Nicely done! I love these!
Is heat a concern? I guess if your charger and inverter are external to the box it is not?
Correct, both solar and AC charger are external to the box.
Nicely done! I love these!
Is heat a concern? I guess if your charger and inverter are external to the box it is not?
My supplierCALB are top notch.
Link to Ali vendor you used?
A capacity test - discharge a load at CC rate, precisely timed - will show their State of Health relative to rated Ah.
Some vendors sell used as new, or factory seconds.
Some have been successful in buying direct, but probably pallet-quantities at least, if not a full conex.
Its important to put some compression strapping on the batteries. It keeps them from moving, and provides support for the large plates inside.
Your bus bars will add cyclic stress to the battery internals, especially with batteries that can float in their box (even a mm or two is a big deal).
Did your batteries come with a test sheet? Ideally you want batteries with internal resistance within 2%, and capacity within 3%.
180AH cells are the Max side would use for a mobile pack, for something that will get tossed around like a portable pack, 100AH would be my preference. the bigger the cells, the more vulnerable to vibration damage.
Why did you feel the need to put two balances on the pack? At 45A max draw, you will not need more than 100ma based on my math. Having two of them increases the standby power consumption.
1C is **crazy** high just for capacity testing with big Kahuna cells.Plan to do a capacity test at some point, not at the 1C rating thou. Don;t have the ability to pull that amount of current. Just have not had time.
Such a tease! link pleaseSeller responds in perfect english to every reviewer, capacity has checked out across multiple of their ah offerings from reviewers using the same stuff as me (victron bmv, smartsolar). Seller also makes a point to send out perfectly matched cells and puts a label on each with the internal resistance and capacity.
Cool build. Just ordered some new 195ah 3.2v LFP cells that seem to have good reviews from aliexpress because I still don't know how to alibaba. Seller responds in perfect english to every reviewer, capacity has checked out across multiple of their ah offerings from reviewers using the same stuff as me (victron bmv, smartsolar). Seller also makes a point to send out perfectly matched cells and puts a label on each with the internal resistance and capacity.
Reusing the balancer/equalizer board (same one you have) from my existing setup and a deligreen BMS (80a) as well. I was a-okay with going the battleborn route but as long as these cells are decent I'll be happy to have easy access to the BMS should it ever need replacing. I also won a scratch ticket the other day that paid for the entire thing, so I could more easily justify living dangerously (non-CALB, generic looking blue wrapped cells).
Hope mine fit in a 30mm ammo can too with some shimming. The headroom between the top of the cells and the lid of the ammo can + that void in the front would come in handy for doing exactly as you did - mounting the BMS and equalizer inside, along with a small fuse block and my Victron BatteryProtect. Victron BMV shunt could probably go in there as well, with the face mounted too. Praise hole saw kit.
I didn't see if you mentioned which AC charger you got for $182? I'm considering just getting a big ass dual output hobby balance charger. A 600-1000+w one that accepts 9-49v, then a large 120v AC->48V DC power supply. Probably throw both in a toolbox with some strategic mounting and ventilation hole-sawing. Put a C14 plug inlet (like back of a computer PSU) and wire that to the power supply. Would allow monitored and balanced charging at custom voltage and current, the second of which will come in handy powering it from my generator at high elevation where it has significantly less umph.
Anyway, sweet. My average discharge is 29ah peak summer and 22ah thus far in September with things cooling off - running my 62qt dual zone fridge. Means if these cells aren't junk I should enjoy them for many many years to come if I can call them full at a storage voltage of 3.4v or less, and barely make a dent in them overnight. Thanks for thread.
195Ah batteries should fit, I also looked at the CALB 200Ah SE batteries and they were the same dimensions as the CALB 180Ah CA. The difference between SE and CA series batteries is the SE has higher energy density, and the CA has internal heat separators.
I also picked up a BMS8t and some GIGAVAV dual coil contactors, based on suggestions in this thread. The BMS I had worked fine but the BMS8t provides a lot more information about each cell and remaining capacity. Going to also redo the wiring to accommodate the new BMS and the gigavac GX21SB contactors. Also add strengthening plates to resist expansion.
This is the charger I got. https://www.electriccarpartscompany.com/Lithium-Battery-Charger-12V-20A-LiFePO4-LFP-Intelligent
I Used it to charge the cells and doubled checked voltages while charging with a voltmeter and Hyperion hobby charger w/ balancer connected. The AC charger charged to 100%, 140Ah added. I tried to use the Hyperion to discharge the battery, but it stopped after only 40Ah indicating voltage cut-off acheived. Which was wrong as the battery was still measuring 13.32 volts by the hobby charger and voltmeter.
I will try again with the capacity test once I get the new BMS installed and just use an inverter and 250W or 100W light bulb.
Such a tease! link please
link just brings the store page, hundreds of products listed.
Please post one to the specific page for the BMS?
Cool build. Just ordered some new 195ah 3.2v LFP cells that seem to have good reviews from aliexpress because I still don't know how to alibaba. Seller responds in perfect english to every reviewer, capacity has checked out across multiple of their ah offerings from reviewers using the same stuff as me (victron bmv, smartsolar). Seller also makes a point to send out perfectly matched cells and puts a label on each with the internal resistance and capacity.
Reusing the balancer/equalizer board (same one you have) from my existing setup and a deligreen BMS (80a) as well. I was a-okay with going the battleborn route but as long as these cells are decent I'll be happy to have easy access to the BMS should it ever need replacing. I also won a scratch ticket the other day that paid for the entire thing, so I could more easily justify living dangerously (non-CALB, generic looking blue wrapped cells).
Hope mine fit in a 30mm ammo can too with some shimming. The headroom between the top of the cells and the lid of the ammo can + that void in the front would come in handy for doing exactly as you did - mounting the BMS and equalizer inside, along with a small fuse block and my Victron BatteryProtect. Victron BMV shunt could probably go in there as well, with the face mounted too. Praise hole saw kit.
I didn't see if you mentioned which AC charger you got for $182? I'm considering just getting a big ass dual output hobby balance charger. A 600-1000+w one that accepts 9-49v, then a large 120v AC->48V DC power supply. Probably throw both in a toolbox with some strategic mounting and ventilation hole-sawing. Put a C14 plug inlet (like back of a computer PSU) and wire that to the power supply. Would allow monitored and balanced charging at custom voltage and current, the second of which will come in handy powering it from my generator at high elevation where it has significantly less umph.
Anyway, sweet. My average discharge is 29ah peak summer and 22ah thus far in September with things cooling off - running my 62qt dual zone fridge. Means if these cells aren't junk I should enjoy them for many many years to come if I can call them full at a storage voltage of 3.4v or less, and barely make a dent in them overnight. Thanks for thread.
Which one did you buy and how much did it cost? Trying to decide which one I want as well.
Thanks