Senbury LiFepo4 cells 280ah

[shavermcspud]

I have had a reply from Chargery and they asked me to run the same tests as outlined in the manual and discussed on here.
Measure the resitance between balance port -9 +9 +10 +11 and so on and as confirmed before they are way out hence the weird voltage readings.

They have confirmed that unit needs recalibrating and that can only be done at the factory. So i need to return just the BMS part and not the screen itself.

I have two of these both with the same issue don't forget.

Now for the biggest issue for me is the cost, to get any reasonable turn around time i need to air freight both ways and pay the import again once they are returned. the costs for this is coming out at £160 / $200 insured plus what ever import i get stung for, last time is was £45 / $60 per unit.

Its cheaper for me just to buy a new base BMS unit, I get they are offering to fix it FOC at the factory but ive had two faulty units from the get go.

After reading other peoples horror stories, it seems I'm not alone with the issues I've had, I'm tempted just to throw them in the bin and get the Daly smart bms units for the same cost it would be to return these for repair.

Just a bit of a rant really, but I feel quite ripped off now.

Thoughts?

 

[Luthj]

I wonder if an isolated DC-DC external power supply might fix your issue? Would probably be cheaper than a new BMS.

 

[shavermcspud]

I wonder if an isolated DC-DC external power supply might fix your issue? Would probably be cheaper than a new BMS.

I purchased the Chargery based on the safety aspect and the visual display so that I could check on the cells with the screen mounted in my entrance hall. Im happy to be advised with new ideas, I just think the Chargery after support is total rubbish

 

[Gazoo]

Just a bit of a rant really, but I feel quite ripped off now.

I don't blame you. Calibration should have been done properly before the units were sent out. This is more than a matter of recalibration. I would look at it as poor quality control based on the posts from you and others with the same problem. I would insist Chargery pays for air freight both ways or send you a new BMS unit at no charge. That's my 2 cents.

I have been keeping up with your posts and am sorry you have had to go through this.

 

[shavermcspud]

I don't blame you. Calibration should have been done properly before the units were sent out. This is more than a matter of recalibration. I would look at it as poor quality control based on the posts from you and others with the same problem. I would insist Chargery pays for air freight both ways or send you a new BMS unit at no charge. That's my 2 cents.

I have been keeping up with your posts and am sorry you have had to go through this.

That is what I am trying to get out of them, I have said I am not prepared to pay for shipping on an item that was defective from new, and not just one, but two units. and its clear after searching google I am one of many many people that have had this same issue, some with huge detriment to their battery packs costing them thousands in damaged cells. It would seem to me a batch(es) have been shipped with firmware than has been misconfigured on cell voltages and this has been burned in from the factory.

I havent seen any issues online with the 8 or 24 cell BMS just the 16

Again this is always the issue with buying from China and they know full well that there is little a buyer can do from thousands of miles away be it the UK, USA or Europe

As you have probably seen from my other thread, I buy hundreds of thousand of dollars worth of kit from China every year and generally fly over once a year to inspect the process prior to shipment so I have some comeback but that's not feasible with a smaller value items, if travel would permit this year, id rock up at their factory.

Feel well and truly ripped off at this point, my next call will be a credit card charge back. not sure if that will work but we shall see.

 

[Gazoo]

Feel well and truly ripped off at this point, my next call will be a credit card charge back. not sure if that will work but we shall see.

I was going to suggest that but you know what you are doing. Suggest when speaking to the CC company refer to the purchase as a defective product as you indicated. You have plenty of evidence on your side. Hopefully they will be on your side and reimburse you the full amount for both the Chargerys.

 

[shavermcspud]

I will give it a go tomorrow and see what happens. In the mean time, the search continues for a new BMS with display.
I have completely removed the chargery unit and left the pack connected directly to my inverter, came home today and manually checked the cell voltages with the inverter showing 90% SOC and every cell was in check so ill run with that for the time being.

 

[Mark H.]

I'm new to this subject, but as I was looking at those 280amp cells to purchase...are they worth recommending? I'm not willing to invest large amounts of time diagnosing problems and would want to slap on a Daly and it work.

 

[Dzl]

I'm new to this subject, but as I was looking at those 280amp cells to purchase...are they worth recommending? I'm not willing to invest large amounts of time diagnosing problems and would want to slap on a Daly and it work.

They are extremely popular on this site (EVE 280 Ah cells) in the last 6-8 months. And most people are pretty satisfied.

It is important to understand where they sit in the market place, and calibrate your expectations. They are bargain basement (best $/kWh) priced, grey market cells being sold at a deep discount relative to the cost for the same cells new from the manufacturer or official distributors. They are known to be EVE cells, but are not supported by the manufacturer, and the supply chain, and the reason for the deep discount is not known, nor is the cell grade. So far most people report they perform well enough for solar/energy storage applications, though its important to remember our experience with them is only about 8 months old. Decent resellers should do basic matching which is very different from what is meant by 'matched cells'. Lately it seems many people are finding that an active balancer is necessary to keep the cells balanced due to the large cell size and the rough matching. All things considered, at this point, I would consider them to be a very good deal so long as you understand that there are many unknowns and some amount of risk buying grey market cells from alibaba resellers. For some applications and use-cases these cells are not the best choice, and for others they represent a very good value (and the amount of people using them and amount of info and mindshare here on them adds value).

As for the seller Shay bought from, they are relatively new to us, there have been a few successful purchases and positive experiences. I personally like the seller from my minimal interaction with them, but have no experience with them and would not explicitly recommend them or fully trust them without more information. I don't know of any negative experiences other than one person being upset that the shipping costs were changed in between their original quote and their final order, and possibly Shay would not consider his experience positive, though it sounds like he determined that his initial grievance was misplaced and it was a BMS problem not a cell problem.

 

[Mark H.]

I appreciated your lengthily reply. It seems to boil down to how much one cares should they fail; for 500 bucks (compared to 3K for Battleborn equal) it might be worth it...

Given the intermittent and occasional duty of using them in my RV...methinks it might be worth it...have to give it more thought tho.

Thanks...

 

[Gazoo]

I'm new to this subject, but as I was looking at those 280amp cells to purchase...are they worth recommending? I'm not willing to invest large amounts of time diagnosing problems and would want to slap on a Daly and it work.

Another possibility for you is to check the group buy thread. The main reason I purchased from Michael was for state side support. Should a cell fail he will replace it and then deal with the supplier. Mine should be here very soon as I was in the first group that he ordered for.

 

[Dzl]

Another possibility for you is to check the group buy thread. The main reason I purchased from Michael was for state side support. Should a cell fail he will replace it and then deal with the supplier. Mine should be here very soon as I was in the first group that he ordered for.

If I were in the market for 280's right now, that would be my first choice. Competitive price and some other advantages if all goes well.

 

[Gazoo]

If I were in the market for 280's right now, that would be my first choice. Competitive price and some other advantages if all goes well.

Yeah...I am happy the way things turned out so I was able to order from him. He can get quotes for other cells. It doesn't have to be 280's although I think that's the best deal as far as cost per watt hours.

 

[Dzl]

I appreciated your lengthily reply. It seems to boil down to how much one cares should they fail; for 500 bucks (compared to 3K for Battleborn equal) it might be worth it...

Yeah I see battleborn vs commodity cells from an overseas grey market reseller as roughly opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of risk/responsibility/uncertainty/ vs cost. And then there are a handful of options that fall somewhere in between. And like you identified, the comparatively lower cost of grey market cells, makes the inherent risks more acceptable.

 

[Capt Bill]

$4 per Kilo shipping by train.

Wondering What Country you live in and ship to? I am from Northern California, .. noticing this forum covers the world. I noticed those studs and nuts on your battery terminals. I had to order such from eBay to do that on my 280Ah LiFePO4s, as my April Xuba order came with supplied clamp down screws, and some of them would bottom out before clamping down the supplied bus bar, which would required a washer adjustment to make tight. ... I later noticed a slight thicker and wider, better bus bar (for C Rating) came with my Xuba replacement battery. I think it is Good to see studs and nuts type clamp downs on these LiFePO4 terminals.

 

[Honuz]

Its my first outing with it, It cuts off on charge mode when the current drops to 10ma @3.65v , ive hooked it up to my network so its logging the charge curve to my NAS drive. so far its been blanacing for 6 hours and only dropped 160ma

Wouldn't it better to constrain cells before charging them...?

 

[Sverige]

I have had a reply from Chargery and they asked me to run the same tests as outlined in the manual and discussed on here.
Measure the resitance between balance port -9 +9 +10 +11 and so on and as confirmed before they are way out hence the weird voltage readings.

They have confirmed that unit needs recalibrating and that can only be done at the factory. So i need to return just the BMS part and not the screen itself.

I have two of these both with the same issue don't forget.

Now for the biggest issue for me is the cost, to get any reasonable turn around time i need to air freight both ways and pay the import again once they are returned. the costs for this is coming out at £160 / $200 insured plus what ever import i get stung for, last time is was £45 / $60 per unit.

Its cheaper for me just to buy a new base BMS unit, I get they are offering to fix it FOC at the factory but ive had two faulty units from the get go.

After reading other peoples horror stories, it seems I'm not alone with the issues I've had, I'm tempted just to throw them in the bin and get the Daly smart bms units for the same cost it would be to return these for repair.

Just a bit of a rant really, but I feel quite ripped off now.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that they should be liable for the cost of the cells their faulty equipment has destroyed, plus your time and trouble!

 

[Sverige]

Wondering What Country you live in and ship to? I am from Northern California, .. noticing this forum covers the world. I noticed those studs and nuts on your battery terminals. I had to order such from eBay to do that on my 280Ah LiFePO4s, as my April Xuba order came with supplied clamp down screws, and some of them would bottom out before clamping down the supplied bus bar, which would required a washer adjustment to make tight. ... I later noticed a slight thicker and wider, better bus bar (for C Rating) came with my Xuba replacement battery. I think it is Good to see studs and nuts type clamp downs on these LiFePO4 terminals.

He’s said earlier in the thread that he’s in the U.K.