Easy DIY Lithium Battery

[SolarPoweredRV]

For those adventurous souls who are considering building your own Lithium Battery (LiFePo4) bank, a company named Sun Fun Kits has put together a complete kit to make assembly easier. The kits include all the parts you would need to source individually, Battery Monitoring System (BMS), battery box, cabling, Bluetooth interface, bus bars, screws, nuts, and washers, to complete your project. They can even supply the LiFePo4 battery cells for you, so, you don't have to wait a few months for the slow boat to arrive from China.

One additional advantage of ordering your cells from this company is that you don't have to worry about getting cells that are not first quality (which has sometimes been an issue). The kits come with detailed assembly instructions and they include free shipping.

If you want to save money and not have the hassle of assembling the battery yourself, they offer pre-assembled batteries as well.

Here is a video of the complete assembly process as well as a follow up video showing some improvements in the assembly and design...

Video 1, Assembly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3889lj2whLA

Video 2, re-assembly and suggested improvements:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwaXH7sAVT0

The company's website is:

SunFunKits.com

Note: you can receive a 10% discount by using the discount code: LS10 (discount code of the person who made the two videos above).

PS: These kits might be a good way for someone who might be considering a DIY build of one (or more) of these 280ah LiFeP04 batteries to test out the build process before building additional batteries from scratch.

PPS: If you do purchase and build one battery kit and you are concerned about adding additional batteries (that may be mis-matched) in the future, don't be, because, each battery has it's own BMS, and these LiFePo4 batteries can be added to your battery bank as needed and/or as your wallet allows.

Good Luck, and please let us know how this kit works out for you.

 

[triplethreat]

Thanks for posting that. I have just entered into that DIY arena myself and have all the parts already ordered. I'm getting 4 of the 302AH EVE CATL grade A batteries from Docan Technology, but they are being shipped from their Houston, TX warehouse. I asked them to delay shipment until Dec. 3rd as I will be out of town and didn't want the batteries on the front porch while we are gone. I'm also getting a 200A Daly Smart BMS with the B.T. module, but that is coming directly from the Daly store that is on AliExpress and will be here by Nov. 7th or 8th. I will be adding some bus bar standoffs for both the Pos. and Neg connections, as well as a cutoff switch. I'm also going to replace the factory Converter/Charger with a Progressive Dynamics 60A unit that is made for LFP batteries. And depending on how well I am satisfied with the Daly BMS B.T. information about battery SOC/Discharge, Voltage, Amperage, etc., if needed I may add in a Victron 712....but hopefully it isn't needed.

 

[Ynot4me2]

[MENTION=22656]SolarPoweredRV[/MENTION] thanks for posting this. [MENTION=21739]xrated[/MENTION] I sure do hope that you'll be doing a write up on your project. Many of us, including me, are just about to adventure into this.

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[triplethreat]

[MENTION=22656]SolarPoweredRV[/MENTION] thanks for posting this. [MENTION=21739]xrated[/MENTION] I sure do hope that you'll be doing a write up on your project. Many of us, including me, are just about to adventure into this.

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I will likely be doing a bit of a write up at some point in time, but right now, my number one priority is getting my wife back to good health. She has had a heart condition known as Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) for at least 30+ years and it has finally become a lot worse. Then, in early July, we had an issue that caused her to make an emergency room visit and it was discovered that she now has "A-Fib" along with the MVP condition. Those two issues do NOT play well together and she will be having surgery in the next few weeks to either repair or replace the Mitral Valve. While they are doing that, the surgeon will also do a Cox-Maze procedure that hopefully will negate completely or at least partially, the "A-Fib" issue. So obviously, getting her back to good health is the #1 priority. She is in very good health other than these two totally fixable issues, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a good result.

Sorry to get off track, but I needed to vent just a bit and also explain why my testing/write up might not happen very quickly.

 

[Soundsailor]

Fast recovery for your wife

she now has "A-Fib".

My a-fib was successfully treated with an ablation, hope your wife's treatment goes well.

 

[AZMike]

I will likely be doing a bit of a write up at some point in time, but right now, my number one priority is getting my wife back to good health. She has had a heart condition known as Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) for at least 30+ years and it has finally become a lot worse. Then, in early July, we had an issue that caused her to make an emergency room visit and it was discovered that she now has "A-Fib" along with the MVP condition. Those two issues do NOT play well together and she will be having surgery in the next few weeks to either repair or replace the Mitral Valve. While they are doing that, the surgeon will also do a Cox-Maze procedure that hopefully will negate completely or at least partially, the "A-Fib" issue. So obviously, getting her back to good health is the #1 priority. She is in very good health other than these two totally fixable issues, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a good result.

Sorry to get off track, but I needed to vent just a bit and also explain why my testing/write up might not happen very quickly.

Prayers heading your way...

 

[Ynot4me2]

I will likely be doing a bit of a write up at some point in time, but right now, my number one priority is getting my wife back to good health. She has had a heart condition known as Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) for at least 30+ years and it has finally become a lot worse. Then, in early July, we had an issue that caused her to make an emergency room visit and it was discovered that she now has "A-Fib" along with the MVP condition. Those two issues do NOT play well together and she will be having surgery in the next few weeks to either repair or replace the Mitral Valve. While they are doing that, the surgeon will also do a Cox-Maze procedure that hopefully will negate completely or at least partially, the "A-Fib" issue. So obviously, getting her back to good health is the #1 priority. She is in very good health other than these two totally fixable issues, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a good result.

Sorry to get off track, but I needed to vent just a bit and also explain why my testing/write up might not happen very quickly.

OMG definitely sending positive thoughts and vibes your way. Love ones always come first and toys last. Good luck and take good care of her as I'm sure you're already doing.

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[Redapple63]

I will likely be doing a bit of a write up at some point in time, but right now, my number one priority is getting my wife back to good health. She has had a heart condition known as Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) for at least 30+ years and it has finally become a lot worse. Then, in early July, we had an issue that caused her to make an emergency room visit and it was discovered that she now has "A-Fib" along with the MVP condition. Those two issues do NOT play well together and she will be having surgery in the next few weeks to either repair or replace the Mitral Valve. While they are doing that, the surgeon will also do a Cox-Maze procedure that hopefully will negate completely or at least partially, the "A-Fib" issue. So obviously, getting her back to good health is the #1 priority. She is in very good health other than these two totally fixable issues, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a good result.

Sorry to get off track, but I needed to vent just a bit and also explain why my testing/write up might not happen very quickly.

Good Thoughts and prayers your way!

 

[triplethreat]

Thank you all for the well wishes and thoughts and prayers. It's kind of a shock to her, she is soon to be 69 years old (young) and until the A Fib diagnosis in July, she was on zero medications. She didn't even wear glasses until about 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[triplethreat]

My a-fib was successfully treated with an ablation, hope your wife's treatment goes well.

That is the procedure that they will be doing. The Doc. said it has been much improved over the years since it was first started and apparently they now use cryogenics to disrupt the stray electrical impulses that cause it. He said it takes between 5 to 10 minutes for that part of the surgery. The Mitral valve, if repairable, should take maybe an hour, but then 4-6 days in the hospital to make sure that everything has gone well.

 

[TerryH]

[MENTION=21739]xrated[/MENTION] Hope all is going well with your wife.


[MENTION=22656]SolarPoweredRV[/MENTION] How do you think these kits compare with the Chins or Ampere Time 200ah or 300ah batteries? Would the SunFunKit batteries be worth the additional cost? I already have the BMV-712 to monitor the 200ah hybrid gel that I currently have so the bluetooth is not of much importance to me. I'm trying to make plans to upgrade in the spring. We ran a little electric powered dragster so have some experience building batteries even though those were LiCoO₂ and I manually balanced.

 

[triplethreat]

Thank you TerryH.....she has her surgery scheduled for Nov 17th....so about two weeks away.

 

[SolarPoweredRV]

[MENTION=21739]xrated[/MENTION] Hope all is going well with your wife.


[MENTION=22656]SolarPoweredRV[/MENTION] How do you think these kits compare with the Chins or Ampere Time 200ah or 300ah batteries? Would the SunFunKit batteries be worth the additional cost? I already have the BMV-712 to monitor the 200ah hybrid gel that I currently have so the bluetooth is not of much importance to me. I'm trying to make plans to upgrade in the spring. We ran a little electric powered dragster so have some experience building batteries even though those were LiCoO₂ and I manually balanced.

Terry, it sounds like you have the experience to skip the Sun Fun Kit and go straight to the full DIY build.

How many ah are you planning for your battery bank?

If you are planning for a 200ah (or multiple) you could wire up a single battery configured as 4S/2P using a single BMS, this would give you some cost savings by not having to buy two BMS. You could also wire up a 4S/4P to save even more, it just depends on your final configuration.

If you are considering the 4S/4P option, I would suggest you give some thought to a 24v system, especially if you are planning for a 3000 Watt Inverter. If you are not planning on a large Inverter then you should be fine with the 12v system, (I know there are reasons to stay with 12v, I just think there are also good reasons to upgrade to 24v), just something to consider.

Adding BlueTooth to your BMS is not too expensive and I really use the BlueTooth capabilities on my system much more than I do the actual Battery Monitor, besides, with Bluetooth connectivity you can get a lot more information from your batteries and can tweak some of the settings if you need to (i.e.: set the cold temp cutoff to 34 degrees to be extra safe).

With your long time frame you have plenty of time to order your cells and BMS directly from China if you choose this DIY route.

The Chins and Ampere Time batteries seem like a good, economical, solution. I would look to see if Will Prowse, or Lithium Solar has a video tear down of these batteries. Pay careful attention as to whether or not these batteries have cold temperature cut-off to protect the batteries.

Good Luck with your project and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[TerryH]

Terry, it sounds like you have the experience to skip the Sun Fun Kit and go straight to the full DIY build.

How many ah are you planning for your battery bank?

If you are planning for a 200ah (or multiple) you could wire up a single battery configured as 4S/2P using a single BMS, this would give you some cost savings by not having to buy two BMS. You could also wire up a 4S/4P to save even more, it just depends on your final configuration.

If you are considering the 4S/4P option, I would suggest you give some thought to a 24v system, especially if you are planning for a 3000 Watt Inverter. If you are not planning on a large Inverter then you should be fine with the 12v system, (I know there are reasons to stay with 12v, I just think there are also good reasons to upgrade to 24v), just something to consider.

Adding BlueTooth to your BMS is not too expensive and I really use the BlueTooth capabilities on my system much more than I do the actual Battery Monitor, besides, with Bluetooth connectivity you can get a lot more information from your batteries and can tweak some of the settings if you need to (i.e.: set the cold temp cutoff to 34 degrees to be extra safe).

With your long time frame you have plenty of time to order your cells and BMS directly from China if you choose this DIY route.

The Chins and Ampere Time batteries seem like a good, economical, solution. I would look to see if Will Prowse, or Lithium Solar has a video tear down of these batteries. Pay careful attention as to whether or not these batteries have cold temperature cut-off to protect the batteries.

Good Luck with your project and keep us posted on your progress.

Looking to do a very simple system. 200-300ah with 2k inverter. We don't use much 120v power but would like to have the TV or power our outside 120v led's without running the genset. We boondock virtually 100% of the time. 3-4 days max. I was looking at the production batteries just for the convenience of it. Life is so crazy right now and for the foreseeable future that ordering a battery and throwing it in is appealing even if I don't do the inverter. The SunFun kit seems like a viable alternative since I can just get everything on one click and call it good.

 

[AZMike]

I just received my SFK-260 last week and am on my first trip with it. It's pretty awesome! We are at a full hookup site, but turned off the shore power so that I can evaluate and plug in in case of problems since this is our first time out. It's amazing how long this battery lasts. I just got my rig back last week for some warranty work, one item being the convertor, and I was pleasantly surprised that they installed a LiFePo4 convertor as the replacement! The batteries charged at just under 25 amps to 100%, and the cells are perfectly balanced. I don't have much experience with lithium batteries, but I really like what I'm seeing with their supplied BMS. I have called them a couple of times, they actually answer the phone (!) and answered all of my questions. I am impressed with their support after the sale. I highly recommend this upgrade.

 

[TerryH]

I just received my SFK-260 last week and am on my first trip with it. It's pretty awesome! We are at a full hookup site, but turned off the shore power so that I can evaluate and plug in in case of problems since this is our first time out. It's amazing how long this battery lasts. I just got my rig back last week for some warranty work, one item being the convertor, and I was pleasantly surprised that they installed a LiFEPO4 convertor as the replacement! The batteries charged at just under 25 amps to 100%, and the cells are perfectly balanced. I don't have much experience with lithium batteries, but I really like what I'm seeing with their supplied BMS. I have called them a couple of times, they actually answer the phone (!) and answered all of my questions. I am impressed with their support after the sale. I highly recommend this upgrade.

Thanks for the report!

 

[TerryH]

The Chins and Ampere Time batteries seem like a good, economical, solution. I would look to see if Will Prowse, or Lithium Solar has a video tear down of these batteries. Pay careful attention as to whether or not these batteries have cold temperature cut-off to protect the batteries.

Good Luck with your project and keep us posted on your progress.

Will did do a teardown video of the Chins and the Ampere Time batteries. They are identical. Obviously from the same manufacturer. He was impressed with the components and the construction. Unfortunately there is no low temp charging protection in either.

 

[mwfett]

Question. Is there any concern for DYI batteries in a mobile environment? I watch Will and other folks on YouTube and most have said that the DYI batteries are great for a home or non-mobile use, but not recommended for RV use.

 

[Riverbug]

For those adventurous souls who are considering building your own Lithium Battery (LiFePo4) bank, a company named Sun Fun Kits has put together a complete kit to make assembly easier. The kits include all the parts you would need to source individually, Battery Monitoring System (BMS), battery box, cabling, Bluetooth interface, bus bars, screws, nuts, and washers, to complete your project. They can even supply the LiFePo4 battery cells for you, so, you don't have to wait a few months for the slow boat to arrive from China.

One additional advantage of ordering your cells from this company is that you don't have to worry about getting cells that are not first quality (which has sometimes been an issue). The kits come with detailed assembly instructions and they include free shipping.

If you want to save money and not have the hassle of assembling the battery yourself, they offer pre-assembled batteries as well.

Here is a video of the complete assembly process as well as a follow up video showing some improvements in the assembly and design...

Video 1, Assembly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3889lj2whLA

Video 2, re-assembly and suggested improvements:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwaXH7sAVT0

The company's website is:

SunFunKits.com

Note: you can receive a 10% discount by using the discount code: LS10 (discount code of the person who made the two videos above).

PS: These kits might be a good way for someone who might be considering a DIY build of one (or more) of these 280ah LiFeP04 batteries to test out the build process before building additional batteries from scratch.

PPS: If you do purchase and build one battery kit and you are concerned about adding additional batteries (that may be mis-matched) in the future, don't be, because, each battery has it's own BMS, and these LiFePo4 batteries can be added to your battery bank as needed and/or as your wallet allows.

Good Luck, and please let us know how this kit works out for you.

Thanks for sharing. Looks like the cells are out of stock.

 

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Question. Is there any concern for DYI batteries in a mobile environment? I watch Will and other folks on YouTube and most have said that the DYI batteries are great for a home or non-mobile use, but not recommended for RV use.

Eh, there's little difference (if any) between the DIY batteries and off the shelf batteries other than possibly the BMS, wiring, and housing/case. A LOT of the off the shelf batteries use EVE or Lishen cells. I have (8) 300AH 3.7v Lishen cells currently (4s2p) with a single 500amp Daly BMS. It's being held together with cardboard angles (the packing kind that are dense like wood), zip ties, and insulating tape. It hasn't budged in over 6,000 miles on the road from Texas to South Dakota to Maine, and back to Texas (with several places in between). I'm confident enough in application to where I have 16 EVE 302ah 3.7 cells on the water right now so I can upgrade and sell my current cells. I'll probably build a permanent fixture when I get my solar going later this year with my inverters, though, since the cells will be behind walls rather than in my front bay where I can easily visually inspect them regularly.

As long as the cells aren't moving, rubbing, etc. and are insulated, you're good to go.



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