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Build your own Lithium battery bank

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Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby backupjack » Tue Dec 21, 2021 12:04 pm

Hi all,
Although the price of Lithium Batteries is still falling they are still to expensive for my budget at the moment, but the weight factor is a huge incentive to try and do something, watched a few videos on folk building there own Lithium battery banks and are now seriously considering this route, the links at the bottom is of a guy who has built and tested a 280ah Lithium Battery, was just seeing if any of you guys have had any experience good or bad about going down this route to help me make my mind up before taking the plunge



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsvBlQJr7b0
https://youtu.be/HBWEpnqPALk
https://youtu.be/JSaiZ0wnvO4
https://youtu.be/bkzWgYvU7AY
https://youtu.be/l3XeyJGM0SI
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby Noctule » Tue Dec 21, 2021 2:15 pm

Have you asked on the motorhomefun.co.uk forum? There's always lots of chat about lithium, I'm sure there'll be 'funsters' who already have home-built lithium systems they'll be happy to talk about.

Mat
2000 Mk5 HiCube self-build camper
- 2.5tdi 4EA with EPIC-to-Bosch conversion
- DRW with 16" rims
- Mondeo instrument cluster
- Lunar Meteorite interior

2006 Mk7 115t350 van (cheap tax tramp)

Previously...
Mk5 100 swb Custom
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby workbox » Fri Dec 24, 2021 7:09 am

backupjack wrote:Hi all,
Although the price of Lithium Batteries is still falling they are still to expensive for my budget at the moment, but the weight factor is a huge incentive to try and do something, watched a few videos on folk building there own Lithium battery banks and are now seriously considering this route, the links at the bottom is of a guy who has built and tested a 280ah Lithium Battery, was just seeing if any of you guys have had any experience good or bad about going down this route to help me make my mind up before taking the plunge



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsvBlQJr7b0
https://youtu.be/HBWEpnqPALk
https://youtu.be/JSaiZ0wnvO4
https://youtu.be/bkzWgYvU7AY
https://youtu.be/l3XeyJGM0SI


Same usable capacity AGM, lifepo4 battery cells actually cost less.
I bought of aliexpress but German warehouse, 7 days for delivery.
Easy to install and game changer not only on discharging capacity and weight reduction but also on charging /discharging rates.

Finally I got rid of smelly gas. All electric, induction cook top, water heater, large 7000 watts inverter.
And I can go offgrid for 5 days without starting engine or running solar. In fact if i knew how well it would fit I would probably never invest in solar panels, b2b charging while driving at 60a keeps my battery topped up.

Initially I worried about quality of cells so I looked into seller feedbacks and found one on aliexpress with local warehouses in Germany and US.
I paid about 500 pounds for battery cells and 60 pounds for 120a jbd comprehensive Bluetooth bms also sold in US as overkill bms.
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby workbox » Fri Dec 24, 2021 7:23 am

Noctule wrote:Have you asked on the motorhomefun.co.uk forum? There's always lots of chat about lithium, I'm sure there'll be 'funsters' who already have home-built lithium systems they'll be happy to talk about.

Mat


Mat asking questions or sharing information require yearly fees?
In order to help someone I have to pay money hmm makes no sense...
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby bortaf » Fri Dec 24, 2021 8:01 pm

My own little (280Ah) LiFeP04 pack
battery 005.jpg


Daly 100A BMS with bluetooth, i run a renogy Dcc50S BtoB/MPPT with 400W panels on the roof, i bought the cell Via offgridvanlife ON Yt and Ebay, they put an awfull lot of money into finding a decent manufacturer AND (more importantly) a trusted seller and importer, so many importers BS and use grade B or C cells.

The words game changer are over used a lot on YT but these really are a game changer, it's not just the weight it's the charging speed! not having to wait for absorbtion or float charge honestly makes it seem like you've added a few hundred extra whatts on the roof :mrgreen:
There's lots on YT , here are a few i watch regular :D
https://www.youtube.com/c/OffGridGarageAustralia
https://www.youtube.com/c/OffgridVanLife
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDigitalMermaid
https://www.youtube.com/c/LithiumSolar
and then of course there's Will Prowse on YT
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby Noctule » Mon Dec 27, 2021 12:38 pm

workbox wrote:
Noctule wrote:Have you asked on the motorhomefun.co.uk forum? There's always lots of chat about lithium, I'm sure there'll be 'funsters' who already have home-built lithium systems they'll be happy to talk about.

Mat


Mat asking questions or sharing information require yearly fees?
In order to help someone I have to pay money hmm makes no sense...


We're lucky on the Transit forum to have free access, most other forums of this kind require paid membership, and come with other benefits for that payment, if you wish to use them (eg dealer discounts). At the same time there are some forums that charge for access and restrict information freely available elsewhere, including the original source (eg a self build forum that restricts access to their own pages detailing dvlc requirements for converting to a motorhome!)

The only other forum/club I am a member of that is free is diymotorhome.co.uk, which seems to have only a small number of active members.

Motorhomefun has a large number of active membersn yet is a paid-for forum. If the relatively small cost of membership is too much to help you save money and get good advice, maybe even hands-on help (and browsing it is still FREE), on a pricey project such as a lithium hab system then maybe you'd be doing yourself a disservice by ignoring it. You pay your money and take your chance and all that.

Mat

PS and don't forget Youtube can be as reliable as a H@ynes manual at times.
2000 Mk5 HiCube self-build camper
- 2.5tdi 4EA with EPIC-to-Bosch conversion
- DRW with 16" rims
- Mondeo instrument cluster
- Lunar Meteorite interior

2006 Mk7 115t350 van (cheap tax tramp)

Previously...
Mk5 100 swb Custom
Mk5 190 lwb x3
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby JamesHow » Sun Jan 09, 2022 7:26 pm

If you ask me the questions in happy to ask on MHF?

Cheers James
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby J.J McDuff » Sat Jan 22, 2022 2:57 am

One thing I have found that is of importance, is the maximum discharge rate. Many Lithium Batteries have high capacities (>200ah), but their maximum 'continuous' discharge rate is most times around 100amps or so.

Just something to consider when browsing for them or building your own.
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby bortaf » Sat Jan 22, 2022 4:21 pm

It depends on the BMS fitted AFAIK ? daly do 100, 120, 150, and 200A BMSs, you need to check out the specs of the cells, My EVE 280Ah cells are rated at 1C charge and discharge so that 280A for both, a lot of the drop in replacements are 100AH so thier max discharge rate would be 100A (or 1C), charge rate is usually half thier max rate to manage heat inside a battery box, if you build your own then you can spec it how you want it, the people i got my 280Ah cells from offerd a 250A BMS but as i don't have an invertor i went with a lower Amp BMS :)
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Re: Build your own Lithium battery bank

Postby stfvrg » Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:01 am

I’m running a hybrid inverter from a LiFePO4 directly connected to the battery and have put a SSR relay powered by the BMS that controls the ON/OFF switch of the inverter. This way I can use a cheaper BMS and still have the inverter disconnect feature for protecting the cells.
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