A story about importing LiFePO4 cells

[Butcher]

So, you open a thread to bad mouth the Chinese for lying and cheating, then you say 'Opps never mind'.

We all get a pit in our stomach when things do not go right but as I get older, I tend to wait till I can prove that someone is wrong before I start casting stones. If I were you, I would at least edit the name of the company since they did nothing wrong.

I would also apologize to the Covid Bat Union.

Good for you they came in and we all know the rest of the story.

 

[Alkaline]

Update on this story:

The entire order of all 200, CATL 302 AH LiFePO4 Cells were finally delivered. Customs held the entire container due to some other reasons, probably someone trying to import a crate of COVID infected Bats. Anyway, although the delay was extremely unreasonable (over 100 days), the USA Vendor received the cells,unboxed a batch and tested them. All are over capacity, perfectly matched voltages to 0.001V or less, and definitely "Grade A", Brand New. So, besides the delay, a happy ending to the longest order, ship delays and logistics failures they had ever seen.

Grade A CATL cells you say?

Solarsupplyhouse is going around saying this now?

 

[WKP]

So, you open a thread to bad mouth the Chinese for lying and cheating, then you say 'Opps never mind'.

We all get a pit in our stomach when things do not go right but as I get older, I tend to wait till I can prove that someone is wrong before I start casting stones. If I were you, I would at least edit the name of the company since they did nothing wrong.

I would also apologize to the Covid Bat Union.

Good for you they came in and we all know the rest of the story.

Then original purchase went to the Chinese vendor and we have no Idea on who the Chinese Vendor hired for logistics/shipping. The ultimate failure was a domino effect of small failures on many levels. It was mostly the Logistics company dropping the ball. The money we sent them was perfectly good, but we hired and paid them to do a job and they (Chinese Vendor) is ultimately responsible for the completion of the job we paid for in full, and they admit this.

 

[augiedoggy]

If you've ever bough anything from ebay or the like directly from china chances are if you looked into it or seen a packing slip for customs you would see its typically labeled as a "gift" to minimize customs charges and possible tarrifs and the like... This type of thing is very common.

 

[WKP]

Grade A CATL cells you say?

Solarsupplyhouse is going around saying this now?

Yes, but the customers also say this and confirm the quality. Do you have information that is quandary?

 

[Alkaline]

Solarsupplyhouse should say what these cells are, failed QC cells / Grade B. CATL does not sell to small shops, only auto OEM so all CATL being sold online are GRADE B/REJECT/STORAGE. Also it appears this company is just reselling QSO which has always sold grade B cells.

By now everyone on this forum understands there is no such thing as grade A or B. Only Cells that pass testing EV grade and those that Fail testing.

Many sellers like Gobel, CurrentConnected, 18650 battery store are now clearly showing grade B to customers, however, Docan and EEL are not which means they are ripping buyers off. If Solarsupplyhouse is not, then they too are ripping people off.

We can go on and on about how good the cells are or are not, but the fact is if you are selling failed QC cells you should advertise them as grade B and just offer a capacity test guarantee with purchase. Priced fairly they will still sell as the demand is quite high.

 

[Delphinus]

By now everyone on this forum understands there is no such thing as grade A or B. Only Cells that pass testing EV grade and those that Fail testing.

Do you know that EVE now laser a B in the QR code for no EV grade.

 

[houseofancients]

Do you know that EVE now laser a B in the QR code for no EV grade.

unfortunatly we've seen here multiple example of b's that were relasered with a bogus qr code

 

[Alkaline]

Yes but they have to be very cleaver about it, if not done perfectly it is easy to tell. EVE needs to do the same thing as REPT/CATL and strat crator /putting divots in the area to make it impossible for them relaser it.

Ultimately, it still comes down to the test report, that seems to be the hardest to fake properly.

 

[WKP]

Solarsupplyhouse should say what these cells are, failed QC cells / Grade B. CATL does not sell to small shops, only auto OEM so all CATL being sold online are GRADE B/REJECT/STORAGE. Also it appears this company is just reselling QSO which has always sold grade B cells.

By now everyone on this forum understands there is no such thing as grade A or B. Only Cells that pass testing EV grade and those that Fail testing.

Many sellers like Gobel, CurrentConnected, 18650 battery store are now clearly showing grade B to customers, however, Docan and EEL are not which means they are ripping buyers off. If Solarsupplyhouse is not, then they too are ripping people off.

We can go on and on about how good the cells are or are not, but the fact is if you are selling failed QC cells you should advertise them as grade B and just offer a capacity test guarantee with purchase. Priced fairly they will still sell as the demand is quite high.

Based on your purchases from them? How can you say that just by speculation? I have personally bought these cells and they are perfect.

 

[Alkaline]

No manufacturer test report = grade B / Reject sorry if it hurts your feeling this is well established now.


WKP post a picture of the cells you have, I'm reserving judgement until after I see it, I want to see where the QR CODE is first.

 

[MarcoWasRight]

Based on your purchases from them? How can you say that just by speculation? I have personally bought these cells and they are perfect.

Define "perfect"
Your definition of perfect might be less than what the EV buyers consider "satisfactory"
The easiest way a DIY'er can separate EV cells from rejects is to hit them with a 1C or 2C load. Of course this is going to require a very expensive DC Electronic Load in the thousands of dollars. If the voltage falls to an unacceptable level (there are graphs out there from the manufacturers showing how the cell should react under a 1C/2C load) then you very likely have an EV reject. Even if your cell maintains proper voltage that does not necessarily mean its an EV cell. It could have failed for another reason but this is the biggest difference I've seen in cells. The EV industry might actually be pushing the cells quite hard, your energy storage setup probably won't which is why you can get "Grade B" cells and not think there is anything wrong with them...unless you're getting the bottom of the barrel rejects.

 

[Delphinus]

Define "perfect"
Your definition of perfect might be less than what the EV buyers consider "satisfactory"
The easiest way a DIY'er can separate EV cells from rejects is to hit them with a 1C or 2C load. Of course this is going to require a very expensive DC Electronic Load in the thousands of dollars. If the voltage falls to an unacceptable level (there are graphs out there from the manufacturers showing how the cell should react under a 1C/2C load) then you very likely have an EV reject. Even if your cell maintains proper voltage that does not necessarily mean its an EV cell. It could have failed for another reason but this is the biggest difference I've seen in cells. The EV industry might actually be pushing the cells quite hard, your energy storage setup probably won't which is why you can get "Grade B" cells and not think there is anything wrong with them...unless you're getting the bottom of the barrel rejects.

I only buy EV grade cells for a simple reason hopping they will last 75% of the advertise cycles.

You refer 2C load did you check the datasheet of the cells of this tread?

Even for the maximum continuous discharge of 1C, research the cable that you need for a load of 300A and what inverters can accept those loads, my 5KW only do 120A.

This is a forum where many like me search for information and we should provide data that we know it's true, well tested and usable.