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Lithium EOL

john english

john english

Active Member
Back in January of 2014, I installed (4) GBS 100Ah 12.8 Prismatic batteries along with an elaborate external bms designed for golf carts as my combined house/starting bank.
I anchor for 4 months during the summer (mid June to mid September) with (5) 50-watt solar panels aimed southwest with an approx. angle of 36 degrees and a Victron 15-amp MPPT solar charge controller (Max observed amperage from the panels is 12 amps) No engine charging during the summer. (Balmar Lithium regulator and a 100 amp alternator).
Winter is mostly day sailing. I do not plug in at the dock during this time.
In the summer, the batteries support a Technautics holding plate refrigeration system in the original icebox that has an additional 1.5" HD Styrofoam insulation on the sides and bottom 24/7 and entertainment.
Entertainment is variable but might consist of 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening provided by a
39" LED tv, computer surround sound system with subwoofer, DVD player, OTA tv tuner, Starlink mini and various LED lights.

It's been a great 12 years, but all things must end and true to predictions it was quick.

The new (yet to be installed) system is (4) 125Ah, 100A bms, group 27, 12.8 volt "Power Queen" batteries and a 40-amp 120volt charger.
Impressive Bluetooth monitoring and control.

Out with the old, in with the new,
Any other EOL stories?
 
Not yet, I am only about 5 years in. Sorry to hear about your failure. 12 years is on the short side. I would like to hear more about the failure. Was it all cells, or just one? Swelling/Bloating? What were you using as a full charge voltage? Current recommendations are that you can reach 100% charge at 13.8V-14V, and charging to 14.6 as many cheap chargers do will shorten the life.
 
No swelling or bloating. Relied on the Victron solar for charge control. Haven't check out the BMS controller yet. I have a spare and may try it before I tear it all out.
The display would show 100% SOC but the battery voltage is below 12.9 and would shut down. All 16 cells are within .02 volts.
To be continued. The 15 amp 120v charger is matched to the battery by the manufacturer.
 
That sounds like possibly a BMS issue. 12.9V is still 50% charged. Unless you have it configured as a 24V battery (in which case, yeah, it's really bad). I might bypass the BMS and see how it works, just watch it carefully so you don't overcharge. Charge to around 13.5V and see if it performs ok.

In normal usage, the BMS doesn't do anything, it's just to protect in case something goes wrong. So, there is no harm testing without it.
 
I installed a new spare BMS controller. The original was showing 100% SOC. New BMS shows 50% @ 12.65v.
of 16 cells, 3.21 highest and 3.09 lowest. I'll plug into shore power and let the charger go for a while over the weekend.
Prime suspect is the BMS.
 
That sounds very promising. Damage doesn't occur until cell voltage is below 2V, and usually protected by the BMS to not fall below 2.5V. They are pretty far out of balance, so I would not be surprised if the BMS goes into protection as they charge up. It might take some time or effort to get them balanced again, so still might not be "right" after this weekend. The % change will be wrong until you get a few charge/discharge cycles and the BMS synchronizes with the cells.

But it does sound like the cells are OK, and only the BMS and some balancing are at fault.
 
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