Bad Experience CATL 271ah Cells

[MikeSolarPT]

Hi guys,

Im sharing my experience with the company from alibaba , here i bought 16 cell CATL 271Ah. The price was very good with 1600dol delivered in Portugal. The shipping was a little over 2 months. That was about 100dol delived for cell.

The problems started, when they presented me with pictures of the cells without any holes on them. I asked if the cells would come with the holes, and they say yes.
After some days they send me a picture with laser welded stud nuts. I questioned about them if that would change the terminal contact with the busbar.

After i received them, 2 of the cells were damaged with some kind of impact.
I started to put the studs on the cells, that i had to buy because they "forget" to send me the studs our screws, and all the stud nuts that were welded, started to pop off just by screwing the studs by hand.

Also on better inspecting the cells, there is 3 cells swollen.

I contacted them and they agreed to refund me partially for 2 damaged cells and a value to pay someone to drill the holes on the terminal and tap them.

At this time im waiting for the refund to be made and not tested any cells.

Do you guys think the swollen cells will die fast? They refused to refund me for that...

 

[HRTKD]

Assuming you haven't charged or discharged the cell, that's more swelling than I would be comfortable with. These do not seem to be high quality cells and their sloppy terminals make a bad situation worse.

 

[emcharles]

I have been watching this forum for a very long time and decided to register,
i have been importing alot from alibaba, have many experience for years dealing and importing different kinds of electronics there, and most times in bulk for reselling in my country

I once contacted Starmax in Alibaba (looking for a competitive price and of course quality) and trust me, with all the questions and conversation held with them, i realized that their cells are of low quality, and their price might just be cheap, but its a no no for me.
Worst is their price is cheaper than the average cost of the cells they sell and that is not a good thing.
One thing i know about Chinese (not 100% true though), More money = More Quality.
Do not think the description on their site/Alibaba is true.
You have to contact them manually, and have a conversation with spec, price, quality, after-sale service, etc
Dont just conclude by reading what they post on their site as majority of them are just "Sales representative" not caring or knowing the details of what they are selling and worse, not fully understanding English.
You can aswell ask the sales person to "ask their engineer" if its that important.

You can try Xuba, though had a bad experience from Basen selling different batch to me (fixed with active balancers though.)
but do not always go for cheap.
Watch some videos of Starmax, sales pushing (instantneous response and creating of order) that was my experience. saw images of battery top (the black cover) not smooth and already peeling off, some cells (202ah i asked) QRcode was underneath the Top Black cover (i wonder why they will put it there) as i believe Battery manufacturers put their QRCODE on the top, not underneath, (why are they (Starmax) hiding it)
A reputable company is always busy and most times don't respond on time.

 

[Sanwizard]

Hi guys,

Im sharing my experience with the company Shenzhen Starmax Energy Technology Co., Ltd. , here i bought 16 cell CATL 271Ah. The price was very good with 1600dol delivered in Portugal. The shipping was a little over 2 months. That was about 100dol delived for cell.

The problems started, when they presented me with pictures of the cells without any holes on them. I asked if the cells would come with the holes, and they say yes.
After some days they send me a picture with laser welded stud nuts. I questioned about them if that would change the terminal contact with the busbar.

After i received them, 2 of the cells were damaged with some kind of impact.
I started to put the studs on the cells, that i had to buy because they "forget" to send me the studs our screws, and all the stud nuts that were welded, started to pop off just by screwing the studs by hand.

Also on better inspecting the cells, there is 3 cells swollen.

I contacted them and they agreed to refund me partially for 2 damaged cells and a value to pay someone to drill the holes on the terminal and tap them.

At this time im waiting for the refund to be made and not tested any cells.

Do you guys think the swollen cells will die fast? They refused to refund me for that...

In my experience, CATL cells that are shipping all tend to be a bit more bloated than Lishen or EVE. Check resistance, and then top balance and do a capacity test. If they hit the mark, you should be fine. There is one Alibaba company pushing 420ah cells that test to 240ah, so hopefully yours are not that bad.
I just bought 4 cells from Amy at Shenzhen Luyuan, and they came to about $150 per cell. They have not shipped yet, but at that price I am hoping for at least no bloat and well packaged.
New cells should be packaged well.

The pictures are for CATL cells from Shenzhen Jidian. The cells were also a bit swollen, but tested OK in the end. I am pretty sure also grade B, but were only $100 each shipped. I like the way they taped each terminal and each cell was packed in over an inch of foam surround.