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Another scam seller on AliExpress. "Small Den" or "Battery Supplier Store" selling used Yinlong LTO cells

cman

New Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2022
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9
If anyone else has bought from these seller please post here. Most people do not have the testing capabilities I do, and I feel bad for people who have been scammed by this seller thinking they got "A Grade" cells when in fact they bought old, used, and potentially dangerous cells.

I am putting together a list of all the multiple stores this guy runs. Its the same people running multiple stores on AliExpress.

--Yinlong specs state a minimum capacity of 45ah at 1C (45 amp discharge) and slightly under 40ah for a higher amp discharge.
This testing below, I only did a 0.5C discharge (20 amps) so I should have easily got 45 + Ah

Also, I started the test at 2.9V which is the absolute max you can charge.. you really should not charge over 2.8 Volts per cell - I also took it down to 1.4 volts and these cells are only supposed to go to 1.5V - so I did everything imaginable to try and squeeze extra capacity out of these cells.


The truth is, these are not 45ah cells. They are also very used.

I tested several others from this batch of 6 I bought and its the same story, or even worse with a jagged discharge graph which looks like it has poor internal resistance from being old and used/cycled thousands of times.

The weight of these cells is around 1170 grams each. They should be 1250+ grams each.

30ah, 35ah, 40ah, and 45ah Yin Longs are all physically the same size, so the higher capacity cells are heavier due to having more electrolyte inside them. .

I have owned 40 ah cells and 35 ah cells and they were approximately

1200 grams for the 35ah cells
1244 grams for the 40ah cells.

So the 45ah should be 1250 grams.. probably more like 1300 grams. But the Yin Long spec sheets shows 1.22kg - close enough to tell me that there is something wrong with these cells before I even broke out the internal resistance meter and the capacity tester.



I saw battery acid leaking and loctite/thread locker on the threads which indicates these are for sure used cells. Yinlong does not put on thread locker from the factory. These also did not come in original Yinlong packaging.



And then comes the capacity testing.. Wow (see attached images) all cells are only pulling 33-35ah. And thats only at 20amp discharge or 0.5C!! I have tested dozens of cells before and I am beyond confident in my capacity tester. It is accurate within 0.1 Ah.


These cells are just a straight up scam. Or should I say the seller "Small Den Lithium" and "Liiokala" and "Battery Supplier Store" is a scammer.





After all the crazy evidence i decided to remove the wrapper to try and find more evidence

So i took off the label and I saw scraped off barcodes where the seller scraped off the barcodes that had the model # and the capacity which said 30ah or 35ah... it was mostly scraped off and it is beyond obvious to me that this seller is an outright scammer. They know what they are doing and they are stealing from people.


AliExpress ruled in my favor and accepted and they are counterfeit cells. But they keep insisting on me working with the seller to come up with a solution. And things have just gone downhill to the point where I am just writing curse words to him calling him a fu**ing scum scammer.

He insists on me sending them back, and I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for shipping when he knowingly scammed me... if I had changed my mind that is different.. but he knowingly sold me used cells that are only 30 or 35ah.... they are worth only a small fraction of the $280 that i paid for the 6 cells... in fact, I cannot use them at all because they will damage the rest of my LTO bank if i mix them in with it.. its just all around bad.. they are next to worthless to me.



Because AliExpress has still yet to give me a refund and my dispute has been open for over a month, I have started sharing this story everywhere I can. I am going to post a review and share this everywhere. This scammer needs to be held accountable. I did pay with PayPal but I am hoping AliExpress does the right thing and gives me my money back because i feel like I have been stolen from... this is a complete joke.

It is guys like this that gives all the legitimate sellers in China a bad name. Everyone thinks its all scammers and I know that is not true... its just guys like this "small den lithium" guy that make all of China look like scamming thief's. I actually get stuff I like off AliExpress quite often... my capacity tester... my IR meter... all sorts of cool stuff.... I really hope they do the right thing.. because after a month of back and forth I am beginning to feel like I am screwed on getting my money back...



Sorry for the rant, I will post all the pics and evidence I have. Lets keep this thread gong and names of known associates updated so we can keep people from getting scammed by this gang of scammer companies in the future Here is my list of companies I know are the same people. I have done research and found out these 3 are ran by the same people on AliExpress.



"Small Den Lithium"

"LiioKala"

"Battery Supplier Store"







2.jpgmushang.jpg3.jpg
 
OK, that is all I've got for now. I just want to mention that I did not scrape those barcodes. I cut the wrappers off of them and found that underneath. The seller scraped those off probably because they say "30ah" or "35ah" on the barcodes.... these are supposed to be "New A Grade 45ah Cells"

Hopefully this will help someone else avoid getting ripped off.
 
Forgot this one.. this is the actual weight of one of the cells.. they were all 1166-1177 grams.. way under where they should be.(should be 1220-1300 grams) And this was with the end caps on so I was being generous.

You can see where they were forwarded from in California.. it took two months for them to arrive via container from China and then they were transferred to fedex.. no haz mat label.. super illegal to ship them without the haz mat.. this seller is something else. Everything shady and illegal to save a few bucks.


IMG_3791.jpg
 
It's a pity you have to use your own time and effort to provide evidence for Aliexpress and they still tell you to work with the scammer. I am having dispute issue for battery monitors from another scammer that were not shipped and Aliexpress have same approach. I have to say in the past Aliexpress dispute resolution was good but it has definitely changed to support the scammers now. In my case the scammer keeps offering a solution where I have to say I received the monitors then they promise to refund me if I do this. Has been going on for 6 weeks now and same response from Aliexpress each time to work with the scammer to resolve. Once I get this one sorted I am closing my Aliexpress account.
 
This guy seems just a charger manufacturer, not specialized in battery.
There are three labels from them as listed: LiitoKala, VARICORE and JUSTWEINI.

Website: varicore.cn.

WARM TIPS for guys who buy from aliexpress:
1, Make a search about the labels before you're going to buy with.
2, Go with the labels who focus on the things for a decade or two.
3, See whether they have an official website with constant update or not.
4, Google the labels if they are blacklisted before by anyone else.
5, Majority of businesses are doing good, but still a handful of them are exception.
 
This guy seems just a charger manufacturer, not specialized in battery.
There are three labels from them as listed: LiitoKala, VARICORE and JUSTWEINI.

Website: varicore.cn.

WARM TIPS for guys who buy from aliexpress:
1, Make a search about the labels before you're going to buy with.
2, Go with the labels who focus on the things for a decade or two.
3, See whether they have an official website with constant update or not.
4, Google the labels if they are blacklisted before by anyone else.
5, Majority of businesses are doing good, but still a handful of them are exception.


Oh shoooot!! I have yet to see the Varicore. I unfortunately did not know Varicore was also an associate of these guys. I made a purchase of another 16 cells of Lishen 16Ah from Vaircore.. they are still about a month out. If I had known it was also the same people I would not have ordered.

But I will not lie, if they test good I will gladly post information saying they are good. Luckily in my favor the Lishen I bought are 16ah.. the smallest they make.. so it will have been impossible for them to swap me with lower capacity cells like this yinlong situation. So The only other worry is them being used or B grade like poor internal resistance (like these yinlong are).

I think its great to give a second life to cells, and keep them in service instead of going in the trash (granted you can find an appropriate use for them).. its mostly the lower capacity than advertised and the fact that I paid for "New" cells and was expecting 25,000+ cycles.. not to buy cells that likely already have thousands of cycles used already.


Thank you for this info, I actually own a battery charger that is exactly the same as one i see on this varicore website.. but it does not say varicore on it. It seems they are putting their name on generic charger designs and calling it their own.. Not uncommon at all, and I actually like the charger.. its just a little NIMH AA/AAA charger/capacity tester.. so kind of ironic they sell devices that can test capacity and then are also selling batteries with capacity less than advertised.. LOL its a crazy world..
 
It's a pity you have to use your own time and effort to provide evidence for Aliexpress and they still tell you to work with the scammer. I am having dispute issue for battery monitors from another scammer that were not shipped and Aliexpress have same approach. I have to say in the past Aliexpress dispute resolution was good but it has definitely changed to support the scammers now. In my case the scammer keeps offering a solution where I have to say I received the monitors then they promise to refund me if I do this. Has been going on for 6 weeks now and same response from Aliexpress each time to work with the scammer to resolve. Once I get this one sorted I am closing my Aliexpress account.

Yes, It's been over a month now in the dispute. I am trying to remain calm and collected but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. There is just no way in the world that I am going to pay for return shipping when the seller is knowingly selling used cells with new wrappers on them showing a higher capacity than they truly are.

I hope they make the right decision, if not I have PayPal to fall back on.. but I am trying to wait and do the right thing and let the AliExpress dispute team take care of it.

AliExpress actually found in my favor more than a couple of weeks ago.. agreeing that the cells are "counterfeit and not rated capacity".. but then saying "We highly recommend you take steps to work this out with the seller"

LIKE WHAT!??? There is nothing to be worked out, I want a full refund and nothing less. If that involves me sending the cells back that's fine, but I want a shipping label to be provided to me. The seller has offered $10 and $20 compensation.. which is comical.
 
Small den batteries are reconditioned or re-wrapped to look new. Some of batteries are from lower capacity re-wrapped to label as higher capacity.

Their 45 AH LTO batteries are most likely 35AH LTO used and re-wrapped as LTO66160P or LTO66160K model.
 
Having spent several decades doing thousands of orders for my retail store from distributors AND as a normal consumer ,my favorite way of not getting my wings clipped by scammers is very easy and almost fool proof. It took a few good lessons at the start of the internet age to learn how to not get clobbered in purchasing Online .

Ask yourself 2 things before buying ANYTHING of substance.

#1)what recourse will I have if there is a problem”.?
#2) am I trying to save every last dime on this deal.?( is it too cheap.???)

consider the following when thinking about #1.

Can I call their main office and speak my language ?
Do they accept major credit cards..?
Can I trust their commitment customer service as advertised .?
Do they have a solid reputation in the country I live in .?
What is their return policy, is it clearly stated ,does it seem fair In my culture.?
Can I physically go to their city and state “in the country I live “ and sue them with confidence of “American due process“…?

Consider the following concerning #2..
” there ain’t no free lunch…if it sounds to good to be true then (bla bla bla)…most people that lose money are trying to save money too hard ..never let your tight wallet ruin your good judgement……do your homework and research before the purchase and you won’t have to chase your money and your product afterwards…don’t be a cheapskate in life…a greedy man is the easiest to scam….” I could go on ,but you get the point .

Some may say my thoughts are NOT PC ,or are offensive or whatever…I don’t really care , it’s my money, I earned it and I don’t want to be scammed. I do not buy anything if I cannot buy it from a reputable US based or US represented company ,period ! .. Other countries and cultures don’t always align with what you may consider good or normal business practice here in the states.

When you go offshore to purchase , you do so at your own peril in many cases depending on the country AND the company. Some are great and some are not so great…
Even if much product originates from other countries ( batteries , chip, electronics ,etc) , there are large companies in the states that can be a buffer of safety between you and that product… we all know the big companies that are pretty much safe …and we all should know the risky ones . No reason to name them.

Dont be a guppy.. and you will rarely lose your money.

jus my opinion… J.
 
Did you have any suggestions for reputable sellers for grade A LTO cells? Preferably aliexpress, ebay or alibaba, given that I'm in Australia and shipping from the US is ridiculously pricey.
 
If i were an oversea buyer, i would buy a small quantity as a sample order from a first-filtered seller, and see how well the seller handle the small sample order. ......
 
I ordered an e-bike battery on AliExpress and quickly realized that the stated capacity could not exist in the stated battery dimensions. There are too many scammers on that site for me.
 
I ordered an e-bike battery on AliExpress and quickly realized that the stated capacity could not exist in the stated battery dimensions. There are too many scammers on that site for me.
better sometimes search and inquire from an official website or retail store.
 
Forgot this one.. this is the actual weight of one of the cells.. they were all 1166-1177 grams.. way under where they should be.(should be 1220-1300 grams) And this was with the end caps on so I was being generous.

You can see where they were forwarded from in California.. it took two months for them to arrive via container from China and then they were transferred to fedex.. no haz mat label.. super illegal to ship them without the haz mat.. this seller is something else. Everything shady and illegal to save a few bucks.


View attachment 100960
great job.
 
Please avoid Hunan Huahui New Energy Co LTO cells too. They are fake and they don't care about service. They've act like scammers with me from the stard and lost my money !
 

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