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IMRbatteries or 18650batterystore?

C

crawdude

New Member
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Jan 22, 2022
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I'm looking to buy four LF304 cells to build a 4S battery for my van. I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with IMRbatteries or 18650batterystore?

I'm leaning more towards IMRbatteries since the LF304 cells they are selling have the 6mm posts which I prefer. However the 18650batterystore offers support for 1 year but has the new style terminals and has the same dimensions as the LF280K which makes me think they're selling the wrong cells.

Both of these retailers seem to be a happy medium of price and shipping from the US. Feel free to suggest other retailers if you have any.

Thanks!
 
18650 has test reports I don't know if this Imr company does. Everyone says grade A but very few companies are really grade A.
There is a company in texas ezealco that you can check it has test reports. Also Sun Fun KIts, but be warned the will drop prices without warning so make sure you understand they don't reimburse for differences.
 
I had a really bad experience with 18650. 1 cell was less then the stated AH. I emailed, and emailed and emailed. After a month I get a reply saying they will help, never heard another thing.
Tried calling get put on hold forever, tried the chat box, they never answer.
Would never recommend them to anybody.
 
crawdude said:
I'm looking to buy four LF304 cells to build a 4S battery for my van. I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with IMRbatteries or 18650batterystore?

I'm leaning more towards IMRbatteries since the LF304 cells they are selling have the 6mm posts which I prefer. However the 18650batterystore offers support for 1 year but has the new style terminals and has the same dimensions as the LF280K which makes me think they're selling the wrong cells.

Both of these retailers seem to be a happy medium of price and shipping from the US. Feel free to suggest other retailers if you have any.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Please let me know if you get the four LF304 cells from IMRbatteries. I am looking to order a couple of CATL 280ah cells from their store in Texas, but it probably won't be until December sometime. Looking for some feedback on them before I order.

Thanks...
 
I just got the 304 EVE cells with the new two stud termanals from 18650. once cell had cosmetic damage and a slight dint so after an email asking what they think about it they said it wouldprobably be fine but it was up to me. I just said It cost me a lot of money to get these cells up to canada I would like them all to look proper, the next day I got a tracking number saying a replacment cell has been shipped. so so far I am happy. the initial order all arived at a voltage that was with in 0.004V of each other, and no buldging or anything else that would make me suspect they were not grade A like they say they are. I have only tested the capacity on 1 so far and it has come in at 320.2AH

Steve
 
Dynoman said:
Please let me know if you get the four LF304 cells from IMRbatteries. I am looking to order a couple of CATL 280ah cells from their store in Texas, but it probably won't be until December sometime. Looking for some feedback on them before I order.

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Hey just want to let you know I ended up ordering these cells.

Ordered 4 304Ah cells on 11/5. Shipped 11/7. Delivered 11/14.

Came in Docan Power boxes, very well packed. The cells were so tightly packed in the styrofoam I actually had trouble getting them out lol. All the cells were in great condition, no bloating, terminals looked great.

I couldn't figure out how to read the QR codes but I wasn't super concerned about that, if anyone knows feel free to share. I tried a couple apps made for LFP battery QR codes with no luck.

All the cells were matched at 3.32V. I just built a case and top balanced everything. Just trying to get a couple things figured out and then I'll capacity test them and update with the results.

PXL_20231115_025252318.jpg
 
Scoob said:
I had a really bad experience with 18650. 1 cell was less then the stated AH. I emailed, and emailed and emailed. After a month I get a reply saying they will help, never heard another thing.
Tried calling get put on hold forever, tried the chat box, they never answer.
Would never recommend them to anybody.
Click to expand...

They don't 18650 has bad customer service especially if you buy grade B, I got 263 on 304 cells ignored, wouldn't reply finally said not covered under warranty:
diysolarforum.com

EVE 304 Cells from 18650batterystore & zke-40 testing.

Notice the end of discharge voltage decay drop off on cell 303. It is quite different of the other cells and is indicative of a cell that has not had enough initial cycles where the cathode and anode capacity curves have not reached their final alignment. It may gain in AH's after a few...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com

so only buy grade A from 18650.
 
crawdude said:
Hey just want to let you know I ended up ordering these cells.

Ordered 4 304Ah cells on 11/5. Shipped 11/7. Delivered 11/14.

Came in Docan Power boxes, very well packed. The cells were so tightly packed in the styrofoam I actually had trouble getting them out lol. All the cells were in great condition, no bloating, terminals looked great.

I couldn't figure out how to read the QR codes but I wasn't super concerned about that, if anyone knows feel free to share. I tried a couple apps made for LFP battery QR codes with no luck.

All the cells were matched at 3.32V. I just built a case and top balanced everything. Just trying to get a couple things figured out and then I'll capacity test them and update with the results.

View attachment 179873
Click to expand...

The 304ah Eve cells look good in the picture.

Although ordering from Docan Power would not be a problem, I only need two 280AH CATL cells from a US warehouse to replace a couple of weak 271ah CATL cells in my battery banks. The 280 CATL cells are the same size as the 271ah CATL cells and from the same manufacture so should not be a problem to mix the 271 & 280 cells in the same battery or at least that is the plan. Not able to find any 271ah CATL cells in the US.

Docan Power does have the 280 CATL cells, but must order 4 and only from a China warehouse.

Looks like I will be ordering the two 280 CATL cells from IMRbatteries soon. According to there web site they are Grade A with a 1 year warranty. If I get them I will post a reply.
 
Sam Cho TX said:
They don't 18650 has bad customer service especially if you buy grade B, I got 263 on 304 cells ignored, wouldn't reply finally said not covered under warranty:
diysolarforum.com

EVE 304 Cells from 18650batterystore & zke-40 testing.

Notice the end of discharge voltage decay drop off on cell 303. It is quite different of the other cells and is indicative of a cell that has not had enough initial cycles where the cathode and anode capacity curves have not reached their final alignment. It may gain in AH's after a few...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com

so only buy grade A from 18650.
Click to expand...
I ordered 17 grade B and I've had no issues. There was another member that bought a pile of the envisions and broke some terminals, 18650 took care of him.
Any emails I've sent to them have been answered within a few days...
 
The only issues I have ever heard from 18650 are from the grade B buyers, anyone that buys grade A is always happy.
Other than that 18650 appears to be a steller company, I will hopefully visit them in about 2 weeks as I'm heading to douglas gerogia to pick up a trailer.
 
So in case you were not aware, EVE marks grade B cells with a B

diysolarforum.com

EVE identifies Grade B cells using new marking Method [Reposting from General]

Yesterday I got a new information from my supplier. I was supposed to order EVE LF230 (230Ah) cells from them. But it seems there has been a change on how EVE is sending out rejected cells (Tested to be lower than Automotive Grade) for auction to the Chinese market (grey). According to the new...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com

And a lot of sellers get these grade B cells, sand off the B on the QR code and relaser them with a fake qr code, this is discovered when the black cover is removed and cleaned to show sands of sanding and re-lasering:

https://diysolarforum.com/threads/docan-power-bad-experience-beware.61866/#post-773779
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/d...-bad-experience-scam-beware.61509/post-764548
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/docan-power-us-warehouse-lf280k-review.65429/post-821012
 

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Alkaline said:
So in case you were not aware, EVE marks grade B cells with a B

diysolarforum.com

EVE identifies Grade B cells using new marking Method [Reposting from General]

Yesterday I got a new information from my supplier. I was supposed to order EVE LF230 (230Ah) cells from them. But it seems there has been a change on how EVE is sending out rejected cells (Tested to be lower than Automotive Grade) for auction to the Chinese market (grey). According to the new...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com

And a lot of sellers get these grade B cells, sand off the B on the QR code and relaser them with a fake qr code, this is discovered when the black cover is removed and cleaned to show sands of sanding and re-lasering:

https://diysolarforum.com/threads/docan-power-bad-experience-beware.61866/#post-773779
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/d...-bad-experience-scam-beware.61509/post-764548
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/docan-power-us-warehouse-lf280k-review.65429/post-821012
Click to expand...

I was not aware that they mark the grade b cells, I had heard about the relasering of the QR codes though.

I'll just do my capacity test and if it doesn't pull full capacity I'll take a look at the QR codes.
 
Capacity test checked out!

I wired up my BMS, set the cutoff voltage on the BMS and the heat sink to 10V and let it run. I set it as close to 150W (max for the heat sink I had) as I could without going over.
1701289820625.jpeg

I woke up at 0230 in the morning to the beeping that the test was done. 309Ah!

1701289854408.jpeg

Now I'm charging it back up to about 40% to store for a couple months before I install it in my camper.

Excited that this all worked out!
 
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