Status thread: 32x 280Ah cells from Shenzhen Haomi through Alibaba

[upnorthandpersonal]

Instead of adding to existing threads and making them more convoluted, I thought I start a new thread with status updates on my order of 32 LiFePO4 cells from the company mentioned in the title.

First impressions: fast response, answered all questions. The person I talked to (@Anny jiang) is also on this forum, but doesn't seem active.
They also sent pictures and video (both personalized) without me explicitly asking for them. From the video it shows the tested cells are all at the same voltage (although the video quality could be better - I mentioned that and they replied they pay attention next time). I'll post the pictures here later when I get home.

As soon as I get the cells (which might take a while with the current situation) I will do extensive testing and report the results in this thread.

Product link: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/3-2V-280AH-Lifepo4-Battery-Deep_62330887817.html

 

[Steve_S]

Excellent, people are always looking for good vendors with good product and the 280's are popular too... gee I wonder why LOL
Let us know how you make out with the testing and how you are testing them out. I am still waiting on the cell charger before I can start my test cycle.

I will be using 180W tester and separate charger unit to charge the individual cells. Links & Info below

Cell Tester: (Tall one is 180W) like the one Will used

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/8-In-1-150W-180W-Digital_62090055059.html?spm=a2700.12243863.0.0.ca1a3e5fdyjEKk

Cell Charger:
Grey 3V -15V 50A : voltage meets range 3v-15v with anti-reverse protection
* Cheaper if bought on Aliexpress. Vendor is "icgogogo" (not one I like much)

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[upnorthandpersonal]

I just bought the 180W tester so we can 'standardize' testing

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Initial pictures (bat_1 and bat_2) and two screenshots from the video they sent (bat_3 and bat_4) attached. As I mentioned, the video quality was bad, but still enough to see the value (all between 3.29 and 3.30). As I mentioned, they would pay more attention to this in the future.

Now we wait until they arrive, which might take a while...

 

[Steve_S]

Oooohhhhh Aahhhhh I can tell you got the "ITCH" now comes the hard part - waiting for them to arrive ! PS: goto barber shop and get a crew cut if you want to keep hair on your head... or shave it, less painful than pulling out the hair ! <<_grins_>> hehehe

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Nah, I've got time. Too many other things to do. Besides, this is my personal second large-ish system - all for the new place (you might remember). I'm patient; my 20x 500W solar panels are on the slow boat as well and will take 2 months to get here. If all goes planned, the rest of the stuff at the place will be done just in time when the panels arrive. Patience is a virtue

 

[the_tux]

I want to build a 48v kit and I'm a little scared by the idea having to rely on one BMS. What's your guys opinion on 16x280Ah vs 32x something-smaller in 16S2P. Is it just me being paranoid?

Also: what other supplier do we have here that are known for quality? Amy just recommended me to wait for a few weeks due to high shipping costs to Europe (for any battery). The lady from Haomi quoted me quite reasonable $428.9 for shipping by rail (door to door, 28 days, customs included).
After asking at Xuba for rail shipping Amy said trains are suspended for now.
Not sure who to belive here.

P.S. I actually wanted to post this on the Xuba thread because of my 2nd question but let's leave it here.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Redundancy is a good thing - you can treat both packs of 16 cells as individual batteries with their own BMS.

 

[Steve_S]

I want to build a 48v kit and I'm a little scared by the idea having to rely on one BMS. What's your guys opinion on 16x280Ah vs 32x something-smaller in 16S2P. Is it just me being paranoid?

Also: what other supplier do we have here that are known for quality? Amy just recommended me to wait for a few weeks due to high shipping costs to Europe (for any battery). The lady from Haomi quoted me quite reasonable $428.9 for shipping by rail (door to door, 28 days, customs included).
After asking at Xuba for rail shipping Amy said trains are suspended for now.
Not sure who to belive here.

P.S. I actually wanted to post this on the Xuba thread because of my 2nd question but let's leave it here.

KISS rules apply, especially with solar systems. 16x280AH = 48VDC and uses a single 16S BMS which is the more practical & logical. People use the smaller cells because they have normally been the cheapest out there but now that 200AH+ cells are dropping in cost, it's much more practical to use the larger cells. There IS a reason that some companies make 1000AH cells.

With regards to Rail in EU, some have shuttered rail as well, I believe Poland & Hungary are two that did, possibly others, I am not 100% sure as things seem to be changing hourly ! Everyone will remain confused for at least a few more weeks as things evolve / devolve.

 

[Anny jiang]

Initial pictures (bat_1 and bat_2) and two screenshots from the video they sent (bat_3 and bat_4) attached. As I mentioned, the video quality was bad, but still enough to see the value (all between 3.29 and 3.30). As I mentioned, they would pay more attention to this in the future.

Now we wait until they arrive, which might take a while...

View attachment 9184 View attachment 9185 View attachment 9186 View attachment 9187

thank you very much

 

[TommyD]

Looks like you may be making 1 Big Battery of 16 Cells in Series, 2 in Parallel (16s2p) You know, what is correct way to indicate how battery put together; seems like I have seen it both ways (2p16s) ?? Have you considered, 2 24 volt batteries in series or 4 12 volt batteries in series? Would appreciate your thoughts as this seems to be what I will need in the future.

 

[ghostwriter66]

I just bought the 180W tester so we can 'standardize' testing

So did I ...

I am still waiting for my Charger and Tester to show up ... (I thought for sure that me throwing in a little bit of Chinese out there while ordering would have allowed me to use my "Chinese Privileged card" but apparently that was a NO-GO ... (trying to be funny this early in the morning at work)

 

[ghostwriter66]

Now we wait until they arrive, which might take a while...

And make sure you do like everyone else and check the tracking number 10 times a day and then start wondering on Day 2 why it hasn't shown up and that everything must have gone wrong ... LOL




Now thats 's funny -- last week Border Patrol and the Texas Highway Patrol posted literally the same picture of a delivery coming across the border - BUT I don't think it was LiFePO4's ...

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

I might consider a 96V one to be honest. However, 16 cells per BMS is fine. Redundancy is good, but too many parts that could fail is not. Also, you can supply a higher current by having 2 x 16 cells in parallel than having essentially 12V xAh battery packs in series.

 

[TommyD]

...and carrying on; some of you are great with the Diagrams; I would love to see the 3 options set out in a Diagram and how the 1 - 2 or 3 BMS(s) are connected?

 

[TommyD]

...now see there are more than 3 options; would love to see all the options in diagrams!

 

[TommyD]

...so, after letting some of the early morning coffee flow through the System, seems options are as set out below. If you want a 48V system, then 2 configurations for Batteries. Seems 1 needs 2 16s BMS and the other only needs 1 16s BMS.
Is this basically right? Is one of these 2 battery configurations preferred over the other?
Thanks, Starting to rethink the idea of now buying cells versus pre built batteries because of the import duties and fees I would face.

	3.2 V - 280 AH Cells			kWh
1 Battery	32 Cells in Series	96 volts	280Ah	26.88
2 Batteries	16 Cells in Series	48 Volts	280 Ah
	16 Cells in Series	48 Volts	280 Ah
	Put in Parallel	48 Volts	560 Ah	26.88
OR
	2 Cells in Parallel	3 volts	560 Ah
	16 - 2Packs in Series	48 Volts	560 Ah	26.88
4 Batteries	8 Cells in Series	24 Volts	280 Ah
	8 Cells in Series	24 Volts	280 Ah
	8 Cells in Series	24 Volts	280 Ah
	8 Cells in Series	24 Volts	280 Ah
	Put in Parallel	24 Volts	1120 Ah	26.88

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

You want one BMS lead per cell. Technically you can parallel individual cells per two and assign one BMS sense wire to it, but I wouldn't do that. Spend the money on a BMS to protect your expensive cells; each cell deserves to be monitored on its own.

 

[Steve_S]

2x, 16 cell 280AH packs in parallel, each with it's own BMS for 48V/560AH (26kwh)
2 in Parallel properly done can share load & charging more or less equally. If one pack fails / shuts off your still up & running giving you time to address whatever issue arose.
Equipment above 48V is PREMIUM ! Additionally, should things fail and you need replacement components, 48V and lower stuff is MUCH easier to get anywhere than anything with a higher voltage. Lastly, many companies, even Tier-1 producers, do not support anything above 48V at this time.

 

[LiFer]

I'm building a similar system and was considering 3 banks of 16 280AH batteries. Rationale:
I read elsewhere that a 40A charge current (and conservative DC min/max) will net me 5000 full charge cycles.
40A x 3 banks == 120A so I can still charge at a reasonable rate.

Crazy? Unnecessary?

P.S. Another reason for the bigger battery is that I want my system to be able to power the house and charge a Tesla from 70% to 80% every day. I'm wiring the garage with 240V from 3 parallel LV5048 so I should be able to get the full wall charging speed (11.5kW).