I need to ship 4 208Ah cells back to the US vendor since they want to exchange them to resolve a problem I'm having. However, LFP cells are HAZMAT, right? How can I, as just a normal end user with no HAZMAT cert, ship the cells back? I figure at least some of you have had to do this before and can give me some guidance.
How can you ship LFP Returns since they're HAZMAT
- Thread starter williaty
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burnin_daylight
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Legally speaking you can’t initiate the shipment. If the vendor initiates the shipment then it is possible. To be fully compliant they have to be in a UN certified box and meet all criteria for shipping lithium batteries. Terminals have to be covered, must be in a sealed poly bag, and cushioned sufficiently for their weight.
UPS won’t take them if they know they are hazmat.
USPS won’t take them if they know they are hazmat.
FedEx will take them if the seller has hazmat certification with FedEx and the seller makes the label.
If they are being returned for a defect then there are even more regulations.
Most of the China sellers, and some of the US sellers are breaking the law when they ship cells, because they aren’t declaring hazmat.
This situation is definitely a problem for the DIY industry.
UPS won’t take them if they know they are hazmat.
USPS won’t take them if they know they are hazmat.
FedEx will take them if the seller has hazmat certification with FedEx and the seller makes the label.
If they are being returned for a defect then there are even more regulations.
Most of the China sellers, and some of the US sellers are breaking the law when they ship cells, because they aren’t declaring hazmat.
This situation is definitely a problem for the DIY industry.
OK, so that's where I'm stuck then. The US retailer I bought from refuses to pay to generate a FedEx label to ship these back, the boxes they came in weren't labeled as being anything special anyway, weren't in bags, and no other carrier will accept them from me.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
schmism
Solar Addict
In the bad listen 270/272 thread I asked what everyone was doing with the clearly bad cells. NO one had any answers.
burnin_daylight
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These type of sellers need to be outed and avoided.
However, for the DIY guy it is a double edged sword. The reason these sellers can offer such a low price is because they aren’t shipping them properly and are avoiding a ton of shipping fees. They also know that they will never have to warranty anything, because either you can’t ship them back or it is way too expensive to do so.
If these sellers shipped 100% by the book and truly offered a legitimate warranty, it would cost almost as much to build a DIY battery as it would to buy a commercially built battery. Unfortunately there will always be some risk when buying low cost cells as DIY.
For the moment, I am still hopeful for a positive resolution. In general, it seems like these days you lose all hope of a resolution if you mention whom you're struggling with.
50ShadesOfDirt
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I had purchased an AmpereTime battery that was bought in the US and shipped to me by UPS. It's a *sealed* battery (no visible seams), and had a bad BMS; AT gen'd the shipping label for me, and UPS picked it up and shipped it back to the vendor in the US ... nobody had any concerns.
This is not your scenario at all, except to both point out one method by which LFP batteries are getting shipped (sealed battery case, and vendor gens both shipping and return labels, all in the US), and to ... possibly ... suggest that you "seal" these up in a plastic abs container of some kind (a shipping container, possibly), and then try shipping them. It might cost an abs case that you weld shut, but perhaps this is less than being out the cost of the batteries.
Return shipping costs, and who pays, are a different can of worms ...
Shipping overseas ... another can of worms ...
It looks like, for DIY battery builds, we're going to have to find vendors who ship us X amount of pieces, and then if a bad battery, they just ship a replacement, and don't expect the return of the bad item (which gets recycled) ... this happens with some kinds of Amazon purchases; you can also try arguing this with your battery vendor.
For the rest of us, *specify* this, in writing, before battery purchase (if possible)?
This is not your scenario at all, except to both point out one method by which LFP batteries are getting shipped (sealed battery case, and vendor gens both shipping and return labels, all in the US), and to ... possibly ... suggest that you "seal" these up in a plastic abs container of some kind (a shipping container, possibly), and then try shipping them. It might cost an abs case that you weld shut, but perhaps this is less than being out the cost of the batteries.
Return shipping costs, and who pays, are a different can of worms ...
Shipping overseas ... another can of worms ...
It looks like, for DIY battery builds, we're going to have to find vendors who ship us X amount of pieces, and then if a bad battery, they just ship a replacement, and don't expect the return of the bad item (which gets recycled) ... this happens with some kinds of Amazon purchases; you can also try arguing this with your battery vendor.
For the rest of us, *specify* this, in writing, before battery purchase (if possible)?
Same for me with AT. Sent me a label and I dropped it off at a FEDEX shop (or a UPS, I forget).
MrNatural22
?SW sunshine =⚡️⚡️lit up thru the darkness✌️
I always open LiFePo shipment boxes and packing carefully and keep them all in a safe place for long periods of time in case things need to be returned. They come with correct labeling for hazmat on them and a return shipping label is all I’ve ever needed for returns dropped off at UPS and FedEx.
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burnin_daylight
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It is possible to return via UPS under some scenarios, but it depends largely on what the defect is and what the watt hour rating of the battery is.
If you receive any shipment that doesn’t have a UN sticker for Lithium, and the label doesn’t clearly state hazmat or dangerous goods, the shipper didn’t properly declare it. I would avoid any company that doesn’t accurately declare it as hazmat.
Bring sealed or not doesn’t really have anything to do with shipping lithium. Mostly it deals with the inner packaging and the proper rating on the cardboard box. Also, the cells should have UN38.3 passed to be legal to ship. There are a number of China suppliers shipping cells into the US without having UN38.3 certification. Definitely ask, and avoid them if they can’t provide the document. A reputable cell will have this without question.
