₦airaland Forum

chris81964:
One lesson that I have learnt over time is this. Why should I drink panadol over another person's headache.

It is amazing that despite all the good advice that you have given this young person they insist on what they think they know.

I have been doing customized lithium ion solutions for about 1 year. We initially did not use a BMS. We destroyed a few batteries but eventually the inevitable happened. Our client had a fire. The fire service had to break the door and they told the client that the fire had to extinguish itself. Our Lithium Ion batteries had caught on fire. The smoke damage cost me almost N100k to clean. I have not painted the room yet or fixed the door that got broken. The charge controller got destroyed (Schneider) but we were lucky the Schneider SW inverter is still functioning.

Used laptop batteries have cells of different capacities. Some will charge and discharge much faster than others. It is just a matter of time before you get a problem with your fan and the batteries.
Pray that you are at home the day it happens.

Holy molly! thank goodness no life was lost. Na money waka so oh! Chaaaai!

I have a li-ion pack that isn't doing what it was designed to do so i repurposed it. I later got to learn that the builder didn't put a bms in a 70cell battery pack.... Well I'm currently using it very below its stated rating of charge and discharge but i still always have my heart in my mouth when it is connected. Maybe i go just go disconnect the darn thing sef.

uliyaah:
It was later edited, all misunderstanding has been sorted.

That's the spirit...

hotdealz:
I think some cells were dead before I started using them cos I didn't throw any cell away from the dead laptop battery as I have no means of testing anything.

Also, I only charge it for 5hours whenever it needs to be recharged which is mostly once in a week cos I only use the fan at night when there is no nepa light for the ceiling fan and that 5hours charge can carry me for about 5 nights at average speed before the fan stops working and needs to be recharged.

I have been doing it that way for 3 months plus now. Unless if charging it for the 5hours can raise the battery voltage above the 12.6v maximum. But, the battery has never for once gotten hot. Can it still explode without getting hot?

Where do I get a volt display so I can always put it off when it gets to about 12.4V? Or is there any device I can connect to it that would automatically stop charging once the volt gets to the 12.4V?

Bros, google is just a phone screen away. Just google what is li-ion battery. Better you have a basic knowledge of this thing you are fiddling with than learning with experience how brightly lithium fire burns.

Get the basics first, then you will ask the relevant questions.

Even if u decide to try some experiments, alteast u will be prepared for any possible eventualities.

We love you and we won't you to enjoy this Buhari era with us

odimbannamdi:
I just got home and looked at the shoe critically and i admit that, indeed, the upper linning just where the foot goes into is peeling off. I was in a haste yesterday to take to take the photo and get on transit to a meeting that my eyes skipped it, otherwise i would have had a second thought about posting it

I got it last year July to resell, but i stopped the business in September as i thought i would relocate at the time. I think i will now classify the shoe as old stock and will note the defects in the original post with a considerable slash in price. The shoe still looks pretty cool and interested persons can still connect with me for a deal. Like sey na my size, i for don wear am since...

I apologize if my earlier comments came off as rude and vituperative. It was done out of a sincere heart as i thought the shoe was still in pristine condition. I now appreciate the essence of those seeming "bad-mouth" remarks some of us make here. It is in a bid to protect unsuspecting members

Let us make Nairaland safe together.

PS: I have gone through the other 6 pairs of shoes i have left, they are still in perfect condition. But i have slashed their prices considerably as well.

CC: ycmdng
Bankyshinani
BumbleDevil
Uliyaah

maturity...well done man.

uliyaah:
No need to be all emotional bros, that shoe isn't "BRAND NEW"

An example of brand new is a pair of shoes you just picked up from store, completely new, recently created and not yet used.

This particular shoe doesn't pass for Brand new, the person who posted home appliances recently, those are BRAND NEW.

And this shoe has defects as he said, nicely enough. He didn't say anything wrong.
Someone else might hit it on the head and say it's peeling or there's white stain or could be something stained it.
Maybe you are not seeing it, but we can.

Why expect anyone to go and ask about what's obvious here on WhatsApp when the item is posted here and clearly defected.

Someone else might like it so, he pointed out those weren't brand new, that it looks like old stock or fairly used, and as a shoe seller, I am sure those are Old stocks.

I attached an example of what you can tag as brand new, you're welcome.

i think he posited that the shoe had some peels in his post...the shoe may not be as sad looking as it seems to be here. Camera quality issues. The same way very bright and clear pictures doesn't guarantee quality of item either.... that guy sounded like he was trying to pass off a used item as new which i strongly doubt the poster was doing.

mctfopt:
Yeah, you can even drill through it without any risk of explosion.

I recently watched a youtube review of this battery in which the youtuber bought the batteries at Aliexpress at a cost of $276 or approximately N100k with free shipping for a lot of 6. The capacity was quoted to be 2.4V @30AH each cell.

100k for a 14.4v 30ahr battery?

maybe for aerial vehicles or something like dat oh, but for energy storage for home power supply? its well ni oo

wirinet:
You don't mess with lithium and you definitely never push lithium beyond its limits. It's result could be fatal. Only people who know know what they are doing should ever mess with lithium. Lithium should never and I mean never be over charged (4.2v for Li-ion, and 3.65v for LiFeP04) and the use of battery management system is crucial. If you can abide by these rules, then you will have no safety concerns.



It's good to join the lithium vs lead chemistry debate, so we can all share experiences. I am of the strong belief that the solution to our energy problem in Nigeria is solar, as the energy companies are highly incompetent apart from being corrupt.

Lithium is obviously more dangerous that lead, because you are packing more energy in a smaller amount of space (and mass), so the chemistry is more unstable than lead.
Having said that, the future of energy storage is lithium. Without lithium we would never have had the cell phone or smart phone. No other chemistry would have been able to pack such huge amount of power in such a small device. Same thing with laptops. (Imagine running a laptop computer with lead batteries). So it will also be with solar energy storage. As lithium batteries become more widely used and safer, it's prices will come down. In terms of safety new LiFeP04 is relatively safe, they don't explode with abuse like Li-ion.

To guard against BMS failure, I recommend you don't go for cheap $2 BMS on alibaba. Go for reputable BMS with lots of safety features. In addition I recommend adding a battery monitor that bleeps if one of the cells go off balance. They are quite cheap (less than $10). New cells that was balanced initially don't go off balance easily. Furthermore, drawing less than C/0.2 will keep your cells from going off balanced.

i think you are not getting the bane of contention sir. saipro hasn't said li-ion technology should be discarded, but as far as renewable energy use is concerned, at this time, li-ion mat not be ready for massive real word application....The aspects you highlighted where li-ion tech is being used like mobile devices and co are superb applications of them because of better weight/energy density characteristic....ordinary rechargeable fans still go back to lead acid use. That should say something about the application of lithium to the common user yet.

my two cents.

lakeside50:
We buy scrap atm, inverter, solar, telecoms base station deep cycle batteries & trailer batteries at reasonable prices.
We buy in unit or large quantities. We also do home, office pick up within lagos or neighbouring cities/towns.

Call 08186161605, 07060495156 for further discussions.
BlackBerry pin: E30F9CD4.

Whats ur orice for regular ah rates? Like 100ahr, 180ahr and 200ahr?

chris81964:
They require a lot of energy to get capacity from them. I have 3200 watts in PV and I am 100% of the grid. It has not be consistently sunny. Each cell need see 2.7 V. That is not happening until I rent a generator. To properly charge them I will need more than double my PV or rent a gen.

Interesting... Thank you sir.

chris81964:
I took a step back and returned to lead acid batteries. I don't recommend it to anyone that has used Lithium Ion batteries. If I were in Nigeria I would have thrown in the towel and returned to my Lithium ion units.
Am I the first to use Forklift batteries for solar power in Nigeria?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU4oem4Ly78&t=1s

Free forklift batteries? Where do you get such deals pls?.. I won't mind a connect too.

So about this post, are you suggesting that these cells weren't worth the trouble eventually?

odimbannamdi:
No issues, boss.

The person i was referring to is Surrogatesng.

See the gory account of a Nairalander that did business with him very recently:

https://www.nairaland.com/4744595/better-alternative-mtn-lumos/9#77239153

CC:2fine2fast

Wow.... Thanks for the heads up. Seun pls look into this

lizlait:
12v/200ah needed

Very good, fairly used telecoms battery available from the guy i got mine from. You may be lucky to get new ones at same price even.

cluewebhost:
The one with LCD or without?

With LCD

ameh99:
I have built well over 25 battery packs and yet to receive such complaints but customers are always right. I have repeatedly told you that your reviews matters to me they help me to improve on my product

Neither do I have the strength to type long grammar, right from day one when you started throwing complains I agreed to refund you because the batteries in your pack are all brand new cells and the money you gave me is less than the cost price of the over 72 cells I used, so please i hope to refund you and get that pack back.

Keep hoping. I have no more business dealings with you. So because i dropped a review publicly you suddenly have time to reply?
Smh

Pls dnt quote me again... Thanks

wirinet:
You are right. But adding more panels would not help either. So the only other option is to reduce load.

This is why I am a fan of lithium batteries, lead batteries are too cumbersome and inefficient, it's only advantage is its lower cost and relative safety.

More panels can give lots of excess harvest which can be utilized when the sun is up without draining the battery at the same time

Kampack:
How do you manage fo keep a battery above 12.4? Dont you watch TV? Even ceiling fan alone can drag a battery of 100Ah below 11.0v if constant used for 8hours straight. You must be using a huge battery power, say well above 400Ah

Lol... Knowledge is power. I knw what i need it for. And i knw how the battery likes to be treated.

As per TV, i didn't get the system to watch TV with, plus im rarely at home.

I need it just for light, fan, charging of phone and laptop. I watch movies once in a while on my laptop if i need the distraction.

zeanslim:
I'm after the pure sine wave output, thanks for the heads up, trying to avoid story that touches when I go get mine. how do I know the ones with timer/ what did you do with yours to correct it

Right now i only knw Two types with timer and they are both msw. You can always ask the selle if it has timer or not.

Mine? Dumped it and got another one.

ameh99:
Maybe the charger is not charging properly and hence leading to under charge of battery


I promised you I will get that battery back and you will have your refund. Meanwhile the battery I built for you doesn't have BMS and that was why it failed an I sincerely apologize for any trouble it may have caused you. But I was the one that informed you about the reduction of battery capacity and I also gave you reasons as to why that happened

I really don't have the time nor energy to start haggling about what you did or didn't do. You stopped replying or reading my messages despite coming online often, that alone was enough message to me saying "go fck yosef"...

This is my unbiased review...it's Left for any reader to use or disregard it.

Cheers

eleojo23:
Which charger do you use now?

Rarely have phcn... So basically my solar for now

mctfopt:
Thank you for the wholesome review. I saw where the OP said the bank has no BMS, is this something you were aware of prior to purchase?

Wasn't aware of any missing parts

odimbannamdi:
Yes naaaaa....baba give me your number make we connect joor...lemme come and see your setup

lolll...small world. we are chatting on whatsapp. lets take it there.

wirinet:
The problem is the run time or storage capacity and not power generated. The system shut down at 4:00 am. His total storage capacity is 4nos 200AH batteries which is a total of about 9600wh mind you the system shuts down at about 80% DOD and there is some energy wastage by the batteries themselves and the inverter.

SLA batteries dont care what you are trying to achieve. They have their very delicate behavior that you dont want to mess with.

wirinet:
Can you explain why.

Two different batteries with diff ages, charge and discharge history don't form a good party. One will drag the other down prematurely.

IkalaiyeLOTO:
Thanks for your response sir, this is the charge controller type I'm using and I intend to use for the 250 watts x 2 sunshine monocrystaline solar panels

thats an MSW charge controller. use my first wiring description

odimbannamdi:
This was most enlightening, sir.

First pic shows the specs of my Qasa 18" rechargeable fan. Do you think it uses a DC or AC current? And would it be safe to use it with an MSW inverter/UPS?

Secondly, how would i know if my Smart samsung tv is DC? I googled out the spec (UE43KU6400) and found the pic attached. Can you tell whether it is DC or AC?

it should be fine.


if its a led, flat screen, most likely it should be fine too

odimbannamdi:
I am guessing your APC 650VA UPS is MSW? How would i know what my Bluegate 650va draw as well?

yes, its msw.....use a clampmetre

odimbannamdi:
Which smart one are u talking about, sir? 12 or 24v?

Sorry about the timer inconvenience. How do we avoid buying the ones with timer?

PS: Do you stay around Coconut bustop, Olodi-Apapa?

the smart ones are 24v...just ask for apc 2battery ups.

about coconut bus stop. yes. you stay there?

IkalaiyeLOTO:
Happy Sunday to oga ceejay and all gurus on this platform, I need guidance on how to connect my newly acquired 250 watt monocrystaline solar panel to the exact type I've been using before

I have been using the same type for close to two years now with a 12v/200AH deep cycle battery +30A/12V-24V charge controller.

My set up is 12V, I can't afford to be buying two batteries for 24V system.

IF THE CHARGE CONTROLLER IS A PWM CONNECT THE NEW PANEL TO THE OLD ONE BLACK TO BLACK, RED TO RED. IF ITS AN MPPT, MAKE SURE BOTH PANELS VoC IS LESS THAN THE CHARGE CONTROLLER RATING THEN CONNECT THEM IN SERIES. IE REMOVE ONE WIRE FROM THE CHARGE CONTROLLER; SAY POSITIVE WIRE, CONNECT THE WIRE TO THE NEGATIVE OF THE NEW PANEL, THEN CONNECT THE POSTIVE OF THE NEW PANEL TO THE POSITIVE OF THE CHARGE CONTROLLER.

zeanslim:
Thank you very much, can you tell me what specific model I should look out for, so I won't just buy anyhow APC ups thanks.

WHAT ARE YOU PARTICULAR ABOUT? THE 12V OR THE PURESINEWAVE OUTPUT?

IF PURESINEWAVE THEN ANY OF THOSE SMART ONES WILL DO. IF 12V AND LOAD WONT EXCEED 400W THEN THE ONE ATTACHED HERE WILL DO.

TAKE NOTE, SOME APC UPS HAVE INTERNAL TIMER WHICH SHUTS DOWN THE UPS OFTEN. I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE BUYING ONE INITIALLY. I BOUGHT THE TIMER ONE AND I SUFFERED MEHN.

I GOT A BATTERY PACK FROM YOU ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO....ALL I WILL SAY IS I WON'T BE BUYING ANYTHING FROM YOU IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.

PROS
-DELIVERED ON PAY ON DELIVERY CONDITION.

CONS
-AGREED BATTERY PACK CAPACITY WAS REDUCED WITHOUT PRE-INFORMING ME. I HAD TO FIND OUT AFTER ASKING AGAIN JUST TO BE CERTAIN OF DELIVERED CAP. SELLER SAID COST OF ITEMS WERE HIGHER THAN HE EXPECTED SO HE REDUCED MY CAPACITY WITHOUT INFORMING ME FIRST. (WAYBILL COST IS ON THE BUYER FYI)
-BATTERY STOPPED CHARGING AFTER A FEW DAYS OF RECEIVING IT.
-CONTROL BOARD ALSO STOPPED WORKING. (BIG DEAL BECAUSE LITHIUM BATTERIES CAN EXPLODE IF NOT WELL PROTECTED DURING CHARGING)
-BATTERY SELF DISCHARGING FAST, HAD TO DISCONNECT BOARD
-AFTER RECEIVING PACKAGE I PAID HALF OF IT BECAUSE I WASN'T SURE THE PACK WILL PERFORM. THAT SINGULAR DECISION SAVED ME FROM WASTING MY TOTAL MONEY...(MEANWHILE I RENEGOTIATED PRICE WHEN I DISCOVERED CAPACITY DELIVERED WAS BELOW AGREED.)
-ASKED FOR A REFUND FIRST AND WILL RETURN THE BATTERY, BUT WAS TOLD TO RETURN BATTERY FIRST THEN RECEIVE REFUND WHICH I DISAGREED TO. AFTER A WHILE SELLER STOPPED READING NOR REPLYING MY MESSAGES. DIDN'T PICK CALLS EITHER
-WIRING AND PACKING WAS QUITE FLIMSY AND SOME NAKED WIRES TOO WERE NOTICED, WHICH I TOLD SELLER ABOUT. HE ONLY SAID IT WAS HIS BOY THAT PACKAGED THE BATTERY. NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL

REVIEW-
HE DOES SELL A LITHIUM PACK BUT BUY AT YOUR RISK OF NOT GETTING VALUE FOR MONEY SPENT OR LOW QUALITY PRODUCT.

TC

idsolar:
my people hv said it all. 2 options. 1. go for energy save appliances to reduce ur load size. 2. add 2 batr and panels to increase load carrying capabilities. as for me, I always prefer low energy save load in order not to wahala d batrs leading to early grave. please follow strictly so to enjoy ya money. solar work, solar sweet.

BOLDED IS NOT ADVISABLE

helpee:
You are right. I am beginning to see sense in this. I just don't know how to re plan this. I would have gone with the other packages of that man with direct solar cos he has ready made packages. Like packages for 9 fans, 15 fans etc. Unfortunately, most of our electrical wares runs concurrently. We can have a full ward most times meaning up to 15 fans May even be on at the same time. The two TVs are 42 inches thereabout and usually on concurrently. The computer is almost permanently on. I think that was why separate packages would have been the best for me but[b] I didn't know[/b] how to calculate those loads.

YOUR DIRECT SOLAR INSTALLER MAN ISN'T DOING ANYTHING MAGICAL. HE JUST USES AN EFFICIENT SYSTEM. I DONT KNOW WHO INSTALLED YOUR INVERTER SYSTEM, BUT IF YOU HAVE USED SOME OF THE WELL ROUNDED INSTALLERS HERE WHO AREN'T JUST INTERESTED IN MAKING QUICK BUCKS, BUT ACTUALLY HELPING YOU ENJOY YOUR SETUP, YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN BETTER VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY AND REST OF MIND_ WHICH IS THE AIM BTW.

A GOOD INSTALLER WILL SIZE YOUR SYSTEM PROPERLY, ADVICE YOU ON ENERGY EFFICIENT ALTERNATIVES TO YOUR HOUSE UTILITIES (FANS,LIGHTS,HEATERS ETC), AND EVEN CHECK UP ON YOU TO KNOW HOW YOUR SYSTEM IS WORKING.

SUGGESTED RESCUE OF YOUR INVERTER SYSTEM RIGHT NOW
-REPLACE ALL THOSE CEILING FANS WITH ENERGY EFFICIENT ONES,
-USE A LOW POWER LAPTOP RATHER THAN A DESKTOP FOR YOUR PC NEEDS,
- MAKE SURE YOUR TV HAS ENERGY EFFICIENT SETTINGS AND ACTIVATE THEM AFTER SUNDOWN. EVEN YOUR INVERTER SHOULD BE CHOSEN CAUTIOUSLY AS EFFICIENCY OF INVERTERS DIFFER GREATLY.

A GOOD INSTALLER WOULD HAVE SAVED YOU A LOT OF THIS STRESS.

LASTLY, DON'T ATTEMPT TO ADD MORE BATTERIES TO YOUR BATTERIES...WASTE OF MONEY AND ENERGY; YOU CAN ADD MORE PV MODULES THOUGH.

CHEERS