Lithium battery bank install video

[Admin]

I have finally finished putting together the video of my Lithium battery install I have squeezed it down to just 10 minutes!

 

[RAW]

Will watch it later on, thanks

 

[Wissel]

Nice video Phil - Lovely and neat install

Out of interest, did you install any other protection for the batteries?

Not used the Relion and not that familiar with how it's BMS works. I "think" they have inbuilt protection against high and low voltage? But not sure how they cut chargers or loads? Also "think" they have high temperature protection, but nothing to stop them charging at below zero degrees?

Think you'll like having LiFePO4. It transformed the way we use our vans electrics

 

[Admin]

Nice video Phil - Lovely and neat install

Out of interest, did you install any other protection for the batteries?

Not used the Relion and not that familiar with how it's BMS works. I "think" they have inbuilt protection against high and low voltage? But not sure how they cut chargers or loads? Also "think" they have high temperature protection, but nothing to stop them charging at below zero degrees?

Think you'll like having LiFePO4. It transformed the way we use our vans electrics

Hi,

They have:

High and low voltage protection
High-temperature protection
Overcurrent protection
Short circuit protection

They do not have low temperature cut out as the chemistry of the Relion cells means that they can be charged ar 10% of their total capacity down to -20c. This does not damage the Relion cells. If your charger only supplies 10% (10A per battery) then you do not need to worry too much unless you are going to try and charge the batteries below -20c.

In my next video, I will show how I have prevented overcharging, charging at more than 10% below 5c and disabling alternator charging when not required.

 

[Wissel]

Look forward to the next video then Phil

Glad you're sorted on the low temp protection - you wouldn't believe how many forget that bit (including half the retailers).

400Ah of LiFePO4 is a great size bank. I have the same and can go 3-4 days with no charge, which considering what I run (fridge, PC, 2 x monitors, Tassimo, router, MaxxFan (always on), etc, etc, is pretty good I think. I installed the system about 9 months ago (full-timer) and it's been so good I'm switching most things over to 240v for ease, off a Victron Smart 2000VA inverter.

Anyway, I hope you're as happy with your setup and it serves you well

 

[Admin]

Look forward to the next video then Phil

Glad you're sorted on the low temp protection - you wouldn't believe how many forget that bit (including half the retailers).

400Ah of LiFePO4 is a great size bank. I have the same and can go 3-4 days with no charge, which considering what I run (fridge, PC, 2 x monitors, Tassimo, router, MaxxFan (always on), etc, etc, is pretty good I think. I installed the system about 9 months ago (full-timer) and it's been so good I'm switching most things over to 240v for ease, off a Victron Smart 2000VA inverter.

Anyway, I hope you're as happy with your setup and it serves you well

Do you have any photos of your install?

 

[Wissel]

Do you have any photos of your install?

Yeah a few. I went the DIY route, and used separate cells and BMS. I used 4 x 400Ah 3.2v Winston cells and a 123BMS with SmartRelay. Here's a couple of images of my first setup

I don't seem to have a photo of the completed system with BMS installed to hand, but did do a video of installing it here:

I originally had this connected to a Votronic VBSC 60/40/430 charger (combined 60A B2B, 40A EHU and MPPT), 4 x 100w solar panels and a 1500PSW inverter (cheap one). Then, after reading a great post by @wildebus about using a 240v fridge (was the thread that made me join here) I did the same and added a smaller, Victron inverter.

My BMS (combined with the relay) protects against high/low voltage, high/low temperature and balances, My charger can also (independently) do the same (apart from the balancing), so I don't have a single point of failure. It's all monitored via an app.

Then my van blew up. Twice actually and is a financial write-off now. So I'm currently saving for a brand new L4H2 Boxer and using my blown up van to prototype the next build, whilst living in it

I've redesigned the electrics a little.

After running the fridge off the small inverter for 6 months, we realised how much we liked having 240v on tap all the time. So I've removed the two old inverters and replacing with the new Victron Phoenix Smart 2000VA to give us 240v power all the time. This inverter also monitors against high/low voltage and has a programmable relay (I like redundancy ). It also has a programmable ECO mode and is very efficient.

I wasn't happy with our solar arrangement. I do love some of the features my charger has, but it's limited on the solar side. So I'm adding 2 x Votronic MPP250's. Each of these, along with my original charger, will be connected in parallel to a separate 250w panel. They all have the same charge profiles (Votronic has several LiFePO4 profiles, my cells are the same as inside a Victron or Mastervolt LiFePO4 so I use the Victron profile). Then the whole array will angle on the roof together (creates a spare room - our loft ) to increase efficiency. I'm hoping this will make us solar dependant for most of the year.

Really pleased we went the LiFePO4 route. Certainly not cheap to buy, but it's completely changed the way we use our vans electrics.

In my last conversion I had 4 x 100Ah lead acid batteries with CTEK charging. I was constantly watching the battery monitor, sometimes having to decide on whether to power the PC or fridge (I work online - hence the PC). Now I don't think about it - buckets of power on tap, 240v on tap, and great efficient charging. It's more like being on EHU.

Hopefully you will find it as great as we have

 

[wildebus]

Very interesting video, Dave.
In terms of cost, while not cheap, it looks like a very good value install for LifePO4. Nice job.