Basen Rewrapping CATL, other 280AH as Lishen?

[Pophamrt1]

Hi Everybody,

I just received 16 272AH cells from Basen on Saturday. They were ordered as Lishen 280AH, new Grade A, matched set in December. They appear to be multiple brands re-wrapped in blue PVC by Basen, bubbles and all. The batteries have several different vent color/config (photo below). 4 appear to be CATL ("broken" blue ring), 5 another brand (continuous blue ring), and 7 Lishen (clear vent, no blue) as ordered. Does anyone recognize the continuous blue ring's manufacturer?

The package included a note from Basen stating that Lishen provided the cells to Basen without any wrapping, so Basen did it in-house. Plausible, except if Basen wrapped several different brands and sent them to customers as Lishen. Anyone else get the note and different battery brands?


The QR codes are there, partially tucked under a new top cover. Despite the vent differences, the QRs all share the same format: 08BCBPB119C0519CSA121651, 08BCBPB21AA011AAK1101784, 08BCBPB119B1319BWA210029, etc. All start with an 08BCBPB. Are these Lishen factory formats? What are the odds that different brands all share the same QR? I searched the web and forum and can't find any Lishen factory QR examples. Can anyone share some?


Regarding condition, the 7 Lishen and 4 CATL are resting within 0.010v or less, but the 5 unknown with the continuous blue vent ring are noticeably lower by 0.018v on average.

I've contacted Basen and would like to think that it's all a simple misunderstanding and these are all Lishen batteries, but between the re-wrap story and different vents, while sharing conforming QR codes, have my doubts. In addition, there are discussions noted in forums that Basen ran out of Lishen batteries in late-December to early January and was only offering CATL or others. I really don't want to combine different brands, ages, specs into one bank. Anyone else run into this?

--Thanks

 

[Steve_S]

First time I have seen them intermix brands and ghost them as they did. To Me: Red Alert !
They are buying from battery cell brokers and NOT direct, this popped up before. Most of the Ali* Vendors buy cells from brokers, unfortunately, they may be "end runs", old stock, or cells which are on the edge of spec that cannot be matched & batched. Mixing Brands & Models != Good.

You would have to do a full capacity test on each cell (to do it properly, it takes 3 full runs. Charge to full 3.65V @25°C/77°F and saturated till they only take no more than 2A, allow to rest 4 hours, then a full measured discharge to 2.55V, then recharge & do it again. True capacity will actually be seen on 3rd run. NOTE: Any LFP cell charged to 3.65V WILL settle within 4 hours to around 3.450 +/- 0.025mv.

Primary Voltage Curve for LFP is 3.000-3.425 with 3.200 as Nominal Voltage.
Actual Capacity is always calculated @ 3.200V per cell.
IE: 3.2V X 280AH = 896kWh per individual cell
or 3.2V X 8Cells X 280AH = 7168kWh for a "24V" battery pack.

 

[Dzl]

Hi Everybody,

I just received 16 272AH cells from Basen on Saturday. They were ordered as Lishen 280AH, new Grade A, matched set in December. They appear to be multiple brands re-wrapped in blue PVC by Basen, bubbles and all. The batteries have several different vent color/config (photo below). 4 appear to be CATL ("broken" blue ring), 5 another brand (continuous blue ring), and 7 Lishen (clear vent, no blue) as ordered. Does anyone recognize the continuous blue ring's manufacturer?View attachment 35492

The package included a note from Basen stating that Lishen provided the cells to Basen without any wrapping, so Basen did it in-house. Plausible, except if Basen wrapped several different brands and sent them to customers as Lishen. Anyone else get the note and different battery brands?
View attachment 35493

The QR codes are there, partially tucked under a new top cover. Despite the vent differences, the QRs all share the same format: 08BCBPB119C0519CSA121651, 08BCBPB21AA011AAK1101784, 08BCBPB119B1319BWA210029, etc. All start with an 08BCBPB. Are these Lishen factory formats? What are the odds that different brands all share the same QR? I searched the web and forum and can't find any Lishen factory QR examples. Can anyone share some?
View attachment 35494

Regarding condition, the 7 Lishen and 4 CATL are resting within 0.010v or less, but the 5 unknown with the continuous blue vent ring are noticeably lower by 0.018v on average.

I've contacted Basen and would like to think that it's all a simple misunderstanding and these are all Lishen batteries, but between the re-wrap story and different vents, while sharing conforming QR codes, have my doubts. In addition, there are discussions noted in forums that Basen ran out of Lishen batteries in late-December to early January and was only offering CATL or others. I really don't want to combine different brands, ages, specs into one bank. Anyone else run into this?

--Thanks

I would not jump to conclusions about manufacturer here, it is interesting that they have different style vent caps, but this is not the only indicator you have to go off of, and maybe not the most important/telling.

Consider:
1. The plastic ring around the terminals
All 16 of your cells have plastic rings with a single 'tab' per terminal facing Northwest and Southwest, which is characteristic of Lishen 272
The CATL 271 cell I'm referencing (here) shows dual tabs positioned diagonally relative to the cell and 180 degrees relative to eachother.

2. QR Code Placement
Next to the Beige/Grey terminal on all 16, which is characteristic of Lishen 272
The 2 CATL 271 cells I'm referencing (here and here) show the QR code being located next to the black terminal.

3. Serial Numbers
Uniform length and first 6 digits (as you said, what are the odds..)

At the end of the day these visual cues are just imperfect indicators to quickly identify a cell manufacturer with decent accuracy, but its not perfect.

I think chances are they are all Lishen, maybe from different batches or years or iterations or factories. Anecdotally, I have noticed a trend in more reports of issues with quality and uniformity with Lishen cells received more recently. This same trend emerged with EVE cells towards the end of their popularity/mass availability. Its possible this was the result of more people receiving and testing their cells, or that the variable quality doesn't really become obvious until large numbers of forum members begin receiving them which is months after the first orders (this is logical since a cell can fail QA or lose its A grade status and be sold off to discount resellers for many different reasons), or maybe as they grow in popularity, resellers scrape the bottom of the barrel or scrounge cells from multiple sources to meet demand (sources as in wholesalers or batches not different manufacturers). Its hard to say, this is the nature of buying from the grey market sellers (even the so called 'trusted ones') there is not a ton of transparency or trust.

In any case, I wouldn't jump to conclusions in your situation or assume you got tricked/screwed until there is more evidence of issues. It will be interesting to see how these cells test out. I think you have as good a chance as anyone that your cells will test out just fine.

 

[Baserati]

Because of this post I switched buying my Lishens from Basen to Xuba. Once I receive them I will post about quality. Price was even better from Xuba.

 

[Gazoo]

I would not jump to conclusions about manufacturer here, it is interesting that they have different style vent caps, but this is not the only indicator you have to go off of, and maybe not the most important/telling.

Consider:
1. The plastic ring around the terminals
All 16 of your cells have plastic rings with a single 'tab' per terminal facing Northwest and Southwest, which is characteristic of Lishen 272
The CATL 271 cell I'm referencing (here) shows dual tabs positioned diagonally relative to the cell and 180 degrees relative to eachother.

2. QR Code Placement
Next to the Beige/Grey terminal on all 16, which is characteristic of Lishen 272
The 2 CATL 271 cells I'm referencing (here and here) show the QR code being located next to the black terminal.

3. Serial Numbers
Uniform length and first 6 digits (as you said, what are the odds..)

At the end of the day these visual cues are just imperfect indicators to quickly identify a cell manufacturer with decent accuracy, but its not perfect.

I think chances are they are all Lishen, maybe from different batches or years or iterations or factories. Anecdotally, I have noticed a trend in more reports of issues with quality and uniformity with Lishen cells received more recently. This same trend emerged with EVE cells towards the end of their popularity/mass availability. Its possible this was the result of more people receiving and testing their cells, or that the variable quality doesn't really become obvious until large numbers of forum members begin receiving them which is months after the first orders (this is logical since a cell can fail QA or lose its A grade status and be sold off to discount resellers for many different reasons), or maybe as they grow in popularity, resellers scrape the bottom of the barrel or scrounge cells from multiple sources to meet demand (sources as in wholesalers or batches not different manufacturers). Its hard to say, this is the nature of buying from the grey market sellers (even the so called 'trusted ones') there is not a ton of transparency or trust.

In any case, I wouldn't jump to conclusions in your situation or assume you got tricked/screwed until there is more evidence of issues. It will be interesting to see how these cells test out. I think you have as good a chance as anyone that your cells will test out just fine.

I would say you are the most observant person on this forum. You have been promoted to Official Librarian. And yes they are all Lishen cells unless someone messed with the QR label and put another QR label over the original one.

I recently found out something I wasn't aware of. Thanks to someone else's post, I became aware the QR label is stamped directly on the cells aluminum shell. Last night I took my DMM and measured the voltage between the QR Label and the negative terminal and the voltage measurement was 3.33 volts. The cells voltage measured at the terminals is the same. I did not check for leakage current yet.

 

[DJSmiley]

Today I received 1 box (out of 2) with 4 cells (ordered 8, second box is still in transit)

Also in my case, Based included the message about the wrapping.

In my first box were 3 cells with the 'grey' vent hole, and 1 cell with the blue ring one.. They look identical except for that ring color. Haven't checked QR yet or did any measurements.

 

[stevenborg]

I had a similar experience ordering Lishen cells from Basen (Alex Chen). Cells were rewrapped by Basen, but all looked good coming out of the box. All have the same terminals with the single negative terminal bump. They do have different vents, about 10% are blue, all the rest are grey. Battery voltage very similar across all batteries. Scanning a QR I get 08BCBPB119A0519ASA120306. That's only one, but similar to your barcode. However, where yours has numbers running along the side of the QR code, mine has nothing but the QR code. I'm running my first full test of the batteries now, but will post on another channel my questions.

 

[richard.b]

Received my first 4 boxes today, 16 cells. They look a bit like they could have been wrapped by Basen, but no note in any of these boxes. Grey vents on all 16 cells. Only thing I observed so far is that one of the threads on one of the cells is not as deep as the others. UPS delivered them very cold, we have -10 C here today. So allowing them to warm up in the garage over night before I do anything.

 

[Acho_303]

I could not recommend Basen, my order with them has been deceptive since they shipped. I received the same note in my order. I think they will say anything to make the sell, withhold important information until you have no agency to act on it, then just play the idk game

 

[Zwy]

Hi Everybody,

I just received 16 272AH cells from Basen on Saturday. They were ordered as Lishen 280AH, new Grade A, matched set in December. They appear to be multiple brands re-wrapped in blue PVC by Basen, bubbles and all. The batteries have several different vent color/config (photo below). 4 appear to be CATL ("broken" blue ring), 5 another brand (continuous blue ring), and 7 Lishen (clear vent, no blue) as ordered. Does anyone recognize the continuous blue ring's manufacturer?View attachment 35492

The package included a note from Basen stating that Lishen provided the cells to Basen without any wrapping, so Basen did it in-house. Plausible, except if Basen wrapped several different brands and sent them to customers as Lishen. Anyone else get the note and different battery brands?
View attachment 35493

The QR codes are there, partially tucked under a new top cover. Despite the vent differences, the QRs all share the same format: 08BCBPB119C0519CSA121651, 08BCBPB21AA011AAK1101784, 08BCBPB119B1319BWA210029, etc. All start with an 08BCBPB. Are these Lishen factory formats? What are the odds that different brands all share the same QR? I searched the web and forum and can't find any Lishen factory QR examples. Can anyone share some?
View attachment 35494

Regarding condition, the 7 Lishen and 4 CATL are resting within 0.010v or less, but the 5 unknown with the continuous blue vent ring are noticeably lower by 0.018v on average.

I've contacted Basen and would like to think that it's all a simple misunderstanding and these are all Lishen batteries, but between the re-wrap story and different vents, while sharing conforming QR codes, have my doubts. In addition, there are discussions noted in forums that Basen ran out of Lishen batteries in late-December to early January and was only offering CATL or others. I really don't want to combine different brands, ages, specs into one bank. Anyone else run into this?

--Thanks

Same note came with mine, all Lishen cells. Mine also had a sticker on each cell. All cells were at the stated voltage. I did finish top balance yesterday and will be checking capacity this weekend. All cells appeared new, no scratches to speak of, one cell had a slightly loose terminal hole but wasn't a concern. Came with busbars and studs with nuts but I wanted longer studs. The studs that came with might accept double nuts but I wanted to be certain. I was impressed with my cells and seller.

 

[richard.b]

Got my 64 cells from Basen a few weeks ago. One of the cells have a type of sticker for the qr code and some marks on the vent. Tested it yesterday and it came in at 281Ah so I guess it is fine? Will try to test all 4 packs once I have top balanced them.

They were supposed to ship double busbars, but only got that in 4 boxes of 16. Will diy my own now to get the same for all packs.

 

[garethb]

I'm under the suspicion that they are adding fake QR codes, It looks like under the stuck on QR code will be the real one. If you measure the position of the QR code on the top of my cells, they aren't all in the same spot (measure from the edge of the terminal to the top of the QR code with caliper gauge). very very minor difference like stuck on with hand rather than stamped by a machine.

 

[pip_11]

Just received the same note with my 16 cells, one of which has the blue ring all others are grey, very weirded out by this!
All cells tested from 3.296 to 3.301 I'll be doing the capacity tests over the next week or so, but so far so good, I guess

 

[Bud Martin]

Just received the same note with my 16 cells, one of which has the blue ring all others are grey, very weirded out by this!
All cells tested from 3.296 to 3.301 I'll be doing the capacity tests over the next week or so, but so far so good, I guess

My replacement battery from BASEN to replace the shipping damaged cell also has blue ring for the vent, it is tested out great.

SHENZEN BASEN 280Ah, I received my first order

You go in your order detail and there is a refund button. My post seems weird here, I add it cause out of 17 cells i received 16 of a kind and one different. Just to add to the idea that they send what they got, it's not very... professional. (My feeling). Thanks. I am curious, did they ship...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Ceberha]

My 4 cells (supposed to be Lishen 272) from Shenzen Basen were also re-wrapped per their enclosed letter, and appear mismatched. While 3 have the QR printed directly onto metal, the fourth has the QR on a white background. After top balancing in parallel, I set up a pack in series with an overkill BMS. On discharge I got close to capacity, although this mismatched cell caused an early BMS cutoff. The big problem is that when charging up again at 20 amp the voltage of the mismatched cell rapidly spikes above 3.65 per the BMS. This starts after only about 20% (50 ah) has been put back into the pack. I cannot charge with due to the BMS cutoff, I assume because of the different IR of the mismatched cell.
This was purchased thru Michael Caro, and we have been trying to get them to resolve this for a few weeks.....

 

[blutow]

That sounds like a pretty wonky cell. Have you tried swapping it into another position in the pack just to make sure there isn't a BMS problem going on?

Also, do you have an IR tester to see how well IR matches the other cells? My understanding is that the absolute value for those readers isn't that accurate for these bigger cells, but the relative readings between cells is meaningful. Most of my cells read .14-.16 IR, but I had one at .12. It doesn't appear to be causing any issues so far.

 

[Ceberha]

Unfortunately I don't have a IR tester. I have tried it in a few positions, and it seems that if I make it the first cell on the positive side of the pack the problem is much less pronounced, but I have not finished charging in that configuration.

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Whoa.
I was JUST ABOUT to buy cells from Basen when I read this thread.
Holding off now.
Thanks

Anyone have a link to Xuba?
Or has the "magic" faded from this whole prospect?

 

[flemmingdjensen]

Hi Everybody,

I just received 16 272AH cells from Basen on Saturday. They were ordered as Lishen 280AH, new Grade A, matched set in December. They appear to be multiple brands re-wrapped in blue PVC by Basen, bubbles and all. The batteries have several different vent color/config (photo below). 4 appear to be CATL ("broken" blue ring), 5 another brand (continuous blue ring), and 7 Lishen (clear vent, no blue) as ordered. Does anyone recognize the continuous blue ring's manufacturer?View attachment 35492

The package included a note from Basen stating that Lishen provided the cells to Basen without any wrapping, so Basen did it in-house. Plausible, except if Basen wrapped several different brands and sent them to customers as Lishen. Anyone else get the note and different battery brands?
View attachment 35493

The QR codes are there, partially tucked under a new top cover. Despite the vent differences, the QRs all share the same format: 08BCBPB119C0519CSA121651, 08BCBPB21AA011AAK1101784, 08BCBPB119B1319BWA210029, etc. All start with an 08BCBPB. Are these Lishen factory formats? What are the odds that different brands all share the same QR? I searched the web and forum and can't find any Lishen factory QR examples. Can anyone share some?
View attachment 35494

Regarding condition, the 7 Lishen and 4 CATL are resting within 0.010v or less, but the 5 unknown with the continuous blue vent ring are noticeably lower by 0.018v on average.

I've contacted Basen and would like to think that it's all a simple misunderstanding and these are all Lishen batteries, but between the re-wrap story and different vents, while sharing conforming QR codes, have my doubts. In addition, there are discussions noted in forums that Basen ran out of Lishen batteries in late-December to early January and was only offering CATL or others. I really don't want to combine different brands, ages, specs into one bank. Anyone else run into this?

--Thanks

Wow this is very concerning! It seems you have received 3 different brands!!! Lishen, CATL and EVE

 

[Gazoo]

Wow this is very concerning! It seems you have received 3 different brands!!! Lishen, CATL and EVE

If you read all the posts in this thread you will find it seems they are all Lishen.