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Warranty shipping a LIPo4 battery

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Bigfoot9.6

New Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2023
Messages
11
Location
Sacramento, Calif
Trying to warranty return my Aims 200ah Lithium battery has really been a major issue. No carrier will accept the battery even though it is in the original packaging and has all the proper labels. UN3480 and the Class 9 label.... They all say I have to get a 3rd party to handle the paperwork. I called a couple of companies in Sacramento but they provided no help... Are all the battery dealers encountering the warranty return issue like I am experiencing? I called Aims and they just say got to Fedex or UPS.... Both say I need a 3rd party to approve the shipment. Aims is of no help!
Jim.
 
MaikaiLifeDIY said:
Look for a freight forwarder, they would be able to explain all the details.
Click to expand...
Did talk to one today. Said they do not do small packages... Quoted $900+ to ship 120 miles..hahahaa.
This is quite an interesting development. Most warranty returns are done by the distributor or mfg... Shipping label and
cost provided! I have sent engines and transmissions that were under warranty. All taken care of by the company or distributor.
Jim.
 
Bigfoot9.6 said:
Trying to warranty return my Aims 200ah Lithium battery has really been a major issue. No carrier will accept the battery even though it is in the original packaging and has all the proper labels. UN3480 and the Class 9 label.... They all say I have to get a 3rd party to handle the paperwork. I called a couple of companies in Sacramento but they provided no help... Are all the battery dealers encountering the warranty return issue like I am experiencing? I called Aims and they just say got to Fedex or UPS.... Both say I need a 3rd party to approve the shipment. Aims is of no help!
Jim.
Click to expand...

Been through this before, you have to call UPS they can do it I think its a $39.00 dollar charge and they call it a class 9 shipment. No UPS store can do it. Don't even bother with the POST office you are more likely to get locked up at the FIBI then get it shipped.

Haven't tried fedex but I'm assuming its the same.
 
My return experience was with a renogy 170 btw, renogy credited me the 39.00 on my my account after they got back the return.
 
I recently returned a new Power Queen (eBay direct). They sent me a USPS return label which was denied at the counter.

I asked PQ to send me a Fedex return label since that was the original method of shipment and I received the label the next day.

I received the replacement battery two days later.
 
Just to follow up.
Aims could not get any shipper to pick up my battery for warranty return. It was up to me.
After a back and forth, Aims did a good will jester and sent me another 200ah 12v battery and told me to keep the bad one.
I was shocked to say the least....
Got the new battery... It was DEAD ON ARRIVAL! All the various ways to wake up the battery was to no avail!
I was able to see 9.x volts at times on the post.. along with 12.6 at times but with a slight load 1 amp it would go to 0v.
As I was playing, attempting to wake up the battery, every so often the BMS would wake up and I could look at the status of the
battery. Cell voltages were balanced and good. 40% SOC! As I was viewing the status I saw at a quick glance that the BMS showed
-40 deg C!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH.
I contacted Aims support and told them about the DOA and the -40 deg... The were in disbelief. Said that they tested the battery before
shippiing to me.
Well, now, I had 2 dead Aims batteries. My buddy that lives in Carson City was passing through and he picked up the batteries and delivered
them back to Aims. I got a full refund!

I decided to go cheap for now and got 2 of the Redodo mini's 100ah. They fit in my camper battery compartment which is designed for 2 group 24 FWC's.
I did a full performance bench test on both batteries... They both did 100ah + a bit. I used Aims 2500watt low freq converter/charger to test charge and loads. I did 140amp draw for about 15 seconds on both. So far I am pleased.. I have solar for Boondocking and on the road maintenance. My primary Charger will be my old trusty Progressive Dynamics 9260. The Aims 2500 will be backup charging and using the inverter.
I really wished the Redo's had BT so I could check the status of the battery via the BMS. Oh well.

Here is my Redodo project.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AQkJ28vVmTvu4iZPA
 
Last edited:
Bigfoot9.6 said:
Just to follow up.
Aims could not get any shipper to pick up my battery for warranty return. It was up to me.
After a back and forth, Aims did a good will jester and sent me another 200ah 12v battery and told me to keep the bad one.
I was shocked to say the least....
Got the new battery... It was DEAD ON ARRIVAL! All the various ways to wake up the battery was to no avail!
I was able to see 9.x volts at times on the post.. along with 12.6 at times but with a slight load 1 amp it would go to 0v.
As I was playing, attempting to wake up the battery, every so often the BMS would wake up and I could look at the status of the
battery. Cell voltages were balanced and good. 40% SOC! As I was viewing the status I saw at a quick glance that the BMS showed
-40 deg C!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH.
I contacted Aims support and told them about the DOA and the -40 deg... The were in disbelief. Said that they tested the battery before
shippiing to me.
Well, now, I had 2 dead Aims batteries. My buddy that lives in Carson City was passing through and he picked up the batteries and delivered
them back to Aims. I got a full refund!

I decided to go cheap for now and got 2 of the Redodo mini's 100ah. They fit in my camper battery compartment which is designed for 2 group 24 FWC's.
I did a full performance bench test on both batteries... They both did 100ah + a bit. I used Aims 2500watt low freq converter/charger to test charge and loads. I did 140amp draw for about 15 seconds on both. So far I am pleased.. I have solar for Boondocking and on the road maintenance. My primary Charger will be my old trusty Progressive Dynamics 9260. The Aims 2500 will be backup charging and using the inverter.
I really wished the Redo's had BT so I could check the status of the battery via the BMS. Oh well.

Here is my Redodo project.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AQkJ28vVmTvu4iZPA
Click to expand...
I've had really good results with my four Redodo minis. BT would be awesome as well as low temp charge protection and potentially heating im guessing in a few months that will be available.
 
Same here. My 3x Power Queen Minis are kicking ass! So far, so good!

Ive mentioned this a few times already, being able to fit 3 batteries in a underchassis tray originally designed for 2 has been a savior for me.

STILL cannot find a 1x300Ah battery that will fit (besides a DIY) but Im not looking back. For me a DIY would have added even more complexity than paralleling batteries.
 
12vDC said:
Same here. My 3x Power Queen Minis are kicking ass! So far, so good!

Ive mentioned this a few times already, being able to fit 3 batteries in a underchassis tray originally designed for 2 has been a savior for me.

STILL cannot find a 1x300Ah battery that will fit (besides a DIY) but Im not looking back. For me a DIY would have added even more complexity than paralleling batteries.
Click to expand...
I felt the same way. I could have built my own... but just wanted to get'r done. Probably would have cost more to build with grade A cells, wires, bus bars, BT BMS and then packaging...
Cold freezing when we are out in cold the camper rarly gets below 45... When we are in the camper our heat source is a Camco Wave 3 and forces air furnace if needed to quickly take the edge off. Rarely even use more than 30 ah a day.
 
Brucey said:
I've had really good results with my four Redodo minis. BT would be awesome as well as low temp charge protection and potentially heating im guessing in a few months that will be available.
Click to expand...
Think cold is coming..Hot sensor is installed from what the spec says. Would love BT Bms too.
Jim.
 
Last edited:
Bigfoot9.6 said:
I felt the same way. I could have built my own... but just wanted to get'r done. Probably would have cost more to build with grade A cells, wires, bus bars, BT BMS and then packaging...
Cold freezing when we are out in cold the camper rarly gets below 45... When we are in the camper our heat source is a Camco Wave 3 and forces air furnace if needed to quickly take the edge off. Rarely even use more than 30 ah a day.
Click to expand...
Correct. At the time, they kept running out of 304Ah cells and the BMS I was looking at was always out of stock. Because my battery installation is underchassis the easiest decision to not DIY was how to package the raw cells adequately.

Thanks to the forum here I caught wind of an ebay price reduction of the PQs at $200/ea delivered (max qty 2). I had a buddy order a 3rd battery for me to take advantage of the sale.

I built a temp relay activated aluminum heating plate for the batteries to sit on. So yes I guess I am missing out on built-in BT monitoring however, Im able to keep a pretty good eye on the system as a whole.

IMG_4300.png


EDIT: On my last trip two weeks ago I was going through roughly 45Ah/day between the Starlink, diesel heater, coolers, and other incidental consumers such as microwave, etc.. On a separate but related note - during the last heavy rain storm last week I noted I was getting 0watts from the MPPT.
 
Last edited:
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