NKON LiFePO4 Cell Terminal Snapped Off

I don't suppose anyone here happens to have the same type of cell spare? Looking at NKON site, they have none available til end of June. Looks like I will have to wait.

Gutted now. I was hoping to check that I had connected everything as it was supposed to be. The build instructions are absolutely terrible on the kit.

I'm not sure if can be used with 15 cells tbh. I think I would just wait for the full 16 before commissioning the pack.

I'm looking at fogstar and they have the same cells in stock. It might be worth ordering a single cell from them and collecting from NI.

Regarding the bad cell from NKON, I could return this to them and ask them to credit me the amount off another 16 cells when I am buying another lot in July. I'm now thinking it might be worth having a spare cell just incase I end up having a repeat of this, or I have a different fault needing replacement.

More bad luck I have had. I ordered a UNI-T clamp meter and it didn't work out the box. I tried taking a reading from the DC solar cable and got the same reading for both the north and south panels, even though the south panels would have been producing much more energy at the time. Then I tried checking the cells and got no reading at all. Checked with my old meter and sure enough all cells were reading 3.14V DC, I have sent the UNI-T back.

Fair question, but yes. It is good enough to read out that it's set to DC, but I got no readings, or readings I knew were incorrect.

This is the one I got. DC third one from top.

The temp sensor didn't work either. I think the connection was faulty.

Regarding the torque required. 6Nm seems quite high for these cells. If the ring connections from the BMS and balancer are making a clear impression on the aluminium contact surface, surely that is enough torque? I could go to work and borrow a precision calibrated torque wrench for the day, but as one does, I have developed a sense of when something is sufficiently torqued and 6Nm is just over-kill for these. The faulty one sheared off at low torque, below 2Nm, but the other cells I have re-arranged and just made the nuts very tight to the contact surface and I am happy with that. What is your opinion/experience with these?

The courier was supposed to collect the cell today. Never showed. My repair kit arrived from Amazon today, so if the cell isn't collected by noon tomorrow, I'll take a good stab at fixing it. If I mess it up, I'll send it back and hope for the best 🤣.

I plan to let them know. I'll also be sure to have an extra cell just in case for the next build. I'll be placing my order very soon for collection now that I have finished this one.

I didn't secure one of the flexible bars when I was tightening one of the nuts and the corner of the bar twisted and started to rip. If you look closely, you can see the flexi bus bars twist between terminals and can be torn unless you hold them in place when tightening the nuts.

I decided to just swap it with the 15-16 bar and made the 15-16 connection with a flat bar that came with the batteries. I considered ordering a single flexi bar, but I was just being fussy. I was too lazy to swap the lot of them out with straight bars :)

Hold it! So, this is what I had in my head, but it seemed too simple and I figured the inverter (Solis Hybrid 5kW) would limit the charge/discharge rate anyhow.

Are you saying that if I connect 2 x batteries with 200amp BMS via bus bars, that would let me charge/discharge at 10.4kW? That would essentially let the batteries run the 9kW electric shower without the grid if needed.

Presumably I would need a beefier cable connecting the +&- bus bars to the inverter?

Definitely 2 and most likely a third one later in the year.

I haven't even got the first one hooked up and I'm already getting excited about a possible third battery 😂.

Before I connect the first battery to the inverter, aside from turning off the inverter and battery, what is the process for setting it up? Do I need to download any software, or just connect the battery to a laptop and select pylontech from the BMS setting screen? There is so much to read through on here, it's like trying to untangle spaghetti with a spoon.

I'd love to test the battery before the weekend. Picking up a used Laptop later so I can more easily connect to the battery if and when needed.

That's what I thought alright. So, really the only feasible way is a bigger inverter, or multiple inverters, which is not allowed without an NC7, but is technically possible without being flagged by restricting export to 5kW or 25A?? or whatever the limit is. Ah, what a pain in the behind all this is.