Stay away from REPT 320 AH and Yixiang New Energy

[AGuyFromTexas]

A few months ago, I bought 3 DIY battery boxes and 48 REPT 320 AH cells from Yixiang off of Alibaba, this has to be the worst decision I have ever made. The boxes seem decent, not as impressive as Andy from OGG made them seem, however the cells re HORRIBLE!!! None of them are matched whatsoever! Not only are the capacities different ranging from 318 AH to 334 AH, the curves are different so it is impossible to top balance these during normal use as the 2 amp balancer in the JK cannot keep up. When I first received the cells I capacity tested all of them and matched them up in a battery box and put them in service. After a couple of weeks I noticed in the middle of the day I would have 300+ mV deviation between cells when charging from solar because the BMS would stop charging from a cell over-volage. I am now in the process of capacity testing all of them again trying to get Yixiang to replace the cells but they are now telling me the EBC -A40L is an inaccurate tool and the cells were tested and matched at their warehouse. After less than 30 cycles, some of these cells I've tested so far have lost almost 10 AH, but none of them are doing so equally! PLEASE stay away from REPT and YIXIANG!

 

[~Yuri~]

It sounds like sir, you have a problem not with the cells, but with the charge and balance settings. I would try charging the lagging cells separately. And see how the battery behaves after charging.
Andy from OGG on his personal site has some settings for working with solar panels. Check your settings with his settings. I think you will find differences between his settings and your own.

 

[Robbert]

As Yuri mentioned, it could be very plausible that your balancer settings need some adjustments.

At what voltage do you start balancing and at what voltage do you stop?

Can you share a screenshot of your BMS settings?

 

[AGuyFromTexas]

Sorry everyone, for some reason I was not receiving notifications for this. With my RCV set to 3.4 volts and RFV also set to 3.4v it is manageable and the cells still somewhat come to a full charge and I no longer get high voltage disconnects. Although, on the worst matched battery, a couple of cells do get very close to hitting high voltage disconnect. I feel that “Brand New, Grade A, Matched” cells should not have this issue. There’s 10AH difference between these cells. I’m very familiar with all of Andy’s videos and I know he likes to charge at a lower voltage, but there are LIFEPO4, calendar aging will kill them before full charge cycles will. So, I want to be able to truly have the batteries fully charged as quick as possible and balanced/matched so I can actually get 325+ AH per pack if/when I were to need it. Everyone will have their own opinion on this, but that still doesn’t change the fact that I was sold “matched” cells when they clearly were not.

 

[740GLE]

Do you have plans to buy more cells? If so, I’d be curious who’d you lean towards.

It’s good to have high expectations for what you spent your money on, but sometimes it bites you in the butt when reality sets in when dealing with these Ali cell dealers.

If I paid a premium for cells, Id expect a premium, if I bought “value cells” id be fine with this kinda of deviation knowing id saved a few $.

I can’t think of a time Yixiang was mentioned as a
A+ seller of quality cells matched and batched.

 

[Brucey]

The other thing is when they start up a new line there can be a bunch of trash early on. So be careful of new capacities/"models" until they have proven themselves. But requires patience...

 

[miran90]

A few months ago, I bought 3 DIY battery boxes and 48 REPT 320 AH cells from Yixiang off of Alibaba, this has to be the worst decision I have ever made. The boxes seem decent, not as impressive as Andy from OGG made them seem, however the cells re HORRIBLE!!! None of them are matched whatsoever! Not only are the capacities different ranging from 318 AH to 334 AH, the curves are different so it is impossible to top balance these during normal use as the 2 amp balancer in the JK cannot keep up. When I first received the cells I capacity tested all of them and matched them up in a battery box and put them in service. After a couple of weeks I noticed in the middle of the day I would have 300+ mV deviation between cells when charging from solar because the BMS would stop charging from a cell over-volage. I am now in the process of capacity testing all of them again trying to get Yixiang to replace the cells but they are now telling me the EBC -A40L is an inaccurate tool and the cells were tested and matched at their warehouse. After less than 30 cycles, some of these cells I've tested so far have lost almost 10 AH, but none of them are doing so equally! PLEASE stay away from REPT and YIXIANG!

In my rept pack I have 5 cells died after 4 months. They became like balloon I didn't like them from the beginning but now after replacing some cells the seem to give 270ah you cab check.

Worst decision I made.