Testing the new EEL V4 48V DIY Box with JK Inverter BMS. Are we there yet???🫏

Many of you wanted me to test out this new V4 EEL 48V DIY Box, so here it is. This is again a trye DIY box which comes with all bits and pieces, so there is lots to do when building your own battery. During the assembly, I discovered a few things which were not perfect and would need some improvements to make this box really outstanding: the compression plate, a missing bracket for mounting the display (even mentioned in the instructions), bended pins on one of the PCBs, very small rubber feet to stack multiple boxes, only one terminal for pos and neg, reduced busbar diameter at the breaker connection and a few other things...
Don't get me wrong, the EEL V4 JK DIY box is a great choice when you want to build your battery. The overall quality is good, and it has all the features we ever wanted. But at this point, it is not enough to give 5 frogs as many of you did for EEL's 12V DIY Box in the last video. It is pretty much the same design and idea, but somehow, some of the perfection from the 12V system got lost when converting it to the 48V kit we have just seen...
What do you think?
The EEL V4 JK 48V Box. All info you need, link to the EEL Google Drive and a discount code:
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[@eelbatteryofficial]

Thanks for your sharing, Andy!👍 Please allow me to explain:1.Our battery engineers said that only high-voltage batteries(above 110V) need grounding protection,2. We will offer 2 black screen brackets, the one shown on the video is just a test version. Anyway, we still get a lot of inspiration from your video, and we believe that there will be a better EEL 48V DIY box in a short time!🥰

[@einzelkampfer2006]

The breaking capacity of the B250 Circuit Breaker is 10000A. It's the number on the front of it in the rectangle. The reduced diameter of the busbars connected to the breaker isn't an issue. Yes, they could become a little bit warmer with high currents, but it's only on a short path and there's enough metal around to dissipate the heat. Viele Grüße aus der Nähe von Berlin.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks for the 10000A.

[@DerAH-Effekt]

Are you sure with that 10kA breaking capacity? OK, there is a number in an rectangle, but nothing indicates to I_s. No unit, no sign and i was not able to get a datasheet for that breaker in the Web. Even EEL has none. That seems to be dangerous in my eyes.

[@einzelkampfer2006]

@@DerAH-Effekt Yes, the number in the rectangle is the code for the current breaking capability. As I can't post a link, try Google for "How to Read MCB Nameplate Data Rating Printed on It". But of course, we can't confirm, if the number on the chinese circuit breaker relates to the reality.

[@thorstenludwigs722]

Thanks for the Video :) I have two V4 battery boxes mounted on a wheeled cart, specifically the ones without displays. The BMS is attached to the front panel, and the compression plate fits perfectly. I've used the provided rubber feet, which guide the boxes into alignment without needing to bear weight. Everything fits together seamlessly. The only missing components were eight screws for the battery terminals. I've encountered one issue: one of the JK BMS units gives negative battery temperature readings. I've confirmed it's a problem with the BMS, as swapping the units results in regular readings.

[@GregOnSummit]

I bought two of the same boxes with the cart. One was damaged before being sent ... shipping box received was not damaged, and the BMS showed no temps, so they sent me a replacement. I was able to kinda fix the box, but hoping for a big discount on a new one. Besides that ... top notch.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks for sharing!

[@lindseyhatfield9017]

I love the fact you say It is a beautiful sunny morning we have 52A outside, not 22 degrees etc.

[@Chloe_Priceless]

yay new video and the new v4 cases with JK ... waited for it :) you have our back so we could build :)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It's a great DIY box, isn't it?

[@tujuprojects]

I have german blood in my family and hence I like sharp corners made by engineers.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Hahaha, the Yixiang box is for you then. Very sharp!

[@Dutch_off_grid_homesteading]

Heya, yeah that looks like a very nice battery box I like it

[@GregOnSummit]

Thanks Andy. I'm glad they meet your approval!! I have two so far and I had no issues with the compression plate. As for the EVA tape, I added it to the epoxy sheet, and it worked fine. Batteries are nice and tight. I like the cable buss bars too, much easier to use from what I see. My boxes didn't have the screen, so the BMS mounted to the front cover, not the compression plate so there was more room available for the fatter cables. As for the screen vs. no screen versions, I prefer the screen less version because then it's just a box that I can monitor from the Cerbo, and not have to worry about a component that I will never use. I should note that one of the two boxes that I bought were damaged, and the included BMS didn't show battery temps. But ... they sent me a new BMS and looking to get a good discount for another box. So with the excellent customer support, I'm going to stick with them. My goal is to have a total of 4, all stacked together using the excellent cart that they offer ... and that box you mention looks very familiar 😉 One thing though ... why the concern for the lack of grounding point? Would this be used to connect box to earth or the negative side. Is this a lightening concern?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yeah +1 for the dolly😄 Grounding all metal objects which can be touched in an electrical system is key. Lightning protection is a whole different animal.

[@Juergen_Miessmer]

4:00 Very intresting, there are different Parts in the box than the one i got from EEL....looks like you got a special edition 🤔 24:03 the bending PCB is very dangerous, because the solder pins of the connector on the downside can touch the metal an get a short. Also the cables from PCB to the cells are touching the sharp corners of the metal, because they are glued sideways on the PCB instead upwards. I can clearly see your rails have the same issue. My compression plate was pretty flat, but the screws were to short to get them into the thread. It was only fitting without the cells. With cells there was a 13mm gap between plate and thread. On both sides and in the middle.

[@lopezfamily6183]

Can you make a video of your box ?

[@paulhermans82]

I had the same problem, I went to the hardware store and buy 9x M5 20mm screws

[@Juergen_Miessmer]

@@lopezfamily6183 No, The box is in operation since 2 months. I will not disasamble it again.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yeah, the overall design has some little flaws. I think they are refining the box and accessories all the time. Hence the many changes we see

[@m_cabral]

For grounding the chassis, you should be able to use any through hole like the handles or scrape the paint away and use a self tapping screw like you could for negative on a car chassis.

[@Juergen_Miessmer]

I have never seen Andy connecting a battery case to ground. I'm not shure why he cares about in this video.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The batteries will be grounded once in place. Not worth doing atm, when I wheel them around and dis-/connect so often.

[@wayne8113]

Thanks Andy

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks, Wayne.

[@waynepolst3815]

Yes think final price for total battery build will determine if worth it $$$ !

[@clarencewiles963]

You got me thinking about building myself a solar system and battery 🔋 build. 😊 That cutdown on the bus bar maybe the thickness of it for the 200 amps. But someone was not paying attention. Can we say recall is in the future or ask the TEC to check. 😂

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Finally time to get solar and a battery!

[@leumel900]

Any news on the JK-Inverter bms? Will you make a video when there is a new firmware with new functions available?

[@ThaVoodoo1]

Just a word of warning about the Circuit breaker, I have had 2, 32Amp DC circuit breakers from that manufacturer go faulty. I replaced them with Noark brand.

[@SuperRockmonkey]

Andy: I’ve often wondered if these Chinese CB would actually work. A video idea I’d like to see is testing these cheap Chinese CB to see if they work as intended. Thanks

[@tonydickerson999]

I'd also be worried that they'd create an arc during breaking under heavy current that would just keep burning ​@@SuperRockmonkey

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Hence I always say, use these breakers just as a main switch and have a proper external DC breaker. NOARK is great but has MCBs only up to 66A.

[@SuperRockmonkey]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I guess between the CB and a Mega fuse if you are using the Lynx system you should be covered. I do like thoese big breakers tho! Thank you. Keep up the good work!

[@JdZ-2023]

​@SuperRockmonkey the fuse should be close to the power source and securing all the connected cables and installations. Hence on both side there is a powersource you need fuses on both sides.

[@homie100968]

Also german blood! I have 3 on order for the last 2 weeks. I hope they are without the bent pressure plate issue. I will let you know when they arrive. Thanks for the quick look Andy. Danke!

[@fred-bevhogendorn8023]

Don’t forget to put in a few skylights into your garage roof 😋

[@SoundzAlive1]

There are solar panels on all roofs!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

LED panels, baby!💪

[@magi-jd2ug]

I've got 4 V3 boxes with Seplos BMS, just placed an order for 4 more :) I really like the cases, they're not top quality builds however, but good enough for housing batteries. I will actually mount them in two 19" racks. I ordered rails for Dells M1000e bladechassi to place the cases on.

[@soundslight7754]

Great video: informative and entertaining The phrase you're looking for is "without further ado"

[@CollinBaillie]

It's an ongoing joke. 😊

[@ricardomarcelino8388]

😂😂😂

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It's definitely "to do". Everyone can trust me on that! What kind of word is 'ado'? Makes no sense.

[@helmo5663]

I've been waiting 3 months for my V3 box (Avialable in EU Warehouse!!!). The quality can still be apparently good if EEL does not deliver and writes untruths on the homepage. If the box ever arrives, that will be my last order from EEL. I will order from Seplos again in the future.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks for sharing, yeah, that's not great. Keep pushing and emailing them daily. 3 months is far too long. How did you pay? Can you get your money back?

[@egbertegberts5384]

I recently assembled a similar EEL 48V box but without the display and with the BMS mounted on the front plate. It didn't include the flexible busbars, just the silicone cables. Some of the compression plate screws were too short because of the gap between the plate and the frame. One EVA foam sheet was missing. Overall I'm satisfied. Question: could you please publish the link to the assembly manual? Thanks!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks for sharing. The link is on my website or here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T7Amp5mqtl4twecgZRhJCK4hoWncbNDE (EEL Google Drive)

[@typxxilps]

that is what i bought 3 weeks ago in sunny hot Hamburg. No display. 1:38 - the cables soldered on this bms rail pcbs are too close to the metal compared to previous version were those soldering spots had been more away from the edges. Documentation is not really usefull, the first video was wrong built and is still available on youtube. They do not emphasize on important details like the terminal lug coming from the bms to the cell terminals. The flat metall needs to be on the bottom close to the top of the cell and you have to prepare that while screwing those busbars on the bms. they offer 2 manuals for updating the firmware, both are false and no longer valid cause no one will reply to your message or mail. The 12 page long manual even shows the communication box but with wrong labels. All these documents look like "Andy will find those bugs for us so that we can fix it - maybe, or maybe sometimes" The 5 RJ 45 only offer 1 CAN and JK explains it is the first port on the left, next to RS-485-1 ... stupid mistake but still available on their web page and I have downloaded that one from december 2023 yesterday. after big struggles with growatt inverter settings which have to fit precisely the battery is working. A bit of fine tuning here and there and it might be a good overall product even thought the EVA foam is to thick in my opinion, they also missed to tell the torque and NM for the compression screws. In their videos they did not mention where to put the thermal sensor and I had to redo it. They also forgot to tell us, that the JK BMS caomes with cables for the display which we should not mount if we have not bought that display version. All these tiny details . And your box looked prepared, mine did not arrive in such shape and packing as ssen in 1:41. I did not get the cash nor the manual. But the central metal frame was well aligned , no bend at all. Also your flexible orange bus bars are new as well, so maybe a EEL BOX V4 +. 19:16 your circuit breaker cables also have changed cause I remember very well that i was cursing that they did not show it in their video how to mount the battery terminal right. And now they have changed it again. 24:04 - same quality issues here regarding bended pins in the socket and the rail pcb bending far too much and easily cause the bms cables and plugs need a HIGH FORCE to fit into the socket and click. If you want to hear the click you might become a heartache too while trying to push it in. ALSO ANOTHER Difference: your pcbs seemed to be loose no screws used. Our came half assembled and we did not notice until the end cause we had 2 or 4 scews left in the box and these were from the rail mount. They had not shown that in the manual nor in the videos. What a shame. 27:43 - absolutely right: you can touch the terminal if there is only 1 battery. Easiest workarounds: # 1 on the black I put a black tape on the open entry # 2 on the red (which btw looks like cheap light red here what I had gotten) I used a different technique: I cut away the 2 sides and folded the remaing part to close that side too ( i had no red tape and thought this would be a more compact version too cause I hate the big overhanging part which is useless for only 1 box. # 3 EEL should provide 3d printer files at least as alternative, a more robust connection cause the current one fells quite fragile and does not always sit tight on the terminal. good product, but poor partly craftmanship and missing love for the details.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks for your comprehensive comment and sharing these details.

[@ParagonDIY]

22:00 You see Andy, it's not a problem if you don't use all the screws to attach the PCB. Your board is attached with 2-3 screws, why? Another box and once again the same problem with the PCB, the solution was that the manufacturer removed the screws to avoid a short circuit. As a viewer, I was a bit disappointed, you are justifying another company with poorly designed PCBs :/ Regards, Leszek

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

That's how the PCB came, with 2 screws in the middle only. I haven't fully assembled the box as I don't have any cells for it atm...

[@paulreilly3236]

Great video as usual Andy. With regards to your issue with the busbars being shortened to fit into the circuit breaker, there doesn’t appear to be much different to the size of the lug on the silicone cable

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The lug seems to be folded and of a lot thicker material. I would prefer a normal 25mm ferrule here. The breaker terminals are large enough for a 50mm cable, maybe even for a 70mm cable.

[@homie100968]

My 2 sets arrived today, the boxes suffered a hell of a beating but not a mark on anything inside. I also received the cables and not the bus bars. Otherwise i used a very sharp knife to trim down the silly rubber feet to fit the roller base.

[@Handy-Harry]

I have 2pcs of the v4.0. No issues with alignment of the compression plate here.

[@MrBellda]

Thanks for sharing Andy, I was only looking at these last week. So it's either the EEL V4, or the Yixiang.......🤔

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Go for the Yixiang...

[@MrBellda]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Thank you SIr.....

[@andreasw5925]

I have 5 white eel v4 (no display) and no quality issues. One NTC was defective but since it is diy I used the one from the original JK bms cabeling and replaced it. My version is different. The JK bms will be mounted on the front coverplate not the compression plate. Also no busbars just the cables. My PCB is labeled 2A and 2B, while yours is 3A and 3B Btw: For the last box on top I closed the holes 🕳️ in the top cover using the oval foam cutouts from the rail foam I stacked them with the rubber feet. But for the first one I set it on a wheel dolly with 48 tiny wheels to carry the 600kg stack

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Good idea to use the sticky foam to cover the top holes👍

[@dreckbaer]

Thanks for the Video. I still hoping you will do a review of an Apexium DYI box...

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Not for a while, I'm afraid. I'm over reviewing battery boxes at the moment🤢

[@dreckbaer]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia 😅 fair enough! Thanks for all the good videos and the hard work.

[@tomasdolezal1135]

Hi Andy, thanks for the video. How about trying something new that hasn't been on your channel yet. For example, to expand your pool fence solar with a 2 axis solar tracker.

[@PhilippeCJR]

Hey Andy, last week i ordered the Luyuan case. Its a bit like the Yixuang ?box but with a better dc breaker. You know the Luyuan box already?

[@peterle987]

The conductor size of the flex bar is "thickened" by the terminal material. The weak spot is just the line, where it goes in. Not a big issue because all the "more heat" that spot my greate dumps into the bar. And every hole on a busbar also lowers the area for current use. (the screws are not contacted as well to fill up the effect).

[@Raphael_Hofmann]

Two parallel circuit breakers would be better in terms of resistance and narrowing the busbar area. The ideal way to connect to a single circuti breaker would be just a ferrule on the cable.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, as expected. What they did was not great.

[@betterlifeacademy1744]

If you want compression you can only use the epoxy Plates and have a 10mm plywood at the end and at the Front and then add 3 foams and you have great compression at the cells.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The EVA tape is not great for compression as it will lose the ability to expand again over time. It will just stay in the compressed form forever.

[@robfre70]

I don't need a box like that. But it is very cool to see what is available on the market. I did copy your Battery Shelf. Not 100% but almost the same. I am very happy with it. I use the "old" JK-BMS versions with rs485 to USB direct to Cerbo. Works perfectly. I do not use the SOC of the BMS. I only use the Data from the Smart Shunt. BUT, if I would buy some boxes I might go for the EEEEEL one.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Do you use only one JK BMS connectin to the Cerbo? What if a second BMS comes along... Probably go with the Yixiang box instead. It's better quality, it seems. Unless the price difference is large.

[@robfre70]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia All the BMS's are connected. In the Cerbo I did hide them. I only want to see Cell max and min and Voltage and current. This is displayed in Home Assistant to me. I have no extra software installed in the Cerbo other then Setup Helper and GUI-MODS. No special software from Github needed here like the one from the African guy van de Wal, or any software for that mather. Victron just accepts what is connected. Victron is the best. Only after Multi Plus update all setting are gone. They need to fix that.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@robfre70 I thought you need to have the serial driver installed on the Cerbo to accept the RS485 signal from the USB?

[@robfre70]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Nope. No need to do that. I just connected it and after 5 seconds the BMS showed in the system. And through MQTT all data is going to HA. All I used is the official JK adapter from the small JST to the mini black box. From there to the RS485 to USB converter and that to the USB from Cerbo (I have a lot connected so I use a Industrial USB Hub)

[@cubeamspro1003]

I still think that the YiXiang is the winner here. My only concern is their DC breaker which if it is indeed directional, it would be a no no. Real fire hazard. Andy, I hope you will make another video showing the YiXiang populated with batteries and tested.

[@nunosantos79]

Should circuit breakers to be used in batteries be non-polarized models? CHCYZO appears to be polarized. 4:06

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, I'm with you, the Yixiang box is better quality and yeah, their breaker is a concern... I have the cells here now to build the Yixiang box and test it out. But it will be a while.

[@cubeamspro1003]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Excellent! Thanks.

[@cubeamspro1003]

@@nunosantos79 Have a look at the following video (Oaq2cvoPBRk) of what can happen when you try to break current flow in the wrong direction with a polarized DC breaker...

[@Richi42]

the "+" seems to be the positiv of cells not the positiv of case. when turn on seems to be pushed to the cells, and off to the terminal of the box, it seems to me

[@miggun25]

I think the contact area auf the flexible cable to the Circuit breaker isn't bigger than the contact area of the flexible bus bar.I think, the contact area at the main positiv of the battery with a single stud isn't much bigger. And I have multiple EEl boxes, with this feets. It works, and you can remove the box from the top with two persons. But at the bottom I use the plattform from EEl with the rolls.

[@you2bevsgoogle]

Nice Andy,da fragt man sich ob man 2.2023 hätte bis heute warten sollen mit den Batterien und den Boxen bei EEL.

[@melbuh7016]

Den Gedanken hatte ich auch kurz, da ich noch ne V1 Box mit Seplos BMS habe. Da diese allerdings schon 3500kWh gepuffert hat, hat sie sich bei unserem durchschnittlichem Strompreise von 30cent schon mehr als bezahlt gemacht und damit ihren Nachfolger mit JKV4 finanziert. Jetzt wird auf 3 Boxen erweitert!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

You're going big! Nice!

[@MikaelFrykholm]

Would it be possible to connect two of these boxes in series?

[@Greg-bx4id]

I have the EEL V3 with the JKs which are basically the same but with no display. I had zero issues putting them together....but your comment about the lack of conductive material going in and out of the breaker is now starting to concern me. I may decide to make up better cables when I figure out how. Oh, the feet. I didn't put them on the bottom unit but have no problems getting them in or out on the other 6. They are a bit mashed up after moving them around 3-4 times though. Just be careful stacking.

[@jimmy4518]

if i wanted to not use the EVA foam and use a solid material instead, what would be a good, cost-effective material to take up that 20mm of space where the compression plate would still... conpress?

[@pondandmore873]

Thanks for this video. prost

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you!

[@cgutowski471]

What is the go-to BMS right now? JK Inverter or Seplosv3 (using with Lux inverter). Need to order something quickly. I know JK has 100% soc issues with pylon and Seplos has 96.5% issues and no balancer.

[@seymourpro6097]

Is there a good reason to chose between an assembled box, a kit box and a row of cells on a shelf?

[@CollinBaillie]

It could be as simple as personal preference. (Neat, smaller footprint) It may also be something legal. Maybe the boxes give a perception of being safer because it's all hidden away and will pass an inspection better?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yeah, from a regulatory perspective, both the pure DIY shelf and a DIY box are handled the same way. Only if the manufacturer assembles the whole battery, it is different. Like Jakiper, Seplos or Gobelpower does.

[@mandimandi2523]

you buy the cells seperately and know possibly what you get .....

[@tujuprojects]

25:54 kenshee boxes have handle holes where you can put the handle only one way and the hole is upside down. 😅 then the handles are wrong way and don’t work as intended.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Hahaha, like the QSO battery box, handles upside down which squeezes your fingers.

[@tujuprojects]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia yes, they don't lock into 90 degrees position but are pulled back to resting postion with fingers in between. Don't they try those themselves? Or everyone who has, have their fingers in bandages?

[@kevroodenman3283]

Much ‘to do’ shocking one frog🐸

[@9111logic]

🙏 Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the change of subject for the next video 😉

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, me too. I've got enough of testing boxes for now. Maybe next year again. Or the year after...

[@9111logic]

😍 I can imagine

[@pteepan2708]

Another great one Andy, I think you need to be a bit harder on them, so the boxes get better and mire affordable. And the end cost comparison between this and the Yixenergy. The Yixenergy looks better amd more options, I think having an opinion on what you feel the cost difference is. You are in OZ, so am I, so let say this Battery case should be $120oz cheaper than the Yixenergy DIY case. I do like the encouragement for them putting all the screws in a simple cheap plastic case.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yeah, after all, I think the EEL box is maybe a close 4 frogs while the Yixiang gets 4.5 frogs.

[@olafschermann1592]

But i still prefer shorter EEL boxes over Gobelpowers 77cm box. Wo has that depth of room in his shelfes?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Definitely a space advantage of these EEL boxes...

[@dlya_svoih]

I had no problems with compression plate or any other mechanical components of same box without display. But I had to put some more epoxy sheets to compress lf280k a little. Epoxy and eva tapes included were not enough... cells are too flat maybe ;)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

These were brand new LF280k cells, dead-flat and they still fitted perfectly with one foam and epoxy in between them.

[@egbertegberts5384]

My Victron ESS system is now working with this box. I've set up the jkbms according to your suggestions in another video including the float settings. I notice strange behaviour. As soon as the absorption timer expires, the system starts dumping energy into the grid until the float voltage is reached. Then the charge process starts all over again. The BMS is set as the battery monitor. Any ideas what may cause this weird behaviour?

[@sapoty]

I think absorption is not valid for lithium. I make absorption low or equal to float if possible.

[@videoflieger1239]

Yes, it's version 4.1 of the box. I have version 4.0 without display and without busbars to the BMS only the thin silicon cables.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The cables are definitely on the thinner side... They always are in these boxes. But who is pulling 200A for some extended time from such a battery?

[@videoflieger1239]

Sure 👍I have a bunch of the boxes and around 80A per box on full load. But I love the clean design with the busbars 😀

[@J_Mani]

Hey Andi✌️ I think shipping to Australia is always very improper. No package ever arrives safely at your place 😂 I think you should always complain about packages if something is bent.😢 so they you can improve the service 🎉

[@joesimes]

Love your videos Andy! Very informative, great info. Have you noticed issues with the JK Inverter BMS giving fake SOC numbers, and the real SOC dropping over time? I’ve heard this is just an issue with Chinese inverters (mines Sofar). Tried contacting jk but no luck? Left my battery for a week and it kept charging to ‘100%’ but the max voltage just kept dropping, 57v to 51v. Any ideas?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, I have 4 JK BMS running for a few months now and SOC readings are all over the place if the BMS is not calibrated from time to time. I haven't fully charged for 10 weeks now, Victron shunt states 28%, JK says 90%. The JBD BMS says. I always trust the Victron shunt. It's on my list to discuss with JK.

[@joesimes]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia shame to hear you’re having the same problem with a Victron system, I thought it was just an issue with the Chinese ones. Hopefully it’s something they will fix, as now it’s summer for the north, I am having to calibrate every few days to keep the battery above (true) 80% SOC

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@joesimes It is not a Victron problem. The Smart Shunt is calculating very precisely. The other BMS are all over the place. The BMS should calibrate automatically every time you fully charge, so there should be no manual handling necessary.

[@joesimes]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Understood. Unfortunately even with my one reaching full charge each day, it’s calculated soc with my Sofar inverter is reaching 100% but at lower and lower voltages. I have to do the old trick of reducing the Ah and then increasing to actual for it to calculate the ‘real’ soc. Hopefully something that will be fixed because it’s seems a common issue on the diysolar forums

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@joesimes What BMS model do you have, BD or PB series?

[@MMMM2MMMM2MMMM]

Hi Andy, you have some second thoughts about the positive and negative busbars. Did you not get two? A flexible cable and a flexible bar? Why dont you use both. The screws should be long enough to connect them both.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Both cable and busbar in the breaker terminal? It would fit, but it is not ideal. The short positive cable will probably not fit between the breaker and terminal along the short bus bar.

[@MMMM2MMMM2MMMM]

Andy you have many boxes. Some of them have a DC breaker. Could you please do a DC breaker compare with the latest Xiyiang box.

[@Pimpasxx]

About the narrowed bar to the breaker. Just measure resistance from the wide part and terminal hole, then from the narrow and terminal hole opposite . Calculate the difference. I guess it will be nothing...

[@leeshively669]

I have 3 if them on thier trolly. 2 of the V4/EVE LF304 and 1 V2/reptile 305(B) all seplos style bms , the B reps were a pain with the V2 due to swell, the EVE in the v4 boxes were much better, as fat as the feet do on the boxes, they lock the cases together, so your engine lift is about the only way to get them back apart without scraping the paint on the top /bottom of the case.😂

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Ah, thanks for the feedback about the feet! I knew they were far too soft and conical shaped. Not great! Should have given 3 frogs only😄

[@jimmy4518]

i just received my order of these exact boxes, mine did not come with busbars for the bms connections, and it came with single-pole bus bars for the cell connections instead of double-pole. reached out to Howard, haven't heard back yet.

[@egbertegberts5384]

I've had the same. Miya promptly sent me the double pole busbars

[@jimmy4518]

@@egbertegberts5384 so it turns out that i accidentally selected the single-pole busbars on my order. they made me pay for the double-hole busbars.

[@jimmy4518]

so i actually made a mistake when placing the order and selected the single-pole option. not sure how that happened. they made me pay for the correct cell busbars.

[@MeisterQ]

I had problems with the compresstionplate aswell. If i put all eva tape and all isolationplates in the right place, i had a gap between the plate and the frame of around 10mm. So i had to use longer screws and screwed them carefully together. But later it ripped of 2 pullin-nuts (Einziehmutter) with it. It made me crazy. I had to remove them and put new inside. It was really really annoying. Like i ripped off the nuts because of bad documentation and was angry coz it broke my 500€ case and i had to repair it. I also had the bendet pins on the balancer PCBs. Main problem was, i had already mounted all balancer wires and busbars and then i figured out, there was almost a short between 2 cells. I had to grab some isolated pin and bend them in the right place. It was close to get a big spark.

[@JdZ-2023]

I think the YiX Energy is a far better build. Only a fuse is missing, what you can add yourselves. Update, the breaker alone is not safe enough.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, if they change to a better breaker, I would give the Yixiang almost a 5 🐸

[@DanBurgaud]

20:12 That is the least of concern. The contacts in the Circuit Breaker is much much smaller.

[@pierreisaac6542]

I have 16 cell eve 304 ah Bms jk 200 A How much a what standard courrent should i charge and discharge please ?

[@tujuprojects]

Aaaah, time to pick a nektarin and lean back. 😊

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

While I have to work, ey?!

[@tujuprojects]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia you get paid for that, right. That's how this works.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@tujuprojects oh, yeah, lots... 😄

[@curacao11]

😎

[@andreasroge7218]

Moin 👍👍👌

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Moin, moin!

[@tiborchren]

Very nice, but I don't like that the communication cable between the batteries runs through the touchscreen. ELL should move the touchscreen closer to the main plus terminal. Also, two main plus and minus terminals would be better as one as well. I wrote the same comment to ELL under their video about this DIY Battery Box and they replied this: ,, This suggestion is very good, we will make changes according to your suggestion when we produce the next batch of shells, thank you. ,, YIXIANG battery box also has the same problem with the communication cable between the batteries runs through the touchscreen.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Ah, right, yeah, that's actually a good point. Unless you route your comms cables around the display.

[@SoundzAlive1]

Andy, why don't you glue the EVA square to the epoxy square? André

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

For what reason?

[@SoundzAlive1]

Just for neatness and having less parts.

[@stefankaufmann8257]

4:25 breaking capacity is 10'000A. No need for a ground connection, if the system is not grounded.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

I would like to have all metal objects which can be touched, grounded in an installation. 10000, got it👍

[@stefankaufmann8257]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia in fact that's not a ground, but potential equalization - i hope i got the right english expression, in german it's Potentialausgleich. Purposes are different, pot equalization protects you from pot differences, no matter if the item has any connection to any sort of electricity or not. Not needed for movable items, but it's ok if you do so.

[@videostar555]

Why do you need a ground on a DC source?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It is still connected to an inverter with 230V? What if it is faulty and fires back to the DC side? I would always have all touchable metal parts grounded in an electrical installation. The metal battery box is no exception. But it may depend on your local regulations...

[@angyp74]

I have one of these boxes and the pins on the PCB balance board were also bent and in my instance, they had been pushed through the circuit board and damaged the tracks. My BMS is mounted on the front panel and the silicon cables were even smaller than yours 2x10mm for the negative and 1x20mm for the positive which in my opinion is way too small.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Ah, more quality issues... Yeah, the cables are too small for 200A. Not great.

[@user-uz9uo4ny4s]

I have ordered 3 x V4 kits with the MB30 A grade cells all through EEL . I think the function and quality of the MCB supplied could be a issue, but being a single pole and from what I can see in your video Andy, is it standard width ? As it seems slightly wider and most DC breakers come as 2 pole ( Noark ) So anyone that can suggest quality alternatives would be much appreciated . Cheers again Andy Your site is wealth of information 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

[@royamberg9177]

the bone has a nice curve to it

[@boomermatic6035]

I would be worried about the reduced size of that pin on the bus bar, the surface area is greatly reduced. If it is rigid enough it could only be making contact with the corners of the bus bar. Looks a bit dicey to me.

[@oneerase146]

Hallo Andy, deine Videos sind immer sehr informativ für und hab vieles was ich für mich ableiten konnte. Großen dank und weiter so... Ich nutze auch das JKBMS und nutze auch die Ladesteuerung des BMS. Leider hab ich bis jetzt noch nicht rausgefunden wie ich das korrekt einstellen kann. Sporadisch regelt das BMS mein Wechselrichter korrekt und dann wieder Tagelang nicht und schaltet nicht zwischen Flood- und Absorptionsspannung. Hab auch schon mit der Zeiteinstellung getestet. Aber es ändert sich nichts. Gibt es da vielleicht ein Tip für mich? Grüße aus Deutschland

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks. Have you seen the video, where I went through all the settings of the JK Inverter BMS? kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4u7aHaheqqklZo

[@oneerase146]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Ja, dieses Video war meine Grundlage. Ich habe aber leider noch nicht rausbekommen wie die Logik des Lademanagements funtioniert.

[@olafschermann1592]

In winter it only gets 30 degrees C down there? 😅

[@CollinBaillie]

Are you asking maximum or minimum? Or do you mean amps? 😁

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Only 30-40A in Winter, yes😅

[@tonydickerson999]

Has anyone ever cut open the flexible busbars to see how they are made flexible, is the cross sectional area reduced, and in this particular case where it enters the circuit breaker how much of the terminal actually makes contact with the breaker when the screw is torqued down especially as it is flat, maybe use some engineers dye assemble then disassemble to see how much dye is then missing.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

They are made from several thin layers of copper film. Usually, they have a hump in the middle which will buck when the cells should expand.

[@foeke8740]

If the breakerbusbar is over 2mm thick and 10mm wide , I Don’t think it’s a huge problem. It’s all about material (I do hope it’s copper) and the crosssection. 20mm2 should be just safe. Just. It will get pretty toasty at 250A. 4 Watts of heat will be generated in that cm. Luckily, copper is very good at heat dissipation. I am curious how that breaker is made internally. The internals don’t have much wiggle room to get rid of their heat. I wouldn’t be surprised if the breaker melts before the handicapped busbar. That’s a test I would be interested in. Our inverter puts out 240A max, and even 70mm2 cables get warm. And that goes to a big fat busbar and 4 batteries. I can’t imagine how such a relatively small breaker handles such a continued load.

[@TheRonskiman]

I have one of the larger molded case breakers, made by zbeny with 120mm cables. That gets up to about 40c external temperature when pulling 180 amps.

[@CollinBaillie]

I'm guessing these are not really meant to be used at 'rating' continuously, but for peak surges.

[@foeke8740]

@@CollinBaillie that’s my point. Unfortunately, in a battery, the current often is continuous.

[@askjeroen]

Andy with who from EEL do you have contact on Alibaba? I don't seem to come anywhere with Season:(

[@patrickburton6130]

I would prefer double -ve and +ve connectors.

[@paulcurtis5496]

Like# 1

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Again, Paul! 🥇

[@paulcurtis5496]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I found some retired 12v10amp MedicalUPS batteries. Going to build a nice wooden cabinet for them and use this as my emergency Growatt “jump pack”!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@paulcurtis5496 That'll do.

[@dlya_svoih]

Andy, could you ask jk to include support for rs485 pace and pylontech soon. Please 😢

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

What do you mean by that? Do you want to parallel JK, Pace and Pylontech?

[@dlya_svoih]

​@@OffGridGarageAustraliaJk still does not support pace bms and pylontech protocols for inverter communication over rs 485. These protocols are announced, but not available yet. So, quite a number of inverters are not compartible with jk. Some voltronic-like, for example

[@mandimandi2523]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia The JK-CAN protocol for the deye inverter doesn t work ..... Right now i work with the Pylon protocol. But i have V15.17. JK is working at V15.23 i read ....

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@mandimandi2523 there is already a 15.24 out. Have a look at my Google Drive linked under the JK-BMS on my website. off-grid-garage.com/battery-management-systems-bms/ I'm not expecting of fixing that as the changelog does not say anything about the Deye specifically, but always worth giving it a shot. And what exactly is not working with the Deye inverter?

[@mortenwinslw2785]

Like# 2

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

🥈

[@etienned2354]

So : the Yixiang is better, already mounted and less expansive...

[@CollinBaillie]

But doesn't have a breaker. Is that a deal... breaker? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Both boxes have breakers. I would use them as main switches only and have a decent breaker when connecting them to a common bus bar.

[@cyberplebs6577]

🐸🐸🐸

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Hello 🙋‍♂️

[@cyberplebs6577]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Grüße

[@joesmith1142]

🐸🐸🐸🐸

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Yes, four frogs for the EEL and 4.5 froggies for the Yixiang box.

[@olafschermann1592]

25:35 Box size comparison 700mm to 770mm

[@chrisw1462]

For the narrowed buss bars at the circuit breaker: The breaker is made to trip at 250A. It's contact area is designed for that, and conducts along the whole contact patch. A thicker buss bar would simply mean more heat storage, since the center of the buss bar between the contact patches wouldn't see much current. The contact patch where the batteries connect to the buss bars isn't much bigger, really.

[@arthurkarg4613]

Strange theories. There is a reason cables and contacts are specified in mm² and not surface area only.

[@NaamNatuurlijkniet]

A smaller contact area has a higher resistance, so at given current produces more heat which on its own increases resistance. A larger surface to air dissipates heat better, lowers temperature and thus resistance creating a lower voltage drop. That is why larger is better. The length of the “narrow” part also plays a role and that one is small in this case. Some people prefer the use of fuses in stead of breakers just for this reason. All contacts create additinal loss. You can push any current thru any wire, but when too thin it will heat up, resist more making it heat up and resist more and so on, right up to the point it melts and essentially becomes a fuse. The contactarea between the cell and the bussbar has the same problem. The unround hole makes for even less contact area, whis is why some parties supply an extra washer for in between the terminal and bussbar. This enlarges contact area but also creates another “connection” which of the two is more beneficial would be a nice experiment. Some people prefec flex bars or cablelug bars for this reason also. It seems that for DC purposes and high currents DC breakers are often too small in size (have to fit a dinrail) and thus have a higher loss due to heat building up. All energy converted to heat along the way is a less efficiënt battery system. Some of andies other cases use breakers with large surface terminals, some even have 2 parallel breakers. His own build uses relatively huge Noarc breakers and even they get hotter then one would wish. Low resistance switches combines with fuses what dissipate heat in an optimal way may lead to higher efficiency, but one would have to test this. It would be a nice in depth experiment trying to measure the difference in ways things are connected and how this relates to lifetime efficiency of the whole system.

[@do.b.3354]

I am still waiting for the test of the vertical Version 🥺

[@saschahorstkotte3331]

Me too, I ordered one vertical V4 5 weeks ago and I hope to get the version without cables

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

They asked me which one I want to test. As I'm getting rid of all vertical boxes, I opted in for the normal DIY box.

[@PlexMulti]

Hi

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

And third for you! 🥉 Thank you!

[@tylerjw702]

Nope the Vertical EEL box I got from alibaba a few weeks ago arrived damaged and is also twisted, not sure I can even get cells in it No resolution as yet

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Keep pushing and sharing. They have to replace or refund it.

[@CantFindInYoutube]

Very nice but despite their advertise in the website they don’t have it in EU warehouse

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Does it matter if it comes directly from China instead? Is the shipping more expensive?

[@mandimandi2523]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia of course, it takes a lot longer.... and you cannot track the shipment.... in my case they did not send out from guangdong for 5 WEEKS. Argument: chinese new year!! i would never give them a tip again. And the guys forgot to send the additional cables connecting 2 boxes and some screws were missing ....

[@joesmith1142]

for some strange and inexplicable reason I suddenly really miss the Frankenbattery!?!.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

I know, I think about it all the time. It will be back at some stage!

[@pierreisaac6542]

Is it an obligation to put de cells and parallel before mastering them in serie even if they are on the same voltaje ?

[@dlya_svoih]

As of my experience, nice, new grade A cells are balancing quickly after assembling. So, I don use paralleling for quite a while.

[@pierreisaac6542]

@@dlya_svoih thanks

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

With the JK-BMS and its active balancer, it's not necessary anymore to parallel and top balance the cells before building the battery. It does it automatically when fully charged.

[@pierreisaac6542]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia thanks yo so much

[@swolath]

You’re not happy no ground bolt but I didn’t see any ground wires on any of your batteries.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Because I don't use these batteries as such and wheel them around all the time for testing. Once in place, they all will have a ground cable.

[@swolath]

You do a fantastic job. Very professional. Put my system to shame. Would be a good experiment. If the case was live what would happen? I don’t think much? Unless one case was live positive and one negative and you dropped a spanner across them? They wouldn’t trip any breakers would they?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

@@swolath It's more the AC side of things we are protecting for. Your battery is connected to an inverter, so there could be the potential, that you end up with 230VAC in the battery case somehow. Unlikely, but it is probably more to satisfy the regulations...

[@swolath]

Good answer 😀

[@jimmy4518]

i placed my order about a month ago, ad said it came with flexible bus bars for bms, didn't say anything about cables. all the videos and instructions have shown bus bars. I'm going to be VERY unhappy if it shows up with cables instead of bus bars.

[@egbertegberts5384]

Mine was delivered two weeks ago without busbars. Only the silicone cables

[@jimmy4518]

@@egbertegberts5384 thats terrible. did you contact them at all?

[@jimmy4518]

@@egbertegberts5384 thats terrible. did you contact them?

[@jimmy4518]

@@egbertegberts5384 idk why but youtube keeps deleting my replies to you lol, what a joke. have you contacted eel to get bus bars?

[@jimmy4518]

@@egbertegberts5384 and thats complete b.s. that you got sent cables. nothing about the ad said anything about cables.

[@Chloe_Priceless]

They have one Flaw, not "real" 19inch Rack mounting .. only I call it "passive" rack mountable like on some universal Rack Mounts where it is only sitting on top of it and not sliding in with rails. Maybe I will call them when im on the way to build it for my house at the end of the year.

[@CollinBaillie]

Yeah, they're more like "19 inch stackable enclosures" aren't they? Imagine trying to lift one of these into an actual rack. It's better to stack them as designed.

[@Chloe_Priceless]

@@CollinBaillie don’t lift alone. And there are rails designed for this workload to pull out the whole way. Only thing is to not pull every battery out. The rails are for the maintenance .. so you can have them in a rack, and can do maintenance alone without someone helping to lift that over or 2 other persons.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The EEL is not as wide as the other boxes. It's really a lot smaller in any way.

[@Chloe_Priceless]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia that makes it even better for rackrails. Thank you for this detail

[@t.d.5804]

need something like 16S4P or more, building a big battery will not work with 16S1P boxes. Each is one case, one BMS. Having 60kWh or more in one case would be nice, multiple will be stacked. Bet there arent any bigger cases, right ? Threaded rods and plates it will be.... :-)

[@energiasiedlce]

Problem with PCB is again. People who buy this. Check this PCB in every DYI BOX. Check voltage or use plastic screws. Always think. What can,t went wrong, it can be done.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

What is the problem? I think they have solved it as the tracks are going around the mounting studs.

[@tujuprojects]

”The verb "bend" is an irregular verb.”

[@CollinBaillie]

Can I suggest some Metamucil? Maybe that can help to get it regular again?

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It's super regular over here!

[@MrLeecavturbo]

No concern for me with the busbar narrowing.