EVE LiFePO4 280Ah 3.2v Battery Review

[UFO]

Thought for those interested I would give a run down of the batteries which recently landed - I will try and update with more info over time, as they are not even in the boat yet.


I have 1120Ah @ 12v which is 16 x 280 x 3.2v which were purchased on Alibaba from a supplier recommended by a friend - He has been running the same for the last year and has had zero problems with them - He also lives aboard.


Cost of batteries including shipping, duty and GST was USD $1865 whilst other upgrades to accommodate them on the boat is around USD $2000.



Purchase to delivery in Australia was 8 weeks (Lithiums have to come by boat into Australia), this would have been 6 weeks if TNT had not delivered to the wrong address, who was a mine worker and was away from home for 2 weeks.


A thorough physical inspection revealed no issues and all walls, seals and terminals are in good condition, so from that front I am very happy. I did order larger bus bars, but China being China they had to stitch me up on something - Instead of the 20mm x 4mm Busbars they gave me 20mm x 2mm and only 20 of them as well, so that was a bit annoying.


I checked the voltage of each battery and they appear very well matched with 10 @ 3.304v, 2 @ 3.303, 2 @ 3.305, 1 @ 3.302 and 1 @ 3.307.


After Paralleling them all up to create a whopping 4480Ah bank @ 3.2v I proceeded to Top end balance them - Firstly up to 3.4v, which took around 5 days and then to 3.5v and then 3.6v which I did over several hours - At 3.6v every one of the cells is reading 3.600v.


I am pretty happy with everything so far and will update as things progress.

[evm1024]

Don't to forget the capacity. Some vendors state 280 AH and the cells only deliver 224 ah. Just pick a set of 4 cells and see what you got.

224 AH is 80% of 280 AH and any cells that come in at 224 are likely pulled from use and not new.

I have a set of 280 AH cells advertised as new but averaging 224 plus or minus. The vendor is being a pain in regards to testing. I'm asking for a partial refund.

[lhcat]

Do you have any concerns regarding how well the batteries will hold up in a marine environment?

[UFO]

Originally Posted by lhcat

Do you have any concerns regarding how well the batteries will hold up in a marine environment?

Not yet - Been in the boat for a couple of months and have done 500 miles so far with a couple of large beam seas slamming the boat around a bit with no issues - All are still good


Also I did check a batch and they came out just over 270Ah, so not quite the 280Ah advertised, but that could also be tester error

[mcarthur]

Good to here how the EVEs are going in Oz.
I've been thinking of doing the same 16x EVE or similar, starting with a 12v system and moving to 48v when I make that move (12v would be 4s4p and later 48v would be 16s for the same batteries).

Some question if you don't mind:
Did you have any issues on the importation?
How long did it take?
What BMS are you using?
And what charger & BMS did you use for top balancing?

Thanks!

[UFO]

Originally Posted by mcarthur

Good to here how the EVEs are going in Oz.
I've been thinking of doing the same 16x EVE or similar, starting with a 12v system and moving to 48v when I make that move (12v would be 4s4p and later 48v would be 16s for the same batteries).

Some question if you don't mind:
Did you have any issues on the importation?
How long did it take?
What BMS are you using?
And what charger & BMS did you use for top balancing?

Thanks!

No problem importing them - Took about 7 weeks from order to delivery.


BMS I am using is:


https://123electric.eu/products/123smartbms-gen3/


For the top end balancing I splashed out and got:


https://www.jaycar.com.au/0-15vdc-0-...upply/p/MP3091


There are cheaper lower amp ones, but even with this it took a long time.


I did not use a BMS to balance I just set the 16 Cells in Parallel and charged to 3.4V then 3.5V and lastly 3.6V

[UFO]

Just an update...


I have now been living with the bank for a few months and have had no issues what so ever with the batteries or the BMS - Everything has worked as they should.


From keeping an eye on the BMS I can see that they are still all in voltage sync - Although the BMS does balance them at Full charge.


I hear people go on about the complexities of living with LiFePO4, the setup is more complex, but once you have a good system in place, with the exception of keeping a rough eye on them, they are far easier than lead acid - I have had them sitting at around 20% for multiple days in a row when solar was limited without any worries or the need to get them back up to prolong their life - So all in all I am very happy with them.


The only issue I have had was my Victron BP220 (battery protect) blew when dropping anchor (not raising) - My winch is only 1200w and nothing else huge was running, so I was well within its peak and continual rating - I have a warranty replacement on its way to me now, so I have been running without it for the last few weeks, leading me to keep a closer eye than normal on things.

[Opie91]

Originally Posted by UFO

Just an update...


I have now been living with the bank for a few months and have had no issues what so ever with the batteries or the BMS - Everything has worked as they should.


From keeping an eye on the BMS I can see that they are still all in voltage sync - Although the BMS does balance them at Full charge.


I hear people go on about the complexities of living with LiFePO4, the setup is more complex, but once you have a good system in place, with the exception of keeping a rough eye on them, they are far easier than lead acid - I have had them sitting at around 20% for multiple days in a row when solar was limited without any worries or the need to get them back up to prolong their life - So all in all I am very happy with them.


The only issue I have had was my Victron BP220 (battery protect) blew when dropping anchor (not raising) - My winch is only 1200w and nothing else huge was running, so I was well within its peak and continual rating - I have a warranty replacement on its way to me now, so I have been running without it for the last few weeks, leading me to keep a closer eye than normal on things.

Sounds like you have it figured out and your system is working great.

The only thing I would mention is that all Victron battery protects are good for current flow in one direction. If yours allows current to flow in both it will keep blowing.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by Opie91

Sounds like you have it figured out and your system is working great.

The only thing I would mention is that all Victron battery protects are good for current flow in one direction. If yours allows current to flow in both it will keep blowing.

Definitely set up for 12v load only - Must have been a faulty unit, unless my 1200w 12v winch pulled a LOT more than it should have

[team karst]

Just for kicks, key up your handheld VHF radio, lets say, a couple meters away. Note any BMS changes, most probably the voltage reporting. Not saying its extremely likely, but something I would check. Then again, I have a pretty large assortment of transmitters on my boat.

[Artey]

Originally Posted by UFO

Just an update...
The only issue I have had was my Victron BP220 (battery protect) blew when dropping anchor (not raising) - My winch is only 1200w and nothing else huge was running, so I was well within its peak and continual rating - I have a warranty replacement on its way to me now, so I have been running without it for the last few weeks, leading me to keep a closer eye than normal on things.

Sorry still new to all this and just learning about lithium. Why use a battery protect? Don't most BMS units perform this function of low voltage protection?

[Jammer]

"battery protect" is Victron's name for high-current solid-state relays that can be used for any number of purposes.


The BMS will typically have a "discharge enable" output that is low power, that can be used to control a solid-state relay or similar device to do the actual switching.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by evm1024

Don't to forget the capacity. Some vendors state 280 AH and the cells only deliver 224 ah. Just pick a set of 4 cells and see what you got.

224 AH is 80% of 280 AH and any cells that come in at 224 are likely pulled from use and not new.

I have a set of 280 AH cells advertised as new but averaging 224 plus or minus. The vendor is being a pain in regards to testing. I'm asking for a partial refund.

I paid a bit extra for ours from one of the recommended suppliers mentioned on the diysolar forum

All cells are matched and batched, lowest was 287.718 and highest was 291.716

Hopefully I will take delivery next week

[Britishsea]

I have 4 of the EVE 280 ah cells in my boat. They have been installed since May. A few observations for those considering them.

Quality of my cells are fine and they seem reasonably well matched. My 200ma passive BMS can keep them in balance.

The aluminum skin which houses the cells is thin. So care is needed to support them (compression). Also, the aluminum skin is positively charged, so they need to be electrically isolated. They is a flammable, highly toxic, liquid electrolyte in them, so with the thin skin IMO a spill proof batter tray or box is a must. Also, ignition proof fuses and BMS solenoids. The batteries will likely last for 10+ years (2000+ cycle life) but I wonder if in a marine environment the aluminum cells cases wont fail due to corrosion first?

Because of the above factors, I would not place these cells in bilge area or beside an engine compartment (i.e near heat, vibration). I place mine under my nav seat - they are so small they fit in little spaces like this, which is great - but the required re-wire was a PIA.

My cells came with M6 threaded battery posts. The post are also aluminum so max 40-50 inch pound of torque. I have some problems with busbars building up resistance and needing cleaning. I have been using dielectric grease, but perhaps No-Ox-Id or similar would fix this issue. Now these cells can be ordered with posts welded to the terminal for a fee. I would go with this option if you can get it.

So all this say theses are great cells and almost 1/3 the cost of some alternatives (Winstons, CALB). But if you are planing on a small bank like mine, consider the precautions you need to take with somewhat delicate cells. If i was to do it all over again - I might go with a GBS, Winston , CALB, type cell to avoid these issues. If your current batteries are already situated in a dry location out of harms way, then perhaps less of an issue for you.

I am not knocking the cells, just some observations to think about.

[Britishsea]

Originally Posted by UFO

Just an update...

The only issue I have had was my Victron BP220 (battery protect) blew when dropping anchor (not raising) - My winch is only 1200w and nothing else huge was running, so I was well within its peak and continual rating - I have a warranty replacement on its way to me now, so I have been running without it for the last few weeks, leading me to keep a closer eye than normal on things.

I ended up using a BlueSea ML 7713 for the load bus because I was worried about the induction loads on the FETs of a solid state relay caused by my windlass and electric winch.

I use a 220amp Victron BP ( in relay only mode) as the relay for my charge bus (works OK - but some voltage drop).

If I were to start again from scratch, I might double up the start batteries and leave the windlass and electric-winch and starter motor on these. Dedicate the lithium to general house loads only. You still need to deal with inverter loads, but that is easier to manage than a windlass load (pre-charge circuit for the capacitors, remote shut down of the inverter, etc)