Anyone for a D.I.Y. battery with 2800 18650 cells recovered from used laptop batteries

[MJCM]

 

[MJCM]

Another interesting video from this Channel

 

 

[Crossy]

I did actually consider going for a bunch of 32650 LiFePO4 cells in a 48V pack but ended up with used 200Ah LiFePO4 golf cart cells (which measure at about 180Ah).

 

The cost of the used cells was comparable to cheap 32650s but by the time you factored in assembling the beast (and my need for instant gratification) the cart cells won, this time at least.

 

Maybe for my next storage expansion ...

 

EDIT At current prices for 6,000mAh 32650s I could DIY a 300Ah x 48V pack for about 45k Baht. That would be 800 cells in a 50P-16S pack.

[OneMoreFarang]

I hope you are all prepared for a Lithium fire. If one of those cells fails in the wrong way all those cells will be on fire. And then there is nothin you can do about that fire. Just wait until it's over and hopefully it didn't damage too much nearby.

 

[Crossy]

Yup ^^^ if you watch the later videos in the Big Battery series you can see what he needed to do to meet Aussie regulations.

 

That's my reason for going LiFePO4, less dense than Li-ion but much less likely to go thermal-runaway.

 

Our current LiFePO4 batteries are well away from the house in a fire-resistant box.

 

[MJCM]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I hope you are all prepared for a Lithium fire. If one of those cells fails in the wrong way all those cells will be on fire. And then there is nothin you can do about that fire. Just wait until it's over and hopefully it didn't damage too much nearby.

 

 

There is always a risk with Batteries, even with the ones in your phone and you connect a dodgy charger to it (Or remember the issue with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 anyone????)

 

 

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Our current LiFePO4 batteries are well away from the house in a fire-resistant box.

Ours will be in a storage area with over 50k liters of water.

 

But I have been told when there is fire, it's important NOT to FLOOD them but just contain the fire!

 

Correct??

[007 RED]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I hope you are all prepared for a Lithium fire. If one of those cells fails in the wrong way all those cells will be on fire. And then there is nothin you can do about that fire. Just wait until it's over and hopefully it didn't damage too much nearby.

 

Try this one for size, NY Bronx, Saturday. Frightening!

https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/news/21252461/lithiumion-battery-sparks-4alarm-bronx-fire

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

 

There is always a risk with Batteries, even with the ones in your phone and you connect a dodgy charger to it (Or remember the issue with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 anyone????)

 

Ours will be in a storage area with over 50k liters of water.

 

But I have been told when there is fire, it's important NOT to FLOOD them but just contain the fire!

 

Correct??

Please don't tell me that you play with Lithium batteries and are not aware of the fact that mixing them with water is a very bad idea.

[MJCM]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Please don't tell me that you play with Lithium batteries and are not aware of the fact that mixing them with water is a very bad idea.

I am not doing anything yet. It was just a simple question 

 

so please do elaborate.  

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

I am not doing anything yet. It was just a simple question 

so please do elaborate.  

 

 

[MJCM]

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

 

Oke thanks, but then a follow-up question. How do you then stop a lithium battery fire?

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

How do you then stop a lithium battery fire?

A lithium battery fire is a chemical reaction causing heat. Once this reaction has started it becomes self perpetuating until all the reactive agents are used up. Best way to prevent a lithium battery fire is to carefully maintain charge and discharge within the parameters specified by the manufacturer and keep the battery in an unhot environment. Best is to use LiFePO4 chemistry which is much more stable. 

[MJCM]

17 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

A lithium battery fire is a chemical reaction causing heat. Once this reaction has started it becomes self perpetuating until all the reactive agents are used up. Best way to prevent a lithium battery fire is to carefully maintain charge and discharge within the parameters specified by the manufacturer and keep the battery in an unhot environment. Best is to use LiFePO4 chemistry which is much more stable. 

Oooh thanks, very interesting this.

 

But May I ask, why, if LifePo4 batteries are that more stable/safe, why aren't they in our Phones??

 

$$$$$ ???

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Oooh thanks, very interesting this.

 

But May I ask, why, if LifePo4 batteries are that more stable/safe, why aren't they in our Phones??

 

$$$$$ ???

Different Lithium batteries have different properties. I.e. some can be charged fast and can produce lots of output current. Others are designed to produce low current output over a long period of time.

Some are dangerous and some are very dangerous.

 

And, as far as I know, there is no way to stop a Lithium fire. It seems there is only one option: wait until it is over and if possible move the burning batteries away from anything that can burn or the other way around.

 

Here is another example from a fire from a bicycle with Lithium battery. The guy who made the video is an electronic specialist...

 

[Muhendis]

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

if LifePo4 batteries are that more stable/safe, why aren't they in our Phones?

A LiFePO4 cell has less capacity than a lithium cell. It is a good selling point to have your 'phone work for longer between charges.

Tesla cars used Lithium cells to give maximum range. I read that they are being phased out in favour of LiFePO4's. They are still able to get the same range. That's because the capacity is maintained by changing the shape from loads of cylindrical cells to bigger prismatic units. So no gaps between cells.

[MJCM]

Can anyone tell me if this is a Lithium or a LifePo4 battery?

 

The Cycles (80% DOD) seems IMHO (but who am I ???? ) good.

 

Can't find much info on it online except for this PDF

 

LVSUN 200 AH LITHIUM 48 V 2.pdf

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

Can anyone tell me if this is a Lithium or a LifePo4 battery?

 

It's wired 16S4P ("Combination") which would make it LiFePO4, if it was Li-ion it would be 14S (Li-ion cells are higher voltage, 3.7V vs 3.2V for LiFePO4).