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Sok battery size difference

Hawg

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Jan 24, 2021
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Just purchased these two 100 amp-hour sok batteries 1 is 3/8 of an inch taller everything else is the same does anybody else come across this
 

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A different run of cases/housings.
The lifepo cells are contained inside. You could ask them to exchange one if it's going to make a difference in your mounting/placement.
 
I would ask for replacement with a matching set…
or a refund and get the AO batteries Will tested recently with 200a draw capability!
 
I would ask for replacement with a matching set…
or a refund and get the AO batteries Will tested recently with 200a draw capability!
Not sure if I would recommend doing that very long though. I like the fact that it has its own Bluetooth BMS. Wish SOK offered that.
 
Not sure if I would recommend doing that very long though. I like the fact that it has its own Bluetooth BMS. Wish SOK offered that.
If you’re referring to pulling 200amps for an extended time or regularly, I agree.
Will did for over 27 min though, impressive the battery pulled that off. Nice to know you can if you need to!
And yes the Bluetooth would be a nice feature as well. I wonder if a time will come soon when most batteries 100ah and over will have bluetooth bms, hi/low temp controls, a good heat sink setup, and be able to handle a 200a discharge rate for at least 20 min.
Imo, it would make sense for battery mfgs to offer good/better/best options. And better yet, an international standard for those categories.
 
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Just got on the SOK Battery website. Apparently they now offer a BMS as well as batteries with bluetooth capability. Does anyone have any video or reviews of this?

 
Just got on the SOK Battery website. Apparently they now offer a BMS as well as batteries with bluetooth capability. Does anyone have any video or reviews of this?

See:

 
See:

Thank you. I searched but didn't see that thread. I will be interested to see someone show the BT functionality and ability to edit parameters on a video in the future and do a comparison with other BMS's. Maybe @Will Prowse would like to do a little review?
 
Yeah, I have one. The app didn't work at first so they updated it. Haven't checked all functions but it seemed nice. I'll probably make a video on it in due time. Trying to crank out multiple projects right now.
 
I have the same situation as OP. The original SOKs that I got a few months ago are the shorter ones. There all a little narrower, side to side.

The original ones are easy to take apart, with the BMS attached to the top of the battery lid.

I tried to take the new ones apart and now the BMS is attached somehow to the batteries, at least that's what it looked like. I could only get the lid off about 3/4 of an inch and then the cables seemed very tight. The reason that I got the SOK was the ability to easily get in and replace a cell if necessary. Has anyone had these new ones apart yet? It looks like you might have to disconnect the wire lug on the inside from the top connector to get the top off...I hope not. I like a metal case, but there's a lot of possibility of shorting out if you have to disconnect both leads to get the top off. Any help would be appreciated.

Thx
 
any help at all?
Looks like Will has a new video showing the changes to this newer style battery. You are correct, they changed from using wires to connect to the battery terminals to using solid copper bars. This gives the battery a much better connection and allows for more current to pass thru at a higher rate of charge/discharge. A much better design for sure but also a little more difficult to disassemble. It does not look like it’s difficult to do at all but certainly is not as easy as the prior configuration. The trick is to be very careful of a short but I feel this is still very user friendly and I am in no way unsatisfied with this new design.
I’d be interested in what you think of this new design. It sounds like you may be a little disappointed but it’s better than tearing apart a plastic battery box with a Dremel and not being able to reassemble it.
 
Thx for the reply. Will didn't show the entire disassembly, but enough to know that I was correct in my assumption that I'd need to disconnect each lead....and yea....I'm worried about shorting something out.. ;) I like explosions....as long as they are on purpose and far away!

More concerning though is his statement that these new batteries should not be put in series...the two new 12v that I purchased are for a 24v system, so I'm going to have to contact SOK and see if they even offer the older batteries anymore.

As for my thoughts on the design....I'm too new to this to really have an opinion other than the entire reason that I went with SOK was the user serviceability of these batteries and being able to swap out single cells as necessary.

On another note, I don't currently have any of the various tools that Will uses to charge/discharge etc. Do I need to get something that will allow me to balance charge these up prior to first usage?

Thx again!
 
In my opinion. Putting batteries in series is a lead acid thing. With lithium, you should buy the proper battery.
 
Thx for the reply. Will didn't show the entire disassembly, but enough to know that I was correct in my assumption that I'd need to disconnect each lead....and yea....I'm worried about shorting something out.. ;) I like explosions....as long as they are on purpose and far away!

More concerning though is his statement that these new batteries should not be put in series...the two new 12v that I purchased are for a 24v system, so I'm going to have to contact SOK and see if they even offer the older batteries anymore.

As for my thoughts on the design....I'm too new to this to really have an opinion other than the entire reason that I went with SOK was the user serviceability of these batteries and being able to swap out single cells as necessary.

On another note, I don't currently have any of the various tools that Will uses to charge/discharge etc. Do I need to get something that will allow me to balance charge these up prior to first usage?

Thx again!
I actually have one of each of the different sizes and revisions as you do. One is a month old and the other is maybe 8 months old now with maybe 15 charge cycles on it. I’m using them in a 12V configuration though. All I did is charge each one separately and then combined them together. I’ve had a couple charges on them now that they are combined and they are working perfectly and in harmony. Not sure what difference combining them in series would be but I would imagine a top charge on each would be just fine. I too would have rather had the same size batteries whether they be old style or new but I’m not seeing any incompatibilities so other then esthetics it’s not really too concerning.
I wouldn’t worry about the ability to tear them apart until you actually need to do that and even then, SOK will probably warranty the product so you may not even need to worry about anything anyway. Don’t overthink it. Just use them as intended and you’ll be fine.
 
Not sure what difference combining them in series would be but I would imagine a top charge on each would be just fine.
The problem with putting BMS's in series. Is that they will never stay equal with each other. Each BMS will balance their own cells, independently. Which will throw them out of balance with each other.
 
In my opinion. Putting batteries in series is a lead acid thing. With lithium, you should buy the proper battery.
Not sure why you would say this since even a single 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 has 4 single cells in series. What’s the difference in connecting 8 single cells or two 4 cell banks in series when the manufacturer says it’s fine and warrants their product for that kind of configuration?
 
Not sure why you would say this since even a single 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 has 4 single cells in series. What’s the difference in connecting 8 single cells or two 4 cell banks in series when the manufacturer says it’s fine and warrants their product for that kind of configuration?
Explained above
 
The problem with putting BMS's in series. Is that they will never stay equal with each other. Each BMS will balance their own cells, independently. Which will throw them out of balance with each other.
I can see your point but I’m not sure it’s really a serious issue in the hundreds if not thousands of real life applications out there. Again, I have my system in parallel and retaining the 12v configuration so maybe it’s just something I haven’t looked into but each BMS is different and I haven’t seen anyone complain yet about this happening with the SOK BMS.
 
Are there any BMS systems out there that will communicate with each other over Bluetooth and prevent this drift between banks?
 
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