First Battery Charge. I needed to do this!

[@CoastLife]

Planning something similar.... these videos are helping me solidify in my head what I already understand. Thanks!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Perfect!

[@JPHER217]

Off topic.... but MAN seeing you walking around in shorts and nice sunny weather, im just picturing a hammoc, a cold beer relaxing! Im feeling envious :P Here in sweden -20c :)

[@BeeBeorn]

I was about to say the same. ( Yes, Sweden to)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Great idea. I'll do this next weekend and vlog it for you guys ;)

[@jamest.5001]

There is nothing like the feeling of making your own power, especially when you put in all the work, and when it's clean power it's even better!!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Well said! It's so exciting that all these hundreds pieces now come together... and just work.

[@oneeyedphotographer]

My inverter arrived this morning. Completely unannounced, days before it's due. It's HUGE.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

They are huge!

[@scantrain5007]

...Your green friend loves the heat from the inverter. Ok, have fun!

[@szevlin]

im happy to see this project has come so far, good job

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you! It is truly exciting to see it becoming live

[@bertogle2993]

Oôxxr

[@szevlin]

just a heads up for anyone reading this, dont try it out the last 2 replies are both fake accounts

[@kennith.]

Happy to see you making very good progress.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you!

[@georgebaker8974]

I'm happy for you

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks. It was really exciting.

[@martinhansen9517]

Great job Andy, nice to see its working but I would put the power lead for the shunt on the battery so you can tjek the battery without turning the box on every time

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Once the battery is in place, I'm not planning to turn it off any more. But yeah, considering...

[@andrewradford3953]

Congratulations on commissioning the charging side. Very neat and well thought out.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@walterweese2527]

nice, now with secondary switch.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Oh yeah!

[@DSmartLife]

Congratulations. BTW you could have easily got the CC cables through the hole if you had removed the cables from the CC terminals and push it through, from inside the battery cabinet. I hope I can build my pack soon. I bought 16x 105AH cells from AE in 2019 and I got duped. After that I lost hope. But the cells are much cheaper and widely available now. Anyways, thanks.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yeah, it's just a temp setup but you're right that would have worked. What happened to your cells from Ali?

[@DSmartLife]

​@@OffGridGarageAustralia In Sep 2019, I ordered 16pcs of 105AH cells (advertised as brand new) from a Seller in Ali at 1300USD. After 3 months of waiting, they sent me old used cells, out of which 14 were at 0V and only 2 were 1.5-2V. I complained and the seller said I should first charge the cells, which is ridiculous. I opened a dispute and Ali Dispute resolution team sided with the seller telling the same that I have to charge the cells to make it work. Despite several attempts and contacting the customer service describing I cannot charge any LiFePO4 cells that is below 2.5V, there was no refund nor any agreement on return (It seems I have to pay for return and I couldn't even find any service to ship lithium batteries back to China). PSA: Avoid this seller: Shenzhen Foxell Technologies Co., Ltd. Anyways, Thanks to you, I am inspired to continue the project again.

[@jmaus2k]

Well done.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks ;)

[@guohuaye12]

I don't blame you, I wouldn't have been able to wait either. Looks Good!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks, Rick.

[@grenebulax]

I'm excited for you. Can't wait to start my build.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Have fun! It's very exciting.

[@kipdennis3796]

That moment you're getting solar power for the first time,i wouldn't wait too,fan from Kenya

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you. Yeah, I looked at the box all the time and said, something needs to happen. These stupid 6mm terminals are still not been delivered...

[@chipmeister111]

I got really excited for you man, I've got a smile on my face from ear to ear. I'm getting ready to wire up the panels to my system myself. I just finished up a test pulling 1500 watts for the last 3.5 hours with a heat gun thru my inverter. Brought them down to 2.8v per cell. (8s 24v Lifepo4 CALB). Everything went smooth. Tomorrow morning I'll put the multimeter to them to see how they balanced overnight then the next time that they are charged I'm hoping it'll be with the solar panels. We're getting a major snowstorm over the next several days here in New England but Im hoping to be testing out my panels for the first time in the upcoming week. Congratulations on a great job and thanks for sharing your frequent updates with us.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you so much for your feedback and sharing your experience. That is so cool that more and more people just follow this trend and build their own systems at home. You better charge your batteries up before the storm hits. Stay charged!

[@mondotv4216]

Nice work Andy

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks 👍 It is awesome!

[@mrzed6597]

First test no spark ... that's good :) But I still would put a thin plastic sheet between the cells.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

For...?

[@mrzed6597]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia For isolation of the cell bodies.

[@peterpetersen6024]

So you picked the fruits of your good work. Nice to see. Will you stay with the ANL-fuse?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Peter. Yes, for the start I will do this. I think it's OK.

[@beyondfossil]

Congrats! I love the feeling of getting these things working after so much planning, building, and smashing through the little problems that inevitably come up along the way. Now that your 660W garage sized system is coming online, the next thing you will want is more power for the house? Always happens with us guys. :) That 660W will just be able run my desktop PC, home theater amplifier, and a large LCD. But not in combination with other common home automatic appliances like a fridge and an attic fan -- which I found runs at 400W itself! So what would be your plan for a larger "house sized" 2000W or even 6000W solar setup? I'd like to see a 6000W solar array setup using 48V system! You'll be needing some long runs of 00-gauge wire to carry the 125A of deadly current. Or maybe split up 6000W across three 2000W GTIL2 inverters that can be "stacked" in synchronized AC parallel mode. I would have to check the quality of AC waveform output from those Chinese made inverters because quality AC output from DC is not trivial. Also that 2000W at 48V still pretty "hot" at nearly 42A current will need three of them.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

There is another problem to solve before all that. I also have another 660W string on the roof already (the other two fuses in the metal enclosure) so I'll see how this go. With a 6kW solar installation I would probably even go for a 96V battery system unless you split it into two systems. But still 48V in this size is a lot of current... It's probably easier to just get a larger battery bank with more capacity and max out a smaller solar for energy harvesting. How much power do you actually need in your home at the same time? It's quite hard to project this...

[@kevinburns7743]

Great videos Andy. I have really enjoyed watching the progress on your battery build. I use the Victron smart shunt in my RV and I think you will be disappointed in hooking it up to the output side of your switch. The shunt is able to track history of the battery pack which you will lose every time the power is turned off. Also the state of charge must be reset to 100% each time you turn on power to the shunt. If it is powered all the time then your state of charge and history will remain.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Kevin. I'm not planning turning it off any more once the battery is in place. But I consider to change that just in case. I noticed it resets every time. Stupid it does not safe the data. The shunt actually resets/calibrates itself every time it hits the criteria set in the config.

[@brian_abroad]

Congratulations!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you!

[@cowboyrolo1]

Great video, Thank you, I enjoy watching your progress

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Awesome, thank you!

[@janskold319]

Nice work ☀️

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@peterrock2838]

Awesome job! I love it! I like the Victron charge controller too - I might have to get one and replace my Epever. Learning a lot from your videos! Thank you!

[@harrycrawford8517]

I’m also think the same, the Victron is a great bit of kit. Happy with the EP Ever but it’s not in the same league as the Victron products.

[@BeeBeorn]

Victron is dangerous..for the wallet..Addictive..Yes, im a Victron junkie..My Epever never did that...😁

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

They provide 5 years warranty on the Victron, so a bit of peace of mind, right? But yeah, they are expensive but work so well. The parameters are easy to set and just work so well for LFP batteries.

[@DIYwithBatteries]

Loved it again. 😊👍

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@harrycrawford8517]

Eureka! The system is charging great moment and everything worked. Now the inverter to do and you have the mains power and total power independence in your garage. It brought back some great memories of switching my system on for the first time three years ago. Because I am UK based and using lead/acid deep cycle batteries (lithium batteries were just to expensive back then) I have to use a mains charger on cheap night time electricity for a couple of months in the winter. Do you plan to do anything similar for your system as a backup charging strategy? After watching your video I think I will be upgrading to a lithium based battery so that I can cycle deeper and without damage.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Harry. I'm not sure what I will do with the grid power for now. Probably I just take it off grid. The power consumption for the garage itself should not be more than 1-3kWh per day. At the moment I have issues with the inverter and charging the car. Trying to build a TN-S earth ground system but the inverter cannot do it. I probably need a new one 🤔

[@harrycrawford8517]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I had the same problem, it’s easy to fix. The car won’t charge via the EVSE because it can’t detect an earth on the negative terminal. All you need to do is put a high value resistor between the negative terminal and the earth terminal on the inverter and it will work. I used a 1000ohm 1watt resistor. It’s been permanently connected for years and hasn’t caused any issues. I fitted the resistor into an ordinary house plug so that I could remove it easily if needed or for if ever there was doubt about it affecting anything but it has never caused an issue. The reason it works is that in virtually all countries the earth is connected to the negative in the sub station or in the street, so that the negative is referenced to earth and not floating. The EVSE checks for the reference to earth. The resistor will consume .2 to .3 watts at 240 volts nominal, I never tried a higher value resistor as it worked ok but it may work with a higher value if you want to ‘test’ and experiment to find a sweet spot :)

[@dash8brj]

That moment of suspense when you close the solar circuit and nothing appears on the phone until the mppt starts tracking then the watts start to climb :)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Priceless 😁

[@airbag4210]

Herzlichen Glückwunsch vom verschneiten Niederrhein. Aktuell sonnig und minus Ar***kalt irgendwas. Meine 8.875 kWp PV brennt gerade 8.8 kW in die Batterie und ins Auto. Ich kann also Deine Begeisterung total nachvollziehen.

[@tabineshhtc]

Great work

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you so much 😀

[@nkelischek]

Does the victron charge controller have a dump load function? Would be nice to heat some water with a DC heating element when the battery bank is full. Would be nice for a hot tub eh?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

You can use the Victron BMV for that which has a relay output. It's programmable and can divert the energy from the battery to another load.

[@anthonymarino4260]

well done

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks 😉

[@yv6eda]

I'm happy for you. mate!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you 😊

[@bwye]

Another great video Andy..😊👍 I do have a question about the Victron controller. When the unit shuts down the voltage because the battery is full, can you program the 'load' terminals to divert the solar power that you can still produce (but now not needed to charge the battery) to a 12v heater element in a hot water tank..?? 🤔

[@BeeBeorn]

With bmv-712 with relays you can. The Smart shunt dont have relay . I was starting to look into it but havent hot around yet. Lots of info out there. Dave Potz did som good about it.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Bjoern.

[@DazGeary]

Lift off! 🚀 this is way better than watching Space X SN9 not lifting off 👍

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Nothing is better than SN starts. And landings 😉

[@DazGeary]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia kaboom!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@DazGeary called RUD Rapid Unexpected Disassembly

[@DazGeary]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia lol, I think one engine RUDed itself on relight. Such a shame.

[@JeremyAkersInAustin]

At 5:00 it looks like there might not be enough room to remove that fuse. Have you checked you can get that fuse in and out in case you ever need to replace it?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

I checked that before I mounted it. It swings around nicely 😉

[@JeremyAkersInAustin]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia haha, okay good... I've made plenty of those mistakes before.

[@alexandergunda8916]

about that nasty switch cover - it has a problem with the fuse cover, I think you will need to move the fuse a little bit.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

They are not touching. There is space in between. I need a longer screw to hold it in place.

[@alexandergunda8916]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia but in your take from 1:22 to 1:27 it looks like they are touching, it could be also an optical ilusion. Just put a sheet of paper between them and when the switch cover is in place just pull the paper - then you will know for sure if they are touching or not

[@JohnMarkMaina]

Excellent fascinating videos. Will be moving from gel to lithium chemistry on my home off grid project and also I'm happy to see victron smart products in use. I'm following from Kenya. Looking forward to the next video. :)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you! That's fantastic. Kenya, wow, people from all over the world...

[@KaPee]

Hi Andy, ich finde Deine DIY-Batterie super und die Videos bzw. die dazu gehörende Website auch. Gibt es so was wie einen Schaltpllan und eine Stückliste für die komplette Batterie in der schwarzen Box? Ich plane das gleiche für Paraguay, nur ohne PV, als Stromspeicher für ne Ersatzstromlösung. In PY fällt öfter der Strom aus, kostet aber dafür nur 0,04-0,06 € pro kWh. PV rechnet sich daher nicht. Ein Speicher ist aber notwendig. Die Box kommt dann an drei Victron MultiPlus II (=dreiphasig) als Verbindung zum Hausanschluß. Das ganze wird allerding in DE konfiguriert und zusammen gebaut und als Modul im Umzugs-Container verschifft. Beste Grüße und mach weiter so, KaPe

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Vielen Dank Klaus-Peter. Daran arbeite ich zur Zeit. Noch etwas Geduld und es sollte auf der Webseite sein.

[@michaelsweeney3241]

I’ve watched most of your videos and you have done a great job

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you very much, Michael.

[@samwoo7935]

Awesome! Congratulations on your project. Tell froggy to jump in a lake.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks! Will do!

[@henvan8737]

I heard a large Bang!!!!!!!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Wait for the next video 😂

[@unliyou]

After seeing all the monitoring devices working and the whole system working, if that is my system, I will remove the shunt, the battery switch and also change to a BMS without the Bluetooth as they are the weak link on the system causing unwanted load. My primary goal is improving system efficiency. Ever wonder why the solar charge controller does not have a display but only simple LED as indicators? The answer is to maximize efficiency. But without those monitoring devices the video can be boring so it is a must thing to do. :) The frog is charging up, warming up, that frog understand very well how to be energy efficient. :)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, you could do that if you want all the efficiency. I'm not too fussed about it as solar power is free and I have lot's of capacity. Currently it uses around 17-20W standby incl inverter (spoiler alert).

[@unliyou]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia while your batteries are shipping, I was also having my orders online (120AH cells as the 280AH is not available from our local suppliers that time and more expensive to get from Aliexpress to my location) and managed to finished my setup for the house last week with 5kw SRNE inverter. However, I only have the 600W solar panels (150W x 4pcs) as a test setup. I know it is not enough but squeezing more on efficiency the system is sustainable during day time when sun is up. When the bigger capacity solar panels are ready, the entire house will be off the grid. :) I always enjoy your sharing/videos and I thank you for keeping an update.

[@beilkos]

Another fantastic video. Just wondering if you are going to connect you inverter to the P minus of the shunt??

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Wally. The order is battery negative to BMS to Shunt to inverter.

[@columbusgoesdigital8361]

I don't really understand your charging regime. Have I missed a video about that? Us I understand you with from bulk to absorption @ 3.35VPC, then to float @ 3.3125VPC. Balancing for every cell @ 3.36VPC (so any high cell will be balanced). Does this charge your cells properly? I understand that anything under 3.4VPC is not considered charging. Reason I am interested is, that I have a propellor charger on my boat that allows me to change the voltages BUT I can only have an absorption duration. Because I won't know the SOC when I start sailing it would be a waste not to use the full (40A) capacity of the propellor but I don't want to overcharge either. Conundrum!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The reason for that is, I don't want to charge my batteries to 100%. 80% would be preferable but I need to find out the correct voltage for that over time. So I start with 3.35 per cell or 53.6V as absorption voltage. That is when the controller switches from Bulk (constant current) to Absorption (constant voltage) and the current tapers of. Technically you can charge your cell to any voltage between 2.5 and 3.65V.

[@columbusgoesdigital8361]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Ah, got it. 80% is the aim. Int that case you should be aware that LiFePO4 chemistry suffers from memory effect, degrading the performance of your cells. More excellent technical info is to be found here: nordkyndesign.com/practical-characteristics-of-lithium-iron-phosphate-battery-cells/

[@offgridwanabe]

Always nice to see solar work it is truly amazing. Frog is inspecting your heat sink.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It is so hot under there...

[@willrobertson826]

I would not been able to wait either

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

There was no way I'm waiting for another week, right?!

[@willrobertson826]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I hear that... glad it all worked as the switches got turned on.i got 32. 202ah lishen batterys in route so I'm glad I was able to follow your build.i have done a few but I always learn more from watching.thank you and keep the videos coming

[@henvan8737]

You have done a beautiful job great work. So are you going to mount the battery into the Model-3 ?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

WE all have done this great work. Yeah, they are going in the front. Building a 1000km range Tesla ;)

[@jws3925]

Great!!!! You did it.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you!! WE all did it!

[@offgridtruckerdude7133]

Great vid ! I need the version of the app for your bms, the one they linked me dosen't show everything on the screen

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank Dude! The software is linked on my website: off-grid-garage.com/battery-management-systems-bms/

[@ernestcriss]

Any new updates on the BMS? Thanks.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, coming soon. I'll update the website tonight.

[@danfitzpatrick4112]

Ha Ha!! Great Day Andy!! Nice job : ) You need to add some panels now that you are addicted! LOL

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Oh yes! I still go heaps in the garage. First I need to put some load on this battery. It's always full.

[@neliosamch3195]

Yes, now you need a GTIL and connect it at night so all your energy consuntion will come from the Frogie box.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

a GTIL...?

[@neliosamch3195]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Grid tie inverter with limiter. It only uses the energy in the home but when battery is low it switches back to grid power.

[@henvan8737]

Normally red wire to positive. In your rush don't make a mistake?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

They are all black... I'm so confused...

[@guaseado26]

good job!! have u consider the active balancer besides the bms? i watch people using it to balance them faster ( pardon my english hahaha not very good )

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks. No I haven't thought about it. The cells are brand new and so far they just stay balanced by itself without even bothering the BMS yet. I also plan to charge them only to 3.35V so there is plenty of headroom if they drift a little bit over time. Free solar power every day makes up for some burned energy while balancing.

[@SouthernStyle357]

That wedding ring!! Do me a favor!!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Explain how I could possible make a short with that...

[@randylenart9674]

Good job and what inverter are we powering the house and garage with 😎👍🇺🇸

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It'll be in the next video ;)

[@foscamkoto2728]

Where can I buy the exact BMS you used? Waiting for my 8s 100Ah LifePO4 and seems that your BMS fits what I need. BTW, found your channel and I'm a fan!

[@PentaxLife]

I know you couldn't wait It's a new toy for us kids.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

There was no way I just look at this battery without trying, right? It's so good...

[@brianbourke8859]

Did you set charge controllerto battery profile 7 LifePo4?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

No, I used user defined.

[@panospapadimitriou3498]

when connected 150.35 i did the mistake to instal last the possitive terminal forgeting close both battery breakers... spark was quiet big .. still think until today i burnt something... !!!! never again!!!!

[@computeification]

congratulations on a job well done **🐸🐸**

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you 😃

[@kevinmills5293]

Putting the voltage sense on the output side of the isolator is a bad idea. When the shunt loses power, the CE and % charge data will be lost. That sense wire should be connected as close to the battery positive as possible.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

But then the main switch would loose its purpose as it does not turn off all equipment. But yeah the data... Once in place, I don't plan to turn it off frequently anyways.

[@juancazorla3746]

Can you send me the link of the box? Great vide BTW

[@taulli1]

Mariachi celebration!

[@MrSchnickel]

jan from Texas. great work and the excitement spills over. u would be a great actor in HOLLYWOOD. I do have 2 questions. i am trying to buy the same battery u have from Alibaba but none of the 4 credit cards i have would work. Alibaba told me i can be per-approved by taking a picture of my credit cared and my passport which i did (not to smart). still no luck. how did u pay, wire transfer? the other question was, the BMS has a blue-tooth connected to ur fon in order to see all the cells. is there another permament way to see what the battery is doing without the fon? again great work.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Jan. I just paid with CC for mine and had no problem... The BMS has a RS485 interface to supply all data to another system. Not sure how to do that but I think I could google it...

[@lennieadi]

Brilliant work Andy. I was sharing your excitement. Who needs a woman when you have solar 😂😂😂. Keep the great videos coming mate.🇬🇧🇯🇲

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks 👍

[@desertlizard36]

I just got my 280 ah lifepo4 battery up and running and im testing to see how long I can power my gaming pc build before it dies judging by how i use my computer it can last 20 hours straight Currently 4 hours in and Ive only used 50 ah

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Wow, that's a great test. Is it an off grid system?

[@MrShaneo369]

Can't find the BMS online

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Link is in the description. They changed the look of it now.

[@robertkosovich1232]

ya....hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Great Job!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you, Robert!

[@hawkeye312456]

On my 24 volt lithium battery system what gauge wire should I use that will run from the solar panels to the 80amp charge controller?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

That depends on your solar panels and how they are connected. What is your setup?

[@hawkeye312456]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I am using four 400 watt solar panels all connected in series. So what gauge wire should I use?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@hawkeye312456 if they are all in series, the current stays the same, so depending on your distance I would go with a 4mm2 wire, 11AWG. That's the same wire size as the solar panels have.

[@hawkeye312456]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Also will it matter if I solder a 10 gauge wire and a 12 gauge wire today? I think the wire on my solar panels are 10 gauge.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@hawkeye312456 that's totally fine for this purpose. What's the max current going through them?

[@lnxpro]

cooked frog ? :O lol

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yeah, this poor thing...

[@PianoTopia]

Bro isn't the voltage lower than max ?????

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

What voltage?

[@PianoTopia]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia the maximum you are charging those batteries

[@guy7gsa]

Hi I was just wondering where was Andy born, can't figure out his accent.

[@alexandergunda8916]

watch his other channels, there you may find your answer (I will not spoil it for you 😉 )

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

What accent?