Yose Power Triangle Battery Recall

[WheezyRider]

A while back a friend of mine bought a triangle 21Ah battery from Yose Power via eBay. It stopped working and he gave it to me as it was going to cost too much to ship it back. I opened it up and was quite shocked about how badly it was put together, quite a few potentially serious flaws and the BMS had died. I put it in my "To do" pile of projects - the cells were ok and I planned to replace the BMS, rewire it etc and make it safe. Then recently he got a recall message from eBay:


If anyone has bought one of these, they might want to get in contact with Yose Power and check for recalls.

 

[guerney]

Did Yose buy them from UPP and rebadge? Perhaps they bought in bulk from the same manufacturer? Superficially, they look similar.

Product Safety Report: UPP Battery E-Bike Battery Packs sold via Amazon, AliBaba, eBay, Made in China and Desertcart (2401-0083)

Product Safety Report for UPP Battery E-Bike Battery Packs presenting a serious risk of fire.

www.gov.uk

 

[WheezyRider]

Did Yose buy them from UPP and rebadge? Perhaps they bought in bulk from the same manufacturer? Superficially, they look similar.

Product Safety Report: UPP Battery E-Bike Battery Packs sold via Amazon, AliBaba, eBay, Made in China and Desertcart (2401-0083)

Product Safety Report for UPP Battery E-Bike Battery Packs presenting a serious risk of fire.

www.gov.uk

A similar style, but not exactly the same.

 

[guerney]

I opened it up and was quite shocked about how badly it was put together, quite a few potentially serious flaws and the BMS had died.

What flaws did you find?

 

[spleenharvester]

Curious as to what flaws you found? I'll be building my own packs soon, I'm reasonably confident but it would be good to have some examples of what not to do as well.

 

[WheezyRider]

Well, one of the worst things was that the main positive lead was made of comparatively thin wire and it ran almost in direct contact with the cells, bar a thin layer of double sided tape. The main fuse was 50A and the BMS was a high current rating too. If someone had drawn more than about 25 to 30 A, the wire would have melted through the insulation, quickly melted through the PVC insulation on the cells, and then shorted out all the banks from one end of the pack to the other.

I took some photos, I'll post them when I get the chance.

 

[WheezyRider]

This is what it looks like inside:




See the thin red wire at the top? It runs from one end of the pack to the other right up against the cells. There is no thermal protection for the cells, like the phenolic board they used to use to house the cells on older packs. See the negative wire to the BMS, this is the sort of gauge you want for 50A, not the "bell wire" used for the positive connection.

Here is all the protection the cells have - a bit of tape:




I guess this may have caused the BMS to fail, look at the bend in the PCB from not being secured properly:

 

[thelarkbox]

I can hear drawers up n down the nation rattling with the search for a screwdriver to crack open yose-power hailong style batteries for a look see and photo session. the race is on

ps- cracked mine a while back, looked ok iirc, both load carrying wires were of a similar substantial gauge? and no banana boards, that i would have spotted but other than that im pretty clueless..

 

[WheezyRider]

I can hear drawers up n down the nation rattling with the search for a screwdriver to crack open yose-power hailong style batteries for a look see and photo session. the race is on

I've not had a Hailong style pack, so I couldn't say. I've had several Yose Power Silverfish packs and while not perfect, they are reasonably safe. I think the problem is with these particular pack designs, especially when they are meant for high power applications.

 

[guerney]

I can hear drawers up n down the nation rattling with the search for a screwdriver to crack open yose-power hailong style batteries for a look see and photo session. the race is on

I've got a downtube battery a similar style to that, but not Yose... and it just so happens I've been searching in vain for photos from two years ago, which show the fish paper over one of the thicker wires degraded - adhesive melted I guess, soaked through the paper under that wire. When @Nealh saw it, he said I should place some thin fibreglass board between that wire and the cells (why fish? It isn't scaly, plus it's a darkish green) to protect the cells underneath from heat - bought the board but never got around to it, but I really should, now that I've increased controller limit from 15A to 18A. I'll snap a pic later... it hasn't exploded yet. Cell group voltages were ok.

 

[guerney]

Apologies for keeping you in suspenders, I had other fish paper to fry. Yep, I think it's time I placed thin fibreglass board between those wires and the cells... when I can recall where I stored it - I know I placed it somewhere safe, but it's somewhere so safe I can't remember where.

One side:




Under the fish paper that side:




Other side:




Under the fish paper that side:

 

[Nealh]

Very least needed is some Kapton tape between the wire insuation and nickel strip, the battery wiring placement isn't very well though out . As for having the last cell group take off in the middle of the pack , say no more !

 

[saneagle]

Very least needed is some Kapton tape between the wire insuation and nickel strip, the battery wiring placement isn't very well though out . As for having the last cell group take off in the middle of the pack , say no more !

Are you talking about Gurney's battery or OP's. Gurney's one has additional fibreglass sleeving on the sense wires that cross the nickel strips, which are 100 times better than Kapton tape, and the main power wire is reinforced PTFE insulated. It exits away from the cell-pack, then turns back outside the card insulation. I don't see anything to worry about at all. Interfering with it is more likely to cause problems than leaving it alone.

 

[guerney]

Very least needed is some Kapton tape between the wire insuation and nickel strip, the battery wiring placement isn't very well though out . As for having the last cell group take off in the middle of the pack , say no more !

Are you talking about Gurney's battery or OP's. Gurney's one has additional fibreglass sleeving on the sense wires that cross the nickel strips, which are 100 times better than Kapton tape, and the main power wire is reinforced PTFE insulated. It exits away from the cell-pack, then turns back outside the card insulation. I don't see anything to worry about at all. Interfering with it is more likely to cause problems than leaving it alone.

Thanks battery experts! That's all good food for thought. After three years and over 4,000km with many full and partial charges, it seems likely the cells are in a good state - the last time I measured the cell banks was fresh after a full balance charge: 4.195V, 4.195V, 4.198V, 4.192V, 4.197V, 4.193V, 4.196V, 4.192V, 4.189V, 4.191V. After a previous non-balance charge, the battery pack voltage dropped off by 0.1V after about 30 minutes, was the same after 90 minutes, but I haven't measured the cell bank voltages at that point.

 

[Nealh]

Guerney's are well protected but chaffing could possibly still occur (however unlikely) with the nickel, covering over the nickel with tape would rule out any chaffing.

 

[lenny]

Cumbria Police seize 'extremely unsafe' modified electric bike in Carlisle

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