Alibaba And Alliexpress Warranty Claims. Can You Succeed? What Does It Take?

This video is about the Seplos BMS which while a fine product has had an issue with a diode that sometimes fails to function properly. Here I discuss my experience in dealing with the issue with the company and how it compares to dealing with a warranty claim with the company Wanptek on a failed power supply unit. In both cases the same techniques were used to achieve the best outcome. Also included is updates on the bigger project which is expanding again!!

[@SeplosTechnology]

😂😂😂

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Hi good people of Seplos. Can you answer the question about the cell balancing circuitry? How many amps are used when balancing cells? Is it variable current that is used? Do you move current toward low cells or only use resistors to reduce high cells. This would be good info to add to your manual.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

I got an answer back from my salesman. Max balancing current is 150 milliamps. No word on the approach but I see resistors that are probably the method.

[@mickwolf1077]

I can tell you're a man of your word by the way you hold others to their word. Great video

[@krisdevoecht]

Well, a good video with a good and calm discussion… 👍

[@advancednutritioninc908]

Another excellent video!! Well done on the clear and correct level of assertiveness - it won the day! Thanks !!

[@semirauthsala6001]

Great video. I'm on the same boat as you when the Alibaba seller of my Pylontech US3000C batteries refused to replace the BMS and even blocked me on all platforms including Alibaba. This is something everyone whole buying from Alibaba should aware of.

[@patrickmckowen2999]

Great video Most computer products I service are "fix on failure", even with known issue unless is a hazard issue like with laptop batteries. Cheers

[@markjauregui8138]

LOL I got the same power supply from Amazon, had the same issue. Stopped working, contacted them, and they sent a new one with a free return label. They did make assumptions in the email, like the power was greater than its capability, or it was hooked up wrong. Thanks for sharing your detailed videos.

[@crowdiver]

You are an Inspiration sir!

[@8uhayat]

Well, I admire your patience. I know well how hard it can be to comm on Aliexpress. None the less morals and ethics should not change half way in between. Anyhow, glad its sorted and I do like this new PS unit.

[@JM-yx1lm]

Honestly I stopped doing business on any of the china market places because of the shady promises. I had no idea you could actually get satisfaction for a product that busted.

[@blainecelestaine4543]

Ray thx for documenting your experience. I suck at fine soldering . I am buying 32 280ah cells . i need a bms and other components that are reliable. Seplos's .3 % is different than your experience. You went thru alot

[@goodwhiskyjerome3902]

Thanks a lot fir thus video. I got the same black-out problem with SEPLOS 15S 200a BMS. On day, suddenly my POWERWALL stopped working, without any reason. I told this to my chinese saler, and after few questions and pictures, he sent a new BMS. So, now my POWERWALL works fine. But, i am affraid that this problem could happen again. So, i would like to try to fix the former BMS by myself, like you did. Could you just tell me what is the reference for D4 diod? Is it UF4007 ? Thanks a lot for your work.

[@brockmcvay5088]

Hey Ray, thanks for the video. I work for a solar company that installed a bunch of batteries with the same seplos d4 diode issue. We ended up replacing all the bms’s but now I have probably 50 bms’s with faulty diodes. Seplos wants me to purchase diodes from them. If I can figure out the model number I’d like to source them myself. Do you know what they are replacing them with?

[@mikedurham4448]

smiles .. been there ... lol.. and some success and some NO ! very frustrating .. over the yrears i reckon i have come out on top.. but the last couple years i have been stunked for the loss of time, effort and money .. AND .. the prices have risen ALOT ! seems that having cut out the middle men has finally meant they can overcharge now without fear or much retribution from irrate or unhappy clients.. it kinda appears that profit has overcome service in mANY CASES .. and their loss of middle men has created a vacuum in the negotiation od resolution .. smiles .. i am slowly catching up with ur content and find them stimulating and enjoyable .. cheers and merry chritmass

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Thanks so much for taking the time. Merry Christmas to you too!

[@rogerlittlejohn475]

Do the new BMS have the new larger diode? Wonder if the recent boards have the new diode?

[@bbrown_sc]

For yours and neighbors big systems, have you decided on your inverters yet? I couldn't recall if you had mentioned that. Curious if you are planning on using canbus compatible inverters such as Victron or Growatt and if you have tested chaining multiple battery units with RS485 then interfacing with the inverters using canbus.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

I'm sorry but I'm not ready to reveal that yet. It will be exciting when it is time for that install. I do plan to daisy chain the batteries and make them communicate with the inverters. Hopefully they can communicate with me as well without need for the cloud or servers in China. All I can say for now.

[@koosmulder2795]

I had 2 Seplos 150a BMS boards in 2 parallel DIY packs and both batteries after 2 weeks in service died due to the diodes, we changed and okay again, then we had more diodes faulty in another battery and also 150Amp from 100 amp no faulty diodes yet. Then we got environment temperature faults in 2 boards , it's an on boards pt100 located in corner of board and has bad soldering, one boards immediately had fault so no good testing after production and one temp sensor soldering went bad after battery 2 months in service, all repaired. The environment temperature can also be set out of service in software, when a fault occurs in two parallel packs the charging is also interupted if can bus is used with inverter (Deye) , also got help from Alan at Seplos.

[@nicolalamotta9554]

For the PSU i suggest the American Mean Well,they sell very high power (1200w 12v) PSU,if u can solder u eventually upgrade the PSU with some potentiometer and some voltage/current meter to know how the charging is going

[@dave.h]

Great stories! Treat people with respect and they will do the same.

[@sandsack123]

oh what a crap!

[@robertallencad1]

Mr. Sir dude you are awesome

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Thank you kindly

[@edwardbyrd7667]

If you have a spare to hotswap in the event of failure, I think I would install them. If one fails, it becomes the spare post repair. Being kind, and refraining from snark is often hard, but always worth the effort.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Not a bad plan. I have two spares. One I bought extra and one they sent me for the diode issue. If I start having failures I guess I will just go ahead and swap them all then. a big diode swap day.

[@edwardbyrd7667]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff sounds like a party to me

[@jeremyallard5449]

Another good video Ray, that was a good result on the PSU, I am really pleased to see the growth of this channel. I am currently torn between GYLL and SEPLOS ready made 48 volt packs, I believe the new GYLL battery has a built in pre charge resistor to protect the MPPT charger inverters capacitors. Have you considered modifying your switches to incorporate this? Looking forward to your solar shed videos.

[@jamesbsa6450]

@jeremy Allard do you or anyone here have information on how Gyll wires the precharge resistor in?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

If you look at the gyll and others with the same form factor, I suspect most are using the seplos bms. They look exactly the same and on the pcb, the big white rectangular object is the recharge resistor. It is on the same side as the big heat sink. It is labeled as a 10w 51 ohm.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

You are so very kind. Thanks

[@jeremyallard5449]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff Thanks Ray, I would have thought that the Pre charge resistor would be wired to the breaker. Have a good weekend.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

@@jeremyallard5449 I have thought about wanting one between the combiner and the inverters. Still thinking on that but it is a bit further down the path. Today is perhaps, siding!

[@johncumberland2762]

Gday Ray. I just watched thi video and I am currently in a wrestle with Wanptek over the same unit of yours that was DOA. There answer is that I didn’t use it for a month after I received it. The can’t seem to fathom that I was waiting for my cells to arrive. Their only suggestion so far is that they will send me the parts and instructions to fix it. Not happy in Australia

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Stay after it and remember that these are easy to break by misuse so they probably get lots of people trying to get replacements for problems they caused. Be patient.

[@bbrown_sc]

Great video Ray. That was a lot of diodes in that package. How many need to be replaced per BMS?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Only one. They sent extra.

[@carymartz8762]

Use some solder wik and melt through the conformal coating to remove smt diode.

[@rmdjapri]

have you check the new power supply voltage? is it accurate when you measure it with measurement tool?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

It produces 25mv higher than the setting on the display. I don't trust these cheap power supplies for greater accuracy than that. I wouldn't leave it to baby sit a battery that is close to full either as they can change voltage leaving you wondering if you bumped something. I use them to get juice into batteries in the middle of the range. Otherwise, if this is all you have, you should be watching and testing at the very top.

[@rv10flyer84]

107 kWh! That’s what I have for my house. This is why I bought all different brands and haves plenty of spares for my battery bank. Swap it out, then spend three months dealing with China. Or just put it in file 13, as my time is worth more than $100-200. I bought one those hunks of junk power supplies on Amazon. It was DOA. Returned for credit and bought two real ones from MASTECH POWER SUPPLY in San Jose CA, by VOLTEQ, Model HY7530EX and HY5050EX.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Nice unit. 600$ on sale.

[@jmaus2k]

I have the same 60v 5a that failed for Ray and it is still working fine. I think most problems are just from shipping damage. Same goes with computer power supplies. Large inductors and transformers attached to a circuit board do not ship well.

[@jesuscuevas6708]

Did the diode solve your problem .I have the sabe BMS and it seems to have no power. Thanks

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

I haven’t had the problem. I took action proactively because it was a well known issue. I haven’t had the issue yet.

[@Foxfried]

what about using the mason box from sepoloeos?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

I prefer my fusing, connectors, wiring, busbars and easy inspectability as well as lower cost but it is better than the 5kwh rack batteries that I see on the market so I would use the mason box kit if I didn’t want to or wasn’t able to build my batteries around my own choice of parts.

[@rogerlittlejohn475]

Meant to say did your new bms have the new diode?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

They appear to, yes.

[@michaelwaegemans6802]

I was looking at the seplos company. Why did you choose this one? Would be a good video

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Things I like are communication protocols with inverters and robust design and very large heat sink. I also like the display for fast monitoring of cell voltages. Things I don't like are the lack of bluetooth connectivity and the amp hour capacity in the soc monitor is limited to 200ah. That is not representative of the cells that we are commonly using with these units.

[@michaelivory7606]

In Australia which is only one week in the boat from China...I have found products have been shipped off in a timely matter with great communication. And the frustrating part is on our end once it lands...taking 2 months to get through customs and be couriered to my home, and the lack of communication in the courier and logistics companies...except when they want their customs fees. Fingers crossed on my Seplos which looks to have come from the same batch.

[@asderven]

Same in Pakistan :D

[@johntulloch1430]

Completely agree with you Michael.... Australia post and its mail sorting and distribution is in tatters compared with a decade ago.

[@michaelivory7606]

@@johntulloch1430 not Australia Post, I'm referring to the courier companies....although they all have there good and bad days

[@lesliestandifer]

Is that pex you are using to cover your all thread?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Yes it is. Only thing I use it for.

[@mauricemcmahon536]

I know that this is old but I have a wall mounted battery pack. Mine stopped working, I opened and realized it is a Seplos or a Seplos look alike board. What diode should I replace the original one with?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Please contact Seplos and ask them to troubleshoot it with you. Come back and let us know what they figure out. It may be the diode but they can tell you how to test it, unless you have already tested it.

[@mauricemcmahon536]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff thing is that it was not purchased from Seplos. I bought ”powerwall” from a Chinese supplier. Worked great for about 50 days then went dead. When I opened it up cell voltage was 53.4V so problem is with the BMS. China is still on holidays need battery to work so willing to try D4 diode swap

[@typxxilps]

plan big sounds good but in case you had put your eggy only in one nest regarding the battery cell suppliers you would not be that happy so it always depends on - also about the outlook cause you had to order after a price increase but if the price is staying or decreasing again as we can see here in the car industry (ev parts) then it changes a lot.

[@offgridwanabe]

At least they answered your emails in my situation they just stopped answering leaving me with a broken balancer.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

In your case, who are you referring to when you say they?

[@offgridwanabe]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff ENG battery store they had me send them a video then never replied a long time ago now many orders since on Ali Express and that was the only problem.

[@mauricemcmahon536]

Ray please tell me what is the replacement diode. I didn't purchase from seplos and the board could very well be a knock off of the seplos.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

I am out of the country and can't check right now. I would contact Seplos anyway.

[@mauricemcmahon536]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff thanks I checked D4 diode 1.8 ohm both ways so I think it is blown

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

@@mauricemcmahon536 looks to be. Let me know if Seplos helps you. That will be good info.

[@pacoarrieta8578]

Good video Ray. I bought 8x 280Ah lifepo4 cells from Jenny Wu and I'm finding I got a bad cell. I emailed her a couple of days ago but no response yet. How should I get a new cell under warranty? Thanks for your kind reply. Francisco.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

That’s a bummer. I’m sure she will take care of you. I think they just entered into the Chinese new year holiday so it might require a little patience.

[@carlosgaspar74]

Hi, congratulations on your channel. Can you tell me what is the max individual cell balancing current of the 200A BMS?

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

That info is not in their literature or manual but I have a request for information sent.

[@carlosgaspar74]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff Thank you.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

I got an answer back from my salesman. Max balancing current is 150 milliamps. No word on the approach but I see resistors that are probably the method.

[@carlosgaspar74]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff As I expected,150 200 mA, I saw the resistors too in the board. Thanks Ray keep up the good stuff!

[@houseofancients]

so much power ray :)

[@mikejf4377]

How much was the power supply and what PN# is it. Looks like a very nice PS.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

DPS605U www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SQB47S6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@mikejf4377]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff Thanks Very much.

[@gioraver]

i had similar experiencs whit chinise supplyers , the warranty is a bad joke

[@georgef7754]

I admire you patience and persistence.

[@typxxilps]

10:00 - fine explanations but I would ask him to simply pick them up and do the warranty efforts needed instead of starting to start such nightmare and all the other issues that come along with those replaced parts and pieces. Their fault, their job Why didn't you go with the opensource BMS from pitty stuart pittaway who also has a yt channel ? It is a lot cheaper and offers the full integration and mostly presoldered pcb from one of these pcb makers ? Hope your BMS will make it quite long but in case you struggle and have to replace those consider looking into that open bms project which is already on V4 hardware wise - with a pretty clean and straight forward architecture regarding its architecture.

[@MistaTerps]

He’s using low melt solder to remove that diode.

[@jimjones7821]

Ray, love your work but could you please work on your audio - its low and its sometimes hard to hear you. Keep up the good work.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Working on it!

[@thedavesofourlives1]

Good content, just a bit long winded

[@milan2931]

🙄😬

[@GroovyVideo2]

both companies ripped me off

[@MrRobertPogson]

Great work! Lots of attention to details! I believe you have wasted a lot of effort testing. The BMS will identify any weak cells. I noticed your test results are within about 1% of specs. It's not worth your time to retest and group. Just go with the specs. Also, hot air rises so the ribs of the heatsink on the BMS should be vertical, not horizontal. This could matter in a hot place like TX. Also, the threaded rod is overkill. The swelling of the cells happens at high/low states of charge. Just set the BMS to avoid high and low voltages. Lifetime will be an order of magnitude longer and swelling will be minimal. Wedge the cells in snuggly and rely on their weight to hold them in place except in mobile applications. Perhaps have an "UP" arrow on the box.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

The test results range from 262AH to 281AH They are all labeled 272AH. The ones near 280 are almost certainly new and the ones in the 262-269AH range are almost certainly used. The recorded data at the time I received them will be used to group the 16s into 16 different batteries and if one goes bad soon or in the future I will have the data as a historical reference. The heat sink must be fairly oversized because in the many ready made batteries that use this style or perhaps exact same bms such as gyll, enertek, seplos and others the bms is installed in the same orientation as mine but with the heat sink facing the front mounting plate without any cooling fan. I suspect this one facing into the hollow cavity will work better than those. My batteries will be in climate controlled buildings for the efficiency and reliability of the batteries, BMS, and inverters. The threaded rod is an easy way to restrain the batteries so they don't put any stresses on the bus bars and so they don't ratchet up in size over time, reducing their life. I have learned from the mistakes of others but diy is a great way to allow people to make these decisions for themselves. I love it. Thanks for your comment but I think I am using my time wisely in managing an investment of 35,000$ for the cost of the cells alone for these projects.

[@MrRobertPogson]

(281-262)/281×100 = 6.7%, ordinary variation in production, not usage. These batteries are about as precise as spreading peanut butter on toast, not laser-trimmed resistors. To get 6.7% deterioration in capacity requires thousands of cycles in LiFePO4. I doubt these units have been on the market long enough to age that much. Time is money. In the effort made in all this testing you could have earned enough money to buy way more than 6.7% of your capacity. Also, wringing the last 1% of capacity out of the battery is not worth the deterioration caused by that depth of discharge. Larger batteries with a narrower range of cycle can last decades. Going to 2.65V can cut capacity severely in a decade. For all this effort one should seek reliability and endurance not capacity. Let the BMS work for you.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

@@MrRobertPogson you seem very sure of yourself. I will continue to do it my way as I disagree with your opinion and you are not offering data. What I am doing is similar to what the manufacturer does although they test at a higher discharge rate.

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

@@MrRobertPogson the time I spend testing is just a little here and there. It happens while I do other things.

[@alex-w8p2e]

Hi Ray, Andy from the off grid garage had a problem with the exact same power supply as yours, his power supply had a problem with one of the capacitors that is in-line with the AC input, I was thinking that maybe you have the same problem , I know your fan had an intermittent connection, but maybe just the capacitor overheated. A good way to test is to bypass the capacitor with a wire and see if the power supply works.

[@DanBurgaud]

You ought to check out their MASON DIY Case specifically for EVE280K cells; you will definitely like it.

[@fred8565]

Next Time just go to big battery And buy there system

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

What and cheat myself out of all this fun?

[@mikedurham4448]

@@RayBuildsCoolStuff lmao .. like that one .. we are suckers for the learning ......

[@evanbozogan232]

Please blur out your shipping label I could read your name address and phone number. Gota stay safe friend!

[@RayBuildsCoolStuff]

Thank you. Please email me and confirm where you were able to see this. [e-mail]

[@RechargeableLithium]

A diode between the battery and the power supply will protect the power supply.

[@Mike-.]

You take sooooo long to tell a story