in front of me now. But I will post in the next few days if it looks good
What are you going to use for ventilation? I can smell hot plastic from my SCCs when they run hard for any length of time... definitely not something I'd want in an enclosed box. In fact I previously had the scc in the box with passive ventilation and it was still reaching scary temperatures. I relocated it to the outside of the box and drilled holes to run wires through (with grommets to protect against wire chafe) and that seems to work much better - BUT i can still smell hot plastic when I open the rear glass of my camper shell in the summer.
I took another identical SCC and placed it in a small apache/pelican type case, added a ton of intake holes, and a thermostatic controlled exhaust fan that exchanges air in the box like...every half second. It still gets too hot to touch and stinks up my entire workshop.
Having built several all-in-one boxes in my lead acid days I'm always skeptical when I watch a DIY build on youtube without crazy ventilation. How's it all going to hold up with inverter @ 80% load, SCC maxed out, and a dash of sunlight (trailer tongue, bed of truck, whatever)
As inconvenient as it may be to haul another item, I just carry a soft sided cabelas fishing/shooting bag with electronics and various cables. I committed to anderson power poles as my connections... for PV input, inverter connection, USB-C PD chargers, 5 port USB-A 12v charger, diesel air heater, everything. Dongle life. Simplified my builds and allows equipment to be used on multiple packs.. though I understand some of us on here are lucky enough to not be addicted to building batteries ?
Mike Jordan
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There is always the lid. It opens ?
But I will see how it operates. I am not opposed to some fans and a thermostat
What SCC are you using?
TheGriz
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Well the 120A 12v 4S BMS ($63) and BT module ($7) from AliX finally arrived a couple days ago. So first out of the gate was to again top balance the cells at 3.65V. Meanwhile got the terminals on the BMS and sensing wires. Hooked all up. I have to say the AliX BMS/BT is easily configurable and very intuitive.
Did the Capacity Test at about 12 amps and just finished. Bottom line before the low cell (#1) hit 2.5V and triggered the BMS low voltage disconnect...I got 96.7Ah. There was a 333MV delta between the high (#4) and low cells at the shutdown which I was hoping wouldn't quite that large. So there was still capacity in the higher cells. MV delta started and stayed 4-8 MV until cell #1 fell below 3.0V and then fell off faster than the other three cells. See attached pics.
So, for $149 delivered to my door for these 100Ah cells, I am satisfied. I will set the high and low voltage disconnects to keep the 10% reserve at top and another 10% reserve at the bottom, so I should have a solid 80Ah capacity, and be able to keep the MV delta fairly low and keep cells balanced. I will be putting this pack into an MTM Mag Case, and install several different types of power ports (see previous post #65 for vid) for portable Ham Radio operations, and quick access to AC/DC in my RV and truck for camping. Also will have solar charge accessories (300w of PV).
Mike
P.S. - Let's keep the feedback coming on these LiitiKala cells, e.g. AH capacity, packaging/container, use, solar charge components, inverters, etc.
www.aliexpress.com
Did the Capacity Test at about 12 amps and just finished. Bottom line before the low cell (#1) hit 2.5V and triggered the BMS low voltage disconnect...I got 96.7Ah. There was a 333MV delta between the high (#4) and low cells at the shutdown which I was hoping wouldn't quite that large. So there was still capacity in the higher cells. MV delta started and stayed 4-8 MV until cell #1 fell below 3.0V and then fell off faster than the other three cells. See attached pics.
So, for $149 delivered to my door for these 100Ah cells, I am satisfied. I will set the high and low voltage disconnects to keep the 10% reserve at top and another 10% reserve at the bottom, so I should have a solid 80Ah capacity, and be able to keep the MV delta fairly low and keep cells balanced. I will be putting this pack into an MTM Mag Case, and install several different types of power ports (see previous post #65 for vid) for portable Ham Radio operations, and quick access to AC/DC in my RV and truck for camping. Also will have solar charge accessories (300w of PV).
Mike
P.S. - Let's keep the feedback coming on these LiitiKala cells, e.g. AH capacity, packaging/container, use, solar charge components, inverters, etc.
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Diysolar123
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LiitoKala cell buyer here.. I would NOT recommend buying from them.
ordered eight 280AH cells, they do take along time to arrive and are well packaged.
and the now the bad news for me.
1 out of 8 cells failed capacity test, 3 times just to be sure.
worst case was 210AH-220AH range instead of 280.
contact littokala and, well, crickets chirping so far...
If you roll the dice and get a good delivery it will probably be ok, if you get a bad cell, you are probably out of luck.
You need to pay return shipping for any issues and the price of shipping from USA to china is, well, requires a second mortgage on your house.
ordered eight 280AH cells, they do take along time to arrive and are well packaged.
and the now the bad news for me.
1 out of 8 cells failed capacity test, 3 times just to be sure.
worst case was 210AH-220AH range instead of 280.
contact littokala and, well, crickets chirping so far...
If you roll the dice and get a good delivery it will probably be ok, if you get a bad cell, you are probably out of luck.
You need to pay return shipping for any issues and the price of shipping from USA to china is, well, requires a second mortgage on your house.
TheGriz
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Do you have any first experience with these 100 AH cells???????
DIYSOLAR123
that is huge loss, take it up with CC, send them a simple email saying:
The item sent to me does not match what I purchased, I purchased 280ah...
Tests have confirmed the capacity of cells received being less than xxxAH, 3x% less than advertised capacity.
Give them 5 days to respond and then open a dispute with CC.
Good luck,
-----------------------
I bought the 100AH pack and my capacity when stopped my test was nearly 9x Ah. I am good with the cells Litto sent me.
rexington
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Hello All,
I finally got my 100Ah Liitokala cells on Sunday (25 Apr), having ordered them 10 Feb.
I'm keeping things simple and putting all of this into a milk crate I already happened to have on hand. I balance charged all of them, hooked up my 100A Daly BMS (I found out about the amazing AliX ones after ordering the Daly). I got a 1200W Giandel inverter, and powered my TV, associated electronics, a computer, and a fan for my load test - pulling about 20A from the battery. I didn't take it all the way to cutoff, but stopped at 95Ah. At this point, all the cells measured about 2.85V and were within about 50-80mV of each other.
So, I'm pretty pleased! I'm going to be adding fatter cables so I can power my fridge and a couple of other things when I have power outages, and I'll be ordering a solar charge controller next month to hook up to my two second-hand panels. I'll use the whole setup to power my office, including my ham radio equipment, 24/7. The panels should provide enough extra to always keep the batteries at least 90%, in case of power outage.
Cheers,
Rex
I finally got my 100Ah Liitokala cells on Sunday (25 Apr), having ordered them 10 Feb.
I'm keeping things simple and putting all of this into a milk crate I already happened to have on hand. I balance charged all of them, hooked up my 100A Daly BMS (I found out about the amazing AliX ones after ordering the Daly). I got a 1200W Giandel inverter, and powered my TV, associated electronics, a computer, and a fan for my load test - pulling about 20A from the battery. I didn't take it all the way to cutoff, but stopped at 95Ah. At this point, all the cells measured about 2.85V and were within about 50-80mV of each other.
So, I'm pretty pleased! I'm going to be adding fatter cables so I can power my fridge and a couple of other things when I have power outages, and I'll be ordering a solar charge controller next month to hook up to my two second-hand panels. I'll use the whole setup to power my office, including my ham radio equipment, 24/7. The panels should provide enough extra to always keep the batteries at least 90%, in case of power outage.
Cheers,
Rex
reg
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Will Prowse's new video (April 28/21) is not what you'd call great advertising for LiitoKala. Quote: "I would avoid these cells like the plague".
In the video description, Prowse says that these are the cells that he purchased...
In the video description, Prowse says that these are the cells that he purchased...
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TheGriz
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Glad to hear you finally received the cells. I have been pleased to this point. And sounds like you got near full capacity without running them down to min voltage.
TheGriz
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Yup...mine had some swelling as well. But I did pull 97Ah without fully draining cells. As long as you don't discharge down to bottom, the MV delta stayed fairly close (roughly 2 - 10mv), down to about 2.9v per cell. If I drained down to first cell hitting 2.5v, then yes the MV delta grew considerably. I keep all cells above 3.0v anyway, and below 3.4v. I got mine for $149 so I am not complaining.
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