CALB CA180: Quality Analysis & Inspection, Bottom Balancing
Вставка
- Опубліковано 22 тра 2020
- TRANSLATED VERSION OF THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL AVAILABLE ONLINE:
static1.squarespace.com/stati...
In this video I analyze these CALB Ca180 cells prior to ordering a quantity of 256 of them. I will be selling these so if you are interested, please visit store.currentconnected.com.
In my next video, I will show you the capacity testing of these cells. They performed beyond my expectations and beyond their rated capacity. A little bit of a spoiler but that is to be expected with genuine CALB cells.
I've actually had 16 of the CA100 cells in operation on my Off-Grid setup and they have taken a fair amount of abuse over the last year that I have had them in operation. The CA100s were used prior to me and sold as new, so I got ripped off. The good news is that with these cells, I was not ripped off and received the genuine batteries. The past experience has kept me safe and from wasting my money this time.
Thanks for watching and I hope to see you in the next video!!
Comparable Inverter/Charger like I used in this video (Amazon Affiliate Link):
amzn.to/2ywnecm
Fluke Multimeter that I used in this video (Amazon Affiliate Link):
amzn.to/2X0FyDL
Join the HighTechLab Discord Server! / discord
Calb CA180 Specifications:
Nominal Capacity: 180ah
Internal Resistance: ≦0.5mΩ
Length (MM): 180
Witdh (MM): 71
Height (MM): 279
Weight (KG): 5.6 Kg
Shell: Plastic
Nominal Voltage: 3.2vDC
Maximum Charging Current: 1C (180 Amps)
Maximum Charging Voltage: 3.65v
Maximum Discharge Current: 2C (360 Amps)
Minimum Voltage (Discharge termination Voltage): 2.5vDC
Charging Time (Standard): 4 Hours
Charging Time (Fast Charge): 1 Hour
SOC Recommended: 10-90%
Charge Temperature (C): 0 - 45
Discharge Temperature (C): -20 - 55C
FTC Disclosure Statement:
Some links on this UA-cam channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these.
HighTechLab is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com - Наука та технологія
Thanks for a very simple and informative video. Glad you got to the real source of the batteries.
I set up a bank of 24 CA100 cells about 2-1/2 years ago configured 3p/4s x2 and connected them in parallel for a mobile application. No BMS just bottom balance. No problems. They have been rock solid. Capacity test when new gave me a tad over 600ah charging to 13.6v and discharging to 12v. Well within the flatish area of the discharge curve and staying away from the cliffs Test was over when the inverter charger kicked off set at 12v LVCO pulling 1000 watts. I could have continued the test at a lower c rate for sure as cells recovered over 12v. Also could have charged the to a higher voltage but as you point out, so little to gain in capacity.
I just pulled them from that RV and am installing them into a new rv in 3p/8s for a 24v battery. All cells were still very close resting voltage and will do another capacity test once the install is done. Price paid back then for real CALB cells from a reputable distributer with documentation was $550/4 cells with busbars. Nice to see they are coming down a little in price.
Are you going to run them with just the bottom balance or are you going to use a BMS? If no BMS I am curious to see how you handle low voltage cut off. Cheers.
The CA100 cells are the same ones that I started out with in 16s1p. I ended up with used cells and they didn't stick together very well with a bottom balance only, so I run the deligreen QNNB active cell balancers. They have cycled 2-3 times per day for over a year now and have been holding up very well with all the abuse I've been handing them.
I charge to 3.65vPC and stop discharge around 3.0vPC (which is where my generator start setpoint is). They do have quite a bit of capacity under 3.0 - I did a test on my CA180s and they had around 16 amp hours available from 3.0 to 2.5 (at a 50a discharge current) and then when I removed the load they jumped back up to 3.0v resting.
My suggestion is to avoid 3p packs and go 4p if you can (or multiples of 4 in parallel) because then you are making blocks of 4 matched cells - as they "wear in" with their partners, the cells with the higher capacity will take some of the abuse from the more worn cells with the lower capacity. If you have a 3p group of matched cells from running them like this it isn't optimal because you can't reconfigure it later in a matched 12v 4s group...
On our property my plan is to run a 4p16s so that way if we ever need to change it out I have 16 blocks of perfectly matched cells that can be resold as a 12v bank...If I ran 3p the resale ability would be much more difficult...
Hi @harleyd500 What distributor did you buy these from?
Very good video buddy! Nice :D
We just built our own battery bank on our sailboat (we liveaboard) using 180 amp hour, 3.6-volt CALB cells, and a DALY BMS, wiring the cells in a 4s2p orientation. So stoked on the upgrade! We charge our lithiums in 2 different ways. We send the power from our 120 amp Balmar alternator on our engine to our 100 amp-hour sealed lead-acid starter battery. From there a Renogy 60 amp DC-DC charger takes the load from the alternator and puts it in a lithium profile and in turn charges the lithium batteries. It was a fun build!
please may i more details
Great video! Thanks!
I recommend you can directly Contact the CALB manufacturer to buy the cells, they have english side, without the Dodgy sales cut you off
Just got off the phone from CALB USA and they will not offer competitive pricing.
Looking forward to that capacity test.
The helical in aluminum is used in car manufacturing also. My 2005 and 2006 jeep liberty diesels have this setup to hold timing belt tensioner to rear timing belt cover which is aluminum and I have been told other car manufacturers do this. In the event the helical strips out it can be fairly easily replaced.
it never strips out; just N E V E R use a SS bolt on those SS threads, they gall together; and then the aluminum will strip.
I'm looking for buss bars for my Off Brand ( Lion Brand ) Pulled from New Unused Lion Energy Solar Battery systems. 50Ah LiFePo4 prismatic cells. DAMN they sure are proud of the things. Will be making my own.
I only take my cells to 3.60v. Same with 18650's. Those only see 4.00v. The usable capacity you gain by taking them higher is not worth the lost cycle life.
You don't need a torque wrench, you can damage cells beyond repair by tightening too much.
When spring washers are compressed you are good ✌
Nice review!. Happy to see there are still bottom balancers amongst us!
Where did you order these cells? Will you bundle again with multiple buyers somehow in near future?
I am planning 16 pcs of 400Ah or 32 pcs of 180Ah so I would not be happy to recieve junk...
what BMS are you using and how will these cells differ from each other when using them for some years?
Will a re-bottom balancing be necesary in your opinion?
Keep up the good works!
It's bewildering how fast a 12 inch 1/2 inch wrench can become RED HOT.
It seems like the bus bars provided are so that you can build two 12v batteries and connect them together in series for 24v?
They've put the helicoil be cause the aluminium its terribly soft. Even with the helicoil the Nm it's very limited for automotive applications (unless the terminal get modified heavily)
The yellow serial number sticker indicates those cells were meant for the Asian market. The cells intended for North American use have white stickers. I don't know if there's any difference between the batteries or not. But I have seen a few of the yellow stickers and I wonder how they wound up over here.
I just find out that cell's Manufacturer base, just about 200km from my city, call "Luo Yang"city in Henan province of China
how do they hold up in long run for rv, if we have enogh of the battery can it run ac and do they have any built protection or any circuit?
my buss bar is copper pipe/tubing and a hammer drill heat shrink and bobs you uncle
mine too; no shrink thing , the M8 bolts are uncovered too.
for your heating element, how did you make that? im attempting to do a manual bottom balance on my cells and dont want to buy the CellPro 8
I made a video on my channel already showing how I made that.
What's the peak discharge current? And for how many sec?
For 12v system, must apply any BMS with them like 18650 battery?
i would have thought the terminal protectors are just there to avoid a short during transport.
So only one cover would be needed to prevent this.
While that may be true, the manufacturer applies one to both terminals and the fact that there is one missing was concerning to me.
Man,you come across as a real master of the lifepo4s;
but...3.8 V?? all over the net, 3.65 MAX!!! 3.8 ok then? with ANY lifepo4? tks
as i know that brand Released new cell come with Blue cover up to 500AH, small and lighter than that white cover cell
@Jacky Chen Do you have a link for the new version?
how you know if battery is original or fake?
please how minutes do i need to bottom balance this 32 cells
Download google translate and use the camera feature to translate from Chinese to English.
that's amazing,thanks.
where can I purchase these? there is no link
can i place tdhese under hood for hcar audio? whats best battery for underhood for drice like 120ah plz?
you would be better off in the trunk, the heat could reduce their lifespan.
Where is tge link for tge batteries
What are you doing with your nissan leaf batteries?
They are still connected up on the ranch in parallel with my 16 100ah CALB LiFePO4
😃👍🏻👊🏻
You mentioned that your 100Ah cells were not original. How are they performing?
They have been cycled 2-3 times per day for over a year now and I haven't seen much, if any, lost capacity. The CALB batteries are amazing...I don't know the abuse they have taken before but we are running them hard and they still are running great.
@@HighTechLab Sounds like you are going to make your own little power substation with the 180Ah cells lol. You could also still use the 100Ah cells and put that bank in parallel with the 180Ah battery banks. I'm assuming you're sticking with 48V. How many battery banks are you planing to make with the 180Ah cells?
Brother how much cost of this 4 batteries tell me I want to by that batteries
These batteries are no longer available, as they have been discontinued but we do have other batteries available. You can visit our website at store.currentconnected.com/
Do you have the link for the seller? Thanks!!
Send an email to info@currentconnected.com
Which is better, bottom balance or top balance?
I prefer bottom balancing because it is going to make the cells stick together longer throughout the curve. When you top balance there is so little energy over such a wide voltage range that you're not actually matching the capacities of the cells very well.
.1 volts at the bottom is like .3 volts at the top. If you start at the top and then come down the curve you will be off by a few amp hours per cell and have to stop discharging sooner.
@@HighTechLab The way you balance your cells depends on how high you charge your cells to, if you max charge to 100% then you always top balance, but if you only charging to 90% and drain the batteries to 10% or less bottom balancing is better.
Thanks for that infomation. Im here in the philippines and i have small offgrid setup with 100ah 24v lifepo4 batteries made in china too.
@@HighTechLab Even with bottom balancing, don't you need to balance them periodically? Over time, won't they tend to wander?
Use google translator take a live view with the camera using the app and it translates it right on the screen
I got it all sorted out and linked in english in the description
Do they have smaller ones? Like 60ah?
They used to make 60 ah, I have them but do not make them now, l believe they make 70 ah
Yes CALB have72Ah cell
I got some. How can you tell what year they were manufactured in? I have this sticker on them. CA100FC22008280180. They told me there new from 2020.
I have. 20 off. Those good batter
So you have roughly 2KW worth of capacity for about $1000? Why not look at getting used Tesla batteries? You can pick those up for about the same price, but they store 5KW.
These were samples because I'm going to order 256 of these cells at a far better price break. Used tesla batteries are a fire waiting to happen.
HighTechLab Only if you’re don’t treat them nicely. They use the same cells that lots of consumer products use. As long as you don’t physically damage the cells or overcharge them they should be fine. Each cell is also individually fused in the Tesla batteries.
Sounds like you’ll get roughly the same storage for the same price going your route though. A 128 KWh battery bank though.... Man. That is a LOT of power. I could run my HAAS all day on that. 😆
CALB batteries are best value for money in my opinion. Quality is a 9/10
Please-oh-please-oh-please become a full time US distributor for these cells.
We have always gotten the dregs with car technology, and the energy sector seems to be likewise retarded by the same political barriers. I mean, we proudly build this sexy battery plant in Nevada to peddle gazillion dollar cars to the urban elites, but retail high-capacity LifePo i gues is just a little too great for American politicians. (you know some sleazy corporate-closed-door deals went on here.) Guess we shoulda thought ahead and bought up all the lithium mines early on... [ rant off ]
At this point it looks like that's going to be the case! I've gotten a fair bit of interest in these batteries just from this one video, so if it's a feasible business model it's something I can move forward with
i am sure you believe all the documentation
When my testing matches the documentation pretty closely, I do.
LiFePO4 data sheets are surprisingly accurate. Sales descriptions? Not really.
I especially believe the testing reports when my test matches them identically.
How is it cf to CATL? Duty cycles wise in comparison?