New Battery on Amazon and Ebay - Global Power 12V100AH LIFEPO4 - $399! Has anybody actually bought one yet? Torn it down yet?

[gbealmer]

Jim Gee recently reached out to me and said he has had plug and play stand alone balance boards made for these, and will provide them free of charge to anyone that had purchased batteries from him and wants one. He sent me an install video, looks like you remove the battery top, unplug the balance leads from the bms, plug them into the balancer, and then plug the balancer back into the bms.

Appreciate the info. I contacted the seller via Ebay and requested the balance boards for the 3 batteries I purchased.
Received a response within 10 minutes from Jim Gee and he is shipping the boards tomorrow, as well as sending tracking info and install video directly to the email address I provided.

 

[Bobert]

Appreciate the info. I contacted the seller via Ebay and requested the balance boards for the 3 batteries I purchased.
Received a response within 10 minutes from Jim Gee and he is shipping the boards tomorrow, as well as sending tracking info and install video directly to the email address I provided.

Same here.

 

[jwasilko]

Thanks! Good news. Just reached out to Jim, too.

 

[jwasilko]

The install video is very straightforward. It looks like the kit includes a 'splitter' board and the balance board. It's all plug and play....

 

[gbealmer]

Appreciate the info. I contacted the seller via Ebay and requested the balance boards for the 3 batteries I purchased.
Received a response within 10 minutes from Jim Gee and he is shipping the boards tomorrow, as well as sending tracking info and install video directly to the email address I provided.

Balance boards on the UPS truck out for delivery. BTW, the lowest listing on Ebay for these batteries is now $389. I wonder if they are being sold with the balancer installed.

 

[gbealmer]

Balance boards on the UPS truck out for delivery. BTW, the lowest listing on Ebay for these batteries is now $389. I wonder if they are being sold with the balancer installed.

Installed two of the balance boards and it's almost as simple as the video. Of course, the existing connector to the bms in the video wasn't covered with sealant, the bms wasn't taped/sealed in place, and the terminal cables weren't connected and in the way.

 

[gbealmer]

Installed two of the balance boards and it's almost as simple as the video. Of course, the existing connector to the bms in the video wasn't covered with sealant, the bms wasn't taped/sealed in place, and the terminal cables weren't connected and in the way.

After installation, ran a charging session with each battery. Both batteries charged to 14.2v.
One of the batteries previously always stopped charging at 13.6v to 13.8v, indicating a cell imbalance and bms cutoff due to an overvoltage condition for at least one cell pack. First charge with the balance board allowed the battery to reach 14.2v. The lid location where the balance board was attached became extremely hot.
The other battery, which has always charged to 14.2v, continued to do so with no noticable temperature increase at the balance board location on the lid.

 

[Bobert]

After installation, ran a charging session with each battery. Both batteries charged to 14.2v.
One of the batteries previously always stopped charging at 13.6v to 13.8v, indicating a cell imbalance and bms cutoff due to an overvoltage condition for at least one cell pack. First charge with the balance board allowed the battery to reach 14.2v. The lid location where the balance board was attached became extremely hot.
The other battery, which has always charged to 14.2v, continued to do so with no noticable temperature increase at the balance board location on the lid.

Sounds encouraging. I have 5 batteries and expect the boards today. I disassembled battery # 5 last night so I could have all the tools in order to do 5 of these. I got the balance lead off and the others should be much easier now that I know exactly where the release tab is. I use 4 of these in series and I am reaching between 56 and 57.2 volts before cutoff so that’s not to bad but I’m cutting of at over 46v on low disconnect so I’m missing the bottom by an average of over 1 volt for each battery. I’m getting at least 95 ah under these conditions so I’m hoping that I can clear 100ah in balance.

 

[jwasilko]

Any tips to getting the balance leads off? Are they potted in silicone?

Are you securing the balance board to the case somehow?

 

[gbealmer]

Any tips to getting the balance leads off? Are they potted in silicone?

Are you securing the balance board to the case somehow?

The connector has a clip on top to depress and then it easily releases from the bms. It was covered with sealant that had to be peeled off prior to releasing the connector.
Definitely follow the video recommendation and attach the balance board to the lid. Use a heat resistant adhesive or tape as the spot on the lid where it was attached became extremely hot during the charging process.

 

[jwasilko]

Thanks....I had emailed with Jim and he suggested against the lid, but it seems to me the lid gets it away from the cells. He said: "I suggest attaching it to a location that is kind of out of the way but not the lid. The little board does product heat during balancing but it it works well, in my opinion."

 

[gbealmer]

Thanks....I had emailed with Jim and he suggested against the lid, but it seems to me the lid gets it away from the cells. He said: "I suggest attaching it to a location that is kind of out of the way but not the lid. The little board does product heat during balancing but it it works well, in my opinion."

The lid was the most convenient location and seemed to give the best clearance from the other components. Based on my initial experience, I agree with Jim Gee about the effectiveness of the balancer. Time will tell.

 

[Bobert]

Any tips to getting the balance leads off? Are they potted in silicone?

Are you securing the balance board to the case somehow?

I was able to scrape the silicone off the top of the connector with my finger nails and once I got the clip to release the connector pulled out reasonably easy. I have been able to tuck the ballence board into the crack between the side of the battery case and the battery packs. I used a non flammable insulation as chinking to force the board against the side of the case I am reluctant to attach it to the top as I don’t know what glue will not damage the board and if the glue fails the board could fall and contact the lugs on the bms. I have the batteries charging now.

 

[jwasilko]

I finally had some time to take apart both batteries and look at installing the balance board. FYI, I found the balance board on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184595327463

The install is super easy and plug and play. If you're not sure what silicone needs to be scraped off, look at the connectors on the new boards to see what needs to be released.

For mounting I've ordered some electronics-safe silcone, and will try using that to hold the board in place. I agree that the lid seems like the best place away from the cells, so will probably try that.

I put the first battery on the charger, and the first LED on the balance board lit up pretty quickly. The 2nd LED lit up in about 10 minutes, and it's been sitting like that for 30+ minutes. The charger now just has the last green LED on, and is at 13.9V, so I suspect this could take a while.

Question for those who have installed these already--do all 4 LEDs come on when the charging is done/all 4 groups at the same voltage?

 

[Bobert]

Thanks for posting the link. At 250ma it’s going to take a while to get my batteries in balance. Unfortunately the location of my batteries makes it impractical to see the board while they are charging.

 

[wild01]

Thanks for posting the link. At 250ma it’s going to take a while to get my batteries in balance. Unfortunately the location of my batteries makes it impractical to see the board while they are charging.

That's 1/4 amp. Shouldn't take to long should balance at 6ah a day.

 

[jwasilko]

I used some electronics-safe silicone to mount the balance board to the lid....We'll see how this works:

 

[JeffK]

I went ahead and requested the balance boards. The response was courteous and quick; they will arrive today. I'm not a battery guy but I understand the basics. I'm wondering for my RV application (12V, 2x100ah batteries in parallel) before I perform surgery, how crucial is installing the boards? I assume I might not get peak performance but will it make a whole lot of difference?

 

[jwasilko]

I can't comment on the 'need', but the install is super easy. A bunch of screws on the lid come out, and then you just unplug one set of wires from the BMS and move it to the new boards. Here's before and after pix:

 

[wild01]

I went ahead and requested the balance boards. The response was courteous and quick; they will arrive today. I'm not a battery guy but I understand the basics. I'm wondering for my RV application (12V, 2x100ah batteries in parallel) before I perform surgery, how crucial is installing the boards? I assume I might not get peak performance but will it make a whole lot of difference?

The biggest problem with unbalanced is getting the inverter to cut out first at the low end and the charge controller to cut out first at the high end. It can be very hard on the bms to have to cut out at full load. If 1 cell is out of balance this is much more likely. You will also get more capacity out of the battery.