BATTERY SELLERS - THE GOOD, BAD, UGLY -- or Jenny (DOCAN) so far so good ...

[Cheap 4-life]

@Alkaline directed me to this thread. I'm in the same situation - CATL 280Ah cells are on their way. I got a bit afraid of what I'll be getting if these have fake QR codes.

I googled a bit the CB310 and found other pictures (not from Docan) with the same QR code position. Moreover - the video below is a year-old video for the same QR code location, but for cells ordered from Aliexpress. Another image pointed me to Facebook and it directed me to a page that is related to "evlithium", no trace of Docan there.

So it is unlikely that Docan is doing this. To me, it seems more likely a CATL thing. Otherwise, it would be a great conspiracy theory that multiple resellers are putting fake QR codes the same way. Think a bit about it. If you can create a fake QR code why not put it in the same place as the original one?

So as long as the cells are not bloated and they pool the stated capacity I would be fine. Yep, I understand the common impression that we are getting grade B cells, but this is just an impression. Only time will show if our cells are good or not.

I asked Amy Docan why they covered up the original QR code. This is the response.

“Yes, CATL brand they don't supply their batteries for retailers, they only directly supply to the big company. So we have to hidend and remove the big QR code in the center.We use another company to purchase this batteries from the factory, the corner small code also original QR code from CATL factory.”

“This battery you can test the capacity, if they are not high quality , they can not test out over 280Ah. My customer tested the capacity is 299Ah.Only Grade A battery can get higher capacity than battery specification”.

Thank you very much
Amy Zheng

“So we have to hidend and remove” it does appear to be a “Docan thing”. Although other retailers might be doing the exact same thing.

 

[Alkaline]

This is not sufficient to mark a cell as good. What is equally (or even more) important than capacity is internal resistance. But if IR and capacity are fine - then I consider these as grade A cells on my scale.

Capacity life is another story. I'm living it outside the picture for now. The only way to see if we got crappy short-life cells is to wait a couple of years.

I agree, but money talks so the reason 9/10 sellers have grade B stock is people are buying them.

I won't because 2 years in I'm already down 258/280 with just like 15 or cycles and other issues. SO yeah If I can get 300 cycles from these that would be a plus, forget the 2000+ they advertised.

 

[Chris30559]

Well I finally got my 8 CATL 280 cells from Docan last week. Physically perfect condition, sides flat no swelling what so ever. I top balanced them to 3.55v (didn't feel the need to stress them all the way to 3.65v) and then discharged the full 280ah from them no problem. Discharge current was 40amps, I stopped discharging them after 280ah and the voltage was still 3.16v. based on some of the capacity tables I see on this site they somehow still have 10-15% left in them.

Final thoughts, I am very happy with my purchase from Docan and decision to go with the CATL over EVE cells. Will be buying more for sure.

 

[Hipster]

I also got 8 CALB Cells from Docan - 230ah models and on my 7th cell testing for Cap. so far they all gave over 230ah - they look mint excellent condition - i am happy so far also - having them here in the US - i got them in 5 days - i am also glad i got them over the EVE cells i was first looking to get but they were only in China so i went with the CALB - i think it may even be the better choice over EVE - i only go down to 2.9V and still got over 230ah - 2.9v to 3.6v -

 

[740GLE]

You have pics of the terminals of the 230 cells?

 

[Hipster]

they are welded 6mm studs - soon will finish on Cell 7 and start Cell 8 tomorrow last one - so far they all gave over 230ah not by much but consider that i didnt go down to 2.5V - i stop at 2.9V going down to 2.5v may have got a few more AH - could be 5ah more or a bit less - i am happy so far getting the full 230ah - these have been the best cells in the many years of buying cells - which were all under Cap. by some degree - it took many years of trying to get better cells - besides headway cells a decade ago -

 

[Alkaline]

Take a better picture.... can't tell if its re-lasered or not but there is a slight color difference between where the QR code is and the vent.

What do you get when you use the QR code scanner app?

ALSO... did you catch that the QR code starts with "BAD" could be nothing... could be something. In the end if you are happy with your purchase its what really matters.

 

[740GLE]

I have 8 Eve 230ah cells I picked up back in April from Docan, no complaints with them. Eventually I’ll prob pick up another 8 so I have two 24v banks, good to know CALB appear to be quality units.

 

[Hipster]

Take a better picture.... can't tell if its re-lasered or not but there is a slight color difference between where the QR code is and the vent.

What do you get when you use the QR code scanner app?

ALSO... did you catch that the QR code starts with "BAD" could be nothing... could be something. In the end if you are happy with your purchase its what really matters.

yes i did notice that BAD - i though that was funny also - not all have BAD - they all check out fine with the Code Checker - and all are giving me 230ah - i got some as high as 234ah - the lowest 231 and change - this is from 2.9v to 3.6v - i am not stressing it - these have been the best set of Cells i got ever so far - besides my first set of Headways - that was a decade ago almost - they look mint - no dents - no bloating - no scratches on the posts - recharging the 8th and last cell now - i am glad i went with the CALB - instead of EVE -

 

[Hipster]

here

 

[justgary]

here

Those are "DataMatrix" codes, not "QR" codes. Your "Cell 5.jpg" image decodes as "0B5CB37M55A33LBAC1000497", so it looks like the code is valid. It also looks like you should interpret it bottom line first, then top line.

I put the decoded string into the LFP decoder at https://www.gobelpower.com/lifepo4_decoder.html and found that it is a valid code for a CALB LFP cell, 230 Ah, 3.2 V nominal, born on 12 October 2021.

 

[Hipster]

yes bottom line first - its the same on all cells - the top line is the difference - i checked them all - they all show as a valid code - all show its CALB LF230 - i feel totally fine with them - no reason to think otherwise - i would get CALB again if or when i need more cells - but i think i may be fine for another 10 - 15 years with these before i need any more for my use anyway -

 

[Alkaline]

here

Those look good to me

 

[Hipster]

Those look good to me

i think so - i been buying these things for the past decade and these i have to say are the first ones that i got the full Cap. no dents or bloat or anything that looks bad - wrapping it perfect - besides headways when i first started are great cells - those were brand new top notch and i paid for that - a decade ago - it costed me $1700 i believe and got a 105ah pack out of it - think about that - this 230ah pack is replacing those headways i had for almost a decade now - and i still get 85ah out of them - with these 230ah - i am good for 15 years i would say - almost half the cost now with over double the Cap.

 

[hankcurt]

Those are "DataMatrix" codes, not "QR" codes.

I looked at the photos above and never noticed that these aren't QR Codes.
Has CALB always used DataMatrix to code their batteries?

I tried the LiFePo code scanner app on them and it doesn't work, so apparently it will only read QR Codes, which is a bit of a bummer.

Looking closely at the picture, you can see a "brushed" appearance to the metal around the code and around the vent. The un-etched squares inside the code matrix also have this appearance, which is a good indication that the code is original.

 

[Hipster]

the scanner app does work - thats what i used - you have to add the bottom line first - which are all the same - the top row are different - try it again - the only thing is my cells were all produced about a year ago - other than that - they are excellent - who knows if they sat at CALB before being sold off to vendors like Docan etc, or they just sat at the US warehouse - they may have had a Ton of them - since everyone thinks EVE are the best - i kind of wanted them also the EVE - but if you look back - not all EVE were that great or even that good - different results from different users - some bad some OK some under Cap. i am glad i didnt wait for EVE or got them from china - CALB will be it from now on - i wont need any for a few decades maybe -

 

[hankcurt]

the scanner app does work - thats what i used - you have to add the bottom line first - which are all the same - the top row are different - try it again

Interesting. Maybe my camera is struggling doing the scan on a screen.

It has worked in the past.

(edited because my previous reply was garbage for lack of actually looking at the content of your post. )

 

[Hipster]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear.

I was referring to the LiFePoQR Battery QR scanner app, which runs on a cell phone and lets you use the camera to scan the code and then it decodes and puts the resulting information in a list that can be exported. If there are a bunch of cells to decode, it makes the work a lot less labor intensive.

I agree that the code will work on the gobel power website.

Glad to hear that you got good cells.

thanks thats the app i used - the scanner app on my phone - the thing is - it dosnt work if you scan it - you have to enter it manually - at first i was concerned when it didnt work - then i found out its not the same as QR code to scan - CALB do it different - i tried it again after it worked fine when entered manually and on the global power site also -

 

[richardw]

I finally received the 16 battery cells yesterday which I ordered on Jan 7, 2022. I have not had a chance to open the boxes and inspect them yet, but except for one minor tear in the corner of one of the boxes, they seem to be in very good shape from the outside. I am looking forward to opening them and testing them, but it may take me some time as I do not have the BMSs yet that I need as I have not yet decided what voltage configuration I will use.

After many months, I finally unboxed my 16 cells to check them. I have been very busy and have not had a chance to look at them until now. I am very pleased to report that the cells appear to be in perfect condition. All of the voltages across all of the cells are within .001 of each other, and most are measuring at 3.294 volts with one or two measuring at 3.293 volts. Hopefully, in the very near future, I will have the rest of the equipment needed to begin using these cells.

 

[voltman]

The cells you have are NOT REPT, they have square terminals.

I don't think anyone cares about grade B or what not, the issue is Docan is doing this trickery and putting a fake QR code on the side.

https://www.reddit.com/r/LiFePO4battery/comments/pujggt

real QR code is always supposed to be next to the Battery Vent.

Looks like EVE putting B on the QR code has messed up Docan Supply, I don't get why they are doing this, Current Connected and EEL both sell grade B EVE cells and show the B on it, they at-least are honest about it. People would get over it, but I suppose some can not accept this bruise to the ego and have to do other things to deceive.

Thanks for your post @Alkaline. If you don't mind me asking, what do you make of this?

I've purchased a 48V 100Ah lifepo4 battery in a clear case. Through the clear case I can just make out some cell QR codes. I don't want to open the box as it voids the warranty, but I'm quite sure the first six digits of the code is OM1CAA.

The fifth digit, which denotes battery chemistry is an 'A'. Lifepo4 batteries have a 'B' as the fifth digit. 'A' denotes Ni-MH battery chemistry.

Do you have any idea what's going on here?