Duct Tape E-Bay Lifepo4s???

Hey guys!

Just participated in anna's auctions for 36V 20AH and 48V 20AH batteries. I got outbid on both and you guess what? I got second chance offers for BOTH auctions just like a half-hour later. Both winners refused to pay so quickly after winning? Yeah right. So it seems to me there are two possibilities:

1) Anna drives prices up deliberately with shills
2) Anna has a second item of the same kind, but makes us fight a bidding war instead of posting BOTH items in two separate auctions!

Number 2 is not illegal, but still seems like a dirty practice to me =( Making a decision whether to bite the offer. What do you think of $415 for 48V 20AH battery (+$100 shipping)? What's the longest someone has been using Anna's battery? How is it holding up?

Cheers!

Mike
 
I was the sole bidder on one of her 20ah 48v batteries 3 months ago, construction is good, although I would advise putting some extra electrical tape around all the BMS wires in the middle of the battery, in case the sheath gets worn there by the aluminium seams at the edge of the cells...its around 50-52 across the range, 49v under load, recharging is perfect in 10 hours, and you can get around 19ah from the battery, although after 18 it's best to go really slowly on about 200w constantly for the last ah. 9kg, very good so far.
 
Just contact Ping direct for a price on the pack with shipping. I've heard it's easy and fair.
 
Ignoring the possibly dubious tactics, I think the price sounds OK to me. I paid about $220 plus shipping for a 36V 10Ah pack and am more than happy with it. A 48V 20Ah pack at that price looks OK to me.

Jeremy
 
Gonzo said:
Hey guys!

Just participated in anna's auctions for 36V 20AH and 48V 20AH batteries. I got outbid on both and you guess what? I got second chance offers for BOTH auctions just like a half-hour later. Both winners refused to pay so quickly after winning?
Click to expand...

If you think she is playing fast and loose, just wait for the batteries to go back on bid.

There are all sorts of idiots out there, including dumbass bidders, and scam artists who bid on big ticket items, withdraw once it becomes clear you want payment up front and you won't cash their bogus bank draft for them.

Don't always assume malice on the part of the vendor.
 
Hi, I figured these pics might look good here...but I am really happy with these batteries....now...the big wait for 2000cycles...or till my cells gey out of balance...no bms...so far so good...my dream battery is a reality....thanks for those ping pioneers...the batt gets a little warm after 5 mile trip, its just amazing...wheh, no more lead ever again...The battery is so less dense that it was easy to make clip on battery, and no worry of falling off
 
was riding my bike yesterday and averagign around 25ah draw on the batteries... my pack got insanely warm lol!!!

well to the point that it started temp protection kicked in! also the x5304 got nicely warm too which i heard is pretty hard to do... well i was doing a fair few hills on the way home on my 25km run!
 
I can't wait to get rid of my bulky heavy SLA's too. Are you guys finding Ping's weight measurements fairly accurate? The 48V/15Ah is listed as 15lbs. and the 48V/20Ah at 20lbs, or around 48W per 1lb.
 
Well crap.

I got ahold of some lexan and made a case for my ping battery with a lot of brackets and even more hot glue, but even though I test fitted it a dozen times, once I got the battery in and sealed it doesent want to work anymore. I think I'll have to grind the end plates as they're what did it. But bah. Was looking forward to not worrying about my duct taped thing of beauty.
 
Thanks for your comments guys. I'm taking a plunge and buying a 48V 20AHpack from anna. Keeping my fingers crossed and help me Jesus, Buddha, Jewish god and Tom Cruise =) Just curious, if I make an inverter, would it be possible to use the battery as a backup for home appliances, computers, TV's, etc? Should be enough charge there to power my whole apartment for a couple of hours... Put up some solar panels and we are all set for Vehicle-to-grid system. Whaddya think?
 
Gonzo said:
Should be enough charge there to power my whole apartment for a couple of hours... Whaddya think?
Click to expand...
Skip making toast. :wink:
 
Gonzo said:
Just curious, if I make an inverter, would it be possible to use the battery as a backup for home appliances, computers, TV's, etc? Should be enough charge there to power my whole apartment for a couple of hours...
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about something similar for my laptop. Unfortunately, while the 48V powers a 5V switching ps just fine, my laptop's 19V ps pretends it doesn't even see the 48V. Do you have plans for making a 50V inverter? If so I'd be interested in giving it a go. I've tried my 12v inverter and at 24V it starts complaining and gives up, so it looks like a custom inverter is the only way.
 
mcstar said:
I've been thinking about something similar for my laptop. Unfortunately, while the 48V powers a 5V switching ps just fine, my laptop's 19V ps pretends it doesn't even see the 48V.
Click to expand...

Perhaps DC-DC?
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2800&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a


(I run my laptop with my 24V emoli packs... it draws 7A.)
 
Hi,

Keeping my fingers crossed and help me Jesus, Buddha, Jewish god and Tom Cruise =)
Click to expand...

This is one of the reasons we've been testing some PHET e-bike packs. I have been using one of their 37V packs since November, nearly every day, and running it at ~3C rates frequently. However, the BMS does not allow 5C rates. Yesterday I measured capacity (after about 60 cycles) and it has not measurably declined from the original.

Based on all the discussions of duct tape packs, and my own desire to avoid the "pray that I get a good one", we ordered a few extra PHET packs to sell to others. These are more pricey than the duct tape versions, but PHET gives a 3-year warranty, and we are serious about making sure people are satisfied (we individually test each pack). Pics/insides of the pack can be seen at http://cycle9.com/Products/AlmostForeverBatt.html

I'll be straight up and say the downsides of these packs are:
1. The handle on the end is cheap plastic, it breaks easily (I broke my own within 2 weeks of use)
2. They are limited to around 3C rate (by the BMS), which is something like 22 A. They can peak at up to 35 A, but only briefly (10 secs). So if you want a higher current setup, parallel is the only way to go with these.
3. (+ and -) These are made with PHET's small 1.2 AH cells. This raises the price.

Now, the upsides:
1. These are made with PHET's small 1.2 AH cells, which are extremely safe according to independent testing that PHET had [url http://myweb.hinet.net/home10/phm1984/PHET-Battery-Test.pdf]performed by ExtraEnergy[/url]
2. They are nicely packaged with what appears to be a reliable BMS system
3. PHET(Pihsiang) uses these batteries in their electric mobility devices, and they have a solid reputation for high-quality long life cells
4. We have (a few of) these available, no waiting for overseas shipping. And if you have problems, we will do all we can to make it right. We want to see if there is demand for these (and whether people are happy with them) before we commit to bringing more in. In this sense, it is an experiment for us, and we value any feedback.


Morgan

BTW - if you bypass the BMS to get higher discharge rates, then we can't back you up on that :cry:
 
Brucey said:
Well crap.

I got ahold of some lexan and made a case for my ping battery with a lot of brackets and even more hot glue, but even though I test fitted it a dozen times, once I got the battery in and sealed it doesent want to work anymore. I think I'll have to grind the end plates as they're what did it. But bah. Was looking forward to not worrying about my duct taped thing of beauty.
Click to expand...


well im up to 10 full charges with no problems, the lexan does a good job of protecting the cells and keeping the water and mud out.

cheers
 
I read every site of this great thread and know now how the batterie-packs look inside. thx for that!
But one more thing i need to know. would it be possible to split my pack (48v/20ah) into two 10ah packs? And would it be possible to discharge (drive) with one of them without the BMS and just connect them back to charge??

Sorry for my bad english :lol:
Marc
 
Marc,

The packs can be split, I've done so with my 36V 10Ah pack to make it a shape that better fits my bike. It's a bit delicate unsoldering the connections to the individual cells though, so unless you're good with a soldering iron and are happy to take the risk it might not be the easiest way to go. If you email Ping he will make you a custom pack in the configuration you want, I'm sure. He offered to do this for me.

If you want to split the pack into two, then you need to decide whether you want two 48V 10Ah packs connected in parallel, or perhaps two 24V 20Ah packs connected in series. Either is possible, I think, although the two 48V 10Ah in parallel option might be the better of the two.

You can easily have a BMS on both packs this way, which would give you the cell low voltage and over-current protection on both.

Jeremy
 
Ok, thanks a lot Jeremy. So i can use one BMS on two packs speratly? You know, i´ve allready bought a pack from Anna and for most of the time 10ah are enough for my trips. I´ve now thought of splitting them but my problem is that i don´t know much about the funktionality of the BMS. Could it be a proble to charge the splittet pack together over one BMS if one pack has 10% and the other 30% of the charge remaining (keyword: ballancing)?
I´ve did a lot of RC-Stuff for me and my friends, so the soldering should be no big problem :).

Cheers Marc
 
Marc,

If your pack from Anna uses the same cells as my smaller pack from Ping, then you should find that each 20Ah "cell" is really four smaller 5Ah cells connected together in parallel. You should have 16 of these sub-packs of cells altogether.

If you keep the sub-packs together, rather than split them into individual cells, then make two packs with 8 sub-packs in each, you will be able to keep the existing BMS and make it work OK. You will need to put the BMS in one pack, but run wires from it to the other pack, together with the wires that connect the two packs together.

If you make sure that all the extended BMS wires are the same length (to avoid any small balancing errors) and use heavy gauge cable to connect the two packs together, then I think you should be able to make your idea work.

You will end up with two 8 cell, 24V 20Ah packs, connected in series and using the original 48V 16 cell BMS.

Jeremy
 
hi all
I have done this , split a 48v 20ah into two 24v 20ah packs I extended the bms wires to the remote pack and linked the two packs power cables with 32a wire the packs are now in use on my trike and working just fine.
 
Two guys are currently fighting over a 36 volt pack. Its at 28 bids. Looks like its getting personal. Still plenty of time left too. Maybe they should just have a fist fight.
 
D-Man said:
Two guys are currently fighting over a 36 volt pack. Its at 28 bids. Looks like its getting personal. Still plenty of time left too. Maybe they should just have a fist fight.
Click to expand...

I'll bet it's none other than Ed Begley and Bill Nye the 'Science Guy' duking it out for those Lifepo4s.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/TenWays/story?id=3413135&page=1
 
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