500AH cells?

[LittleDaB]

Hey guys,

Love following these threads! I'm not trying to detract from the main conversation, but since you all are talking vendors and trust issues, I was wondering if anyone would chime in on the following (unless proper etiquette dictates a new conversation):
I was looking at (4) 500Ah Grade A plastic housing LiFePO4 cells for 1700.00 C$ all in to front door. The specs look great...but who knows! What was missing was the max safe low temp charging value, so I inquired, vendor came back with max safe no damage -10C...is this possible? Perhaps at .1C or am I being naive. Or should the question be...500Ah WTF.

 

[Steve_S]

LFP is available up to 1,000AH cells (Winston and Very $$$$$).
1700 CAD for 4x500AH ... have you heard the line about "too good to be true" ? If new, indeed, used it's possible but ~used ~.
LFP can usually safely discharge to -10°C, ones which are Yttrium Doped can usually do -20°C, few specialized ones can even go lower but that is serious $$$.

Best to start a thread, name the vendor in the tile and provide links to cells in your description for feedback.
Title suggestion: Any Experience with vendor-name and brand-name-500AH cells ?
where brand name is what the vendor is calling them, EVE, CATL, Winston or whatever it is.

 

[LittleDaB]

Thanks...duly noted ??

 

[Dzl]

Hey guys,

Love following these threads! I'm not trying to detract from the main conversation, but since you all are talking vendors and trust issues, I was wondering if anyone would chime in on the following (unless proper etiquette dictates a new conversation):
I was looking at (4) 500Ah Grade A plastic housing LiFePO4 cells for 1700.00 C$ all in to front door. The specs look great...but who knows! What was missing was the max safe low temp charging value, so I inquired, vendor came back with max safe no damage -10C...is this possible? Perhaps at .1C or am I being naive. Or should the question be...500Ah WTF.

What seller, what cell, (and if plastic cased cells what 'color'?
I have never heard of 500Ah cells. That is not to say they don't exist, they very well might. But from what I know, aluminum cased commodity cells are just barely passing the 300Ah threshold, nylon/plastic cased cells go much higher but the usual sizes are 400Ah, 700Ah, 1000Ah. I have not personally seen 500Ah.

My initial impression just from your brief paragraph is skepticism. Do more digging.

 

[LittleDaB]

I'm really sorry Shroederjd.
I'm just gonna answer Dzl with what I know and not do this again.
Amazon.ca, vender WangZhiGangShopUS...may be connected to LiRongPingShopUS. Case is black...ad says New Grade A cells...they look like Winston's exterior but black...that's it that's all.

 

[Dzl]

I'm really sorry Shroederjd.
I'm just gonna answer Dzl with what I know and not do this again.

Ive moved the conversation to its own thread now

Amazon.ca, vender WangZhiGangShopUS...may be connected to LiRongPingShopUS.

Ahh these guys I have not found them to be especially clear or correct or accurate in their advertising.

Case is black...they look like Winston's exterior but black...

That would be Sinopoly, and it looks like Sinopoly does actually make a 500Ah cell (SP-LFP500AHA)

ad says New Grade A cells...

Ignore this, they very well might be, but every seller says grade A almost all of the time, so its unreliable info on its own. Most of the cells we buy are not truly grade A, even from the sellers some people consider 'trusted.' From what I've observed its easier to source actual grade A cells from the nylon cased cell manufacturers (because they actually sell through retail channels, and because it seems they keep a little tighter control on their supply chain). But that doesn't mean there is no risk of lower grade cells, defective cells, used cells, etc.

I'm not saying don't buy them, I am saying be cautious, do your due diligence, understand the risks, ask questions, don't believe everything a seller tells you.

 

[Steve_S]

中聚电池 Sinopoly Battery Limited Battery Cell Listings.
Shenzhen Smart Lion Power Battery Limited (winston-battery.com) *NOTE THE DIFFERENT CLASSES !
CALB USA Inc. - CALB - Additional Information - up to only 400AH cells. but more valuable info here in general.

 

[LittleDaB]

Ive moved the conversation to its own thread now

Ahh these guys I have not found them to be especially clear or correct or accurate in their advertising.

That would be Sinopoly, and it looks like Sinopoly does actually make a 500Ah cell (SP-LFP500AHA)


Ignore this, they very well might be, but every seller says grade A almost all of the time, so its unreliable info on its own. Most of the cells we buy are not truly grade A, even from the sellers some people consider 'trusted.' From what I've observed its easier to source actual grade A cells from the nylon cased cell manufacturers (because they actually sell through retail channels, and because it seems they keep a little tighter control on their supply chain). But that doesn't mean there is no risk of lower grade cells, defective cells, used cells, etc.

I'm not saying don't buy them, I am saying be cautious, do your due diligence, understand the risks, ask questions, don't believe everything a seller tells you.

Cool!
I’m beginning to distrust the lot of them! I did however do more digging, one vendor had pics of the packaging, could barely make out SinoPoly, contacted SP, from what I see 400Ah is their largest...haven’t heard back yet. Contacted on vendor directly who confirmed that they are indeed SP, New and Grade A, and of course they take great pride (paraphrasing) and blah blah blah. Another vendor is selling 8 of these cells for C$2899.99 + 20.00 shipping (ha ha) no additional taxes, duties, or fees...but like Steve said, too good to be true...but if it were, that would give me a solid 4 days of autonomy at the lake ???

 

[Audie]

Along the same line of questioning at the original, but refreshing the thread… Has anyone ordered these 500ah cells from alibaba yet?? If so’ how was your experience?

 

[Audie]

The price that I was quoted…. Just want to find someone else who has bought from this vendor before sending them $4k.

 

[Wibla]

That smells like a scam, run away.

 

[Steve_S]

OMG That is 100% TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE !
There is NO POSSIBLE Way they can sell New Grade-A 500AH for that, that is less than the cost to make the cells.
RED FLAGS:
MAX Charging Current on a 500AH LFP is 20A MAX ? WTH !
Continous & max discharge currents of 3C & 5C WHAT IS THAT ?

RUN FOREST RUN !

FYI: A Typical Ali* vendor only makes between 7-12% markup margin on cells and it varies by the batches they buy. The battery brokers are extremely aggressive at flogging product and play that margin to the inth degree. Very Few Vendors deal direct with the Manufacturer as that lowers their margins and they have to guarantee a specific volume of product sales to get contracts. It IS a very tight market and as such there is a lot of Grey Market product that is rebadged or reworked.

Do yourself a favour, Stick to KNOWN GOOD Vendors with a History of positive feedback (not from Ali, Amazon/Ebay reviews either) but actual people with them in their hands.

 

[Gazoo]

The price that I was quoted…. Just want to find someone else who has bought from this vendor before sending them $4k.

Never heard of Baichen. I think it's a city in China. There is no way a 500ah cell is going to only cost $130.00. These days a 280ah cell cost around that much.

Run away from this seller and don't look back.

 

[Audie]

Thanks guys. Glad that I came here! I suppose that I could do 2 separate banks of the 280ah cells for my 72v system, wire them in parallel for a 560ah total, and just go with a “known” buyer. As reasonable as that sounds, I was seriously hoping that this alibaba seller was legit. I’m still new to this and learning as I go, so if you know any good vendors on the west coast that you’d recommend, feel free to market their names so that I can give them some business. Thanks again!!