ShunBin Battery Packs: 12V/24V 100AH and up ! A Complete RIP-OFF ! AVOID

[GoneInsaneNZ]

got a new email from them today.
"Hello, can you withdraw the complaint?I can refund your money in full and give you a free replacement"
1 min later a second email
"Thank you for your understanding, we will check the quality before shipment"

Still seems that to get a refund I have to remove my complaint.

 

[Supervstech]

I would report this to amazon.

 

[MrNatural22]

Withdraw the complaint then update review after they send replacement.
updates are allowed.

 

[Jamie]

Thank you for those tear down shots. I hope these batteries work as somewhat advertised even with less capacity. I will say that the poor quality soldering on the BMS and abundant messy use of glue and caulking makes it look like a middle school shop project. I would bet that those are used cells. Damn I want to believe that these are the real deal...

 

[Ped]

I dont think its a big issue. A refund and replacement? Hell take it. Some new guy might have built the thing or something.

 

[Stiffmeister]

My 12V 500 AH is out for delivery. Should I open it up? I wasn't going to test it until I can hook up my solar (another week or two out)

 

[Steve_S]

My 12V 500 AH is out for delivery. Should I open it up? I wasn't going to test it until I can hook up my solar (another week or two out)

That is entirely up to you, be aware that any "warranty" could and likely would be invalidated by doing so. Given that there is absolutely no documentation, no build / spec sheet, nothing with the manufactures info, zilch about warranties or any such normal & usual stuff....

I haven't had the time to hook it up for testing as yet, let alone a good "Health Check" for my own peace of mind before I actually hook it up to my solar system.

 

[Stiffmeister]

My 12V 500ah weighs 98 lbs. The dimensions aren't really that large but a beast to move. No dents in the stainless steel. Pressed the button and it read like 13.4v. No complaints. Hauling it to Mexico this Friday which will be close to a weeks drive. Then charging with solar, hooking up Balmar battery monitor.

 

[Maast]

By the way, those S-600-12 charging units are meanwell clones.

They're not actually designed to parallel but as found here they are current limiting so it'll work as long as both are set to exactly the same voltage.

I would strongly recommend you completely take them out of circuit and make sure they're set to no higher than 14.6V, if it were me for longevity sake I'd set them to 13.6 (3.4v per cell).

 

[Steve_S]

Wee Update.

I got further into the pack by pulling up the side coverings and really, looks just like what Delta-V posted in his pics, so I didn't bother photographing that. The sides between the stainless & cells also have the fiberglass sheeting and the cells are bound together quite tightly with heavy nylon strapping, which is a good thing. The way they assembled eh pack, there is no real room to put any temp sensors in there, unless you put them on the outside of the cells. It is better between the cells to get a real picture of temps, so it means disassembly and making a mess of the whole thing.

The BMS which is one thing that just leaves a niggle in the back of my neck, so I looked a little closer at the 8S 100A (apparently) and I think that could be replaced with another one that could fit into the casing and reusing the existing wiring... It may actually be preferable to do a different mounting as there is room in the front between the pack & the display, about 6cm / 2-1/4" but it would be a pita to do, otherwise an externally mounted one ? not terribly keen on that. Looking at Daly, they haven't got a 100A - 150A BMS that can be configured by PC/Modbus that I can see so far. Something to ponder upon in any case. I do worry about Temps because it gets freakin cold up here and if something goes wrong, I want it to go into a safe shutdown. Best Crisis Management IS Prevention ! Never under estimate Murphy's Laws and when they will apply to you.

Next Step, I',m going to do a little testing using my backup inverter and loading it down, charging it up and roughly working out what this pack is going to give me.

After that, it's hooking it up into my solar system, side x side (not on a common bus, switched banks, FLA on switch 1, LFP on switch 2) as my FLA Bank which still has life in it for a while. That's going to be the next tricky bit because of the charging and my particular setup at this time. My Midnite Classic has the WizbangJr and shunt in the E-Panel so I can get my DOD etc from that on my current FLA bank because everything runs through that shunt but when I add the LFP pack this becomes moot and I'd like to know the state of not only the FLA bank but also the LFP pack separately. I also have a Midnite Battery Monitor but that thing only reads voltage and guesses... it's fine for a quick peek view but not accurate by any means and it's tied directly to the FLA bank. The PITA of different battery types... oi...

 

[TheDude130]

I received the 12v 500A version yesterday and installed it into my Intech Flyer Explore RV to test capacity. I also have the MPP Solar 12V charger/MPPT/inverter. The battery arrived at 13.4v. I ran it for 10 minutes or so with a 500w load then I set the charger to 14.6 bulk and 13.5 float. It went into float pretty quickly then I disconnected shore power. As I understand it, the battery should have been at around 90% SOC when I stopped charging it since I didn't hold it at 14.6 for any measurable length of time. When I disconected from shore power, the voltage with no load was around 13.6.

I configured the Renogy battery monitor to 500Ah capacity then ran various loads between 300-800w from the inverter with a few smaller DC loads like my 12v fridge and Maxx fan. Mostly I used the mini-split AC or a space heater on low. At 12.1v, the Renogy showed I had consumed 500A. I figured this is effectively close enough to 0% SOC for me, so I stopped the test at this point. I am currently recharging it at 50A and counting how much goes back in before it hits float again. This time I set the Renogy monitor capacity to 700Ah since it stops counting when it gets to the set Ah level just to make sure I count every bit that goes back in.

As far as I can tell, this thing delivers as advertised in the specs. Keep in mind none of my loads were more than 70-80A continuously, so around .1-.15C discharge rate. YMMV.

 

[Bluemalibu]

I am beyond happy with my two 400AH units. No one else is currently producing such a solid LifePO4 at this price point... and by utilizing an Amazon Prime credit card, financing is free for 18 months. The closest competitor is offering but bare cells.

I do think that ShunBin should be upfront about the cell's AH rating though... and so I addressed this in my review of the batteries on Amazon. ShunBin was quick to react to the review, requesting that I delete the feedback.

ShunBin initially offered a token reimbursement, in order to reimburse me for the lack of battery capacity which I paid them for... and then they upped their offer to $120 to make the appraisal disappear. Two days later, $455 was refunded through Amazon. (Reimbursing me for the difference in the value of the battery capacity that was advertised, vs. what was actually received, ( plus the sales tax charged for these two batteries. )

So, a good deal just got much better!

 

[SolarRat]

Two days later, $455 was refunded through Amazon....

Oh crap...I think you just crashed Shunbin's email server

 

[Ped]

I asked if I could get a 150AH/12v. They asked me what size 5 more times. They finally replied to buy the 200ah and theu will refund me $160.

 

[Steve_S]

I asked for mine to be 24VDC/400AH with 150A instead of 100A and they "said" it is but there is nothing to verify that. No paperwork, no testing check sheet, no assembly / build sheet nothing at all to say what is in there.... They can literally put whatever they have in there and Joe Customer has no idea... I do not even know what Cells they put in there and to find out means serious surgery on the pack, which of course negates any warranty... which BTW, you have to pay to ship it back to Hong Kong (150lbs / 70kg is NOT CHEAP) and then maybe they'll honour a warranty... but guess what, no info on company, their address or contact details or how to make any warranty claims ! See lack of documentation and the UPS delivery paperwork only tells you about the "Shipping Agent" which is totally worthless.

I took the risk (4 grand Canadian) & I don't know IF I got screwed yet ! It works yes but IS IT what I ordered ? Will it perform as expected ? Does it have a 150A BMS ? …. ugh,,,,,

 

[Steve_S]

Deeper Digging: Ohhh Boy !
Maybe sometimes ignorance is bliss and then there are other times. You Decide !

Uncovering all the cells has been a real joy, as I do not want to cut the nylon strapping bundling the pack together but with some patience & a fresh pot of coffee.... PHOTO's below. Hoping they will keep good enough resolution for viewing detail.

• All Cells have had their capacity details "scratched off" but they were sloppy, they are 174AH CELLS !
• There are 2 / 3 types of cells in the pack !
• 11 "Black" covered cells PN# AYP310270218F36 (these are marked as 170AH but that's been scratched off)
• 2 "Blue" wrapped cells, same PN as above
• 3 "Silver" (aluminium ?) Cells. no AH marks on these, ea cell has diff # "8489","9259","9190" Different laser etch font used as well, so maybe another "brand" of cell ?

The layout of the cells are (BMS end to front connectors) Blk,Blk, Blu,Blu, Sil-8489,Sil-9259, Blk,Blk,Blk,Blk, Sil-9190, Blk,Blk,Blk,Blk,Blk.
I did not pull up the centre protective covering as that would mean lifting out the BMS and dealing with the wires which are all glued in place and to be honest, it looks a tad delicate and I don't want to screw up the wires... damn that Murphy's Laws thing... If I was replacing the BMS then I would not worry about that now but as that may happen later, then I'll mess with that.

General Sense on this. NOT happy to see 174AH Cells ! That is not a 400AH pack ! How do they figure 348AH is 400 I don't know, must be that New Math that Politicians developed. Different brands of cells ? WTH IS THAT ? Yes it will work and technically should not be a problem IF they are all the same and matched 'BUT'.

170AH stamping which is still visible on a couple:


The pack itself, see the cell wrap colours


View by the BMS, 2 Blk, 2 blu, 2 silver ! Isn't that special ?

See the scratching off of the details..... What are they hiding ?


Some more detail.... ugh....

 

[Steve_S]

More digging:
The main cells appear to come from this company (page translated)

Google Translate

I cannot locate the other cells by the numbers on them which I can see. There may be more markings under the centre protective cover which after removal was of no help as only the QR Scan Code blocks as shown below. Curiosity & "angst" got to me.... what can I say....
Also a Frontside & Backside photo's of the BMS I got.... below

Translated Image of AYP310270218F36 Cell Specs below:


THE QR Codes from the "Silver Cells"


Frontside of the BMS


Backside of the BMS


The Pack Exposed with the centre protector & BMS pulled out.


Gee wiz, delicate & cautious work taking it apart, all that glue is something to fight against but ohh so gently ! Patience & another coffee reload !

 

[Stiffmeister]

I'm still a rookie at this. Is there anyway to test or adjust the BMS? I'm not worried about draining to low but worried about charging. Going to set bulk/float voltages like The dude's post on my FlexMax 80's...but these batteries connect to my inverter. We're talking two FlexMax 80's and 30 300 watt panels. Do we just trust that ShunBin has these set to not destroy the batteries? I leave for Cabo tomorrow so one more week I will hook them to 15 panels/single FlexMax 80/single 12v 500ah battery

 

[Steve_S]

This BMS does not have any configurability at all... It's nothing much to write home about actually.... As for testing the BMS I don't know what else can be done but load test the pack to empty, charge it to full and try to figure out what it is capable of. I previously posted the charge info I was sent by ShunBin so I believe that would be safe in any case, it's on Page-2 of this thread.

EDIT, just caught the 12V/500AH so take my numbers posted on Pg-2 and divide by 2, as I'm 24V/400AH well 348? ugh....

 

[Steve_S]

I posted an Amazon.CA REVIEW on my pack, including photo's from above.
What will happen next ? We shall see !

The GOOD:
Prompt delivery and well packaged for safe transport. Well made Stainless Case with quality steel. 24V/400AH model weighs in at 70Kg / 156 Lbs, be aware of that. Very strong handles which is essential for a beast of this weight.

The Not So Good:
Absolutely no documentation of any kind sent with pack. NO assembly / pick sheet, spec sheet (I asked for 150A as opposed to 100A, no way to know) no charging information for setting charge profiles, no documentation on the "clone" paired Meanwell S600-12 chargers (meant for LED lighting).

The BAD !
Because of a running thread on one of our forums and others buying these and checking into them, I had to investigate this. They used 174AH cells in this pack so that is 348AH max! NOT 400 !. There are THREE Different types of cells within the pack ! The vendor attempted to scratch off the laser etched markings on the cells themselves. The BMS is an unknown entity and is mounted in such a way, that the NEG Lug on the BMS stands proud, resulting in a dent on the cover BUT also this puts a bending pressure on the PCB which is never a good idea, because it des not take much to crack and fail....
Photo's below include the Cell Layout showing the different cells.
Blue & Black PN# AYP310270218F36 (these are marked as 170AH but that's been scratched off) and seem to originate from aoyoupower. Specs in photos. The 3 "Silver" cells are unknown, they do have a QR Code but not much else.
[ photo's below in review]

EDIT, Adding one photo here that I put on Amazon, showing the cell layout and identifying the different types.