LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread for Those Using Them as House Banks

[exMaggieDrum]

Some fuel for the fire:


I had some assurance as to the origin and quality of my "Sinopoly" cells since the EV builder on Vancouver Island builds hundreds of EV's a year and have a very good reputation in North America.

My cells look identical to the "Sinopoly" website and the specs match.
None of the cells have any markings on them that identify them as Sinopoly. You would think a manufacturer would want to put their brand on them but???
I put in a specific order for 16 cells to make a 400Ah battery in a 4P4S configuration. They came to me in a crate (very well packaged) in 4S sets of 4. Each set was already put together with terminal to terminal bus bar connectors and banded with S/S straps with aluminum ribbed endplates.

Each band was screwed to the aluminum plates on each end. It was a very professional and sturdy setup. I really wished I could have reconfigured them in 4P for each set and then put them like that in my space but I didn't have room for the plates. I suspect they came the way that the EV manufacturer normal gets them - 4 cells at 13.2v as a 4S set.


I have heard many times that LFP batteries cannot be air-freighted, as least as freight on commercial passenger flights. This sounds correct so that means if they are air-freighted it would have to be strictly on freight only flights. What this would mean for shipping times I don't know.

Question: Were the Camel's that were shipped before LA or LFP? I don't think that LA batteries have the same restrictions for passenger flight freight but have no proof of this.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by exMaggieDrum

Some fuel for the fire:


I had some assurance as to the origin and quality of my "Sinopoly" cells since the EV builder on Vancouver Island builds hundreds of EV's a year and have a very good reputation in North America.

My cells look identical to the "Sinopoly" website and the specs match.
None of the cells have any markings on them that identify them as Sinopoly. You would think a manufacturer would want to put their brand on them but???
I put in a specific order for 16 cells to make a 400Ah battery in a 4P4S configuration. They came to me in a crate (very well packaged) in 4S sets of 4. Each set was already put together with terminal to terminal bus bar connectors and banded with S/S straps with aluminum ribbed endplates.

Each band was screwed to the aluminum plates on each end. It was a very professional and sturdy setup. I really wished I could have reconfigured them in 4P for each set and then put them like that in my space but I didn't have room for the plates. I suspect they came the way that the EV manufacturer normal gets them - 4 cells at 13.2v as a 4S set.


I have heard many times that LFP batteries cannot be air-freighted, as least as freight on commercial passenger flights. This sounds correct so that means if they are air-freighted it would have to be strictly on freight only flights. What this would mean for shipping times I don't know.

Question: Were the Camel's that were shipped before LA or LFP? I don't think that LA batteries have the same restrictions for passenger flight freight but have no proof of this.

answer the camels were lifepo4 and shipped air freight via UPS international . So I would assume they were on a freight only aircraft.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Contact Amazon if you want to get more specific.

Again, Amazon is not the seller here and will not be able or willing to answer questions on behalf of the actual seller. They just take a commission from these "market" sellers, and in some cases do the warehousing and shipping fulfillment, of course charging for that as well.

I do not know to what extent Amazon imposes any minimum warranty / refund policy or acts as escrow-type payment handler like eBay and supposedly Ali do.

The fact that the vendor accept PayPal for direct transactions may well mean a better guarantee than of not getting ripped off than through the Amazon marketplace.

But in either case warranty is pretty meaningless if your shipping cost back to China is about as much as the whole original transaction.

Newhaul, have you found a link that shows the company you communicated with actually sells the batteries pictured in the Amazon listing?

Did you try communicating with the company whose Ali listing apparently showed the same batteries as the Amazon listing?

If either of those turn out to be Sinopoly, they would likely be a much better long term value than from a smaller maker, even at a much higher cost up front.

The "quality brand" issue you dismiss may not matter in the short run, say first few years even.

But personally I shoot for maximum longevity, and there are huge differences in chemical purity and formulation. It would take many years of widespread feedback before those differences would show up enough for reputation to be established.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Again, Amazon is not the seller here and will not be able or willing to answer questions on behalf of the actual seller. They just take a commission from these "market" sellers, and in some cases do the warehousing and shipping fulfillment, of course charging for that as well.

I do not know to what extent Amazon imposes any minimum warranty / refund policy or acts as escrow-type payment handler like eBay and supposedly Ali do.

The fact that the vendor accept PayPal for direct transactions may well mean a better guarantee than of not getting ripped off than through the Amazon marketplace.

But in either case warranty is pretty meaningless if your shipping cost back to China is about as much as the whole original transaction.

Newhaul, have you found a link that shows the company you communicated with actually sells the batteries pictured in the Amazon listing?

Did you try communicating with the company whose Ali listing apparently showed the same batteries as the Amazon listing?

If either of those turn out to be Sinopoly, they would likely be a much better long term value than from a smaller maker, even at a much higher cost up front.

The "quality brand" issue you dismiss may not matter in the short run, say first few years even.

But personally I shoot for maximum longevity, and there are huge differences in chemical purity and formulation. It would take many years of widespread feedback before those differences would show up enough for reputation to be established.

I have already stated all of the data on the subject that I am going to unless another member that is actually using an Lfp house bank asks . But I'm sure all of the questions you ask would have already been answered just by actually usage and experiences .
Hence the title of this thread .

What brand of Lfp batteries are you running ? I'm sure any other poster on this thread would be happy to share that information.

[nebster]

My LFP cells were also air freighted to me. They were split up into (many, many) smaller boxes and shipped FedEx. I know the rules have shifted a bunch of times in the last few years, but I think it should be possible to airmail cells today, at least in small quantities.

[exMaggieDrum]

Glad to hear that it is possible to air freight LFP cells. I hope I never need to worry about it again though, at least for the next few years.

[newhaul]

Ok I would like some opinions on this dc to dc charger.
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-12v-dc...ttery-charger/

[Q Xopa]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Ok I would like some opinions on this dc to dc charger.
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-12v-dc...ttery-charger/

I assume you have seen Will Prowse Youtube review on it around 15 hrs ago?

[AndyEss]

In regards to air travel with lithium batteries, I've been doing some online research for taking some small (10 Ahr) LFP batteries in check in luggage.
First it seems that LFP is fine, but no Li-ion.
You are limited in each battery capacity.
Shipping to Mexico is a hassle.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Q Xopa

I assume you have seen Will Prowse Youtube review on it around 15 hrs ago?

actually no I didn't but will take a look.
I actually purchase lots of my small panels from them and this dc to dc charger popped up on my suggestions list on fleabay. I'm looking for opinions I remember a thread concerning using dc to dc for charging Lfp house with Fla on the engine.
These are a lot cheaper ( cost wise ) than any of the others .

[john61ct]

I would not use a DC-DC unit that does not allow user-customized setpoints.

Unless your BMS controls connection via relays to the charge buss.

But yes they are cheap, and 14.0V is available.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by john61ct

I would not use a DC-DC unit that does not allow user-customized setpoints.

Unless your BMS controls connection via relays to the charge buss.

But yes they are cheap, and 14.0V is available.

I have not read the manuals yet so don't know if its user setable beyond basic battery chemistry settings for the battery being charged.
What I am looking for is input from anyone that may have actual experience with or know someone that does with this particular product . $200 for the 40 amp unit is doable to my mind. Even if it would necessitate more attention when in use than some other charging sources.

Edit : after looking further into the manual it has multiple user setable points via dip switches. ( I know not Bluetooth but I don't need fancy just functional.)

[john61ct]

"User-customized setpoints" means beyond selectable profiles from canned choices, but the ability to change from say 13.8 to 13.9, with Float also settable independently from Absorb.

It's only just been released, maybe a dozen threads so far in the past few days, but I've not yet seen a post by anyone who's bought one.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by john61ct

"User-customized setpoints" means beyond selectable profiles from canned choices, but the ability to change from say 13.8 to 13.9, with Float also settable independently from Absorb.

It's only just been released, maybe a dozen threads so far in the past few days, but I've not yet seen a post by anyone who's bought one.

that is what I am looking for are actual user inputs beyond the YouTube videos I have been able to find . ( so far sounds like a good possibility )

here are a couple screenshots from the manual showing settings capabilities.
It seems to have good customization capabilities .
For a dumb charger.

[john61ct]

It is not in any way dumb, fully "staged intelligence"

But just like most in that category, it offers zero customization of profile setpoints.

I think it would be a great value choice for those who don't require that, if one of the canned choices match the needs of their current and future banks.

Renogy is a good company from a marketing / distribution and CS POV.

I think it likely we will learn the actual manufacturer sooner or later.

https://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ithium.204421/