Weize Batteries Arrive With BMS Shut Down

[AZRoadrunner]

I ordered three Weize 24v 200ah batteries and two of them arrived with the BMS shut down due to the SOC being at or near the low voltage disconnect. To say the least, I'm pissed off. The batteries may be perfectly fine, but it's created a costly nuisance -- I didn't have a 24-volt LiFepo4 charger that could restore a charge with a battery in this state (that's arriving later today). I know I took some chances by ordering Chinese batteries, but delivering batteries with such a low charge level that the BMS has shut down is absolutely ridiculous. Just something to keep in mind if you're shopping for batteries and considering Weize. I'm not suggesting to never do business with them, but to just be prepared.

 

[Jim in Florida]

I got lucky last year, I saw the Weize 12v 100 amp advertised for $249. I took a chance and ordered one. It arrived in good shape. I went back on Amazon to order a second one and found the company no longer listed. The next day I found another battery with the same shipping info as the first one. Still company not listed. A couple months later Amazon changed my order details to show I purchased AGM.
They are way to light to be AGM and appear to work well.

 

[Q-Dog]

As long as they have the advertised capacity I wouldn't care if the BMS is on or off when I get them.

 

[AZRoadrunner]

As long as they have the advertised capacity I wouldn't care if the BMS is on or off when I get them.

Good point. And I should have a good quality 24 volt standalone charger, anyway (I'm partial to Victron, so I ordered one of theirs, which has the recovery capabilities). It still seems absurd, though, that they can't deliver a battery that isn't so low the BMS has given up.

 

[AZRoadrunner]

So I received the Victron IP22 charger and the BMS in the two batteries will not wake up. Are there any other tricks I can try? Otherwise, those two batteries are going to have to go back for exchange.

 

[Q-Dog]

Maybe they have failed. What does the vendor say?

 

[AZRoadrunner]

Maybe they have failed. What does the vendor say?

I have a call into them. I've had the Victron charger knocking on their door all morning and the BMS won't wake up in either of them.

 

[SupraSPL]

I use a Ryobi 40V and an extra MPPT as a 24V lifepo4 charger. Just hook the Ryobi into the PV input. Has come in handy a surprising amount of times, like when I want to top balance a new battery at night or in this case waking up a BMS, tinkering etc. Keeping mind they are buck only so you could use any 18V tool battery for 12V lifepo4 systems or Ryobi 36V/Ego 50V for 24V systems.

Also a small $12 DC to DC CC CV Buck Boost is always good to have on hand. They can provide 50W of charging at any voltage you might need from any tool battery and you can limit voltage and current.

The buck boost can also charge any tool batteries direct DC from your LiFePo4 batteries which is a nice efficiency boost and you can limit the SOC a bit for longer tool battery life.

 

[AZRoadrunner]

I use a Ryobi 40V and an extra MPPT as a 24V lifepo4 charger. Just hook the Ryobi into the PV input. Has come in handy a surprising amount of times, like when I want to top balance a new battery at night or in this case waking up a BMS, tinkering etc. Keeping mind they are buck only so you could use any 18V tool battery for 12V lifepo4 systems or Ryobi 36V/Ego 50V for 24V systems.

Also a small $12 DC to DC CC CV Buck Boost is always good to have on hand. They can provide 50W of charging at any voltage you might need from any tool battery and you can limit voltage and current.

The buck boost can also charge any tool batteries direct DC from your LiFePo4 batteries which is a nice efficiency boost and you can limit the SOC a bit for longer tool battery life.

I also tried an external variable DC power supply that I use on my electronics workbench. The BMS in those two batteries appear to be dead as a doornail. Weize has been pleasant and overall responsive, but very complicated to deal with. After two days of back and forth through Amazon's messaging with someone obviously in China, I called the Weize US phone number yesterday and reached an actual person, who couldn't help me but said he would have someone from their technical team contact me within 24 hours. In the meantime, the exchange continues through the Amazon messaging, and the responses from them only come in between midnight and 4am. The person obviously doesn't read English and is using translator software, because they occasionally ask me to do what I've already said has been done. The latest is that they've assured me of replacements.

To put this into some perspective, I'm not going off-grid, outfitting an RV, or tying anything into the house electrical wiring. This system is only intended for plug-in emergency household use (enough to keep the necessities going in the event of an extended power outage), so I went with the Chinese batteries in the design with the knowledge (but not the expectation) that something like this could happen. A couple of years ago I went with Battleborn when I built a wheel-around solar generator and those batteries are excellent, but this time I wanted 24v with more KWH storage and a 3KW inverter, and the cost of stringing such a thing together with Battleborns was truly outrageous. So, given the application and intent, the Chinese batteries should do well enough. That is, once I get past all of this!

 

[Tomthumb62]

Weize has been pleasant and overall responsive, but very complicated to deal with. After two days of back and forth through Amazon's messaging with someone obviously in China, I called the Weize US phone number yesterday and reached an actual person, who couldn't help me but said he would have someone from their technical team contact me within 24 hours. In the meantime, the exchange continues through the Amazon messaging, and the responses from them only come in between midnight and 4am. The person obviously doesn't read English and is using translator software, because they occasionally ask me to do what I've already said has been done. The latest is that they've assured me of replacements.

Sigh.

The people behind Weize must be the same ones behind Renogy. Because I’m having this exact similar correspondence with Renogy customer service.

Nice and responsive but incapable of actually helping with the issue. They ask for information and screenshots. I send it to them via their support system. They act like they have never received it. Started with Oliver then Cameron now Ivan. I have to start over with each one. Oliver seemed the most helpful at first and said he would call me back. It’s now been three weeks and I’m still waiting for him to call me back. I keep telling them I wish to deal with Oliver as I explained the whole thing to him and he seemed like he would take command of the issue and see it through. But nope. I start over each time. Send the same screenshots and retype the details of the issue.

I’m done now. Just bought a Victron. And will be telling people to just avoid Renogy unless you want to waste your time and money. It’s maddening. Like the baseball skit, “who’s on first?”

 

[SupraSPL]

Yeap the prices and tech are awesome when you get a good one but a huge hidden cost is the lack of support. Still I always go for the Chinese gear.

 

[Tomthumb62]

Yeap the prices and tech are awesome when you get a good one but a huge hidden cost is the lack of support. Still I always go for the Chinese gear.

The lifepo4 battery we bought is Chinese. Powerurus, a sub brand of Roypow. The price is good and their tech support has been awesome. A good find.

 

[AZRoadrunner]

Sigh.

The people behind Weize must be the same ones behind Renogy. Because I’m having this exact similar correspondence with Renogy customer service.

The vast majority of products are manufactured in the third world, where labor is cheap and there are no unions to deal with. Even Victron -- if you look at the fine print their gear is actually made in India (it's just designed in the Netherlands). Even worse -- in recent years, more companies have outsourced customer service. Take Amazon, for example: if you need customer service they now route you to a chat robot that is about as intelligent as a box of hammers. After several rounds of that, and assuming you survive the ordeal and it doesn't disconnect on you, you're routed to "Bhavika", or "Arjun", or maybe "Zahra" -- none of whom communicate very well in English and only know how to cut and paste from the electronic equivalent of cue cards. They're very pleasant, but it's a stressful exchange while you repeat the same thing over and over again and they respond with the same rubber-stamp statements. It's the robot, but with a heartbeat.

Anyway, my point is that there's really no escape from any of this, with a few exceptions. It would have cost over $10,000 using Battleborn for the level of 24v storage I wanted and other manufacturers such as Rolls would have been pricey as well. Considering the intended use, the Chinese batteries should be fine, but I'm paying for my discount in aggravation. Fortunately, I have more time than money.

I do hope that Weize will want their broken batteries returned and not stick me with disposing of them. They weigh about 85 pounds each.

 

[SupraSPL]

That's a fact Amazon stole an $280 gift card from me, put me in the robot / fake customer service loop even though I had the receipt in hand I couldn't get it resolved. Eventually it was more trouble than it was worth and I gave up. A hidden tax dealing with these sources

 

[AZRoadrunner]

That's a fact Amazon stole an $280 gift card from me, put me in the robot / fake customer service loop even though I had the receipt in hand I couldn't get it resolved. Eventually it was more trouble than it was worth and I gave up. A hidden tax dealing with these sources

If you confuse Amazon's chat robot long enough, it will give up and route you to a real person. I've had my share of difficulties with Amazon, but nothing has gone unresolved because I'm relentless. For even better service, forget the chat bot silliness and call their customer service phone number, which they do a very good job of hiding.