[RE-wrenches] Exploding LFP battery

Fri Jun 18 12:34:50 EDT 2021

Actually thinking of my last post - pretty unlikely the heater being on 
would coincide exactly with opening a battery that had gone to 5 V.

But It strikes me that Relion would really want to get to the bottom of 
this - especially if they thought this story might spread and hurt their 
reputation - not to mention just ethical followup on a safety hazard!

So If it were me I'd call Relion and let them know we (the Wrenches 
List) really wants to know what happened and their reputation is in 
question.  The fact they manufactured it - they are the ones to do the 
forensics on what happened - by analyzing the cells and conductors in a 
safe lab environment they can probably trace back where the 
short/overcurrent occured.

Best,

Jeff C.

> Hey Jay,
>
> So at the 4:35 mark of this quick review of available LFP batteries on 
> the market at the time (2019) - Will Prowess states that "they 
> (Relion) are the only battery that has a built-in battery heater (I 
> think he was implying as standard equipment and not an option).
>
> Is it possible the battery heater circuit stuck on?
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOqQp2Xjr6U&t=372s
>
> Just a thought - not sure how you would go back and check that out though!
>
> Best,
>
> Jeff C.
> Village Power Design

> Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>
> June 17, 2021 at 5:01 PM
>
> I thought of a few more ways this could have happened. The installer 
> over torqued the battery terminals. There was not SPD protection in 
> the system and it got zapped and escalated. Working on SPD's now for a 
> guy. He does not see the value and knows everything!  Pretty hot out 
> here in the West!  5PM !  Take care! Cheers!
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Maybe the BMS was never tested by Relion for all of the possible failure
> modes? Maybe it was tested and it got thru QC.
> I know very little about
> this company. Do they meet the standards like,
>
> manufacturing facilities
> are fully certified to ISO 9001/14001 and OSHA 18001 standards.
>
> Meets UL
> 9540
>
> CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
>
> * IEC 62133
> * UL 1973
> * UL 2271
> *
> CE
> * UN 38.3
>
> Not trying to be a pain either Jay. You know the LFP I use!
> Good Luck!
>
> *Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
> "we go where powerlines don't"
> http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
> e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>
> text 209 813 0060*
>
> On Thu, 17 Jun 2021 11:55:35 -0600, jay <jay.peltz at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
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> jay <mailto:jay.peltz at gmail.com>
> June 17, 2021 at 10:55 AM
> HI All,
>
> The cover never got all the way off before it was blown off, it was 
> just started to be opened, so no way there was an external ignition 
> source.  If it was an explosion it was all from internal components 
> except for possibly some O2 coming from the outside.
>
> My other question still hasn’t been answered.
> If the BMS isn’t taking care of over/under voltage and over current 
> what is it doing to prevent damage to the battery?
> ( this system was within the input PV or output inverter watts/amps of 
> the battery specifications) And I just found out that on the day of 
> failure, no one has been living there for months and only a grundfos 
> SQFlex and a few lights were on, no big loads.
>
> Now maybe I’ve been under the false understanding that this is the 
> primary job of the BMS?
> Yes I know that there is also cell balancing, % monitoring, blue 
> tooth, wifi etc that can be included in the BMS but to me thats all 
> secondary.
>
> Hopefully someone can clear this up for me.
>
> jay
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>
> June 17, 2021 at 7:01 AM
>
> My .02 on this, and just a guess, the open loop charging parameters 
> were not set right or charge limits for the battery were too high. The 
> other way to kill LFP is large loads exceeding the battery max 
> discharge current.
>
> Closing the loop eliminates just about all of those issues. It brings 
> the battery into the safety area of LA batteries that are still hard 
> to beat offgrid. I am not saying you can't blow the top off a LA 
> battery eitherWink
>
> *Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
> "we go where powerlines don't"
> http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
> e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>
> text 209 813 0060*
>
> On Thu, 17 Jun 2021 07:23:07 -0400, John Blittersdorf 
> <john.blittersdorf at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
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> John Blittersdorf <mailto:john.blittersdorf at gmail.com>
> June 17, 2021 at 4:23 AM
> This just proves the weak link is the BMS.
> I had the honor of replacing the BMS in that exact model in a stack of 
> 3 batteries.  Luckily it was on the bottom shelf so I could pull the 
> monster out onto the floor to get access to the lid.  The lid is 
> sealed shut but with persistence it opened.  I was working with their 
> tech support and following their instructions.  I disconnected it from 
> the other two that were in a parallel configuration before opening. 
> Battery voltage was zero at the terminals. I did voltage checks at 
> various checkpoints to confirm it was the BMS at fault. Relion sent a 
> new BMS which I carefully installed and it has worked fine since.  Had 
> I seen this photo first, I may have not been so eager to see the 
> inside of that battery.
>
> John Blittersdorf
>
>
>
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> jay <mailto:jay.peltz at gmail.com>
> June 16, 2021 at 12:22 PM
> Hi Jeff,
>
> I don’t know if you saw the photo.  No cutting involved.
> The top is removed with roughly 14 fasteners.
> No tools or prying was involved in the removal of the top cover.
>
> jay
>
>

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