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paulz
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2019 09:05am - Edited by: paulz
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Situsa, I had to order a connector. Is the state of charge indicator accurate, comparable to a cell phone type? That would be useful for me, as I may not need to bring it home to charge every cabin trip.
What other info on the software do you find useful?
Does it only run on Windows?
Really appreciate you making this available!
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somewhereinusa
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:05am - Edited by: somewhereinusa
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Quoting: paulz Is the state of charge indicator accurate, comparable to a cell phone type? That would be useful for me, as I may not need to bring it home to charge every cabin trip. What other info on the software do you find useful? Does it only run on Windows?
I can only assume SOC to be accurate. My Victron meter on the entire bank seems to show lower but, I'm not sure I have the settings right on it.
I find it useful to see that cell balancing is working, cell and module voltage, temps, etc. You can also see total number of cycles, mine are all below 200, two are less than 20
Information on these is just about non existant, Lithiumwerks is unhelpful, they want you to buy new from a dealer,haven't really found one of those.
I am relying on my Victron inverter/charger to keep voltages correct. I hace built my own fail safes to prevent charging when temps are below freezing. That's a killer for LiFePo. One is a heat pad the next is total disconnect. It doesn't hurt them to be stored or used when cold, just charged.
This is windows only, it has been used successfully on Macs with some sort of windows emulator.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:19am
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Thanks again. If you read this thread you will see this is my first experience into Li batteries and I too have found Valence info scarce. fortunately I haven't managed to do any damage so far.
Have you ever seen the LED on the battery show anything other than blinking green?
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somewhereinusa
Member
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:42pm
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Quoting: paulz Have you ever seen the LED on the battery show anything other than blinking green?
No
It's my first time too, Lots of studying for this old man.
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ChuckDynasty
Member
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# Posted: 15 Nov 2019 04:38pm - Edited by: ChuckDynasty
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Valence RT LiFeMgPO4 Battery Tear Down. Will Prowse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS3OAhOgzOQ
$950 "Battle Born" Battery Tear Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5E30u-66VI
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shaoqingid
Member
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2019 02:11am
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Former valence engineers make battery similar to Valence, see http://battery.zkxtkj.com/html/1/182/181/index.html
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somewhereinusa
Member
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2019 11:29am
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Quoting: shaoqingid # Posted: Former valence engineers make battery similar to Valence
Interesting. Where did you see that it is former Valence engineers?
I reached out in an email, we'll see if I get a response.
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shaoqingid
Member
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2019 07:53pm
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I work in there.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2019 08:36pm
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Do you have online vendors???
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shaoqingid
Member
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2019 08:41pm
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No, I am applying to sell on Amazon. It takes a while
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justinbowser
Member
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# Posted: 20 Nov 2019 01:01am - Edited by: justinbowser
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I am getting ready to replace our 300 Ah AGM bank with these batteries, I think. They seem fairly reasonable and do not have a lot of the warranty "gotchas" like the big boys. I was going to get SimpliPhi batteries but the warranty isn't any good unless they are installed by a "licensed professional!"
https://pacificsunsystems.com/catalog/product/24-volt-400-amp-hour-lifep04/
Has anybody had dealings with them?
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 20 Nov 2019 05:20am
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@Justin
Have a look at the links provided above in this thread, the tear downs and the links. If you don't mind a bit of DIY with your pack, there are some incredible deals to be had... have a peak here: https://diysolarforum.com/index.php
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justinbowser
Member
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 01:18am
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Steve, wife wants a turn-key system not DIY, I don't think she trusts me...
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 07:59am
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Quoting: somewhereinusa Where it says "Valence diagnostic software" is a link.
I have the software loaded and the battery plugged into a usb port. The program says COM1 port, only one in the menu, and the 'locate battery' button doesn't find it.
How do I get it to recognize the battery?
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somewhereinusa
Member
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 09:20am
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Quoting: paulz I have the software loaded and the battery plugged into a usb port. The program says COM1 port, only one in the menu, and the 'locate battery' button doesn't find it.
You have to start program as an administrator. You can look at com ports in control panel or as I did start typing in COM numbers until you get the right one.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 10:20am
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I'm the Windows admin. Looked at ports in control panel, only show 1, COM1, 9.6 baud, etc.. I thought COM ports had phone jacks, not USB? When the program is set for COM1 it says Check Com port or Module ID. I can clear that and type in COM2 and so on but it just says Incorrect COM port selected, Open COM port failed.
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SCSJeff
Member
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 11:19am
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Quoting: paulz I'm the Windows admin.
Even if your logged in as an Administrator account, some programs still want you to right click the executable/shortcut and select "Run as Administrator" (This seems to be more of an issue in Windows 7 and older(
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 04:29pm
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There is a box for that but it won't let me check it, maybe because it's already open under admin. From what I am reading you need an adapter and software to make a USP port into COM1
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somewhereinusa
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# Posted: 21 Nov 2019 05:12pm
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The only adaptor I used was this URL to this URL (5 pin)
When you go to device manager click on Com ports it should show a USB that is using a com port. (Mine presently shows a Arduino device which is plugged into a usb port. When I plug in a Valance battery with the wiring harness wired the way shown on my web page it shows up on another COM port
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 22 Nov 2019 08:24am
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I just cut the phone end off a usb charger cable and wired it to the battery connector. The adapter you used does something more from what I read. My COM port doesn't say usb anything.
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Pathfinder0
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# Posted: 24 Nov 2019 11:56pm
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I dont think that will work. If you read the info 300MPG provides on making the converter it requires a FTDI chip in between the USB and the cabling. At present the reason the software cant find a COM port is because there isn't one (no FTDI chip).
If you are going to do the job, then you should do it properly. On a different board, someone blew up a rev 1 version of this battery while charging it. That model was a 130ah. It made a considerable mess.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:20am
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I have the adapter on order.
The charger I use is made for lifepo and shuts off at full charge.
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Pathfinder0
Member
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# Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:05pm
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I have a victron IP22 15A 3 way, mainly because I also use it to charge my vehicle batteries simultaneously with my leisure battery array. Does the job. Also you should ideally have a battery protect in between your load and battery to kill it when it hits 12v. Thats assuming you are looking for longevity in cycle life.
My philosophy is to add safety to everything. So yes you may have an integrated BMS, but its good to never need to use that, because you have other safety systems in place that stop that requirement. The only reason for having the BMS is to balance the cells. You should be guarding against over discharge and overcharge higher up the chain.
I have a rev. 1 Valence 130ah LiFePO4 battery, but am currently considering ripping the guts out of it and replacing it with a different BMS system which would be slightly easier to use, maybe the 60A SimpleBMS that ev-power offer for $47. My own system would never draw that much power simultaneously, so would be fine.
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paulz
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2019 10:06am
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Mine goes below 12v when shower for 5 minutes or so but recovers to where it was, usually 12.9-13.1. Don't know how to avoid that. I have been at my cabin for a few days now, it hit 12.7 for the first time last night. I'm looking forward to seeing what the software says the soc is.
Quoting: Pathfinder0 . Also you should ideally have a battery protect in between your load and battery to kill it when it hits 12v.
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somewhereinusa
Member
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2019 10:28am
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Quoting: Pathfinder0 Also you should ideally have a battery protect in between your load and battery to kill it when it hits 12v.
I don't think it would need to be quite that high. According to the Valence manual minimum module voltage is 10.
I don't remember for sure I think I have my inverter set to cut off at 11.
I'm working on a kind of external BMS that will isolate battery bank if high or low temps and high and low voltages are met.
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Pathfinder0
Member
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# Posted: 28 Nov 2019 05:03pm
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Most places I post at say 12v is a safe number. But ideally no more than 80% DoD asuming you are looking for 2000 Cycles max, 50% DoD will get you much more cycles. So I guess it depends on your usage and how big your bank is. For me 1500-2000 cycles is fine. I will probably have replaced the battery long before it hits the max cycle point.
The big killers for lithium are over discharge and overcharge. Do either and it can be bad or worse. If you over discharge, you will find it hard to charge the battery. Now i've never done it personally, but know a couple of people that have, and they had to slow charge the cells back up at about 500ma over a 24hr period to reach a point where they could be recharged by the full charge. Just be aware of it, thats all. Same goes for overcharge, which you shouldnt have an issue with if using a Victron Charger. Temperature can be mitigated by keeping your batteries insulated and if needs be using a heating pad to warm them up prior to charging. Problems with temperature arent really a thing in a camper van, but in a cabin it may be a whole different ball game.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2019 04:14pm
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OK, my USB port adapter arrived in the mail, got it hooked up and low and behold, here's my reading. I was only at the cabin for one day and night though and didn't shower so it didn't get it's usual workout. SOC says it's still almost 100. Everything else to me at this point in gibberish so if you see anything unusual let me know.
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somewhereinusa
Member
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2019 05:23pm - Edited by: somewhereinusa
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Quoting: paulz Everything else to me at this point in gibberish so if you see anything unusual let me know.
That looks about what I see on mine. Things don't change much when not discharging or charging.
Temp sensors 5 and 6, from what I can tell, are irrelevant since you only have 4 cell banks. Module volts is what your battery is. If you look at the event log tab you can see how many total times your module has been from 100% to, I think, 20% discharge. "charge discharge cycle cnt"
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2019 07:29pm
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I don't see anything it that field. Does say it's been under voltage 144 times.
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somewhereinusa
Member
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2019 09:39am
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Quoting: paulz I don't see anything it that field.
I think it's there but covered up by screen resolution maybe?
I haven't figured out what all of the boxes indicate
This is what one of mine looks like.
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