A-grade 304 Eve cells - fake, or real? What to expect?

[Alkaline]

If these sellers would just say that they are manufacturers rejects from their primary intended purpose but perfectly fine

WILL NEVER Happen, and its not just batteries its everything form knock off shoes, handbags, reject CPU, memory chips, perfume, tires, you name it there is a grade B supply. So to think batteries get some type of special treatment, won't happen.

All that can be done is name and shame on the internet which may stop 1 out of 10 sales, the sellers know 9/10 will still buy because the price is low.

So this is all futile. But still important that its brought to light.

 

[augiedoggy]

There is no implemented standard for grades of batteries though. This as been discussed and beaten to death. Its a made up thing sellers use to market battery cells and subject to the imagination of the seller.
Theres the batteries that pass all the criteria testing for EV's and then theres all those that dont. those get auctioned or sold to random folks that resell them directly to the public after marking them up to make a profit.
Unless most of the folks here are building packs for EV's its kind of a moot point. We know we can pay a premium and get premium cells with the data sheets to prove it or we can buy for less elsewhere and deal with possible misleading marketing or cells that dont quite live up to the claims of the sellers. I havent even been able to find any substantial data showing these factory seconds cells ARE inferior for use in these low c rate applications many here are using them for.
These cells were made for specific OEM applications. In most cases (or any that I know of) they were not made with selling directly to folks for off grid or diy battery banks in mind.

 

[Sam Cho TX]

If you spend a few days on diysolarforum you can find out what is what, it doesn't take long. Before I bought cells I spent a week reading up on the forums and figured out grade A come with a test report. So that is what I made sure I had before making a purchase.

May not be the catch all but is good enough for me.

 

[wfdTamar]

I got a full refund for this and the return post. It came in two payments so I'm thinking the seller deducted shipping and a bit more, ebay paid the rest. Annoyingly my negative feedback was removed and the seller is still selling them as Eve 304Ah. Apparently if there's a full refund that's what happens. Makes a joke of the feedback system.

Ebay Auatralia
Seller ID's 'goodstuffhere*au' & 'richonline1249'

 

[augiedoggy]

What gets me is some go through all this effort and $$ buying the premium cells an then not even taking the time to compress them properly in the installation cutting the lifespan short anyway...

 

[augiedoggy]

WILL NEVER Happen, and its not just batteries its everything form knock off shoes, handbags, reject CPU, memory chips, perfume, tires, you name it there is a grade B supply. So to think batteries get some type of special treatment, won't happen.

All that can be done is name and shame on the internet which may stop 1 out of 10 sales, the sellers know 9/10 will still buy because the price is low.

So this is all futile. But still important that its brought to light.

But it does happen in many of those things... all factory second tires from a reputable manufacturer have "Blem" carved into the sidewall for this reason and a factory second cpu chip is still sold as a grade "A" chip its just underclocked and sold as a slower/cheaper model chip.

With some things like the industrial print heads I work with. you can find them cheap all over the new but thats only because they are not from authorized dealers and are ALL seconds.

 

[Rossman]

I want the option to be able to run high power 240 volt appliances (3000 watt inverter), wether going for a 12 volt 8 cell setup might not be more sensible

If you want to run loads like that you should really be looking at a 24V or 48V battery bank/system voltage, it will be a lot more efficient.

 

[wfdTamar]

I reckon if I'd planned on building such a big battery in the first place I might have gone 24 volt. Anyway I have all the stuff now. It's also in a motorhome so easier to just stick to 12 volt.

Just got the cells from EEL today (6 weeks from China). Final price delivered was A$1476 for 8x Eve 304Ah (the best 304Ah ones they sell). That's smack on US$1000 (US$125 each) at todays exchange rate (US$967 when I paid for them). Double bolt terminals, bus bars. They threw in a few epoxy sheets as I needed a few more. The cells seem perfect. Starting to test them.

 

[wfdTamar]

All testing 313 to 317 Ah.

 

[discern]

I just received some "Grade A EVE LF304" from 18650batterystore. Thoughts? Pics below...
They look to have the hexagon/octagon base. (Im not near them to confirm 6/8 sides)

 

[wfdTamar]

Need a clearer photo and lower down to be able to see more of the base.

 

[discern]

ANy help appreciated... These are supposed to be Grade a EVE LF304 form 18650 recievd acouple of days ago.

 

[Skypower]

Visually they look right

 

[Skypower]

Is there an imprint in the shipping box’s protective foam in the shape of the terminal? The terminal looks like it’s leaning, but it could be camera aspect angle.

 

[discern]

Is there an imprint in the shipping box’s protective foam in the shape of the terminal? The terminal looks like it’s leaning, but it could be camera aspect angle.

My question is regarding the base undeneath the terminal. From what I have found is that the LF304 normally have a round base wheres the LF280K V3 have an octagon base like what I have. So Im wondering If i got sold LF280K marketed as LF304. Or if they changed to the octagon base on the LF304 also. But every picture I have seen of the LF304 has the roundish base under the terminal.

 

[houseofancients]

My question is regarding the base undeneath the terminal. From what I have found is that the LF304 normally have a round base wheres the LF280K V3 have an octagon base like what I have. So Im wondering If i got sold LF280K marketed as LF304. Or if they changed to the octagon base on the LF304 also. But every picture I have seen of the LF304 has the roundish base under the terminal.

I have yet to any 304's with ocogone bases, but It could very well be that EVE has changed that

 

[Quattrohead]

I see LF280K on the barcode label.

 

[mjgillen]

Need a better photo of the cat

 

[wfdTamar]

I see LF280K on the barcode label.

You mean next to the QR code - yes seems very clear that's what they are. Same as what I got, only these actually do have LF280K on them. They probably will test to around 304Ah, but the batch of 304Ah I eventually got tested around 313Ah. You have a right to complain to the seller. At the right price adjustment (i.e. some refund) they are still good cells.

 

[featherlite]

I see LF280K on the barcode label.

Good eye!

 

[Alkaline]

Wow, your are the second person that ordered 304 cells and got 280K instead:

18650 Battery Store

This is my third purchase from 18650 Battery Store. The first purchase was in 01-2023 for 32pcs of their grade 'b' 304ah Eve cells. Had one dud right out of the box that 18650 quickly replaced. The second order was in 03-2023 for another 32pcs of their grade 'b' 304ah Eve Cells...

diysolarforum.com

first I thought it was a mistake but now I'm thinking this is some BS going on.

18650 is sinking fast first they no longer send you test reports, now they are sending the wrong cells!

 

[42OhmsPA]

Wow, your are the second person that ordered 304 cells and got 280K instead:

18650 Battery Store

This is my third purchase from 18650 Battery Store. The first purchase was in 01-2023 for 32pcs of their grade 'b' 304ah Eve cells. Had one dud right out of the box that 18650 quickly replaced. The second order was in 03-2023 for another 32pcs of their grade 'b' 304ah Eve Cells...

diysolarforum.com

first I thought it was a mistake but now I'm thinking this is some BS going on.

18650 is sinking fast first they no longer send you test reports, now they are sending the wrong cells!

Very interesting and alarming...

If you really zoom in on one of the photos from the "304ah" reviews it looks like 280k...

https://images.loox.io/uploads/2023/9/8/FS2YupkpT_mid.jpg

EVE LF304 Grade A Cells - 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery

Buy high-quality EVE LF304 Grade A Cells, a 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery with flexible bus-bar, nuts and bolts included. Designed for longevity with 10+ years design life, 4,000 cycles, and a rechargeable feature. Get the full excel report by request.

www.18650batterystore.com

It's also quite suspicious they have multiple photos of the 280K in the listing, some you can read the code; not the case with the "304"...

 

[42OhmsPA]

And the old grade B listing is clearly 304...

EVE LF304 Grade B Cells - 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery

Price is per battery Grade B Cells - Original QR code is marked up and unreadable. BRAND NEW CELLS - Capacity tested - sorted and matched. Guaranteed to pull 304Ah+ We test all cells (IR, Voltage, Capacity, Visual inspection) returning anything that does not pull above capacity or has any other...

www.18650batterystore.com

Very interesting and alarming...

If you really zoom in on one of the photos from the "304ah" reviews it looks like 280k...

https://images.loox.io/uploads/2023/9/8/FS2YupkpT_mid.jpg

EVE LF304 Grade A Cells - 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery

Buy high-quality EVE LF304 Grade A Cells, a 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery with flexible bus-bar, nuts and bolts included. Designed for longevity with 10+ years design life, 4,000 cycles, and a rechargeable feature. Get the full excel report by request.

www.18650batterystore.com

It's also quite suspicious they have multiple photos of the 280K in the listing, some you can read the code; not the case with the "304"...

 

[gotbeans]

Very interesting and alarming...

If you really zoom in on one of the photos from the "304ah" reviews it looks like 280k...

https://images.loox.io/uploads/2023/9/8/FS2YupkpT_mid.jpg

EVE LF304 Grade A Cells - 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery

Buy high-quality EVE LF304 Grade A Cells, a 3.2V LiFePO4 304Ah Battery with flexible bus-bar, nuts and bolts included. Designed for longevity with 10+ years design life, 4,000 cycles, and a rechargeable feature. Get the full excel report by request.

www.18650batterystore.com

It's also quite suspicious they have multiple photos of the 280K in the listing, some you can read the code; not the case with the "304"...

well their spreadsheet picture shows 310-317 amp hours on the giant list at least
I can't read any of those qr labels at all on any of the item pics or reviews though, too low quality
can see them fine on the B listing as you said

 

[wfdTamar]

Of my batch of eight 304Ah from EEL Battery they got between 310-317Ah when I tested them. The four '304Ah' (which like this poster, were actually 280K v.3) tested at around 300-304Ah so with decent cells you're pretty likely to get more capacity than on the label, but that's like anything sold by weight - you usually get a little extra to protect themselves against claims of under weight (probably not with gold bullion though).