Just bought 16 Eve LF280K A grade; update on degradation after 15 months

[cajocars]

They were discounted from £180 to £144 soo I hit the trigger and bought 16

EVE LiFePO4 280Ah Prismatic Cell (Grade A)

Eve LiFePO4 280Ah Prismatic Cells are ideal for off-grid solar batteries, campervan batteries, and leisure batteries. Grade A cells, full certification, supporting documents are available upon request (UN38.3, Specification Reports & MSDS).

www.fogstar.co.uk

I see they also sell cases, but they fit 4 each, is there any point in storing 16 cells in 4 different cases? I guess I would still have bms wires laying around...

280ah ABS Empty DIY Cell Case

280ah LiFePO4 empty (ABS) cell case, holds four 280ah cells and a BMS, for DIY lithium battery builds. Next day delivery. Low prices - Fogstar UK.

www.fogstar.co.uk

 

[MisterB1959]

The cases are really for making up a leisure battery for a very/caravan/motorhome/boat etc.
Check to see how long it will be before their own version of the seplos mason DIY case is likely to be available?

 

[cajocars]

I received the cells; I also bough a 40A battery tester, it should arrive in a couple of weeks
Is it worth me testing each and every one of the 16 battery cells for capacity?

P.S. Batteries have been delivered at 3.27V

 

[Alkaline]

I received the cells; I also bough a 40A battery tester, it should arrive in a couple of weeks
Is it worth me testing each and every one of the 16 battery cells for capacity?

P.S. Batteries have been delivered at 3.27V

I would randomly test 2-3 if they all are acceptable then you are good.

 

[cajocars]

The busbars are not copper?

 

[Wjm1964]

View attachment 122602
The busbars are not copper?

Most probably aluminium but may be plated copper, need to scratch the surface to be sure meant to add that it makes very little difference if they are aluminium, it's lighter and cheaper than copper but quite similar conductivity. So don't be concerned

 

[mikefitz]

The bussbars will be OK. If you contact Fogstar, they may be able to supply test data on your cells.

 

[cajocars]

The bussbars will be OK. If you contact Fogstar, they may be able to supply test data on your cells.

Do you mean they would have individually tested them for capacity before selling? Or EVE?
Do I need to give them the QR code numbers?

 

[SeaGal]

I received the cells; I also bough a 40A battery tester, it should arrive in a couple of weeks
Is it worth me testing each and every one of the 16 battery cells for capacity?

P.S. Batteries have been delivered at 3.27V

Personally I wouldn't bother as you got grade A cells. Ours were fine as supplied and working well ?

 

[cajocars]

Personally I wouldn't bother as you got grade A cells. Ours were fine as supplied and working well ?

Yes, but I got them on black friday at 20% discount :D

 

[SeaGal]

... so, provided you get more than 224Ah out of each, you're quids in ?

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

View attachment 122602
The busbars are not copper?

I received 8 of those grade a eves from fogstar. I drilled the busbars for the balance wires, and noticed they are copper inside, which was nice.. Probably zinc or ally plated?
Top balanced, not capacity tested, compressed, and running in my metal shed with a heating pad. All good so far..

 

[cajocars]

I received 8 of those grade a eves from fogstar. I drilled the busbars for the balance wires, and noticed they are copper inside, which was nice.. Probably zinc or ally plated?
Top balanced, not capacity tested, compressed, and running in my metal shed with a heating pad. All good so far..
View attachment 122706

View attachment 122707
View attachment 122708

Nice! Why did you drill the busbars instead of just using a ring connector on one of the studs?
How much pressure did you apply for compression? Did you put anything between adjacent cells?

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

Nice! Why did you drill the busbars instead of just using a ring connector on one of the studs?
How much pressure did you apply for compression? Did you put anything between adjacent cells?

I wanted a good connection on the studs for the busbars, if you have a small ring term inbetween the nut and busbar, it just causes more resistance.. I see many people on here do that, hence where i got the idea from ?. And it does make sense, in fact as a wiring harness builder for the motorsport industry, i wouldnt do it any other way! Limit any potential high resistance connections. (btw - those pictures dont show the finished product.. Im using 70mm battery cable for any wiring! Plus adding another 8 eves in parrallel in a couple of months.
I have insulation inbetween each cell:

Flexible Chopping Boards - Flexi Food Cutting Sheets - Multicolor (Pack of 4) 5056239413451 | eBay

Orange- Seafood.

www.ebay.co.uk

And i just guessed on the compression, used angle iron at the ends for a more even compression. - probably went a bit overboard with the tightning as ive very slightly squashed the ally casing of the cells on the two end ones, but im sure that will be fine! ?. All seems good on the jk bms,, small cell deviation of about 0.002 on a 20amp draw. Got a junctek shunt too which seems good and the bluetooth actually reaches inside the house!

 

[Ron-ski]

I also ordered 16 grade A 280A cells from Fogstar, ordered 16 August, received on the 19. When checked on 20 August they were all 3.295v, and they've been sat under my stairs ever since - I actually put a note on my desk yesterday to remind to check the voltages of all cells.

I also ordered a battery tester, which took some time to arrive, but I've never got around to testing any of the cells - didn't really want to do it until they were under compression.

Fogstar did supply me the test data, this is data that Eve compile, so you get a large spreadsheet and then need to find your cells in there.

 

[SeaGal]

I also ordered 16 grade A 280A cells from Frogstar

LOL... ?️ not ?

 

[Ron-ski]

@SeaGal Sorry my brains rather foggy at the moment

 

[MisterB1959]

I received 8 of those grade a eves from fogstar. I drilled the busbars for the balance wires, and noticed they are copper inside, which was nice.. Probably zinc or ally plated?
Top balanced, not capacity tested, compressed, and running in my metal shed with a heating pad. All good so far..
View attachment 122706

View attachment 122707
View attachment 122708

can you provide some detail re the heating pad please?

 

[MalBurn]

I received 8 of those grade a eves from fogstar. I drilled the busbars for the balance wires, and noticed they are copper inside, which was nice.. Probably zinc or ally plated?
Top balanced, not capacity tested, compressed, and running in my metal shed with a heating pad. All good so far..
View attachment 122706

View attachment 122707
View attachment 122708

Nice work! love the diy hrc fuse holder.

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

Nice work! love the diy hrc fuse holder.

Thanks ??. Got the fuse (355amp class t lawson fuse with a 80,000amp interrupt current! - crazy!) from ebay, new without original packing for £15! - bargain. And a piece of perspex for £3 bent into shape. Bit better than £100+ for fuse and holder as it would normally cost ?.

A more upto date picture: (the box on the end is the control module for a junctek bluetooth 400amp shunt which works well, see aliexpress..)


To control the heating pad:

Not finished yet, but not far off.