I Killed My Brand New Renogy Pro Lithium Battery!

[@vandettec]

I had a batch of the 170 amp renogy batteries loss almost a 1/3 of there capacity , took months to finally get them to warranty them , they let me keep the old ones , once I got the new ones , pulled the old ones apart, all of them had issues with cell 4 , drained 65 amps out of cell 4 on all the batteries to make cell voltage of the other cells , replaced the BMS added active balance and batteries where like brand new , I had 7 batteries with this issue all revived and now no issues , just keep after customer service , had to get the better business involved also , keep at it , keep up the good work keep hounding them

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment. I will certainly keep on their back until a resolution is found. While I had faith the cells are of good quality the bms is obviously lacking.

[@davidhancock7377]

First of all glad to see you back, have seen a few video's on reviving dead batteries by linking two batteries until the voltages are equal, am sure you will have tried this but worth a mention, great vids buddy👌

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment, your support is really appreciated.

[@MrSnowMen]

I know this might sound stupid, but it looks like the temperature is wrong and not charging the battery because it's TOO COLD, Yes, too cold. It won't charge if under 32'F 0'C. Looking at the APP, 04:36 it shows MIN: 16.4'F and MAX 16.6'F Just a thought, can you put it near / CLOSE TO, not touching a radiator. Just to get it above 33'C Which would show as 33'F A HUNCH. Good Luck...

[@DCGUY]

It's not very clear due to the colour of the temperature reading. The white section is degrees c and black is F

[@MrSnowMen]

@@DCGUY NOW, where did I put my glasses, problem at using a small monitor. DOH

[@DCGUY]

@MrSnowMen You raised very valid and important points about the importance of keeping the battery within its operating environment. The temperature isn't very clear on white background, the black section with white numbers is much more prominent. Really appreciate your input and feedback. Thank you

[@johnshaw359]

How low does the battery get before the bluetooth further drains the battery or before shipping if not maintained and allowed to run flat....really flat. Maybe there should be an off switch for B.T batteries.

[@DCGUY]

An average Bluetooth unit on a 12v lifepo4 will draw very little power, infact less than 50Ua. Self discharge rates are about 2 or 3% month which is a lot more than the power the BMS uses. Worst case scenario the BMS will kill power when voltage falls to around 10v Always a good idea to keep battery charged if your perhaps putting it in storage or unused for any period.

[@johnshaw359]

@@DCGUY Are you sure it isn't just strapped with a dc-dc directly to the battery, even though it probably shouldn't be?

[@DCGUY]

@@johnshaw359 Some use a Bluetooth dongle directly connected to the bms, some like the Renogy have the Bluetooth built into the BMS circuits. I've never seen one that is simply ran from the battery main. That would naturally bypass all bms protection so doubt anyone would do that.

[@johnshaw359]

@@DCGUY Some people remarked about receiving their Renology battery a 3v is what made me wonder.

[@newtongrove]

I also had exactly this issue with a friends 170ah 12v Renogy Lithium battery also tried every to get it to take charge with no joy (although not a smart one!) Could not resurrect it😭

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment 😊 its really appreciated

[@lhackinen3684]

I have 2 of the same 170ah 12v Renogy (+2 years old, performed well so far) and tried to test the 10volt Low voltage disconnect . I let them go down to 9.7 and stopped the test . Reconnected Solar and (cloudy ) let charge @ 3 amps to 12 V then 50 amp charger (for hours) back to full. No issue recharge , but put in a ticket with Renogy . We will see. ( 3 year warranty on batteries , almost up)

[@SustainableGal]

have you left it on charge for at least 2-3 hours or so? that might give the bms enough confidence to close the fetts and allow current flow again

[@DCGUY]

Yes, left it for hours. Tried everything I can think off. I just can't fing the voltage the bms may be looking for.

[@chrisreynolds6331]

​@@DCGUYHave you tried 14.2 or 13.5 from a bench power supply? Another thought. Is there anything in the app to reboot the BMS or reset it to defaults?

[@DCGUY]

​@chrisreynolds6331 Hi Chris, yes I tried using my power supply and unfortunately the APP has no options for reset. Still waiting for renogy. They ask for a video showing the battery not accepting charge but they limit your upload to 100MB 😅

[@richardpovall3020]

This battery needs a 'kick start' which you can get from a Renogy solar controller or a Renogy charger. It's an off 'feature' but the battery needs to be switched back on. Renogy should have told you this. The battery is not dead but very very asleep!

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for taking time to comment. I tried every trick in the book to wake the battery up but to no avail. Renogy did send out another battery, it too went well below 10V but did accept charge again. Renogy said the reason it discharged so low was because of the 0.2A discharge rate.

[@richardpovall3020]

@@DCGUY OK thanks. That's interesting to know.

[@philbrooke-little7082]

I was wondering if it might have an issue with your charging voltage being above the high voltage cutoff. Some BMSs also give a very low charge rate for some time to over discharged cells. It does emphasise the value of buying from companies with a good record of customer service and a good tech understanding of what they are selling. Sadly Renogy has never been much good at either of those.

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, I even tried my variable PSU at every voltage and amp rate to see if that would work. It's very frustrating and time-consuming, too. I'm guessing I just got a bad bms or at least I hope it's not a wider issue.

[@philbrooke-little7082]

@@DCGUY oh you can get amps to go in? That would mean it is charging but just not able to discharge. I was thinking you can’t have an amp rate on a power supply unless current is flowing you can only set a limit. The cell voltages did seem reasonable but just low terminal voltage. Time to take the top off I guess though that would presumably void any warranty if they actually honour such things.

[@DCGUY]

@@philbrooke-little7082 No, my bad wording. I Couldn't get it to accept any amps. I set to various voltage output and max 10amps

[@remijio303]

I've found contacting them not too bad mote recently. If you've had it less than 2 weeks I'd demand a refund and for the return postage to be arranged and paid for by them. If you've had it longer then get it swapped. I had a parcel lost by the postman and they sent me a new item without too much hassle

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment. The frustration comes from not being able to speak to someone, instead its all messages.

[@Dirt-Diggler]

It's an old way of resetting a BMS but have you tried shorting the pos to neg terminal? That's how you used to reset the old Daly BMS . TBH it looks like a loose balance lead plug possibly 🤔 Good luck with it chap 🤞

[@DCGUY]

Cheers, yes I did try that too. I've exhausted all avenues. Either way I will be getting inside one for a peek

[@Dirt-Diggler]

@DCGUY look Forward to that 😁👍

[@MouwDown]

That's a bummer

[@DCGUY]

Yeah, I knew 108ah was too good to be true 👍

[@mikepringuer2099]

@DCGUY - Have you had this resolved now?

[@DCGUY]

our battery cells have a rated capacity of 105Ah and a maximum capacity of 115Ah. These values were tested under conditions of a 1C charging and discharging rate. Under the favorable working conditions of a 0.2C discharge rate on your end, with a relatively low charging rate, the discharge capacity may appear slightly higher than the values we provided. This is normal, and you can rest assured that there has been no excessive discharge. This was the response from renogy. They claim they use 105Ah cells but rated for 115Ah and I got 118Ah. The BMS clearly failed to cut power at 2.7V and they blame the 0.2c discharge rate which makes little sense but I will be doing another test at 1C

[@brownnoise357]

Thanks for the heads up on Renogy.For my next Sailboat I had ruled out flexible Solar panels as mostly overpriced short lived junk, and dead within two to three years. Then was having a rethink as Renogy were offering decent sized panels with good wattage, up to 200 watts with a 5 year warranty, which could boost Solar power by having a few on the Bimini.But if Customer Support is this poor, I think I’ll supplement with a good named quiet Wind Generator instead now tbh. Frankly, I’m still very wary of Lifepo4 batteries, as there still doesn’t appear to be enough factual Data to guarantee a Service Life beyond 15 years to me, reliability beyond 20 years is critically important so main Bank plus auxiliary batteries are going to be AGM of 3500 recharge cycles quality, and Second Housebank of Lifepo4 for extended testing that must have well overbuilt internal Busbars and Cabling, and looked after by a damned good Battery Bank Manager. Clark of Emily and Clark Sailing Channel, is presently working on the Mk 3 version of his, and I’ll likely go with that, and Victron for the rest. Thanks again, and Best Wishes. Bob In Wales.👍⛵️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for taking time to comment Bob. It's appreciated

[@james1466]

Woud you still recommend this battery or not ? Or recommend an more reliable one?

[@DCGUY]

Hi James, I'm currently testing a replacement battery that Renogy sent me. While I can tell you the renogy is a very well built battery using good quality cells I still have a bias towards Fogstar Drift. Reason being they use a well proven BMS, good cells and excellent price point plus if there ever is an issue you have a phone number to call, not messaging.

[@james1466]

@@DCGUY I'm looking that direction now 👍

[@DCGUY]

Fogstar can at least be put in series or parallel

[@SustainableGal]

ah no sorry about your loss of investment man, one good thing is that your videos will warn people to not discharge the cells past 11v

[@DCGUY]

Rather me than anyone else. Will see if renogy step up.

[@BigDrinkTEA]

I used a battery jumper, it worked to snap mine out of safe mofe.

[@DCGUY]

I tried every possible way but it wouldn't wake up so back it went.

[@barrydavies2977]

This is so bad. The BMS is supposed to protect the battery. In this case it has definitely failed to do that. The only suggestion I have is to bypass the BMS and charge the cells direct, even if only for a few minutes. Then go back to normal charging. The trouble is, this would invalidate the warranty, so nogo for the time being. Renogy are a brand. You would expect better than this. You had much better results with Ecoworthy and Kepworth which would be considered the cheaper end of the market. People say "you only get what you pay for". Not in this case you don't. It will be off my buy list. Thanks and so sorry for what happened.

[@DCGUY]

Thank you for taking time to comment. Either way I will be invalidating the warranty as I want to see how its put together but it will be interesting to see if renogy offer a solution or replacement. Until then it will stay intact.

[@MrSnowMen]

Just to add, in the manual. Battery Operating Status Condition (For Reference Only) Charge Low Temperature Protection Stops charging - Trigger Battery Temperature ≤ 32°F (0°C) Restarts charging - Recover Battery Temperature ≥ 37°F (3°C) So you might need to take it up to 37'C or 38'C While you warm the battery, see if the APP shows the temperature increase. Slow Baby Steps to ensure you don't damage it. (So you can return it) 5 year warrentee I might be totally wrong, it might be showing 'C and I am reading it wrong.

[@DCGUY]

Really appreciate your feedback. Yes the temperature is in degree c

[@MrSnowMen]

@@DCGUY Good Luck

[@geoffreywilliams6818]

I too bought a renogy 200ah came delivered at 3v like you I tried everything to charge it. Got fobbed off by their Cservice and after 2 weeks as I bought it off ebay I asked for a refund. After another two weeks I finally got back the money. However they have not asked me to return the item. So now I have a £650 battery being used as a door stop. I'm hoping like you to get it rebooted. 😂

[@DCGUY]

Wow. What a carry on. 😳 I would definitely be putting a new BMS in , worth a try.

[@LuciaGomez-yb3om]

Because of the good build quality I considered renogy, luckely i chose litime. Goodluck with the service departement.

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment. Yes it seems Litime are a good buy and have good feedback.

[@Renogy_Cares]

Dear user, this is Renogy's Customer Service Center. Thank you for sharing this video and providing your honest feedback. We sincerely apologize for the issues you've encountered, and we appreciate your concerns regarding Renogy products. We understand the importance of addressing product issues for our users, and we apologize for any inconvenience this experience may have caused. We are taking your mentioned issues in the video seriously and actively investigating and addressing them. Furthermore, we highly value user opinions as they are crucial for our continuous improvement and enhancing product quality. In addition, our After-Sales Service team leader will be closely monitoring this matter. I noticed that your video presented a case of contacting us. If possible, could you please share the Case ID or email associated with it? This would allow us to quickly locate the communication records and assist in investigating the issue. We look forward to your response.

[@DCGUY]

I appreciate your response to my battery issue and whilst I have no doubts this is a BMS issue and a simple phone call with someone in your technical department would have no doubt resolved the matter quickly. However the only way of making contact is via messaging, which is slow and frustrating to use seeing as the service is only available between normal working hours Monday to Friday here in the UK. I managed to raise a case and after going back and forth I was asked to upload photos then I was asked for a video to prove the battery won't accept any charge but you limit the upload to 100mb, very frustrating. In each case my issue was passed from one person to another. From forums it would appear there is an ongoing issue with your choice of BMS. My initial problem began with the DCHOME app failing to find the battery. My capacity test results were surprising but I am suspecting the BMS allowed a deeper discharge than designed. As such the BMS shut down and the bms is only found via the app under charge condition which after a few minutes drops back to 0.48v 2023111700106 is the case number.

[@Renogy_Cares]

Hello, we have contacted you via email and initiated the reshipment of a new product for you, which will be dispatched today. In addition, the Director of our User Experience Center is closely monitoring this issue. We sincerely appreciate the test video you provided, giving us the opportunity to understand the reasons behind the issue. We have also created a return label in the email for you to send back the product, allowing our product development team to conduct further analysis. Once again, thank you for your support and trust in Renogy.

[@alpachino468]

Omg. I just ordered 2 of them. Going to cancel my order

[@DCGUY]

Can't say I would blame you, but I am hopeful I just received a dud unit. If you do fulfill your order I'd advise you do not rely on the app data. Use a shunt and keep them above 10V. Unfortunately not many inverters have adjustable cut off limits either, most are also set for a 10v cut off. Take a look at Fogstar-drift-105 as possible replacement. They use JBD BMS. I did a tear down on their battery.

[@alpachino468]

@@DCGUY A week before your vid was released, I reached out to Renogy support for their advice on what battery I should purchase, and they suggested this very one. They've now reached out to me for a follow up a few minutes ago and I'm telling them that I'm considering cancelling my battery order after watching this vid. Hopefully, they'll see that your channel has influenced a viewer on the brink of cancelling an order, and reach out to you and offer you some sort of support or hopefully a replacement. I'm also having a Victron SmartSolar MPPT delivered in 10 days, and I have Renogy 3000w inverter on its way, do you think I still need a shunt even with all of this equipment?

[@DCGUY]

@alpachino468 Here they only offer support via messages during normal work hours 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. I also use the victron mppt scc which is awesome but I also use the victron smart shunt 500A version as it very accurate. While a shunt is not always necessary in all situations I would still use one. Doesn't have to be victron any shunt will work but victron units communicate together and you can see at a glance the data.

[@alpachino468]

@@DCGUY I told Renogy about this vid and the potential issues of this particular battery's BMS, as well as cancelling my order for two of them. They said they would review your vid and make improvements, but something tells me that I shouldn't hold my breath. Was really looking forward to them as well... Although, I'm glad I dodged the bullet from now rather than be £900 out of pocket...

[@DCGUY]

@alpachino468 Hi, Renogy did leave a comment on the video asking for the case number so they could look into things. This is in despite of my sending them messages on their own support system. I think they will be shipping a return label to me. Its just the hassle . If I do buy a renogy product again it will be via amazon due to the returns policy. Mine may be a one off, least I hope it is. I may end up just keeping the battery so I can tear it down and if I am correct a new bms will fix it, probably JBD 100A assuming the cells are ok. Thanks for your support.

[@dmitrylitvinov6915]

My 100AH Renogy battery with Bluetooth stopped working after 2 years of very moderate use. It charges up, and while it charges - it communicates with the app, but the moment you remove the charger - voltage falls down to 1V or zero, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to wake it up. BMS is having a PMS moment? ) Seriously - this is unacceptable. Where will you get a voltage source while boondocking, or in a real emergency? No, car battery with jumpstart cables doesn't help. Another thing is the "shelf mode" that automatically activates after 24 hours of "non-use". I guess, having a blue indicator lit on a distributor is considered "non use": the battery shuts down on you, you didn't check the voltage before you left home; now you are in the middle of nowhere and you're SOL. With all this - you don't need a full blown computer inside your battery where a battery controller, smart charger and common sense should suffice. It's simple science: you introduce unnecessary complexity, what can possibly go wrong?? Enogh. No more "smart" batteries for me. My next one will be a solid AGM, or heck, I don't mind dealing with electrolyte, but I want things to WORK, every time, all the time, the whole time. No more "deep sleep", "protection", "shelf mode" or any other ridiculous excuse for DENIAL OF SERVICE.

[@DCGUY]

Unfortunately I do feel your frustration. They are making good batteries but they are trying to make then too smart for their own good and after sales is poor.

[@SVAdAstra]

Sorry bro, that is one dead battery. Thanks for the heads up on Renogy. I'll stay away.

[@DCGUY]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment 😊 it's really appreciated

[@fjb1854]

I try to avoid Renogy products TBH.

[@DCGUY]

I can understand why 😆

[@IM35461]

I am in a similar situation with two 24v 25Ah ones which are about a year old. Both were in parallel so not sure if they both failed at the same time or the system was running on one. The after sales warranty service is pathetic and they just make you do lots of tests and are so incompetent they sent me the same test procedure twice. I also note these batteries are no longer listed on their website. I started my support call CASE2024012500099 on the 25th Jan and it is now 20th Feb and they tell me to be patient "In Progress" My two videos made at their request trying to "Activate" them based on the issue was over discharged even when the load is turned off by the Rover controller (inverter also has low voltage cut off). kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqC0lGZ4jcqonqM and kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoKkoIOAjbWAnKM

[@DCGUY]

It just shouldn't happen and Renogy really need to get their BMS units and customer service fixed.

[@IM35461]

@@DCGUY I just got an update and it looks like they are passing the blame to me for letting them get too cold (-4c / 24f) even when the label says -20-50c operating range. I understand the BMS should turns off the output at low temperatures to prevent charging damage and once warmer normal operation should return. I have responded with my thoughts. Of course anyone with these in a Motorhome or the like they could be exposed to such a low temperature that and of course phantom loads could turn these marvels into house bricks. Thank you for your patience as we investigated the issue with your battery. I am pleased to provide you with an update from our dedicated team. Upon analyzing the feedback provided by you, we have identified a potential cause for the battery-related issues you experienced. It appears that the ambient temperature where the battery was placed was quite low, at 24°F. This triggered the low-temperature protection feature of the battery, preventing it from being charged. However, during this time, the battery was still connected to a load and discharging, which led to over-discharge of the battery. Subsequently, when attempts were made to charge the battery, it failed to respond properly due to the over-discharge. Based on this analysis, we can confirm that the issue is not related to the quality of the product itself, but rather a result of the specific conditions under which the battery was operated. We understand the inconvenience this may have caused and apologize for any frustration. Moving forward, we recommend taking precautions to ensure that the battery is operated within the recommended temperature range and monitored closely to avoid over-discharge. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us. We are here to assist you in any way we can. Thank you again for your understanding and patience throughout this process.

[@DCGUY]

@IM35461 They will wrangle their way out of anything. In my use case they claimed it was because it was discharged at 0.2 (20 amps). They are nicknamed runaway renogy for a reason. I'm afraid you will probably need to look at replacing the BMS to get the battery up and running again.