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Alibaba Purchase Feedback & Promotion - Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

Cannabat

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Dec 1, 2020
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After doing quite a bit of research on this forum (thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge and experience!), I decided to go with a DIY 280Ah LiFePo4 battery bank for my caravan build.

I enquired with Xuba and Dongguan Lightning New Energy on Alibaba. Xuba took a few days to get me a quote but James Mo from Dongguan Lightning responded quickly - I ended up ordering from him.

The 280Ah EVE cells were out of stock but he offered 272Ah Lishen cells instead, and mentioned they were testing above 280Ah. I wonder if this is just from the boosted capacity readings you often get when the cells are brand-spanking new. Anyways, I ordered 4 x 3.2v 272Ah Lishen cells last week.

The total cost was $405 USD shipped to Australia (not inclusive of credit card fees). $405 / (4 * 3.2v * 272Ah) = $0.12/Wh.

3 days after payment, I received a photo and video of 4 cells showing the voltage, which all matched to 0.01v. My name and postcode in Australia was also written on a placard in the background of the video. I'm not sure how to attach a video but the photo is attached below.

This vendor provides the PWOD BMS but I wanted something with bluetooth. The current Daly BMS' low temperature sensors apparently do work if set correctly in the app, according to reports on this forum, so I went with a Daly. James Mo @ Dongguan Lightning offered to let me order whatever BMS I wanted and have it shipped to him, then he could include it in the shipment of the cells to Australia, thus saving shipping cost for me. This sounded complicated so I just ordered the Daly BMS from Daly's Alibaba store directly ($160 USD shipped). Nice of him to offer this service, though.

I mentioned this forum to James and he asked if I would share a promotion that is ongoing for a couple more days:
Dear Customer
Thank you for your support and attention, we will carry out the last promotion on December 12, 2020.
1. All products will provide 5%-10% discounts of varying degrees, such as hot-selling products Lishen 272ah, 202ah, etc., the platform will provide a maximum discount of 15%

2. We not only have platform discounts, but also corresponding cash back
Over 1000usd, reduce by 10
Over 2000usd reduced by 20
Over 3000usd, reduce by 30
Up to 50usd discount

3. We not only have cash back in line with the price, but we also have review cash back, which has been ongoing, and we will provide 15-20 usd cash back when we buy products and praise.

Our event time is limited, deadline: December 12, 2020

Welcome everyone to consult with me, I will provide more help! ! !

best regards
James MO

You can reach James by making an inquiry on their Alibaba store.

My cells shipped a couple days ago. I will update this thread when the cells arrive and report on cell matching and capacity testing.

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Based on this recent post, you might want to rigorously test your cells to ensure that they provide the rated Ah.

 
Based on this recent post, you might want to rigorously test your cells to ensure that they provide the rated Ah.


Thanks, yes I have a Renogy shunt on the way which I will use to do a capacity test with an inverter. I'm considering buying of the the dedicated battery testers that lets you select the discharge rate and such with a heating element as the load.

The supplier in that post is not the one from which I ordered, there are two vendors whose name starts with "Dongguan" (the location of the company) - Dongguan Lightning New Energy and Dongguan Huanhuan. Huanhuan is the company who has recently sent out some overrated cells. The reviews for Lightning have been good everywhere I have read (several reports on this forum).
 
I searched the internet for an urgent delivery of a 150Ah LifePo4 battery of 3.2 V for an insular solar system with 16 batteries. James Mo from Dongguan Lightning was very helpful and prompt to answer my questions. Along pictures with the size of the battery, which were highly useful, I also got two videos with the measurements of internal resistance and voltage. I bought from him a battery with urgent delivery, I hope it arrives to Germany within the next two-three weeks.

It has been a pleasure to do business with James Mo from Dongguan, I hope to do the same in the future. I definitely recommend Dongguan Lightning!
 
I must point out, that while the pictures show all the cells with matching voltage and possibly even with matching IR at that voltage, this does NOT mean the cells are Matched. they are NOT. The term "Matched" has been misused severely, often without any ill intention, as it is a matter of interpretation and translation.

Please see link in my signature regarding Status of ESS Systems.

Hope it helps.
 
I must point out, that while the pictures show all the cells with matching voltage and possibly even with matching IR at that voltage, this does NOT mean the cells are Matched. they are NOT. The term "Matched" has been misused severely, often without any ill intention, as it is a matter of interpretation and translation.

Please see link in my signature regarding Status of ESS Systems.

Hope it helps.
Thank you Steve! I am reviewing your thread now, this is important info that seems to be glossed over by the vast majority of people (including myself).
 
I've chatted with James about matching and capacity testing.

For prismatic LiFePo4 cell orders, voltage is matched to 0.01V and IR to 0.1mΩ across all cells in the order.

For a fee (around $4 USD per cell), a full capacity test can be done and results provided.

James and Dongguan Lightning are confident their cells are high quality and will provide good customer service for all customers.
 
Ultimately, it comes down to your personal comfort and your own critical thinking.
From what I have seen in general terms, This vendor has done OK, several people here bought cells from them. As with all vendors, there will always be an unhappy soul or two, there is absolutely no way to please everyone. One thing, always carry a Sac of Salt when dealing with any vendor.
 
James sent me some videos of them doing IR testing and also capacity testing. I don't think I really need to post them here, but anyways, it's just confirmation that they do indeed offer these services with what appears to be capable equipment.
 
LMAO... the YR Tests they show are a joke. It is not valid not even close. It is IR at resting storage voltage. They are not using $500,000+ commercial test cycle & logging test machines.

You bought them, you'll have them soon enough. You will soon discover the cells will deviate at different voltages & under different loading levels as well as when charging. They will deviate more once they reach 3.400V and up and also when the drain to 3.100 and below. They will NOT match at 2.50, 2.75 or even at 3.0V, nor will they above 3.400 unless you got REALLY LUCKY and did a full-on Bottom to Top Balancing process.
 
Sure, that may be what I find. I'm just relaying information about the seller for the benefit of consumers. Seems like most of the vendors do not want to post on this or other forums so of course the buyers are the ones who inform other potential buyers.

If it's useful to understand more comprehensively the seller, I'm happy to upload the videos somewhere. Then people who know what they are talking about (i.e. not me) can review and judge what is going on in the videos.
 
Cells, RD6018w bench power supply and Daly BMS have arrived.

Connected everything and doing an initial charge before top balancing.

Tested low temp cutoff set at 15C and 0C using salty ice water, works great and immediately. Did some tests on voltage protection as well, setting the cutoffs excessively modestly and those cutoffs also worked.

Pretty happy at this stage. As @Steve_S noted, they probably won’t actually be fully matched but yeah not a big deal for me.

photos below, including my janky charging setup. I am using stainless bolts because I don’t have any grub screws that are long enough and can’t find them locally. I’ll order some online I guess, I know wearing out the terminals is a risk. Or I guess I could just lop off the tops of the bolts.

C6A5726D-88B3-452C-8BBE-9532EA33E408.jpeg8557FDB4-7BFA-4BEF-B1CB-EA776E23714A.jpegDC9DAFBC-E098-4490-94BA-99172120D0BF.jpeg7AA0C123-31C6-4BDB-BE9E-6E79BDC99E2F.jpeg8872733F-565E-46F5-B5D4-2E745CAE2B68.jpeg
 
Now the real fun begins and the testing of your patience as well....
Use the above setup to get the cells up as far as they'll go with the BMS attached.
Then TOP charge each cell independently to 3.60-3.65 until amps drawn drops to <1.9A and sits static for a while.
Then replace the bus bars and go for it...
You could parallel them before reconnecting the BMS and let them settle, after 4 hours of so they will likely all be sitting around 3.550 /+- a bit.
 
Hi Manuel,

I’ve had the battery built with the cells installed in my caravan (RV/Trailer) for almost two months with no issues. I haven’t done a full capacity test but we’ve discharged them down to about 30Ah during normal use. I installed a renogy shunt with screen inside the van to monitor the battery.

I’m very happy with the cells and have zero complaints.

The other renogy gear (50A dcdc charger, 1000w inverter) is also performing as it should. No issues.
 
Hello Friends,

Now I would like to take the opportunity to tell you my experience with James Mo from Dongguan Lightning New Energy on Alibaba.

I ordered in the beginning some cells from BASEN, which is good. Alex did a good Job. After a while I read here in the Forum about
Dongguan Lightning New Energy. I beginning to text with James Mo and I was absolutely satisfied at all, that gentlemen is always on the ball and give you always a quick reply. The batteries are very very good. Steady GET GRADE A if you order Grade A cells.
Mostly the batteries have more capacity as described. The company make videos from matching the cells as well.
James Mo is a very good choose to make a long term business. I am very happy about that and want to make more and more business with him. ABSOLUTELY recommended at all.

Thank you James.
 
I ordered 16x 280A Lifepo4 cells from Dongguan Lightning New Energy on October, 25th. Everything went well, communication is very clear and easy. Unfortunately delivery does take quite long, currently the ship is expected to arrive December 19th at the port. It will take another 10-15 days until the cells will arrive in Germany at my home.

Keep you updated...
 
Thanks, yes I have a Renogy shunt on the way which I will use to do a capacity test with an inverter. I'm considering buying of the the dedicated battery testers that lets you select the discharge rate and such with a heating element as the load. .
I have the 500a Renogy shunt (got it on sale). It's decent, but it runs about 5% short (100 amps reads as 95-98a), and it won't pick up anything under .1 amp. That's fine for my use, I have a much more accurate Fluke to test it against, and 5% is still close enough to know about how much juice I have left. But for a capacity test, be aware that the shunt may be somewhat off.

Also, if you do test them, make sure that all cells are tested at the exact same temperature. A few degrees can make a big difference.
 
I ordered 16x 280A Lifepo4 cells from Dongguan Lightning New Energy on October, 25th. Everything went well, communication is very clear and easy. Unfortunately delivery does take quite long, currently the ship is expected to arrive December 19th at the port. It will take another 10-15 days until the cells will arrive in Germany at my home.

Keep you updated...
The cells arrived a few days ago. Everything seems pretty good. Cell voltage difference is only 0,001V, internal resistance between 0,1 and 0,134mOhm. Every cell has some small marked area, which I assume is from quality control. I don't think that the cells are really grade A, but honestly did not expect that. So for the price (125Euro each, everything included) I'm really happy and can recommend Dongguan Lightning New Energy.
 

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