I have a 10AH battery pack, a 5A Genasun charge controller, a 50W solar panel positioned in a full-shade location, and a small 24/7 load of ~0.5W.

I'm doing some testing in cold winter weather to see what kind of performance this system gets and if I really ought to look into pack heating or packs with more advanced BMS.

Logged Telemetry

Above is logged telemetry data showing battery stats as well as temperature on the battery charger PCB which is hopefully reasonably representative of the pack temp (being a larger thermal mass, pack temp may lag a bit I guess?). Despite having had consistent solar conditions (blue sky) I'm seeing significantly decreased charging current today as compared to past days.

It's a good bit colder today, so I wonder if this expected either because the charger or BMS are limiting it (neither list cold protection as a feature), or this is a consequence of temporarily increased internal battery resistance (reduced mobility at low temp).

Is this likely a temporary reduction? I believe the highest charge current I've reached is 1/25C which I gather should still be ok even in sub-zero so I'm hopeful this is just temporary.

Grateful for any insights people have.

Alright fellas, after a lot of looking I can’t seem to find a battery charger that is made like they use to make them. All chargers these days seem to be the “smart charger” that needs to read a voltage to begin charging. Do yall think there is a marker for a battery charger that is built robust and simple like they use to make them? The old steel box and analog gauge? Those things just worked. Just doing a little market research I suppose.

I have been browsing AliExpress a lot and so far was not able to find a BMS with a proper undervoltage protection. They all list overdischarge cutoffs of 2.3 or 2.5, sometimes as a range of 2.3-3V, which is a bit too low for my taste.

Anyone got some sources for a reliable BMS for a 3S Setup with a max of 5-10A continuous discharge?

Can anyone please confirm that the following two batteries are basically the same?

RITAR RT1290

datasheet: https://elptr.com/files/ritar_rt1290_datasheet.pdf

CSB HR1234W F2

datasheet: https://csb-battery.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CSB-Datasheet-HR1234W-%E2%80%93-053124.pdf

thank you!

Am I the only one that feels giddy watching the electric car charge? Background, there is a NEMA 14-30 outlet at the back of my office building I can plug into for free. at home I just use a regular house outlet which is painfully slow. I plug into the work outlet a couple times a week to supplement charge as much as I can. The winter has made it harder with charging just using the 110 Volt outlet. From the Tesla app you can watch the battery level, as well as estimated time to full charge. Maybe its because I'm used to the 1kWh charger at home, but when I plug into the 5kWh charger I get positively ecstatic. I have no idea why it's like that. Maybe because the electricity is free, maybe I just feel more productive charging my car at work. Am I the only one? Honestly one of the best feelings.

I ride ultra distance bike adventures, going into the back and beyond for long periods and not stopping at hotels/rented accommodation all that much, a tent is more my vibe.

All that said, I need to carry powerbanks with me to keep my GPS, Lights, Phone, Electronic gears all powered and if I'm gone for a while then I deplete them quite quick.

I'm looking for a powerbank and charger for the bank that will take as much juice as fast as possible so that I can charge them up in the least amount of time (thinking plugging in at a coffee stop etc). Are there banks that can take a charge insanely fast? Does a GaN charger help in anyway?

Any advice would be great. I'm in the UK if that makes any difference! Thanks!

TL;DR:
I turned on my phone briefly before fully charging it, turned it off right away, and then fully charged it. Did that first power-on count as the initial startup or did it start after the full charge and real use?

Long Version:
I recently got my S24 Ultra. In my excitement, I accidentally turned on the phone before fully charging it, as recommended by some websites and even the Samsung guide. Realizing my mistake, I immediately turned it off and started charging it to 100%.

I looked online, including places like Battery University, but couldn’t find anything specific about the initial charge process. Most of the advice there focuses on keeping the phone's battery between 20% and 80%. I also found information online that manufacturers test the phone's power-on process before selling it.

So, here’s my question:
Does the first time I turned the phone on (briefly before fully charging it) count as the "initial startup"? Or does the "real" initial startup happen after fully charging and actually using the battery?

P.S. I know it’s just a phone, and I’m overthinking it, but that’s just how I am. Please don't judge

I'm thinking about doing an ebike build but im unsure of some of the technical words If I use a 60v 2500w Motor, with a rated current of 45A does that mean that my battery has to be 60v 45ah?

What is the best way to connect Small Rig 99 v Mount battery to Canon R5C while using a DJI Ronin R4 gimbal?

Hello. I have a 7s 16p battery, but while the part I marked in green gets very hot, the remaining areas do not get hot, there is a temperature difference of approximately 5-10 degrees (the area marked in green is hot). I would be happy if you help me how to solve this.

https://preview.redd.it/8i0d9udc0m6e1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e3ec9d6d2e504e3f55cf2062728b36fb7e4d8fd

https://preview.redd.it/eohvi9ec0m6e1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d80bfffafcf61fef2f7ee65a9314af890d16a5ee

Hello everyone, looking for a bit of advise on some batteries for my X2 nest fire alarms.

Each alarm takes 6aa batteries @1.5v so will need 12 in total. The manufacturer recommendeds lithium ion I believe. I don't really know much about batteries and seems like a minefield of brands out there.

Any recommendations? I would also need a charger.

Happy to go with sites like AliExpress if people have first hand experience of the brand etc.

Thank you so much appreciate any advise

I don't seem to be able to find a charger that does both NiMH and lithium in AA

is there nothing like that out there?

EDIT: I now found the XSTAR VX4....but if there are other suggestions I am all ears

I have 3 AGM batteries connected in parallel in my RV. 2 are 140AH and the 3rd is 120AH. Am I able to connect an AC charger to these while they are connected up in parallel? Any suggestions on an AC charger?

Could it be roughly around 1.0 volts? - If you use them (AA, AAA) in lamps which have no electronic shutoff logic, you can in theory discharge them until they're zeroed, but I learned that the risk of leakage increases with discharge. But to avoid such, how low can they be discharged? Because for example in my bike lamps the four AA batteries are slightly above 1.3 volts, the lamp switch glows red to show low battery charge, but the brightness is still totally fine. (Although I don't know whether it does voltage stabilization. It's an LED lamp.)

Hey all,

Fair warning; I am pretty new to working with lithium batteries. I am working on a project that requires powering LED strips for a good bit of time, so I ordered these 10,000mAh Lipo batteries. I successfully used a TP4057 with a smaller battery I found in a old device and it works just fine, but dies pretty quick. Anyway, I assumed this bigger battery would work the same, but I was wrong. After connecting it to the board and suppling power, the TP4057 gets pretty hot (can't hold finger for more than a second). What am I doing wrong?

https://imgur.com/a/HNNrS4o

I have tried a new board and a new battery (I ordered multiple of each). The battery is supplying almost exactly 4.0V, but it should charge to like 4.2V; right?

Preface, this was 3 almost 4 years ago

Hi! So, when I crashed my UAV the BMS shorted the batteries to kill them since the accelerometer detected the fall. Since I was curious to have fun w them I cut them from the BMS. Noticed most were 0.1 or 0.05V. For the sake of it, ran super long leads and charged them separately very very slowly expecting them to catch fire. They never did. Only charged to 3.7V (their nominal) and after that I put them in a fire safe bag and left them to sit there, kinda forgot about them. Remembered today, was curious, went to measure voltage. They somehow didn't self discharge at all! They're still sitting at 3.7V perfect. Huh! So probably super super low internal resistance. Seems like no dendrites might've formed? I do need a spare batt pack to power my soldering iron and lab psu. I'd put them all in series after I balance and check if their capacity is safe and it's safe to put them in 4S (got total of 4 of them). If they end up being safe to put in a 4S then the max current they'd be doing is 4A in the pack. So 1A each. Which isn't all that high, these are 3Ah 3.7V lipos. These are 5Ah LiPo, so this would be 0.2C for them, which should be really safe, right?

So yeah I would love to test them extensively to make sure that they are absolutely safe and won't catch fire on me when I start carrying them with me and using them to charge stuff (max 50W). How do I do this? Hook single one to BMS and charge to max then drain while measuring capacity? Then do 5 cycles at slowly increasing drain current? Like, charge at 0.5A or 1A, then discharge at 0.5A, then 1A, then 2A, then 5A, then 10A? (max of 2C) Thanks people!

hey there! if i have a regular battery like an airsoft onee,t hat is 11.1v, will it burn out LEDs? the small individual ones

I need to buy a new powerbank, my current one is old, charges slowly and its capacity has degraded. I used to charge my phone, tablet, vape and sometimes laptop and wireless earphones.

I have almost no knowledge when it comes to the powerbank market, idk which brands are more reliable, which are not to be trusted. I don't even know how much I want to spend on one.

Let's say in the ranges 20-60-100-200 dollars, which powerbanks would be the optimal choice?

I've been off-grid with my own AE system for nineteen years and during that time I've replaced my battery bank four times. This last time I got what I thought were the best batteries possible, the Trojan L16 forklift batteries. These batteries have been babied with temp compensated Morningstar charge controllers and were in float voltage 99% of their life and never had a DoD more than 10% but still they only lasted for four years. (I had the cheapest Costco 12v deep cycle batteries last longer.)

The batteries are failing one cell at a time. When I take specific gravity readings two cells show full charge and one cell shows zero charge.

First question: Don't well cared for L16s usually last longer?

Second question: what, if any, problems could I have running three two cell (4v)batteries (with one dead cell) in place of two three cell 6V batteries?

Product is a (United States) portable light source that mounts to a loupe/magnification glasses. The device no longer charges/holds a charge, hence seeking to replace the Li-Ion battery.

It's a few years old, and the company that manufacturers has EOL the item and no longer supports/stocks replacement parts. The battery is manufactured by another (United States) company, and upon contact advised they are an OEM/ODM and does not distribute nor sell direct to consumer.

Hence, it appears my options are limited. The main specs as printed on the battery that was removed are as follows:

7.4VDC 17.76WH.

Google searching yielded something kind of close...

7.4VDC 3000mAh for $25.99

7.4VDC 2600mAh for $29.99

offered by the same company on Amazon in two different sizes and the form factors are within my needs as well. Not that it matters, but mostly all of these types will be made in China.

So, they're both "pretty close" to the 2.4A capability I need, so any reason not to just go with the cheaper 3A version? Shouldn't really make any difference right? I don't have the schematic nor did I do any testing, but I imagine the wall outlet charger will have appropriate line regulation and possibly current as well, but certainly expect the charging circuit within the unit itself would manage proper charging currents and limit at 7.2V. Right? Please confirm. Last thing I want is a safety hazard and/or any weird issues.

Thanks.

Hello everyone

I just bought a new phone and need advice.

I am driving around all day and need my phone plugged to my car for the google maps. My car constantly charges the phone doing that, which I guess is not good.

I also stop, unplug it and plug it in again like 5x a day. I guess that is also really bad for the baterry.

What can I do to not ruin it?