VoltX active cell balance installation

Brief overview of installing a active cell balancer and a external charging port to charge the cells individually

[@supashark72]

Love ya work phil. This is what all the cheaper ones need active balancing. It a good balancer, with true active. It's actually better than the 'hyper balancer' in other units.

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

Hi and thanks for the feedback Active balance I have found do work, but as I have found out all the cells need to start off fully charged.

[@1972prem]

Thanks for the videos on the battery Phil. Aldi have these for sale this Saturday 2/4/2022 for $429. I think you've convinced me to buy. I'm a newbie to solar so not sure I want to spend too much on my first system for my new shed

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

Lindsay I am glad it was of some help to you, For the price these batteries aren’t bad value, So far mine are working fine. If you want them to work to their optimal I do recommend cutting the battery open and charging each of the cells individually to get max life. Just remember that the BMS is of a very low standard it has no Over temp /under temp protection and no over current protection, only low-voltage protection. So what does that mean, it means if you use them with in the specifications that they set they will do everything that you need of them. I can understand why you would like to purchase these batteries initially as setting up a lithium system does get quite expensive and batteries being a consumable part of the system it makes sense to maybe cut corners on them and replace them with better ones later on when one can afford it

[@jordanwalters9447]

I just bought 2 of these and I was gonna use them in parallel in my car to run a 95 lt brass monkey camp fridge.... I'm having second thoughts though....

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

@@jordanwalters9447 they will be fine to use just don’t expect them to last

[@jordanwalters9447]

@@philsrandomstuff2392 cheers mate I just saw your comment

[@justifiedcruisercustoms6695]

Hi Phil, How did you get on with a way around running these batteries in parallel? Very interested for more info on that one

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

I have had these 2 batteries joined in parallel for around six months now sitting in my van with no problems. From my experience as long as the voltage difference is no grater that 120 millivolts between batteries after charging them individually and leaving them sit after charging for a few hours. They are good to parallel up. But for safety when you first join them in parallel join the two negatives first and than the positives with a fuse of about 30amp in the positive to positive wire just in case there is a large flow a of current from one battery to the other. They will equalise very quickly so give them 2 hours and than recharge as a pair. For peace of mind I put a fuse of 40amps on each battery when I installed them in my van. Hope this answers your question correctly. Cheers Phil

[@justifiedcruisercustoms6695]

@@philsrandomstuff2392 thanks mate, so once you have them all hooked up as described, you just let them cycle and charge as a pair?

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

@@justifiedcruisercustoms6695 this vid I did explains how to connect them safely. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5DCqaubi8Z2iKc And yes once you have done what I’ve done in the video you just leave them connected in parallel and cycle them that way. Cheers Phil

[@justifiedcruisercustoms6695]

@@philsrandomstuff2392 I seen that video 5 minutes after I replied lol. Thanks for the reply and thanks for a very detailed video review on them.

[@opaulz2760]

Hi Phil and thank you for these Voltx videos. Kinda wish I'd seen these before buying the batteries. Can you please tell us what you did with the existing bms wiring? I would guess the passive balancing needs to go. And, does the active balancer also have other bms functionality? Thanks.

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

The active balancer and the BMS run in parallel together. In simple terms the active balancer helps the BMS balance the cells better and the BMS still helps protect the battery. Personally I would not waste my money on the active balancer although they do work I am finding that running the active balancer works best if you turn it off while Discharging and turning it on when charging. You would be best just spending your money on a better quality BMS then the active balancer. A better quality BMS will make these batteries much safer. If you have time Go to Off Grid Garage KZbin channel, Andy there on the channel has put a lot of time and effort into testing various types of set up‘s for lithium batteries.

[@opaulz2760]

@@philsrandomstuff2392 Thanks Phil. I have been looking at the Deligreen units. Not cheap si I wonder if the cells warrant the investment. I have 2 of the new version (with display) 24v in series. Despite fully charging and connecting in parallel for 24h+ before connecting to system they are not holding up with one of them having the bms switch it off. Voltx claims they can be run in series but (with new found knowledge) I am sure, because the batteries can't talk to each other, there is an imbalance between them probably due to a sad cell in the one that pulls the plug. They're less than 2 weeks old (replacing agm's) running off a Victron controller. Cost and hassle of return makes it viable to look at alternatives I think. Hope the cells are worth it.

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

@@opaulz2760 Sounds like the best way to go is to cut the batteries open and check the individual cell voltages to work out what is going on, this way at least once you have the batteries cut open you can see what is going on with each individual cell during the charge and discharge cycle of your batteries. Some of the more expensive BMS have an app which allows you to monitor the individual cell voltage from your phone Charging each of the cells individually in the batteries with a 3.6 V Constant current constant voltage charger (this can be just a lab power supply that you can pick up from J car) I think will help fix your problem. With one of the batteries I have when I charged the lowest voltage cell it took seven more Amp hours then the other three cell , this obviously this affected the Battery capacity

[@opaulz2760]

@@philsrandomstuff2392 thanks Phil. I agree that I need to get to the cell level. Still have a bit to learn on charging (top/bottom) and a bit nervous about cutting them but need to do something. At least the new ones have a see through case! Thank you very much for input.

[@fussybugger]

Can u please run a test of the available amps not that you're charging to a balanced system?

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

I’m guessing what you’re saying is can I run a test of the available amps now that the batteries are balanced?

[@fussybugger]

@@philsrandomstuff2392 yes, now that the cells are balanced

[@philsrandomstuff2392]

@@fussybugger will do as I would like to know myself