270ah DIY LiFePO4 build

[sailaboutvic]

Finally!

No honestly its does the job and I do like the app but I think its well over price for what it does ,
yes agree most can solder four wires but at 300 plus ?? You think they do that using a suitable wire size .
one mistaken with the soldering iron and bang goes 100/ 150 plus board.
The wire sent to join the boards, Bell wire bacislly is just about long enough for the 4 bits and considering most cell bolts are 6 or 8 M they could had drill a bigger hole ,
I'm use to working in stuff but even I found it a bit nerve racking to extend the hole.
My biggest rant is the exposure module it would had cost then peanut to incase them in a small box , leaning over a battery and catching the module on a jumper you break it , even the €1 pcb board from China comes with a little box .
As far as service goes they will chat to you on the phone and answer emails but I was disappointed that after just two months getting a fault with my end board they didn't even offer for me to send back to see what had happen but suggested was to find a radio shack or buy a new end board.
OK i stop moaning about it now

 

[GHA]

PS. GHA, ordered the boards or not yet?

Little baby steps..
Boat data monitor - what next.....

 

[Poey50]

No honestly its does the job and I do like the app but I think its well over price for what it does ,
yes agree most can solder four wires but at 300 plus ?? You think they do that using a suitable wire size .
one mistaken with the soldering iron and bang goes 100/ 150 plus board.
The wire sent to join the boards, Bell wire bacislly is just about long enough for the 4 bits and considering most cell bolts are 6 or 8 M they could had drill a bigger hole ,
I'm use to working in stuff but even I found it a bit nerve racking to extend the hole.
My biggest rant is the exposure module it would had cost then peanut to incase them in a small box , leaning over a battery and catching the module on a jumper you break it , even the €1 pcb board from China comes with a little box .
As far as service goes they will chat to you on the phone and answer emails but I was disappointed that after just two months getting a fault with my end board they didn't even offer for me to send back to see what had happen but suggested was to find a radio shack or buy a new end board.

Vic, I can see you are not a fan! But have you priced up a REC Active or Orion Jnr to include Bluetooth? On my list of BMS functions the only ones that the 123Smart does not do is direct control of charge sources and operating warning alarms. It even has some basic data and error logging. And although it uses passive balancing it does so at a higher capacity than others. You may have noticed complaints about REC and Electrodacus cropping up on the Facebook Group in recent days. In fairness I don't recall any complaints about the Orion Jnr but, given the price, I don't expect they shift as many units as others.

But if I was starting from now I'd be looking at the Electrodacus - not uncritically though. Crimping those tiny wires doesn't inspire confidence.

 

[Alan S]

thanks Alan, actually that's exactly my point ADS1115 A2D converter is probably more accurate (or the same) with what such a board is using. Having a relay output or three is nothing, so a pzero with the right bits that GHA is contemplating (or a teensy similarly equipped that I'll probably do) will do nicely as far as monitoring voltages per cell and setting simple or complex rules regarding course of action if something goes wrong.
That's 30quid in h/w and a few hours in s/w (and more fun than getting something ready made for some of us)

This all sounds good, fairly straightforward except I can't see how exactly you would connect the analogue inputs of the ADC to the cells. Cell 1 no problem but for cells 2 to 4 you would need some sort of level shifting as the limit is Vdd which is 5V. Woulld a simple voltage divider with two resistors be OK?

 

[GHA]

This all sounds good, fairly straightforward except I can't see how exactly you would connect the analogue inputs of the ADC to the cells. Cell 1 no problem but for cells 2 to 4 you would need some sort of level shifting as the limit is Vdd which is 5V. Woulld a simple voltage divider with two resistors be OK?

Voltage divider works fine with a calibration factor. I've had aDS1115 in use like that for a couple of years now, only tricky bit is finding something accurate enough to calibrate down to 1mV
boatybits/boatymonpy

 

[Poey50]

... if I was starting from now I'd be looking at the Electrodacus ...

I visited the DIY Solar forum this evening and found that someone has been putting in a fair amount of work to do a more basic manual for the Electrodacus. 'Basic' is here a relative term since there is still quite a lot to get one's head around but some real effort has been made to make it more accessible. Visit this page and click on the orange download tab.

Beginner's Guide to ElectroDacus

 

[sailaboutvic]

this maybe interesting to people using aluminium cells

 

[Poey50]

this maybe interesting to people using aluminium cells

Yes, very important to know. See my note on electrolytic corrosion on #417.

 

[Kelpie]

Well my cells arrived today. So far, no sign of any additional costs on top of what I paid Alibaba. All at the same voltage (3.28) and marked with the same internal resistance. QR codes intact and physically appear in perfect condition.
I can't actually remember exactly what I paid for them in GBP, the deal was in USD but it was about £330. On top of that I have spent £65 on the BMS, which is yet to arrive, from a different source. There will be some extra costs of course, but I think I have a good chance of coming in at a lower total than the set of four Trojans which I would otherwise have bought.

 

[Poey50]

Well my cells arrived today. So far, no sign of any additional costs on top of what I paid Alibaba. All at the same voltage (3.28) and marked with the same internal resistance. QR codes intact and physically appear in perfect condition.
I can't actually remember exactly what I paid for them in GBP, the deal was in USD but it was about £330. On top of that I have spent £65 on the BMS, which is yet to arrive, from a different source. There will be some extra costs of course, but I think I have a good chance of coming in at a lower total than the set of four Trojans which I would otherwise have bought.

It sounds like you may have done very well. Remind me, please, how large is the capacity?

When people begin to talk about how well matched their cells are on arrival that sometimes precedes a decision not to top-balance. I hope you're not one of those!

 

[gregcope]

@Kelpie did you post where (url) you ordered from?

 

[Kelpie]

They are 272Ah cells, the seller is Shenzhen Basen, on Alibaba. Don't have the exact link to hand as it was through their app.
Ordered on the 5th of March, so about a 50 day delivery time.

I will be top balancing using my 10A power supply, won't get started on that until next week but I will report back...

 

[Poey50]

They are 272Ah cells, the seller is Shenzhen Basen, on Alibaba. Don't have the exact link to hand as it was through their app.
Ordered on the 5th of March, so about a 50 day delivery time.

I will be top balancing using my 10A power supply, won't get started on that until next week but I will report back...

If all is well that is an outstanding deal. Just a little over half the cost that I paid this time last year.

 

[vas]

4 Pieces Lifepo4 3.2v 280ah Lithium Ion Batteries Lifepo4 Battery Pack - Buy Battery Lifepo4,Lifepo4 Battery 3.2v,280ah Lifepo4 Product on Alibaba.com
so 330quid for 4X272Ah cells?
or 383+173 deliv = 556euro to Greece... pity I need 8 :-(
I'll wait for next season hopefully prices and mainly BMS will have improved by then

V.

 

[Poey50]

They are 272Ah cells, the seller is Shenzhen Basen, on Alibaba. Don't have the exact link to hand as it was through their app.
Ordered on the 5th of March, so about a 50 day delivery time.

Just to check - is this a delivered price? I.e. including shipping, taxes etc.

 

[nfluester]

latest price i got on 280Ah of the new EVE cells now with the much improved welded 6mm studs so no problems stripping out

The total price of 4 x 280AH: Product price + shipping cost = $122 * 4 + $169 = $657 Shipping by sea, door-to-door, DDP, usually 35-50 days.

 

[Poey50]

latest price i got on 280Ah of the new EVE cells now with the much improved welded 6mm studs so no problems stripping out

The total price of 4 x 280AH: Product price + shipping cost = $122 * 4 + $169 = $657 Shipping by sea, door-to-door, DDP, usually 35-50 days.

That's a good price and welded studs sounds a great option. When's your next video coming out?

 

[nfluester]

That's a good price and welded studs sounds a great option. When's your next video coming out?

???? i am way behind on videos so the batteries are installed and working and we had a week away on board with them and from a power point of view it was great, ran the immersion heater for an hour every morning + hair dryer (not for my hair) and new electric combi oven and grill cooking most days @ 1300W for 20 odd mins the Eberspacher was on pretty much 24/7 which is quite a drain.

it may shock people but i am currently also using it as an engine start battery so turning over a 3.7L straight 6 volvo penta diesel engine which they do with ease

however........ it's not all rosses

the biggest issue i now have is we have abundant stored energy potential ~6.5KWh from the batteries however we do not have good energy generation. we are a motor boat on the river Thames so essentially cruise at tick over so max we were getting out of the 100a balmar alternator was 55 amps (750w) for about 2 hours a day (1.5KWh) so that barely covers the hour of immersion heater (1.4kwh), i fitted 3 x 150w solar panels but in the Easter week there were so unpredictable we were at best averaging about 100w total out of the 3 panels for say 5 hours a day so are total generation of alternator and solar was less than 2KWh,

so by the later part of the week we had to to start reducing consumption as we were down to about 30% capacity but managed most days to get back upto around 60% as they charge back so well compared to lead acids

I'm now hungry for more charging Amps rather than stored amps to replenish our consumption so looking into smaller alternator pulleys additional alternators etc to try and get to more Ah of charging

 

[Frankklose]

Bought from Basen 4X280 EVE for Euro 403. Delivery 45 day´s door to door. The delivery route was a bit strange, China- Budapest -Germany DPD courier.
Got 292 Ah out of the cells. Good quality.

 

[nfluester]

to show an average day you can see the consumption vs generation



interesting if i zoom in on a day you can see the engine starts and the cruising between locks if you see the downward orange spikes going down to about 220A when we start the engine and then the 60-70 odd amps of 30 - 45mins charging / motoring in between locks