Melted Wiring in GSL Battery - Any idea what went wrong here?

[rodrick]

FYI - https://diysolarforum.com/threads/gsl-battery-fires.67018/

Between the 2 posts that’s 13 major battery failures if you own stock in gsl or revolt I’d be selling fast

 

[WindWizard]

It is very interesting to note the similarities between the two failures. Both were using Outback Radians. Very interesting indeed. BMS wires melting. Seplos BMS. It is very scary to say the least. It really is beginning to look like a BMS failure.

 

[WindWizard]

On my DIY Battery Bank, I have 4 100-amp Overkill BMS. Two in Parallel x 2 to take care of my 128 280-amp Cells. I think that trying to push 200 amps through a BMS is just asking for bad things to happen. Say for example, that the BMS developed a short then you may indeed see the example of the burnt wiring that was displayed in the two posts.

I am just speculating right now but in order for 4 batteries to fail all in a similar manner then say for instance that one BMS shorts out and since they are all connected in parallel then that sudden surge in current causes the rest of the BMS's to fail in a similar manner.

 

[Skypower]

On my DIY Battery Bank, I have 4 100-amp Overkill BMS. Two in Parallel x 2 to take care of my 128 280-amp Cells. I think that trying to push 200 amps through a BMS is just asking for bad things to happen. Say for example, that the BMS developed a short then you may indeed see the example of the burnt wiring that was displayed in the two posts.

I am just speculating right now but in order for 4 batteries to fail all in a similar manner then say for instance that one BMS shorts out and since they are all connected in parallel then that sudden surge in current causes the rest of the BMS's to fail in a similar manner.

Cascading or domino event. About as good a guess as any right now.

 

[rodrick]

I wonder if one is a rebranded version of the other?

 

[Skypower]

At least the Re-Volt batteries have a 10 year warranty

It’ll be really interesting how they handle this.

 

[WindWizard]

Along those same lines, I do not see any Class T fuses between the batteries. I would think that you would want a Class T fuse on each of the batteries to blow the fuse rather than the battery is case of a catastrophic BMS failure.

 

[weirded]

Was there anything that has changed recently or was there anything in your data that would give a clue as to what happened?

No recent changes. The OpticsRE logs don’t show anything either.

 

[weirded]

At least the Re-Volt batteries have a 10 year warranty

Haha yeah would be nice it the company was still around to honor it.

 

[weirded]

Along those same lines, I do not see any Class T fuses between the batteries. I would think that you would want a Class T fuse on each of the batteries to blow the fuse rather than the battery is case of a catastrophic BMS failure.

Yeah probably. They gave me a combined box with breakers but that’s not the same.

 

[weirded]

And we are starting to see a pattern with similarities. Just wondering what anomaly or set of conditions triggered it.

Oh wow. Scary.

 

[WindWizard]

Haha yeah would be nice it the company was still around to honor it.

I found this little tidbit on the website:

For RE-Volt Lithium Batteries – WARRANTY: Please contact Jim Deng at GSL for warranty issues. He can be reached via email at jimdeng@gsl-energy.com.

 

[weirded]

I found this little tidbit on the website:

For RE-Volt Lithium Batteries – WARRANTY: Please contact Jim Deng at GSL for warranty issues. He can be reached via email at jimdeng@gsl-energy.com.

Yeah that email bounces. I’ve reached out to their general sales contact and am awaiting response.

 

[weirded]

On my DIY Battery Bank, I have 4 100-amp Overkill BMS. Two in Parallel x 2 to take care of my 128 280-amp Cells. I think that trying to push 200 amps through a BMS is just asking for bad things to happen. Say for example, that the BMS developed a short then you may indeed see the example of the burnt wiring that was displayed in the two posts.

I am just speculating right now but in order for 4 batteries to fail all in a similar manner then say for instance that one BMS shorts out and since they are all connected in parallel then that sudden surge in current causes the rest of the BMS's to fail in a similar manner.

Yeah that makes sense to me.

 

[rhino]

Haha yeah would be nice it the company was still around to honor it.

Makes you think that these are not isolated instances and why they no longer exist. Not that this applies to you, but also reaffirms that it is not wise to just buy whatever battery happens to be the cheapest on Amazon from some no-name company on a given day.

 

[rhino]

What's in the battery "combiner box" that all four batteries are going to? I noticed these batteries have no built-in circuit protection besides the BMS itself.

 

[weirded]

What's in the battery "combiner box" that all four batteries are going to? I noticed these batteries have no built-in circuit protection besides the BMS itself.

 

[weirded]

Fun. These aren’t even DC. This is what iron Edison sold with these batteries. FML.

 

[hwy17]

Fun. These aren’t even DC. This is what iron Edison sold with these batteries. FML.

View attachment 183033

CHNT sells breakers with a supposed DC rating which are not marked for DC. It's a whole thing in the server rack battery market.

I don't put a lot of stock in chinese breakers but in any case I don't think external OCP would have saved these batteries from their internal failure.

 

[Bongbong]

Check the insulation on the part of the wiring that is still intact for cracking when you bend it.. I have seen insulation from (in my cases) a (cheap?) Chinese manufacturer fail badly in the past.