Ok, sad sob story here, but I need to completely rebuild my setup as I had the shelf that held my batteries collapse and cause massive havoc. bus bars bent, cell monitoring modules fried, short circuits melted bus bars etc. It was massively bad, worse than I could have ever dreaded.
I tell you this as I need to recover from this, and am wondering if there is a ready to go build of the module that bolts right onto the cells yet? I see lots of talk about ideas, but is there one ready to send off to JLC with latest code etc? like a current build I can sent off to have done at JLC and shipped? Anyone have a bunch extra they want to sell?
Anyways, I know none of this is YOUR problem, just looking for a quicker path to get back up and running.
I will be spending the next couple of weeks I reckon testing to see if any of the cells survived, and what I can reuse.
I appreciate any help anyone can offer, thanks in advance.
Sorry to hear the problems you have had with the damage to the cells and system you had installed.
I think this is poignant moment to remind everyone of the dangers of using large scale battery storage systems. Even using relatively safe chemistry like LIFEPO4, doesn’t protect you from physical failure, short circuits or electrical failure.
As cells get larger and larger (280Ah+), more energy is stored, and I do get worried when I see DIY built systems with huge amounts of energy storage.
Shock hazards are also worth mentioning once pack voltages approach 50Vdc. I was reminded of this by resting a sweaty forearm on the pack below while installing bussbars:
I’ve seen recommended where prismatic cells are used with swapped polarity there should be additional isolation between cells when in contact, particularly in an vehicle or when under compression.
The blue packaging can be compromised revealing the underlying case which is near negative potential (if I remember correctly?).
Totally right @Andrew_Congdon many also underestimate the amount of self discharge when the cell casings are touching each other. I once did a experiment in a 24S pack measuring the amount of current that can flow in between cell cases. I was surprised it easily reached 0.5 amps.
