Where to buy reliable BMS

[Hiconic]

Hi Guys'

Just wondering if anyone can suggest where I can buy a reliable replacement BMS for my 36V 12Ah Lifepo4. The original came with the pack from BMS Batteries.com and it lasted 100 yds before a short fried the board. It needs to be approx 120 mm x 80 mm to fit onto the pack & it's a very tight fit into the battery box. I'm wary of dealing with China again as from what I've seen posted on ES there seems to be too many bad reports from bad soldering jobs to incorrect boards (wrong parts) being used, add that to the overpriced freight charges and all in all it would probably be easier to just find a bridge and throw my hard earned cash over the edge! Any helpful advice would be very welcome. Thanks

Regards
Hiconic

 

[dnmun]

agnius found these guys and we have been using the D167 for the 12S-16S lipo packs but they have lifepo4 BMSs too:

http://www.bestekpower.com/384v12spcmbmspcbforlifepo4batterypack/

 

[Hiconic]

Hi dnmun,

Thanks for that, I've contacted them for a price, I gather the soldering must be ok? I'm just hoping the shipping won't be too over the top.

Regards
Hiconic

 

[dnmun]

they make very good equipment. when you read these people talking about cheap chinese BMSs, you have to realize they are talking about the BMS battery "smart BMS". nobody in their right mind would buy that piece of junk to begin with but it is so cheap they buy it anyway. because they don't know better. also most of these people are very racist in their views of chinese people. they fear they will buy all the stuff that we own and they all do really low quality work manufacturing stuff because it is so cheap to buy really advanced equipment from them. so they write it off as "cheap chinese.... "fill in the blank, just racism.

the BMSs that bestechpower makes are very well assembled. they use a surface mount manufacturing process. you can go to their website and they have pictures of the machines which pick and place the chips and resistors and capacitors on the pcb and then send it through the reflow furnace. if you know what you are looking at when you look at their plant, you will be impressed. read their corporate philosophy too. they are trying to sell directly so they can bypass people like BMS battery who are agents that resell other peoples BMSs.

i think they make the best BMSs we have access to and they are the only ones who make the big lipo BMSs so they really are the only source and are very high quality too.

i do inspect them pretty close. enuff to tell how well they do and i think they do first class work. but then i actually look and don't just make the easy argument about cheap chinese....

they are cheap, but they are well built. shipping is expensive. try to buy several and split them with other guys in australia to cut down on shipping. that is what i did here in the states. plus by buying a buncha BMSs at once he gave me a good deal on them which i could split with the people who bot the BMSs with me in the same air freight shipment.

 

[Gregory]

Hiconic . if you are open to ordering a couple units for me let me know. I'll check the website tonight and see what i might like to get.
Greg


edit:

Hiconic, if you are keen to split shipping and send to Perth, I'd order 2 BMS's

1 x 13S HCX-D141
1 x 12S HCX-D141

Shoot me a PM if interested.
Cheers,
Greg

 

[dnmun]

this would work well if several australians would all buy together to get the air freight spread out over several BMSs and if you can get it up to about 10 he will give you a better price break. then just send them cross country by ozzie mail after they arrive.

it turns out that you can buy the 16S D167 and use it for any serial number up to 16 cells. you just use the number of cells you have in your pack and leave the other sense wires disconnected and the BMS works fine that way.

so you could order a bunch of the same type and if someone needed more cells later, say if they upgraded from 12S to 16S, then they could still use the same BMS then.

 

[Hiconic]

Hiconic . if you are open to ordering a couple units for me let me know. I'll check the website tonight and see what i might like to get.
Greg


edit:

Hiconic, if you are keen to split shipping and send to Perth, I'd order 2 BMS's

1 x 13S HCX-D141
1 x 12S HCX-D141

Shoot me a PM if interested.
Cheers,
Greg

Hi Greg ,

that should be ok, I've emailed them before reading your post, I sent it off early yesterday, as yet no reply. I can send off another and add your order to it and maybe I may get a quicker reply.

Regards
Hiconic

 

[Hiconic]

this would work well if several australians would all buy together to get the air freight spread out over several BMSs and if you can get it up to about 10 he will give you a better price break. then just send them cross country by ozzie mail after they arrive.

it turns out that you can buy the 16S D167 and use it for any serial number up to 16 cells. you just use the number of cells you have in your pack and leave the other sense wires disconnected and the BMS works fine that way.

so you could order a bunch of the same type and if someone needed more cells later, say if they upgraded from 12S to 16S, then they could still use the same BMS then.

Thanks for all the info dnmun, it's a big help to know that there is a reliable source out there that (fingers crossed) is willing to bi-pass the useless middle men. I am glad to hear that there are some better quality BMS's coming from China than the garbage I've seen in the photos posted on ES. I'm definitely anti racist, but I'm also anti monopoly and as I see it, China seems to be cornering the market with providing affordable electric bike technology, but as you point out, it's the junk that is cheap and our hip pockets only see the $ sign and not the quality, it's not until we see the smoke do we start to think ...maybe I should 've gone for the more expensive part.

Do you think that the HCX-D107 would be the correct board for my battery ? I really don't think I'm going to add anymore cells to the existing configuration, would 16S D167 just be overkill. I understand that the suggestion of the D167 is for several people ordering a board that will be able to satisfy many needs but as yet it's not an option for my immediate need to replace my BMS.

If anyone out there (in Australia that is) is interested in purchasing the above BMS (16S D167) post a reply and let me know, then I can decide if I should just use one instead of the D107 I was looking at.

Regards
Hiconic

 

[Gregory]

Cheers mate.

You probably won't get a price from them in the first email anyway.

 

[dnmun]

he had redirected me when i asked about buying the D107 to the D167. i think it is a model they don't keep stock since it is the low low cost version i bet they offer for low cost battery packs others make.

so i never have seen the D107, but i have seen the D167.

maybe the D107 was the one that cwah bot.

shipping is the biggest expense since the BMSs are so cheap from them. shipping DHL for one will be about $13-15. when i bot 8 it was $20 and when i bot 21 it was $55, but they were all heavier in the last order.

 

[Hiconic]

he had redirected me when i asked about buying the D107 to the D167. i think it is a model they don't keep stock since it is the low low cost version i bet they offer for low cost battery packs others make.

so i never have seen the D107, but i have seen the D167.

maybe the D107 was the one that cwah bot.

shipping is the biggest expense since the BMSs are so cheap from them. shipping DHL for one will be about $13-15. when i bot 8 it was $20 and when i bot 21 it was $55, but they were all heavier in the last order.

Thanks dnmun,

How was the shipping time on the order? just curious to see if there will be a difference for Aust as opposed to the US. My Ebay experience has been up to 12 weeks for some items so I'm hoping they can do a bit better than that.

Regards
Hiconic

 

[DiverDuck]

I'm new to all things Lifepo4, but I'm an aussie looking for 36V 10-12Ah pack for a scooter. I'd be interested in sharing shipping. Do you already have Lifepo4?

 

[dnmun]

shipping was 3 days by DHL.

we have found that you can use a 16S BMS for any series of cells up to the full 16S. so if you need 12S then you can use the 16S BMS for that and if you later raise the cell count to 16S you can still use the same BMS.

we have people using them for 14S lipo and just leaving the two unused channels unconnected.

 

[Hiconic]

I'm new to all things Lifepo4, but I'm an aussie looking for 36V 10-12Ah pack for a scooter. I'd be interested in sharing shipping. Do you already have Lifepo4?

Sorry already have my pack. A warning to you before you jump in too soon, take a lot of time to research all you can on the subject of electric powered scooters/bikes. You can save yourself a lot of money and heartache if you know more about what you're requiring for the best outcome. Battery type, Lipo/LiFepo4, BMS quality (dodgy soldering), power/longevity, safety, purchase price/shipping cost and customer support (good luck with this one). Read as many forum posts on these subjects and you should have an easier time of it than those who came before you.

Take note of company names that will raise their ugly heads too many times in posts and avoid them like the plague, you'll work it out pretty quick as it becomes obvious who is dodgy and who is reasonable. I've already put my order in for my BMS's so I can't help with that either. This is what I did with a Razor scooter my daughter grew out of . Good luck Diver Duck and try not to get plucked!!

Regards
hiconic

 

[dnmun]

be very careful not to short out your BMS by accident. it happens to everybody so wrap it up in insulation, i use some polyethylene felt for furniture shipping so it doesn't contact the battery voltage by accident.

 

[999zip999]

Yo Bro if you checked it just It again. Breath and you can't win the race if you don't finish. Inher peace.

 

[Lussy]

Hi
I bought a D167 to run at 12s on a 16s board and have a couple of issues. I build a brand new pack from LG D1 all perfectly balanced at 3.77V. When I connected it up the channel on the -ve (first cell) got very hot and began to discharge this cell. Secondly on connection to the controller it instantly shuts of power. I suspect it thinks the first cell voltage is too high and is trying to bring down and stopping current. Any thoughts?

Cheers Matt

 

[dnmun]

i really don't understand what you are asking. what is a -ve?

 

[Lussy]

By -ve I meant the negative terminal. The balancing circuit on the first cell is discharging from that cell even though it is well below the balancing voltage. That circuit is too hot to touch. Also the bms it stopping current going to the controller.
Cheers Matt

 

[dnmun]

can you post up a picture of how you wired up the sense wires so we can see where the wires run to the battery from the BMS?

can you measure the cell voltages while it is charging and list them here? use the 20V DC scale and measure to .01V.

 

[Lussy]

I think I have found the problem. There appears to be a short in the circuit for balancing the first cell. I will upload some pics shortly.

 

[Lussy]

I have repaired the short and the BMS is no longer hot in this circuit. However it won't pass current when connect to a circuit. I bought thee at once and have replaced with another and all works fine. Photo below is of the faulty BMS.

Cheers
Matt