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Gobelpower.com - these guys are for real!

meetyg

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 4, 2021
Messages
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I just received my order of 8 x EVE LF105 Lifepo4 cells from Gobel.

The order took about a month and half to arrive (to the Middle East, sea shipping, per my request as air freight was too expensive for me). Not bad!

They split my order into two packages, I suppose to be within customs weight regulations. I got two tracking numbers, but there wasn't much update from the time the order left China. Delivered to my door, no additional customs fees or taxes.

Packaging was fairly good, no damage is visible, except for a few scratches on the blue plastic on one cell.

It looks like they used foam for 280Ah cells, and just added some more pieces to hold each cell:

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The cells look great, totally flat, with QR code (don't know why they put a sticker on the QR, but I peeled one off, it's real):
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Only one cell has a bit discolored terminals, with a few scratches, compared to all the others, which are very shiny:
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I'm in the process of doing a capacity check on that cell. If it passes then I guess it's only cosmetic.

I got a set of small busbars and 4mm (M4 ?) screws for the terminals.

Total price was $851 dollars (I can't recall the original price without shipping, but was around 50-60$ per cell, minimum 8 cells). Not cheap, but shipping to the Middle-East is still expensive.

In short, I really recommend these guys, for this who are looking to buy ORIGINAL Lifepo4 cells, but don't want to fuss with Alibaba. Could be useful for those of you outside the U.S. who like me don't have any local suppliers of Lifepo4 cells.

The only thing is, that I'm not really fond of the cell terminals (but I think that's how they come from EVE): They have really small (M4 I think) taps. I would prefer welded stud terminals, but didn't think about it at time of ordering (I'm not sure Gobel does welded studs).
It looks like you will get better contact with these tapped terminals compared to the welded studs (that usually have a small "step") but I'm worried that I won't be able to torque them enough with stripping the terminals. The screws work well with the supplied bus bars, but these are really small. I doubt that they are suitable for a 1C discharge. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the busbars and screws yet, but they are exactly as lithiumsolar got with his EVE LF105 cells:

That's all for now. Will keep you updated on the cell being tested.
 
Any opinions on the bus bars supplied? They look tiny. The problem is many bus bars that are beefier are meant for M6 studs. Should I just add a washer to the screws and use bigger bus bars (I need 1C discharge capability) ?
 
Just an update: The scratched terminal cell was tested and got 106.5Ah !
Sorry I don't have a picture to show: This was my first time doing a complete charge-discharge test on my new ZKE EBC-A20 and I accidentally reset it after the test was completed. I am still learning how to use it. I guess next time I will connect it to the computer instead.

Anyways, this makes me confident that the cell wasn't used (maybe just tested ?) or at least wasn't cycled alot.

Gobel have been great. They contacted me to see if everything arrived OK. I told them about the scratched cell and that I'm gonna do a capacity test. They said that if the test wouldn't pass, they would give me a "satisfactory solution". My contact at Gobel is Ellie (female I think...).

But since this only a cosmetic blemish (only on one cell) I will forgive them for that.

In short, I guess that you get what you pay for. This order wasn't cheap for me, but I'm glad I got quality cells and good service.
 
Just an update: The scratched terminal cell was tested and got 106.5Ah !
Sorry I don't have a picture to show: This was my first time doing a complete charge-discharge test on my new ZKE EBC-A20 and I accidentally reset it after the test was completed. I am still learning how to use it. I guess next time I will connect it to the computer instead.

Anyways, this makes me confident that the cell wasn't used (maybe just tested ?) or at least wasn't cycled alot.

Gobel have been great. They contacted me to see if everything arrived OK. I told them about the scratched cell and that I'm gonna do a capacity test. They said that if the test wouldn't pass, they would give me a "satisfactory solution". My contact at Gobel is Ellie (female I think...).

But since this only a cosmetic blemish (only on one cell) I will forgive them for that.

In short, I guess that you get what you pay for. This order wasn't cheap for me, but I'm glad I got quality cells and good service.
I have been in contact with Ellie at Gobel Power as well. I agreed to purchase 17 EVE 280K cells and a BMS. She emailed me the invoice and insisted that it needed to paid by bank transfer to a Bank of America account in Los Angeles. The invoice was from some other company and the bank account was in some persons name. Is this similar to your payment experience with Gobel Power? To me it seems like a scam.
 
So do they claim the cell to be brand new grade 'A'? I do not see any claim about the cell being new grade 'A' as compared to their LF304A cell.
I see they sell LF280K with 'B' marking, but the LF304 is "This is EVE 3.2V 304Ah LiFePO4 battery cell, model number is LF304. The QR code is intact, Grade A, and Brand New."
Did you scan the QR code with LiFePO4 QR code scanner to see if it matched the date?
I have been watching them and waiting to see how they are tested out and if they are trust able company or not before I will place an order with them.
 
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I have been in contact with Ellie at Gobel Power as well. I agreed to purchase 17 EVE 280K cells and a BMS. She emailed me the invoice and insisted that it needed to paid by bank transfer to a Bank of America account in Los Angeles. The invoice was from some other company and the bank account was in some persons name. Is this similar to your payment experience with Gobel Power? To me it seems like a scam.
That does not sound right, I wonder why they want bank transfer when the web site show accepting CC, PAYPAL.
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Well this is interesting. I got an email from Ellie at Gobel Power saying that her email account had benn "hacked". Someone was using her name and information from her email to intercept customers and try to get them to order and pay by bank transfer as I described previously. The scamer was using Goble Power (not Gobel Power) but I didn't notice that until Ellie sent her warning email.

In the end I did order from Gobel Power, directly on their website and paid by credit card. I had a tracking number in about 4 days. The batteries are advertised as brand new, B grade and stamped by EVE that way. They will be matching IR and capacity. Gobel describes them as LSEV grade. They provide pretty clear definition and description of their cell product on their website. Now I just have to wait and see what shows up. I will report back in January? when I receive the cells.
 
Sad to hear about the mail hijacking...

I suppose you bought 280Ah cells.

The only thing I don't like about the Gobel Power cells is that they come with threaded terminals, not welded studs.

I heard it's really easy to strip these aluminum terminals. On the 105Ah cells there are really tiny (M4).
I'm still waiting for my 263 Loctite to arrive in order to affix the studs in the cell terminals. Otherwise they wobble around a bit.
 
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Sad to hear about the mail hijacking...

I suppose you bought 280Ah cells.

The only thing I don't like about the Gobel Power cells is that they come with threaded terminals, not welded studs.

I heard it's really easy to strip these aluminum terminals. On the 105Ah cells there are really tiny (M4).
I'm still waiting for my 263 Loctite to arrive in order to affix the studs in the cell terminals. Otherwise they wobble around a bit.
Don’t forget the Loctite primer.
 
Don’t forget the Loctite primer.
If I recall correctly, the 263 doesn't need primer or already includes it... It's made for dissimilar metals.

It was recommended here on one of the forums threads...

I originally ordered from Amazon, but it never arrived. Ordered again now from Ebay.
This has put back my project quite a while...
 
If I recall correctly, the 263 doesn't need primer or already includes it... It's made for dissimilar metals.

It was recommended here on one of the forums threads...

I originally ordered from Amazon, but it never arrived. Ordered again now from Ebay.
This has put back my project quite a while...
Here are the directions from the loctite, you still need the primer/activator. Stainless is an inactive substrate.
 

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Well this is interesting. I got an email from Ellie at Gobel Power saying that her email account had benn "hacked". Someone was using her name and information from her email to intercept customers and try to get them to order and pay by bank transfer as I described previously. The scamer was using Goble Power (not Gobel Power) but I didn't notice that until Ellie sent her warning email.

In the end I did order from Gobel Power, directly on their website and paid by credit card. I had a tracking number in about 4 days. The batteries are advertised as brand new, B grade and stamped by EVE that way. They will be matching IR and capacity. Gobel describes them as LSEV grade. They provide pretty clear definition and description of their cell product on their website. Now I just have to wait and see what shows up. I will report back in January? when I receive the cells.


My spidey sense is going off... I think you should avoid this company, too many things don't add up.

1) This company was going around basically acting like they are 2legit2quit and will provide grade A stuff, with a QR decoder and all.
2) Yet everyone that has ordered is getting grade B stuff or they are making nice fairytale grades like LSEV or whatever else, everything except the grade that has the manufacturer's test report
3) Now there is an EMAIL hack claim once you ask about 304 which they were saying has a brand new with QR code in tact but now have B marking on them.

Yeah but no, Gobel puts on a nice show but there are the same as Basen, QSO, Deligreen, Docan, Doungan Lighting, and the rest of the Shenzen gang, however, there prices are way higher.

If you want guarenteed legit stuff go with grade A matched & batched from Luyuan, otherwise go with who gives you the best price as Grade B is Grade B and all pretty much are the same, meaning most cells will be decent storage grade.
 
My spidey sense is going off... I think you should avoid this company, too many things don't add up.

1) This company was going around basically acting like they are 2legit2quit and will provide grade A stuff, with a QR decoder and all.
2) Yet everyone that has ordered is getting grade B stuff or they are making nice fairytale grades like LSEV or whatever else, everything except the grade that has the manufacturer's test report
3) Now there is an EMAIL hack claim once you ask about 304 which they were saying has a brand new with QR code in tact but now have B marking on them.

Yeah but no, Gobel puts on a nice show but there are the same as Basen, QSO, Deligreen, Docan, Doungan Lighting, and the rest of the Shenzen gang, however, there prices are way higher.

If you want guarenteed legit stuff go with grade A matched & batched from Luyuan, otherwise go with who gives you the best price as Grade B is Grade B and all pretty much are the same, meaning most cells will be decent storage grade.
I think there is a mixup here...
You can choose if you want LSEV Grade or "ESS" Grade (B).

Anyways, in my case, I contacted many of the Alibaba gang, and NONE were willing to ship to the Middle-East, not even by sea!

Gobel were the only company that accepted PayPal and were willing to ship to me.
I recently contacted Basengreen, same problem.

So yeah, maybe they are more expensive, but at least they want to do business with small people like me, and not only big companies.
 
I see, well since transportation was an issue I suppose you have to go with what is available. Good Luck to you.
 
I see, well since transportation was an issue I suppose you have to go with what is available. Good Luck to you.
Thanks.
I really don't understand why the known Alibaba sellers couldn't/wouldn't ship to me...
I mean Gobel is also in China. They delivered the 8 cells to my door, DDP !

I mean if Gobel found a way, I would think the others could too...

It's annoying...
 
@meetyg
This is off topic.
Since you are in Middle-East, how popular are the Solar systems, especially DIY, and how difficult to get Solar components where you are?
 
@meetyg
This is off topic.
Since you are in Middle east, how popular are the Solar systems, especially DIY, and how difficult to get Solar components where you are?
OK, So residential/commercial grid tied solar is fairly popular. There are TONS of solar companies, that do the installation and handle the contract between you and the power company. Depending on where you live exactly, sometimes the power company rejects new solar contracts, because thier infrastructure cannot handle it and need upgrading.
The problem is that these companies and the power company will not address small grid-tied systems. If you don't have space for at least 5kwp, they will not talk to you.
The installer companies also take a small fortune, just for the paperwork and beurocracy.

Many farms also have solar...

DIY/Off-grid is less popular, probably because of regulations and lack of availability of DIY components.
What they do sell locally cost usually twice as much as you get in the U.S./UK/AU.

It's odd, but regulations say that a "PV system" must be installed by a certified electrician. Having said that, the law doesn't really give criteria to what a PV system is (size, off-grid/on-grid etc...) but mostly talks about grid-tied. Same goes for "energy storage system". Must be installed by a certified electrician.
So basically, any off-grid DIY is illegal.

It sounds crazy to me, given that the U.S. is home of the DIY and it's not illegal there (depending on your setup).
Anyways, I'm kinda riding on the gray area in between the lines of the local code.
Currently I have a small (1.2kwp) grid-tied (without contract) but am in the process of battery storage instead.
The grid is fairly stable in most cities. Sometimes during winter or hot summer we get some blackouts due to grid faults.
Fortunately we do not have load shedding or planned outages for prolonged times.

As for availability of solar components:
You can get some Victron stuff (already pricey, think paying twice as much as in U.S.).
Solar panels are available: the large ones are at a fairly decent price, small ones or flexible are way overpriced!

Lifepo4 is almost non-existent, especially raw cells.
BMS and stuff... forget it. But here comes Aliexpress to the rescue.

Some off-grid inverters are available (mainly CoSuper Chinese brand, why?). But not alot of choice/models.

Customs and taxes are also a problem, don't even get me started...

In short, it's pitiful that in a region with so much sun, the authorities don't encourage DIY. It could be the solution to many of our environmental challenges. Electricity prices have gone up twice this year, but are still considered low compared to some parts of the U.S. and Europe. In January prices will be around 0.18$ per kWh, on a fixed tariff.
Maybe that's another reason why some are reluctant to go off-grid/DIY. With high component prices, it's not economical enough to justify the cost.

I'm doing it for environmental reasons mainly. It will take me some good years to return the investment. Our power company still uses coal for around 30% of its power production. Renewables are around 10-20% and the rest comes from natural gas.
I also have an EV, so it's nice to know that at least some of its power is coming from my solar. Otherwise it's pretty silly to use coal to charge an EV.

Might I get in trouble with the law? Yes, maybe (hopefully not). But when the law itself is unlawful, sometimes you need to be brave.

Don't get me wrong. I am a law obedient citizen. I'm just taking advantage of some gray areas of the law. I do not encourage anyone to break the law.
I am trying to get my system setup as close to local code as possible. But will probably not have it officially inspected, for the reasons mentioned above.

Keep safe...
 
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