Cheaper LiFePO4 batteries

B

Boo2

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 Jan 2010
Messages
8,603
Visit site
Hi,

Just seen these Shunbin LiFePO4 batteries on Amazon : 12V 400AH for £1226 seems like better value than anything else around. Just wondered whether anyone here has seen/tried them and has any comments ? 36kg and 450mm x 240mm x 250mm are hugely better than lead acid for the capacity...

Boo2
 
Winston, Sinopoly and CALB are top brands. I wouldn’t risk cut price stuff. Buy cheap, buy twice.
 
One of the reviewers on 'Shunbin' on Amazon points out you need to pay duty on top.
I don't mind importing cheap and cheerful stuff from China, but something like this is a risk in my view.
 
In one of the questions, the sellers says they are shipped from Europe, so no import fees.

In an answer to another question a buyer says they are shipped from China so import duty payable, but the seller refunded half.

In a question asking if any purchasers would recommend these batteries, the seller replied that they would recommend them.

Seems a bit of a shambles, although the batteries might be fine.

If I was buying new, it would be from GWL in Prague, and probably Sinopoly cells.
 
From that spec it says they have 50/100 Amp charge / discharge rates which I think means that they found the BMS in the Christmas cracker factory next door. There's a good set of posts by a chap on the 12V boating facebook group who bought some cheapo batteries but decided he needed to rewire the cells (poor, badly designed wiring), but the BMS itself was OK I think.
 
In the answer to one of the questions, the seller says the max discharge rate is 600A, so it must be the BMS that limits to the figures in the description.
 
Cheap Lithium technology batteries are just that, and experience of using them on e-bikes for some years shows very clearly you get what you pay for.

Original batteries for my bike cost around £500 a set. Apparently identical batteries are available from around £150, but there is a huge difference. I have an OE battery that has been in use for nearly 8 years, and still gives around 75% of its original capacity. An Ebay look alike costing £160 has dropped to below 50% capacity in little more than 2 years. Another has failed altogether due to internal manufacturing faults (bad internal connections, and weak BMS electronics. It is repairable, but at a price, and the cells are already losing capacity a lot faster than a decent battery. Externally they all look fine, but the quality of the individual cells, and the way they are assembled makes all the difference!
 
Given the prices for the Transporter Energy of just under £1200 for 100Ah, I would be more inclined to buy a Victron 100Ah in the UK for similar money.
 
They are all pretty eye watering. The combination of 'Marine' + 'Solution' makes my wallet twitch. Given they integrate with the Victron BMS it would probably make sense to go single supplier unless a lot cheaper.
 
ryanroberts said:
They are all pretty eye watering. The combination of 'Marine' + 'Solution' makes my wallet twitch. Given they integrate with the Victron BMS it would probably make sense to go single supplier unless a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...

I took a chance and bought 4 from this guy. So far so good, (excellent, in fact), but 2 months isn't exactly a long term test.

639 CYCLE - VALENCE LiFePO4 12v BATTERY 130Ah 1.6Kwh U27-12XP / LITHIUM SOLAR T4 | eBay

As I said above, (I think), if I was buying new I'd buy cells from GWL in Prague.
 
ryanroberts said:
They are branded as Transporter Energy in the UK Marine Batteries
Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't know they were available in the UK. On first glance it looked like Transport Energy had removed the 10 year warranty (Victron offers 3 years) but it is still there. If I were in the market for drop-ins I would certainly consider them despite the higher comparative price as they seem to have a good BMS and cylindrical cells.
 
Seems to me Li battery prices are still dropping, so I won't be rushing to buy more than I need any time soon.
 
Poey50 said:
Thanks, I didn't know they were available in the UK. On first glance it looked like Transport Energy had removed the 10 year warranty (Victron offers 3 years) but it is still there. If I were in the market for drop-ins I would certainly consider them despite the higher comparative price as they seem to have a good BMS and cylindrical cells.
Click to expand...

I am a fan of Victron components and they are the Go To first choice for most of my electrical installations. Following the Will Prowse video, I will install Battleborn batteries when I change to Li batteries.
 
LoneHort said:
Interesting. Did they need hooking up to an external BMS and if so what did you use?
Click to expand...

Complicated :)

They were originally sold new on the basis that they would be linked together and hooked up to an external BMS type thing. However, those using them second hand dont use the external BMS type thing. I read around them a lot prior to committing, and I also know one person who uses a 2nd hand bank in a van, so was able to get some "face to face" advice and reassurance. This guy has them connected to solar panels set with an absorption charge of 13.9V and a float charge of 13.1V, and says he more or less takes no notice of them at all, other than checking the cell stuff on his laptop every 6 months or so.

There is a "partial" BMS panel inside each battery, which you can hook up to your computer, such that you can read individual cell voltages, max cell delta, total voltage, temperature at about 8 internal positions, and some other stuff. There is also an internal balancing facility, which is automatic, and I'm not sure how effective yet. I'm pretty sure it has no facility to cut the power, (charge or discharge), in the event of a bad event, so some external monitoring is necessary.

Externally, I have a 220A Victron Battery Protect, so that if overall voltage falls below a certain level, it cuts the power, a Bluetooth Victron BMV 712 Monitor, so I can see %age charge, voltage, Amps flowing, Ah used, and other stuff. I am also planning to fit a relay to the temperature monitoring bit of the BMV so it will prevent charging at less than say, 5C, (and over about 40C, which is an unlikely event).

I am off grid, so use a genny to charge, thus I am always onboard and watching when charging. My Sterling Pro Charge Ultra charger has a facility to set a custom Absorption and float voltage, so I am using 14.6V for both, because I can off the genny when I consider them full, or change the voltage to say, 13.6V, if I want to have them on a kind of float for a while. The Valence manual says that they can be left to float at 13.8V 24/7. However, there seems to be a consensus amongst those that know more than me, that this might not be a good idea. I don't know why for certain yet, but it seems to be mostly to do with the fact that LiFePo4 cells dont like to be kept at 100% SOC permanently, and are better cycled around 20% to 90% or so.

I have gone through 1 full discharge/charge cycle, fully charged them again Monday, and am down to 69% SOC on the current discharge. Each cycle has been about 400Ah, and I seem to use a bit over 70Ah per day.

Whilst charging, I keep a fairly close eye on the internal info on the laptop, i.e. individual cell voltages, and temperatures, and will either keep doing this, or stop when I am comfortable it's no longer necessary.

Once I've done a few 100% to 20% SOC cycles, and can see how things work, in terms of volts v SOC, I'll probably revert to cycling between about 90% and 20%.

The bank is a nominal 520Ah, and my ball park calculations suggest that it has at least 500Ah capacity, and possibly more. I spend a lot of time on board, (3-5 day/nights a week).

Previously I would be charging my Lead acid bank every day, or every other day, (for 3-5 hours or so), to keep them at 100% SOC.

Since switching on 17th December, I have charged only twice, (20% to 100%), and don't expect to charge again for 3 more days. Charging takes about 6-8 hours, so a full day job if done all at once.

In 13 days I would have run the genny for about 39 hours with Lead Acid. With the lithiums, I have run it for about 15 hours.

Assuming these batteries last as long as I might hope, they are way more convenient and easy to charge than the lead acid, and should prove way more cost effective.

I've rabbited on, and we shall see :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top