ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
I would like to test each cell and match them as well as I can. And I want to know if any cells are bad so I can try to get replacements from the seller. Thanks for your help
New bench power supply
- Thread starter shavermcspud
- Start date
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
Guys, I hear what you are saying about over charging the cells. I see threads all over about people destroying cells.
I will research more about safely getting up to full charge.
It takes a long time for me to fully understand a lot of this stuff. But I have learned a lot from you guys.
I'm sure you get tired of repeating the same info over for every new person that comes along. Especially when it can take many repeats before it sinks in. And some things I will never understand. I see people with way more experience than me that are still confused.
I have 66 EVE 280AH cells coming and I would like to test them all so I can match them into 4 battery packs.
I assume I have to charge and discharge each cell at least once.
Even using the 120A power supply it will probably take months for me to get through them all.
Please tell me if there is a better way. Or point me to a thread. I will keep digging.
My plan is to use one of these discharge capacity testers. It seem to me that I should be able to charge each cell to the same state of charge.
Then discharge it with the discharge capacity tester and record the info. With that info I should be able to sort my cells better than just assembling them randomly. Am I wrong? If there is a faster way please let me know. I just want to be sure none of my cells are bad and I want to sort them better than just randomly. I assume one of my battery packs will have all the worst cells and the other 3 should be pretty good.
I am taking your warnings seriously and I want to do this right. I would prefer not to be another bad example.
Thanks for all of the time you take to help us. Hopefully I will be able to do the same. I will try to document my work if I get get some valuable results.
I will research more about safely getting up to full charge.
It takes a long time for me to fully understand a lot of this stuff. But I have learned a lot from you guys.
I'm sure you get tired of repeating the same info over for every new person that comes along. Especially when it can take many repeats before it sinks in. And some things I will never understand. I see people with way more experience than me that are still confused.
I have 66 EVE 280AH cells coming and I would like to test them all so I can match them into 4 battery packs.
I assume I have to charge and discharge each cell at least once.
Even using the 120A power supply it will probably take months for me to get through them all.
Please tell me if there is a better way. Or point me to a thread. I will keep digging.
My plan is to use one of these discharge capacity testers. It seem to me that I should be able to charge each cell to the same state of charge.
Then discharge it with the discharge capacity tester and record the info. With that info I should be able to sort my cells better than just assembling them randomly. Am I wrong? If there is a faster way please let me know. I just want to be sure none of my cells are bad and I want to sort them better than just randomly. I assume one of my battery packs will have all the worst cells and the other 3 should be pretty good.
I am taking your warnings seriously and I want to do this right. I would prefer not to be another bad example.
Thanks for all of the time you take to help us. Hopefully I will be able to do the same. I will try to document my work if I get get some valuable results.
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
John Frum
Tell me your problems
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2019
- Messages
- 15,233
That would work.
My Riden RD6012W arrived today (Sunday) and all I have left to do it to put the top of the case on. It was very easy to put together and the case was not bent or scratched anywhere. The power supply was not scratched anywhere either. The Wi-Fi board was a bit tricky to get plugged in but not bad. I forgot to get the backup battery...lol. I can live without it but might get that later. I don't like how the battery is located below the Wi-Fi board. One has to unplug the Wi-Fi board to replace the battery. I also realized the Wi-Fi board operates on the 2.4ghz band....5ghz is not supported.
I will be testing the charging function next week. I noticed according to the instructions the charge cuts off at 100ma when done charging. It's my understanding the charge current should cut off at around 5% of the battery capacity. I am aware Riden has been asked for a way to configure this with a firmware update. I will keep a close eye on it while charging my Valence batteries.
I tested the voltage against my cheap DMM and the match was perfect. I tested at varied voltages between 5 and 33 volts.
I just ran the temperature probe out of the fan hole on the back of the case until I decide what to do with it. I might tape it to the power supply and leave it.
The amount of settings on this thing are great. I am still learning everything about the use and applications. I just figured out how to not only set the voltage and current, but the OVP and OCP.
I managed to get the Wi-Fi connected to my PC one time. It's an old RCA windows tablet that will work well, and it's the only device I have that works in the 2.4qhz band. I will check for a firmware update. If I end up having to use the USB then so be it.
I will be testing the charging function next week. I noticed according to the instructions the charge cuts off at 100ma when done charging. It's my understanding the charge current should cut off at around 5% of the battery capacity. I am aware Riden has been asked for a way to configure this with a firmware update. I will keep a close eye on it while charging my Valence batteries.
I tested the voltage against my cheap DMM and the match was perfect. I tested at varied voltages between 5 and 33 volts.
I just ran the temperature probe out of the fan hole on the back of the case until I decide what to do with it. I might tape it to the power supply and leave it.
The amount of settings on this thing are great. I am still learning everything about the use and applications. I just figured out how to not only set the voltage and current, but the OVP and OCP.
I managed to get the Wi-Fi connected to my PC one time. It's an old RCA windows tablet that will work well, and it's the only device I have that works in the 2.4qhz band. I will check for a firmware update. If I end up having to use the USB then so be it.
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
Very cool Gazoo. You have done more with it than I have.
I got notice that my cells will be here Thursday so it's time for me to get moving.
The battery is easy to find on Amazon.
I got notice that my cells will be here Thursday so it's time for me to get moving.
The battery is easy to find on Amazon.
I still haven't done much...lol. I decided to order the clock battery and I had a time removing the Wi-Fi board.....lol. The battery came today and I installed it and all is well. Pretty sure the battery should last a number of years. Also I figured out the windows app must be open and running in initialization mode before turning on the power supply. The Wi-Fi works every time now.
Still have to put the top of the case on. I did connect it directly to the USB port as that's the only way to check for a firmware update. There wasn't any. I am happy and forgot to mention mine included fork terminals. I am still going to test per my above post and will report back as soon as I can. This week is kinda hectic but I want to get it tested since my cells are arriving Friday. Wishing you the best with your cells.
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
Thanks Gazoo. My cells came today and look good so far.
I don't expect any trouble with our cells. The main players know complaints will kill them.
Best of luck with your project.
I don't expect any trouble with our cells. The main players know complaints will kill them.
Best of luck with your project.
I tested the Riden charging function today. I have two valence 40ah batteries hooked in parallel.
I set the voltage to 14.6 and the amps at 10 and the Riden held the current at 10 amps with no problems and the display indicated constant current.
Once the Riden reached 14.6 volts the display indicated it had switched to constant voltage. The current started to drop like it's supposed to do while the voltage remained at 14.6.
My coulomb meter connected directly to the battery had a lower voltage however the amps reading between the Riden and my coulomb were meter were very close.
As the current dropped the battery voltage very slowly came up to 14.6 volts at which point the charger cut off at .1 or .9 amps. The amps was fluctuating between .13 and .1 so I think it cut off at .9. I just missed it...lol. I am pretty sure the internal BMS of the batteries was causing the fluctuation.
What this means is using the Riden in charging mode is working as advertised. I am hoping Riden will figure out a way to define user charging profiles with a firmware update.
I will be very comfortable using this to parallel top balance my cells. But towards the end it takes a long time. My regular lifepo4 charger cuts off at 14.62 at 500ma and it takes around 9 hours to charge. The Riden took around 11 hours. And charging at 3.65 volts is a different story. A story I plan to start on next week...lol
I set the voltage to 14.6 and the amps at 10 and the Riden held the current at 10 amps with no problems and the display indicated constant current.
Once the Riden reached 14.6 volts the display indicated it had switched to constant voltage. The current started to drop like it's supposed to do while the voltage remained at 14.6.
My coulomb meter connected directly to the battery had a lower voltage however the amps reading between the Riden and my coulomb were meter were very close.
As the current dropped the battery voltage very slowly came up to 14.6 volts at which point the charger cut off at .1 or .9 amps. The amps was fluctuating between .13 and .1 so I think it cut off at .9. I just missed it...lol. I am pretty sure the internal BMS of the batteries was causing the fluctuation.
What this means is using the Riden in charging mode is working as advertised. I am hoping Riden will figure out a way to define user charging profiles with a firmware update.
I will be very comfortable using this to parallel top balance my cells. But towards the end it takes a long time. My regular lifepo4 charger cuts off at 14.62 at 500ma and it takes around 9 hours to charge. The Riden took around 11 hours. And charging at 3.65 volts is a different story. A story I plan to start on next week...lol
@ArthurEld i'm in the same situation, but with somewhat less cells (24 + 4 spares). Alle cells are EVE 280AH.
I've been looking into how I can evaluate the cells and test them, before putting together a 8s3p pack on 24V. My conclusion so far is that there is no cheap way of doing this. You should also check out the EEVBlog forum for much more information.
So far after looking at Rigol, ITech, Maynuo, Siglent, BK Precision, ... DC loads and DC power supplies, I'm leaning into making a serious investment in the following equipment:
They even have a program you can use that batches the full testing, eg: charge in steps to 3,65V, wait 6hrs, discharge fully, wait 6hr, charge back fully, wait 6hr, set storage voltage. Because of the 25A power supply, charge rate would be 0,09C.
The result is a full charge / discharge plot for each battery.
It is an expensive setup however...
I've been looking into how I can evaluate the cells and test them, before putting together a 8s3p pack on 24V. My conclusion so far is that there is no cheap way of doing this. You should also check out the EEVBlog forum for much more information.
So far after looking at Rigol, ITech, Maynuo, Siglent, BK Precision, ... DC loads and DC power supplies, I'm leaning into making a serious investment in the following equipment:
- B&K Precision BK8601 DC Electronic Load (120V, 60A, 250W)
- B&K Precision BK9205 DC Power supply (60V, 25A, 600W)
They even have a program you can use that batches the full testing, eg: charge in steps to 3,65V, wait 6hrs, discharge fully, wait 6hr, charge back fully, wait 6hr, set storage voltage. Because of the 25A power supply, charge rate would be 0,09C.
The result is a full charge / discharge plot for each battery.
It is an expensive setup however...
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ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
Yes that is expensive. Those probably saves enough time to be worth it though.
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
So, the RD6018 18A is out and I noticed this 1200W power supply seems to be compatible
I wonder if that makes the RD6018 more powerful or more durable? Or would it just be the same as the 800W that Riden sells?
I wonder if that makes the RD6018 more powerful or more durable? Or would it just be the same as the 800W that Riden sells?
It would help at the higher voltages. Let's assume it's maxed out at 65 volts and 18 amps. That is equal to 1170 watts. But then one must add in inefficiencies and I don't know what that is. But it would mean the supply would have to supply more then 1170 watts.
I use this ohms law calculator to figure these things out for me.
The other point to make is how much current are the terminals on the Riden rated for?
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
I'd like to have that power supply. I could probably sell the 12A. But it takes a long time to get it.
The rd6018 only ships from China. I don't need these power supplies once I'm done testing. Especially once my solar is up.
I will have a 2nd capacity tester here in a day or 2.
I've got the Mean Well 3.3V 120A power supply ready to go. But I'm afraid. ?
The rd6018 only ships from China. I don't need these power supplies once I'm done testing. Especially once my solar is up.
I will have a 2nd capacity tester here in a day or 2.
I've got the Mean Well 3.3V 120A power supply ready to go. But I'm afraid. ?
wmills_92105
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2020
- Messages
- 124
For charging single cells or parallel sets could you use this connected to 12v battery charger? Use my regular charger as a source for balancing cells?
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
I don't know of a way. There might be some kind of 12V to 3.3V converter but I don't remember anyone using something like that.
Most people buy an adjustable voltage power supply like the one from Will's video-
Top Balancing LiFePo4 Cells using a low cost benchtop power supply.
To get the paper, click on the orange at the top of this page. This is a tutorial with detailed steps on how I top-balance my LiFePO4 Cells using a low-cost benchtop power supply. To get the tutorial, click on the orange "Download" button...
diysolarforum.com
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A 12 volt battery charger will not work. You could use the Riden with any power supply rated a few volts above the battery. For example a 4s LifePo4 pack is fully charged when it reaches 14.6 volts. You probably would need a minimum of 18 volts going into the Riden. I am not sure of the exact voltage difference required...I am guessing so that's just an example. I really like mine even though I have the 12 amp version. I am currently using it to charge my 8S pack and I used it to parallel top balance.
The wording of that spec is a bit ambiguous, and could indicate that the PS is NOT really CC. Or it might just indicate that whoever created the spec phrased it poorly.
In a CC supply, overcurrent is not a fault condition. The part about "recovers automatically after fault condition is removed" is standard verbage that power supplies that don't have CC use to indicate they turn off the output during an overcurrent (shorted) condition. I hope Meanwell, just got the verbiage wrong and it really is a CC supply since without it this is not usable as a cell charger.
OnTheRoadAgain
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 643
Anyone know where to get the case kit (S12A/S800) for a reasonable price?
Wait..this is "Show and tell....should have asked this in the thread specifically on this unit.
Wait..this is "Show and tell....should have asked this in the thread specifically on this unit.
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