October 26, 20232 yr I got one of the Apexium 100A BMS boards and 16 x 105AH Eve cells. I would like to to this 100% instead of just 'slap' together: Any advice on the following: 1. Should I first top-balance the cells? Thinking of paralleling in 2 sets of 8 cells and then charging to 3.6 or even 3.65 volts. Or, will the Apexium BMS eventually do the job? The battery is initially going into a UPS system so will be mostly at full charge. 2. For busbars, Stamcor lugs crimped onto short lengths of 25mm2 cable. This way I avoid the standard aluminium busbars and have flexible links between the cells. My concern is the aluminium oxide on the cell terminals. Is is necessary to use a special de-ox and protective compound and the connection? I have read that Silver conductive past is the best. The other stuff is called Noalox. No idea where to find either. Thank you.
October 26, 20232 yr 19 minutes ago, Crankshaft said: 1. Should I first top-balance the cells? Yes, for DIY definitely a good idea to full top balance and absorb fully. That will then allow the bms to work nicely. 21 minutes ago, Crankshaft said: Thinking of paralleling in 2 sets of 8 cells and then charging to 3.6 or even 3.65 volts. Why 8 at a time, you can connect all 16 in parallel to do the top balancing in one go.
October 26, 20232 yr 1 minute ago, WannabeSolarSparky said: Yes, for DIY definitely a good idea to full top balance and absorb fully. That will then allow the bms to work nicely. Why 8 at a time, you can connect all 16 in parallel to do the top balancing in one go. The cells are clamped in 2 rows of 8 cells. I guess it will just be easier to do 8 at a time. The total time should be about the same. My 3.6 volt PSU is only 5 amps, so it's going to take a while.
October 26, 20232 yr 56 minutes ago, Crankshaft said: I got one of the Apexium 100A BMS boards and 16 x 105AH Eve cells. Hi With whom did you deal with? I'm speaking to a Candice, but not sure if it is a real Candice ([email protected]) or someone impersonating apex. Would you mind sharing the e-mail. because this person went quiet the moment I asked about, who owns the Warehouse, regulations regarding OOB, CPA, etc.
October 26, 20232 yr 2 minutes ago, jeeva said: Hi With whom did you deal with? I'm speaking to a Candice, but not sure if it is a real Candice ([email protected]) or someone impersonating apex. Would you mind sharing the e-mail. because this person went quiet the moment I asked about, who owns the Warehouse, regulations regarding OOB, CPA, etc. Hi. I got the BMS from Lee when she was still with Apexium. The cells from another supplier. I'll send you a PM.
October 26, 20232 yr I got one of the Apexium 100A BMS boards and 16 x 105AH Eve cells. I would like to to this 100% instead of just 'slap' together: Any advice on the following: 1. Should I first top-balance the cells? Thinking of paralleling in 2 sets of 8 cells and then charging to 3.6 or even 3.65 volts. Or, will the Apexium BMS eventually do the job? The battery is initially going into a UPS system so will be mostly at full charge. 2. For busbars, Stamcor lugs crimped onto short lengths of 25mm2 cable. This way I avoid the standard aluminium busbars and have flexible links between the cells. My concern is the aluminium oxide on the cell terminals. Is is necessary to use a special de-ox and protective compound and the connection? I have read that Silver conductive past is the best. The other stuff is called Noalox. No idea where to find either. Thank you.
October 26, 20232 yr Any comments regarding the cleaning and coating of the aluminium terminals? If I can't find any special stuff, I reckon I will carefully clean with fine water-paper, and then coat with a light grease.
October 26, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, Crankshaft said: I got one of the Apexium 100A BMS boards and 16 x 105AH Eve cells. I would like to to this 100% instead of just 'slap' together: Any advice on the following: 1. Should I first top-balance the cells? Thinking of paralleling in 2 sets of 8 cells and then charging to 3.6 or even 3.65 volts. Or, will the Apexium BMS eventually do the job? The battery is initially going into a UPS system so will be mostly at full charge. 2. For busbars, Stamcor lugs crimped onto short lengths of 25mm2 cable. This way I avoid the standard aluminium busbars and have flexible links between the cells. My concern is the aluminium oxide on the cell terminals. Is is necessary to use a special de-ox and protective compound and the connection? I have read that Silver conductive past is the best. The other stuff is called Noalox. No idea where to find either. Thank you. 1. Top balancing is always recommended. However the bms should not have a problem balancing these smaller cells. You can also connect up the pack in series and charge to 3.65 x 16. If any cells lag a lot then individually charge just those ones. 2. Are you going to clamp the pack together? If you are you can use the standard busbars or like you said make your own. I do use carbon assembly grease on all my lugs but not on cell terminals. I just wipe them with IPA.
October 26, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, jeeva said: Hi With whom did you deal with? I'm speaking to a Candice, but not sure if it is a real Candice ([email protected]) or someone impersonating apex. Would you mind sharing the e-mail. because this person went quiet the moment I asked about, who owns the Warehouse, regulations regarding OOB, CPA, etc. That is Candice. She is actually South African but is at the China headoffice. The warehouse is the freight forwarders warehouse.
October 26, 20232 yr 28 minutes ago, Chris_S said: 1. Top balancing is always recommended. However the bms should not have a problem balancing these smaller cells. You can also connect up the pack in series and charge to 3.65 x 16. If any cells lag a lot then individually charge just those ones. 2. Are you going to clamp the pack together? If you are you can use the standard busbars or like you said make your own. I do use carbon assembly grease on all my lugs but not on cell terminals. I just wipe them with IPA. Thank you Chris Do you reckon it will fine to put some grease on the cell terminals?
October 26, 20232 yr 56 minutes ago, Crankshaft said: Thank you Chris Do you reckon it will fine to put some grease on the cell terminals? Not normal grease or silicone grease. It will have to be conductive grease for this application.
October 26, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, Crankshaft said: I got one of the Apexium 100A BMS boards and 16 x 105AH Eve cells. I would like to to this 100% instead of just 'slap' together: Any advice on the following: 1. Should I first top-balance the cells? Thinking of paralleling in 2 sets of 8 cells and then charging to 3.6 or even 3.65 volts. Or, will the Apexium BMS eventually do the job? The battery is initially going into a UPS system so will be mostly at full charge. 2. For busbars, Stamcor lugs crimped onto short lengths of 25mm2 cable. This way I avoid the standard aluminium busbars and have flexible links between the cells. My concern is the aluminium oxide on the cell terminals. Is is necessary to use a special de-ox and protective compound and the connection? I have read that Silver conductive past is the best. The other stuff is called Noalox. No idea where to find either. Thank you. 1. Top balancing would be good, the BMS does not have the strongest balancer so it may take a while to balance the cells if you do not top balance them first. 2. I recall watching a video where they tested the resistance of busbars vs crimped cables and basically you needed a cable larger than 50mm^2 to get to a similar resistance compared to the busbars. So perhaps consider some larger cable if you want to do it properly - otherwise perhaps stick to some copper busbars. I think this was the video, I do not recall all of the details but worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ag_sgb22Dk
October 26, 20232 yr 6 minutes ago, PsyCLown said: 1. Top balancing would be good, the BMS does not have the strongest balancer so it may take a while to balance the cells if you do not top balance them first. 2. I recall watching a video where they tested the resistance of busbars vs crimped cables and basically you needed a cable larger than 50mm^2 to get to a similar resistance compared to the busbars. So perhaps consider some larger cable if you want to do it properly - otherwise perhaps stick to some copper busbars. I think this was the video, I do not recall all of the details but worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ag_sgb22Dk I would prefer proper busbars. There are the types with a flexible centre, but then I guess one is back to the cable situation.
October 26, 20232 yr Digikey sells a silver loaded grease. https://www.digikey.co.za/en/products/detail/chemtronics/CW7100/307001 Not cheap though. A waste of money?
October 26, 20232 yr 37 minutes ago, Crankshaft said: Digikey sells a silver loaded grease. https://www.digikey.co.za/en/products/detail/chemtronics/CW7100/307001 Not cheap though. A waste of money? Digikey is not local. It comes from USA normally
October 26, 20232 yr 24 minutes ago, Chris_S said: Digikey is not local. It comes from USA normally I order though Nuvision. Orders usually gets here under a week. Big time and shipping savings.
October 28, 20232 yr Perhaps I missed something, but there seems to be a bit of confusion around whether one is dealing with apex or someone else. Could a forum member ‘in the know’ post a link to the alibaba store or similar to clear it up?
October 30, 20232 yr On 2023/10/28 at 10:50 AM, riazarbi said: Perhaps I missed something, but there seems to be a bit of confusion around whether one is dealing with apex or someone else. Could a forum member ‘in the know’ post a link to the alibaba store or similar to clear it up? Deal with Candice. I bought my 16 x 280AH + Apex BMS on Friday, Worked out about R35000 for it all. Just waiting for the SWIFT to be cleared then getting it collected, +- R1200 from Courier Guy to get it to Cape Town. 081 794 8465 [email protected] https://apexium.en.alibaba.com/ They contacted me back after I've sent them a DM on alibaba a couple of months ago.
November 3, 20232 yr On 2023/10/30 at 10:50 AM, jeeva said: Deal with Candice. I bought my 16 x 280AH + Apex BMS on Friday, Worked out about R35000 for it all. Just waiting for the SWIFT to be cleared then getting it collected, +- R1200 from Courier Guy to get it to Cape Town. 081 794 8465 [email protected] https://apexium.en.alibaba.com/ They contacted me back after I've sent them a DM on alibaba a couple of months ago. Hi Jeeva I got a quote for the 16 x 280AH cells + Apexium DIY Box and cables from battery to inverter was $2070 then shipping was quoted $360 (not sure why so much), then $100 transaction fee??? I think the shipping is to much unless it is because of the DIY box?? What do you guys use if you don't get the DIY box?
November 3, 20232 yr On 2023/11/03 at 10:51 AM, Greglsh said: Hi Jeeva I got a quote for the 16 x 280AH cells + Apexium DIY Box and cables from battery to inverter was $2070 then shipping was quoted $360 (not sure why so much), then $100 transaction fee??? I think the shipping is to much unless it is because of the DIY box?? What do you guys use if you don't get the DIY box? Estimated prices attached. Consult Candice. Edited November 10, 20232 yr by Dv8
November 3, 20232 yr @DV8 are you able to order them built already? Where did you get this pricing. Thanks
November 3, 20232 yr 4 hours ago, Greglsh said: Hi Jeeva I got a quote for the 16 x 280AH cells + Apexium DIY Box and cables from battery to inverter was $2070 then shipping was quoted $360 (not sure why so much), then $100 transaction fee??? I think the shipping is to much unless it is because of the DIY box?? What do you guys use if you don't get the DIY box? I think there is confusion between local courier and the international import shipping.
November 3, 20232 yr 18 minutes ago, Greglsh said: @DV8 are you able to order them built already? Where did you get this pricing. Thanks Yes you can order pre built or buy kit and cells separately. Pricing is a guideline from Candice Edited November 3, 20232 yr by Dv8
November 3, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, Greglsh said: Hi Jeeva I got a quote for the 16 x 280AH cells + Apexium DIY Box and cables from battery to inverter was $2070 then shipping was quoted $360 (not sure why so much), then $100 transaction fee??? I think the shipping is to much unless it is because of the DIY box?? What do you guys use if you don't get the DIY box? Is this quote from Candice ?
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