January 17, 20233 yr I purchased two Champion 12V 200Ah lifepo4 batteries today and was surprised that they were flat, both measuring around 8,5V on the fluke before charging. Should I be concerned? Thanks in advance.
January 18, 20233 yr 14 hours ago, Brad Dann said: I purchased two Champion 12V 200Ah lifepo4 batteries today and was surprised that they were flat, both measuring around 8,5V on the fluke before charging. Should I be concerned? Thanks in advance. Yes, Return them. I would expect at least 50% charge as that's what Pylontech supply theirs at for long term storage.
January 18, 20233 yr 16 minutes ago, Tinbum said: at least 50% charge That is the industry standard for batteries and individual cells. If that voltage has dropped that low then those batteries must have been in storage for a very long time. Take them back.
January 19, 20233 yr Author Thanks for the replies. They, (GC Solar) say they have to be ‘awakened’ by applying an external 12V to them. It’s apparently a safety feature for transport purposes. Never heard of this before. They use the app Pow Bank, and both batteries show only +-86% once fully charged, so I’m not happy yet. They said I should cycle them 2-3 times as the BMS may need calibration. I am busy doing that now and will revert with new information.
January 21, 20233 yr Just monitor the behaviour over time. If it consistently remains like this then they should be fine. Also test if the shutdown voltage is in accordance with the specs? If they are run down to shut off do they now start recharging without the help of an external 12V charge?
January 21, 20233 yr Author Thanks, I will do. I do not know the answer to your question yet, as I am not currently using enough to get them to the discharge to the cut-off voltage (set to 21,6V) This last 2 hour stage 2 load shedding saw them drop to 96% SOC. I am only using a small 3kVA Axpert inverter for load shedding, but the reason for the overkill on the huge batteries is for when we get to stage 8, 10 and beyond in order to keep some essentials running for as long as possible. The batteries have a 4000 cycle warranty, so hopefully, they’ve should be ok.
March 1, 20233 yr On 2023/01/19 at 12:32 PM, Brad Dann said: Thanks for the replies. They, (GC Solar) say they have to be ‘awakened’ by applying an external 12V to them. It’s apparently a safety feature for transport purposes. Never heard of this before. They use the app Pow Bank, and both batteries show only +-86% once fully charged, so I’m not happy yet. They said I should cycle them 2-3 times as the BMS may need calibration. I am busy doing that now and will revert with new information. Not sure what the voltage was before I connecting my battery to the inverter. No one mentioned anything about applying a 12v external to it. Should I still do this? On 2023/01/19 at 12:32 PM, Brad Dann said: Thanks for the replies. They, (GC Solar) say they have to be ‘awakened’ by applying an external 12V to them. It’s apparently a safety feature for transport purposes. Never heard of this before. They use the app Pow Bank, and both batteries show only +-86% once fully charged, so I’m not happy yet. They said I should cycle them 2-3 times as the BMS may need calibration. I am busy doing that now and will revert with new information. Hi, just bought the same battery. How do you cycle the battery? It's connected to the inverter since 6 this evening. My surplus capacity currently stand at 118.8. Soc at 59.4 and voltage at 13.3. Not sure if you have any advise
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