So I've been running a 280Ah LiFePO4 pack I built myself earlier this year, and after frying a £12 no-name BMS in the first month I bit the bullet and grabbed a Daly 100A smart BMS off AliExpress for about £28. Honestly wasn't expecting much but it's been solid for four months now — balancing seems to work, the app connects fine over Bluetooth, and it hasn't let the magic smoke out yet.
The thing that surprised me most is the cell-level voltage readings through the app are actually pretty accurate when I check them against my multimeter. I've got four 70Ah EVE cells wired in series, and the BMS is keeping them within about 8–10mV of each other after a full charge cycle. Not perfect passive balancing but it's doing the job for a leisure setup in my Transit.
Has anyone else gone down the AliExpress BMS rabbit hole lately? I'm curious whether the Daly holds up long-term or if I should be looking at something like a JK BMS for the active balancing. The JK units seem to be about £55–65 for a 100A version — wondering if it's worth the jump or if I'm just buying peace of mind at that point.
