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SOK Warranty Issues

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N7QX

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Joined
May 4, 2024
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First post here, but long Tim reader.

own 3 SOK 206 AH batteries. One of the BMS stopped working and shows 0 charge and a continuous 22 Amp current drain.

I asked SOK to repair the battery, replace the battery, replace the BMS or fix the BMS. Nothing unreasonable.

I have received nothing but a run around.
They tell me everything is fine and the ABC application is the issue.

If I isolate the battery, the power is 0% by morning and shuts down. After recharging, the same issues occur.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I am getting ready to buy 48v server rack batteries for a new project, but. in all honest, I think unless something changes i am done with SOK.

Very disappointing.

Mike
 
ive been talking with sok and solarpowerstore support for months now trying to get my brand new 48v 100ah server rack one fixed. not going well...
half of the cells need to be replaced, and sok ghosted after being informed.

if you do any of that user-servicable stuff without their permission they might void the warranty... or so i was warned.
otherwise id say disconnect the bms from the cells to try to prevent all of the cells dying from overdischarge.

id personally suspect a short in the bms, a bad sensor in the bms, or a bad cell.
 
Thanks for the tag, but on the 12v batteries, we are limited to helping with batteries purchased through our store, simply because that's the only way we have the ability to go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction. If that's the case, please feel to reach out to me directly and I'd be glad to help.

Unfortunately, my team has learned in the last few months that the manufacturer's warranty is truly at their discretion, and they have been trending toward being far less lenient as prices drop and margins thin. I've had a few cases recently where I feel something should be covered under warranty, have tried to get it covered with the manufacturer on the customers behalf, and they deny covering it or suggest trying something silly (such as replacing a BMS for a faulty cell or leaving a battery with a faulty BMS on a charger for a week). We refuse to leave customers stranded or give them the run-around so we just foot the bill to make things right and take care of things on our end. I can't say it's a smart decision to purchase directly from these manufacturers though, because they could disappear tomorrow and leave you stranded.

Back on topic, in the USA, the 48v rack batteries are exclusively distributed by my company & team, so you can be assured that there is support leading back to us no matter which vendor you choose to purchase through. We are proactive and inspect each batch to make sure there are no surprises. But if it is still concerning to you, we carry many brands and we can still make sure you are taken care of and treated right at the end of the day, no matter which direction you choose to go.
 
Last edited:
N7QX said:
First post here, but long Tim reader.

own 3 SOK 206 AH batteries. One of the BMS stopped working and shows 0 charge and a continuous 22 Amp current drain.

I asked SOK to repair the battery, replace the battery, replace the BMS or fix the BMS. Nothing unreasonable.

I have received nothing but a run around.
They tell me everything is fine and the ABC application is the issue.

If I isolate the battery, the power is 0% by morning and shuts down. After recharging, the same issues occur.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I am getting ready to buy 48v server rack batteries for a new project, but. in all honest, I think unless something changes i am done with SOK.

Very disappointing.

Mike
Click to expand...

Is this a heated battery, can you disconnect the heater to see it stops? I know of a local person who had to do this what we found is that the Mosfet that controls the heating burned out and would just run the heater non stop no matter what. removing the heating pad stop the issue but no more low temperature heating...
 
As promised, here are images of my two 12v 206 ah SOK batteries.

The second image is of the problem battery, the BMS reports a current drain of -23.1 A. The SOC shows 100% and the clculated capacity now only shows 0%. Cell balancing looks ok

The first image is the good battery.

IMG_5104.PNG



IMG_5105.PNG


What is really weird is that my Victron Shunt shows the batteries at 100% and aside from the screwy ABC-BMS data, they do appear to be working.

Also, in regard to Current Connected, I am very impressed with the candid explanation and their desire tro go above and beyond. This is very rare in this day and age. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see some of these battery manufacturers hit with some type of legal action if they continue to arbitrarily fail to stand by their warranty.

Someone asked for images or wiring info. My solar system is a small 12v system ruinning my office in my house and utilizes Victron components.

IMG_5106.jpg

Thanks all.

PS......My intent is to convert my system to 48v over the next 6 months, hence the Victron components.

Mike.
 
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on the second battery, disconnect the cable from it, go in the app under basic settings->password 200010-> idle calibration. That should reset the current measurement issue.

Although your SOC will never be accurate as your smartshunt (when wired properly*)

That appears to be 12awg wire on your solar controller. For 70A you should have 6AWG with an 80A fuse in the lynx.

also, your lynx shunt isn't going to do anything setup like this - loads need to be connected on the right hand side of the lynx shunt otherwise power in/out of the battery will not be measured.
 
Hello Dexter.......

Thanks for the info on resetting the BMS. Will do today.
The wiring to the solar controller is #10 stranded THHN. I will change to #6, just need to get some ferrules.
Will move the shunt to the left side of the Dist. box.

Have a great day.
Thanks
 
N7QX said:
Hello Dexter.......

Thanks for the info on resetting the BMS. Will do today.
The wiring to the solar controller is #10 stranded THHN. I will change to #6, just need to get some ferrules.
Will move the shunt to the left side of the Dist. box.

Have a great day.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Sounds good, just connect your batts to the shunt directly from there.

MPPT manual may call for no ferrules but my memory is weak. @sunshine_eggo
 
Again, thank you to Dexter and everyone else. I reset the Idle Calibration and now both batteries (ABC-BMS) reflect the current draw for each battery with the total matching the shunt reading. The one battery still shows a capacity of 0.0 ah, but all other parameters are correct and all cells are balanced.

I moved the lynx shunt to the left end and c connected the batteries there. Wires were changed to #6 stranded (no ferrules). However, I am not completely sure that the compression screw down fittings are any safer without the ferrules. Be that as it may, and that is a discussion for another day and time, I sincerely appreciate everyones assistance.

I low that SOK batterie4s are well regarded as are others, but man, it just seems that there is so much inferior quality gear available. Coming from the commercial building industry were I designed and constructed backup systems for corporate headquarters and TV Studios, high voltage switch gear and UPS equipment seems much better constructed.

Be safe.
 
After a few days or so. the BMS has once again become unstable and inaccurate.

After four or five emails with SOK and a request to replace the BMS, the told me to go out and buy a shunt.

I am done with SOK. Will never buy another product from them. A warranty issued by SOL us useless.

Time to move on. Life is too short to deal with shady and bad business practices.

Buyer beware.

From: SOK Battery

This soc and capacity incorrect on this app.
You could leave it alone .This app for checking 4 cells voltage and PROT statue.If you need check SOC and capacity, you need install a shunt and read on the shunt.
Regards,
Min
https://www.us.sokbattery.com
If you have a question, get support from here:
https://www.us.sokbattery.com/contact
Follow us on Youtube to learn more about SOK battery
https://www.youtube.com/@sokbattery
Click to expand...


 
You can replace the BMS with a JBD and add an active balancer, for the active balancer you can attach a little slider switch to turn in on/off as needed to make sure they stay balanced.

My JBD bms had very accurate shunt. I have done this before to a 206 and it works fine, I also routed the bluetooth dongle to the outside of the case to get better reception.
 
Alkaline

Thanks for the suggestion. I may very well replace the BMS.

Appreciate the help.
Mike
 
Last edited:
N7QX said:
Will do. I’m out for a short trip but will post images.

Yes ABC BMS.
Click to expand...
www.us.sokbattery.com

How to read and set the ABC-BMS app. | SOK Battery

Update on August 25,2022. How to read the Protection State on the new version Bluetooth app. The BMS protects the battery's cells from potentially damaging situations like short circuit, over or under voltage, and discharging or charging during extreme temperatures. The SOK Bluetooth app now indi
www.us.sokbattery.com www.us.sokbattery.com
 
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