EVE 280Ah Lifepo4

[Dzl]

I think the problem here is when someone needs detailed technical info... there isn't an authorized/licensed, certified, trained, etc "EVE Dealership" with all the inside scoop. A more-accurate analogy would be if you have a technical question about your Onkyo AVR, but when you call Onkyo they refuse to talk to you and instead refer you to contact Wal-Mart where you bought it from for "tech support". But of course when you call Wal-mart all you get are min-wage highschoolers who only know how to work the cash register, since they're just in the market to resell stuff and don't have any inside technical knowledge of any of the stuff they sell from countless different brands.

If I go to a Subaru "Dealership", they are certified and trained by Subaru, and have access to all the inside technical documentation, have a dedicated service and tech-support department alongside their sales dept, and are specifically tasked by Subaru to provide the full level of tech support and are empowered with everything they need to do so. And they aren't doing the same for Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc... they are just Subaru.

So EVE is trying to treat the channel like it's car dealerships, when it's really like Wal-marts, Target and the Dollar Store. So the end user is left SOL.

I started to write something similar last night but than decided not to weigh in. I think your analogy is pretty accurate, at least much more so than the auto manufacturer / auto dealership analogy. I have contacted the manufacturer or the corporate office directly in a few cases, with mixed results, but enough success to make it worth my while. If the resellers have no insight into the tech specs, our only option is to try to get clarification from the manufacturer (or try to get the reseller to get clarity on our behalf, but if they are a grey market unofficial seller this might not be realistic).

I suspect Steve is right and EVE won't be bothered to respond, based on the wording of there reply, I get the feeling they are trying to make a point and underscore the difference between unwarrantied unsupported cells bought for very cheap prices on the grey market vs much more expensive cells bought through official channels. I understand that they do not want to extend support to cover these grey market cells, and I think that's fair really, but for an issue as generic and basic as clarifying language on a datasheet, I wish they would do the right thing and provide clarification.

 

[solardad]

That's why I said "hopefully they will reply and play nice".

Maybe my experience will be a positive one. Doesn't hurt to try and gotta start somewhere.

+1 I reached out on a cell orientation question for the 280ah cells and they were responsive and confirmed stacking them flat was fine when building a pack.

 

[Gazoo]

+1 I reached out on a cell orientation question for the 280ah cells and they were responsive and confirmed stacking them flat was fine when building a pack.

Thanks for posting your experience. It's good to know they will support end users.

 

[Wanderingthomas]

Thanks very much for answering my question. But wow! Seems to me that much force would crush these cells. Maybe the aluminum casing is thicker than I think it is. I am still going to stick with my plan and do what I can to keep the cells from bulging. My charge and discharge rates will be much less than 1C. Charge rate maybe around 20 amps and discharge rate around 100 amps at most with a 24 volt pack.

I Agree, something is amiss here. 3000 newtons is an incredible amount of force. I would absolutely never compress my cells to that spec.

 

[evad]

It would seem that if the manufacturer felt it was important enough to do testing under both conditions and publish those results and include it on the data sheet they should clarify just what is required. Along the same line there must be a proper method of connecting cables or bus bars to the cell terminals. Write up the information and pass on to the sellers.

 

[Gazoo]

I received a reply from EVE. In fact they replied Aug. 17th. but I missed the reply somehow. So a couple of days ago I resent the request and they replied and politely pointed out to me they had replied on Aug. 17th.

I don't think it would be wise of me to copy the reply word for word. However from what I understand they are saying to mount the cells in a fixture that is strong enough to keep the cells from expanding. He said this is to keep the electrolyte from further leaking and to extend the battery life. I have not known of anyone complaining of electrolyte leaking even from a bloated cell.

That's basically it. My thoughts are as they were before I contacted EVE and they confirmed my thoughts although I don't understand what they meant by electrolyte leaking.

 

[Bob B]

So .... just use common sense .... probably clamp while at low to medium SOC.

That takes all the fun out of trying to figure out how to do it ....LOL

 

[Gazoo]

So .... just use common sense .... probably clamp while at low to medium SOC.

That takes all the fun out of trying to figure out how to do it ....LOL

LOL...Yup.

 

[Piranha Pete]

Seems rediculiously cheap to me. Chinese battery scams have become more prevalent during Covid. Very first action, check the amperage. I was scammed by "Atomic Number 3", claimed 120Ah, when tested they were only 12 Ah. Buying more than 1 before confirming performance high risk.
Hope it all works OK for you.

 

[BiduleOhm]

I received a reply from EVE. In fact they replied Aug. 17th. but I missed the reply somehow. So a couple of days ago I resent the request and they replied and politely pointed out to me they had replied on Aug. 17th.

I don't think it would be wise of me to copy the reply word for word. However from what I understand they are saying to mount the cells in a fixture that is strong enough to keep the cells from expanding. He said this is to keep the electrolyte from further leaking and to extend the battery life. I have not known of anyone complaining of electrolyte leaking even from a bloated cell.

That's basically it. My thoughts are as they were before I contacted EVE and they confirmed my thoughts although I don't understand what they meant by electrolyte leaking.

I think "leaking" is to be understood as "moving inside the cell", chinese is very hard to translate sometimes due to how it works.

Seems rediculiously cheap to me. Chinese battery scams have become more prevalent during Covid. Very first action, check the amperage. I was scammed by "Atomic Number 3", claimed 120Ah, when tested they were only 12 Ah. Buying more than 1 before confirming performance high risk.
Hope it all works OK for you.

Not a scam, those cells have been confirmed to be legit by multiple members here

 

[charlesrg]

Guys, anyone had a chance to stress or even cut the case of one of this batteries ? I wanted to use it on a RV setup and wondering if the case is strong enough. I plan to mount it sideways and add sufficient material to hold and avoid them rubbing, but the case needs to be enough to hold it's own and a battery on top.
Don't want to be the tester, I've seen lots of videos on the nylon cases, wondering how the aluminum cases longevity.

 

[Dzl]

Guys, anyone had a chance to stress or even cut the case of one of this batteries ? I wanted to use it on a RV setup and wondering if the case is strong enough. I plan to mount it sideways and add sufficient material to hold and avoid them rubbing, but the case needs to be enough to hold it's own and a battery on top.
Don't want to be the tester, I've seen lots of videos on the nylon cases, wondering how the aluminum cases longevity.

External 'fixture' (secure and lightly compress) is recommended for any application, but especially important for mobile or marine applications. These large aluminum cells are not the ideal cell for harsher applications, but I suspect that they can be made suitably adequate with proper external protection and design.

Some objectives that come to mind:
1. Secure (and limit shocks and harsh vibration to the extent possible)
2. Compress
3. Prevent stress on the terminals
4. Protect from puncture and/or loose objects
5. Insulate if necessary