My current system is 12v 100Ah lead acid from 2020. (to get through load shedding (utility power goes off for 2.5 hours) when it happens (random frequency))
12v 100Ah (50Ah usable) is just barely enough currently, and I want to also start powering lights etc and I have capacity anxiety so I want to upgrade capacity.
I was planning to get another 12v 100Ah batt, and parallel it with my current battery. Or possibly 2x 12v and run a 24v system instead and keep this running as a 12v system (run both for different loads, and redundancy)
I know Will thinks that you shouldn't parallel lead acids of different ages, but I've done it a lot. I was running my 2020 12v 100Ah battery parallel with my 2013 100Ah and a friend's 2015 100Ah for a few months, but my 2013 battery died and I gave the friend back his battery, which is still going strong.
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So I assumed I'd buy more Lead Acid. But I'm aware of LiFePO's superiority but always assumed it was too expensive.
I saw videos by americans/europeans saying they got 4x 280Ah cells for around $500 shipped from China.
Looks like those prices aren't available at the moment?
What has changed?
Is it just high shipping costs?
(perhaps the right move is to buy Lead Acid again and wait/see if the world calms down and shipping prices retrace to normality)
When I search AliExpress, filter by Delivered to South Africa and set prices to USD. I see most of the shipping prices are crazy high.
What capacity cells do you recommend for getting a decent price per shipped Ah? I want at least 80Ah usable capacity of Lithium.
Since shipping is likely a huge % of total cost of buying cells from China, it seems wisest to just buy 280Ah cells or whatever?
I see people buying/selling 40Ah cells and it just doesn't make much sense to me.
I tried searching this forum. I couldn't find much current recommendations for particular AliExpress sellers.
I don't mind running a lower capacity cell at higher voltage. In fact I prefer higher battery bank voltages because then I can use thinner cables.
I'm considering getting 1 or more big solar panels or even a wind gen, so additional capacity won't be wasted.
I'd like to spend $500~1000 on cells.
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Then I'd probably run a Daly BMS.
Regarding the Daly BMS's (or clones thereof sold on Amazon) Let's assume I get one without the bluetooth (I prefer a BMS without bluetooth/wifi, would rather configure it another way, unless you can disable the wifi/bluetooth after configuring)... how do you set your cutoff voltage ranges or set limits on charge/discharge %?
Currently I'm using a 720W UPS that has 10 or 20A (selectable) charge capability. It charges at 14.4v but then drops the voltage down to a float of 13.6 after it's finished charging. It's designed for lead acid of course.
Because LiFePO4 12v banks run in a tigher range than lead acid (for over discharge and overcharge protection) Can I simply connect the Daly BMS to the UPS and the Daly BMS will protect the lithium cells from under/over charge?
12v 100Ah (50Ah usable) is just barely enough currently, and I want to also start powering lights etc and I have capacity anxiety so I want to upgrade capacity.
I was planning to get another 12v 100Ah batt, and parallel it with my current battery. Or possibly 2x 12v and run a 24v system instead and keep this running as a 12v system (run both for different loads, and redundancy)
I know Will thinks that you shouldn't parallel lead acids of different ages, but I've done it a lot. I was running my 2020 12v 100Ah battery parallel with my 2013 100Ah and a friend's 2015 100Ah for a few months, but my 2013 battery died and I gave the friend back his battery, which is still going strong.
------------------------
So I assumed I'd buy more Lead Acid. But I'm aware of LiFePO's superiority but always assumed it was too expensive.
I saw videos by americans/europeans saying they got 4x 280Ah cells for around $500 shipped from China.
Looks like those prices aren't available at the moment?
What has changed?
Is it just high shipping costs?
(perhaps the right move is to buy Lead Acid again and wait/see if the world calms down and shipping prices retrace to normality)
When I search AliExpress, filter by Delivered to South Africa and set prices to USD. I see most of the shipping prices are crazy high.
What capacity cells do you recommend for getting a decent price per shipped Ah? I want at least 80Ah usable capacity of Lithium.
Since shipping is likely a huge % of total cost of buying cells from China, it seems wisest to just buy 280Ah cells or whatever?
I see people buying/selling 40Ah cells and it just doesn't make much sense to me.
I tried searching this forum. I couldn't find much current recommendations for particular AliExpress sellers.
I don't mind running a lower capacity cell at higher voltage. In fact I prefer higher battery bank voltages because then I can use thinner cables.
I'm considering getting 1 or more big solar panels or even a wind gen, so additional capacity won't be wasted.
I'd like to spend $500~1000 on cells.
----------------
Then I'd probably run a Daly BMS.
Regarding the Daly BMS's (or clones thereof sold on Amazon) Let's assume I get one without the bluetooth (I prefer a BMS without bluetooth/wifi, would rather configure it another way, unless you can disable the wifi/bluetooth after configuring)... how do you set your cutoff voltage ranges or set limits on charge/discharge %?
Currently I'm using a 720W UPS that has 10 or 20A (selectable) charge capability. It charges at 14.4v but then drops the voltage down to a float of 13.6 after it's finished charging. It's designed for lead acid of course.
Because LiFePO4 12v banks run in a tigher range than lead acid (for over discharge and overcharge protection) Can I simply connect the Daly BMS to the UPS and the Daly BMS will protect the lithium cells from under/over charge?
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