diy solar

diy solar

New Supplier for 280Ah cells: Shenzen Basen

1. A breaker is not a replacement for a Fuse, a breaker can fail, especially those cheap Chinese ones, his breaker is installed outside the pack which leaves a huge amount of "earth cable" that could short and cause a serious problem.

I disagree that a quality breaker can't replace a fuse. Otherwise our homes would have fuses. The line-side wire to the battery should still be within 7 inches. Midnite/Carling Tech is an example (and is what I'm using, in my parts list in my sig).
 
I disagree that a quality breaker can't replace a fuse. Otherwise our homes would have fuses. The line-side wire to the battery should still be within 7 inches. Midnite/Carling Tech is an example (and is what I'm using, in my parts list in my sig).
Your main feed should always have a fuse before the breaker box, in my home it is 240v 100amp. This is on the unmetered side of your mains connection. Breakers can get abused by getting continually reset and then they eventually weld closed and go bang. The main fuse is between the feed into the home and the breaker box and is property of the electricity grid provider.


a92547b407a48f1ca38918ccdbf4084a--electrical-wiring-diagram-house-electrical-wiring.jpg
 
Last edited:
For a Noob person looking to DIY one of these battery systems. What you say makes a lot of sense. From my perspective I honestly did not know. I come here to learn and today I have learned something. My impression had been that one used a breaker because you could reset it and fuses were a one and done thing. Not to avoid investigating what an issue was if you tripped or blew one. Just that it was like paying up front instead of being SOL if you didn't have a replacement fuse.

So for Noobs like myself, could you be so kind to point out where one should use a fuse and where it would be ok to use a breaker.

For reference my particular plans are for a one battery 12v 280ah system starting with DC to DC charging and a 12v fuse block to run a DC Fridge/Freezer. Possibly adding a 1200 watt inverter and 4 100 watt solar panels down the road. My intentions are to use Victron components and all of this installed in the rear of a Toyota Sienna.

For me personally, I would put the fuse as close to the battery as possible, I have seen some people bolt a megafuse direct to the main positive and then wire the main feed from the other end of the fuse. This would protect against any type of short other than one in the bank itself. You can also add a fuse on the negative side as well if you wish.

For me again, I would use a main Breaker on the feed to the main positive Busbar and then you can use individual breakers or fuses on the individual feeds from the Busbar as per the Victron Lynx Distribution system. My landlord is a sparky so will be checking everything I do with him as I am building in a vehicle 12.5m Coach) and will want 100% safety as far as possible, avoiding ground loops etc.

This guy has some good videos

This is getting pretty off-topic now so I would suggest PM on subjects other than Shenzen Basen
 
Last edited:
There really isn't any issue getting parts in Croatia other than from Amazon.... So if he has a short and that cheap 200A breaker fails, or the short is closer to the battery..... A breaker is NOT a replacement for a mechanical Fuse, continually resetting a breaker can result in a breaker becoming welded closed and then ineffective, ALWAYS use a Fuse as well! Can also see he has used that earth wire for his previous battery wiring. Anyway, I am done discussing this guy now, there are plenty of more knowledgeable Youtubers out there.
I didn't watch videos but I'm from Croatia and you can buy everything here so you don't need Amazon ....and if price is to high he can always order from Ali ,eBay, Mauser , Conrad etc ...
 
I ordered by 52 x Lishen 272AH cells from Basen on 23Dec20 and they shipped 30Dec. Just arrived in France .. but only 6 of the 13 cartons arrived. Have messaged Gloria. Feedback on shipping progress was totally crap. More than 1 month ago they were in "final port" awaiting customs clearance. I have no faith in their tracking, and now trying to chase down 7 more cartons is making me anxious. They were well packed, do appear new etc, but also came with a letter saying that Lishen shipped them without PVC , but Basen applied their own..

IMG-20210319-WA0000.jpgIMG-20210319-WA0001.jpgIMG-20210319-WA0004.jpg
 
Lots of folks reporting lishen cells wrapped by supplier. I got 16 a few weeks ago from Basen and they have the re-wrap. A couple were a little sloppy, but nothing that would effect performance. All mine have tested over 280Ah and are working well.
 
Excuse, I forgot to write in time.
I ordered 16 280 Ah cells and 1 200 A BMS from Basen beginning December.
It appeared March 19th by UPS.
As in the contract, door to door, I paid only what I paid to Basen.
Perfect for private orders.
The only problem is, I have a company and I can deduct import VAT,
but I got no paper about paid VAT at the import into the EU.
Tests will start when also the inverters are here.
 
VAT is always a pita. With DDP it’s not your concern, perfect for private orders.
However, if you’re selling it you need to add VAT. If you don’t have a VAT invoice you can’t deduct the paid VAT from the price you initially paid (leaving only the VAT on your profit), at least, thats how it works here in NL.

I think its better to buy DAP in those cases, so you will do the VAT yourself (ups/fedex will probably send you a tax invoice) or workout with the seller if their broker in the EU (who manages the ddp part - the import duties and taxes) if they can provide you a vat-free shipment (as it was a sale within the eu - you need to provide your vat no)

But it might have been easier to figure that out upfront..)
Maybe specify your country, someone might have some knowledge about the vat rules in your country and provide some hints to handle ddp sales for a company.
 
Last edited:
I ordered by 52 x Lishen 272AH cells from Basen on 23Dec20 and they shipped 30Dec. Just arrived in France .. but only 6 of the 13 cartons arrived. Have messaged Gloria. Feedback on shipping progress was totally crap. More than 1 month ago they were in "final port" awaiting customs clearance. I have no faith in their tracking, and now trying to chase down 7 more cartons is making me anxious. They were well packed, do appear new etc, but also came with a letter saying that Lishen shipped them without PVC , but Basen applied their own..

View attachment 41560View attachment 41561View attachment 41562
The other 7 cartons arrived a week later.. in similar nick and condition. All appear physically OK, no obvious dents etc. Voltages all seem as per the labels attached and range over 52 cells from 3.257 to 3.268v. Starting the long slow process to top balance these ..
 
The other 7 cartons arrived a week later.. in similar nick and condition. All appear physically OK, no obvious dents etc. Voltages all seem as per the labels attached and range over 52 cells from 3.257 to 3.268v. Starting the long slow process to top balance these ..
And like others have reported they seem slightly (?) different batches with some having the blue ring around the vent foil vrs most grey, and the number printed next to the OCR stamped on the top is obscured mostly by the top covers.

I am very un-nerved about Basen doing their own pvc wrap, and potentially masking different batches etc. Time will tell if the price is fair and the performance reasonable for these. Seems very odd that a vendor would ship to them without the wrap ? Given its needed as the cases a linked (via some resistance ) to the positive.
 
And like others have reported they seem slightly (?) different batches with some having the blue ring around the vent foil vrs most grey, and the number printed next to the OCR stamped on the top is obscured mostly by the top covers.

I am very un-nerved about Basen doing their own pvc wrap, and potentially masking different batches etc. Time will tell if the price is fair and the performance reasonable for these. Seems very odd that a vendor would ship to them without the wrap ? Given its needed as the cases a linked (via some resistance ) to the positive.
That seems to be normal, BigBattery wraps its own batteries too.
 
VAT is always a pita. With DDP it’s not your concern, perfect for private orders.
However, if you’re selling it you need to add VAT. If you don’t have a VAT invoice you can’t deduct the paid VAT from the price you initially paid (leaving only the VAT on your profit), at least, thats how it works here in NL.

I think its better to buy DAP in those cases, so you will do the VAT yourself (ups/fedex will probably send you a tax invoice) or workout with the seller if their broker in the EU (who manages the ddp part - the import duties and taxes) if they can provide you a vat-free shipment (as it was a sale within the eu - you need to provide your vat no)

But it might have been easier to figure that out upfront..)
Maybe specify your country, someone might have some knowledge about the vat rules in your country and provide some hints to handle ddp sales for a company.
I also purchased 52 Cells from Basen ship to France. They took 82days to arrive from order. The auto 'complete' fn of alibaba un-nerved me too and released my funds saying the order was complete after 60 days. I paid DDP and received no paperwork about VAT. But considering it was AUD$1000 for shipping (AUD$5000 for the 52 cells) there is no room for VAT at 21% or so and shipping costs , so I dont know how they get this stuff legally into France at these prices.
That seems to be normal, BigBattery wraps its own batteries too.
Yes I saw a video of that. But the letter Basen provided claimed it was due to a Lishen shipping without PVC due to 'time delivery' , implying its not their normal practice. But BigBattery seem to get them that way deliberately. Has anyone managed to get them direct from Lishen ? at what price ? It all smells to me like these are not their 'Grade A' items, but time will tell how they test out.
 
who, so cheap! I only need ~1 kwh of capacity. I'd buy one, but the voltage is only 3.2v so I don't think it'd make sense.
 
who, so cheap! I only need ~1 kwh of capacity. I'd buy one, but the voltage is only 3.2v so I don't think it'd make sense.
You can get smaller units .. eg 100AH .. add 4 of those and a BMS, and you have a 12V 100AH approx 1.2kwH unit.. similar prices per kwH
 
What sort of self-discharge rate is there on a product like this? Does it make sense as an emergency backup or do they go flat in a month not being used?
 
Wow, looks like I need to read more closely through these spec sheets, thanks. Incidentally, those self discharge curves look better than I would've expected.
 
Back
Top