CATL 271Ah cell issues.

[Julianl]

They are certainly well used.

Well put.

I tested 4 and got 258-265Ah. The 265Ah result was @10A. That cell tested 261Ah@40A.

I even bought an EBC-A40L to give me a second opinion.

@Michael B Caro really needs to address this issue.

Another thing to add, although the clock has run out for most, ups will let you refuse a package if it was delivered but not signed for. I think FedEx is the same. I was able to get all boxes sent back to speed king this way. I did add some foam between cells give them the best shot of not getting any more damage.

• If the package was delivered to a neighbor or released without a signature and has not been opened, you have five business days from the day of delivery to request a Return to Sender. After five business days you will need to contact the shipper.

 

[Umatillab24]

Michael the four cells I received had serious enough deformation that I won't be using them, So zero volts on these cells.
Thank you.

 

[Rob Cameron]

ok so after waiting all this time, they want a count of now many cells for each of you fall in each catagory:

For this abnormality, we first suggest you the following operations:
1. Please tell you each customer to check all the batteries, and count the 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation to us,
2. Slight pits and insulation The skin is damaged and there is no leakage. Products with normal voltage are recommended to your customers as much as possible. I have confidence in the safety and reliability of the products we provide. At the same time, we will seek compensation from the freight forwarder to minimize the loss of you and your customers.
3. According to the products you provide with 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation in Article 1, we will be able to give you the best packaging, the best quality, and the most reasonable speed.

I assume that 3 means that for those cells they plan on providing replacements. Again, if this ends up being the case I will be having an Alibaba representative check what is being sent before the boxes are sealed up and they will check the packaging too.

I am expecting the QTY of four(4) M8 Stud, Grade A Cells I ordered with no damage, bloating, etc. Mine (qty 4) fall in #3 category with zero voltage, serious deformation, and some leaking. You have all pics from me as well. I also assume most of us also fall in the category of "didn't get what we ordered". Will we be shipped the cells we ordered? I am looking for places locally to dispose of the current cells I have as it sounds like the shipper does not want them sent back, correct? What is the timeline of getting new (correct) cells? This is holding up my build. Thank you.

 

[NM_mogman]

ok so after waiting all this time, they want a count of now many cells for each of you fall in each catagory:

For this abnormality, we first suggest you the following operations:
1. Please tell you each customer to check all the batteries, and count the 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation to us,
2. Slight pits and insulation The skin is damaged and there is no leakage. Products with normal voltage are recommended to your customers as much as possible. I have confidence in the safety and reliability of the products we provide. At the same time, we will seek compensation from the freight forwarder to minimize the loss of you and your customers.
3. According to the products you provide with 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation in Article 1, we will be able to give you the best packaging, the best quality, and the most reasonable speed.

I assume that 3 means that for those cells they plan on providing replacements. Again, if this ends up being the case I will be having an Alibaba representative check what is being sent before the boxes are sealed up and they will check the packaging too.

When am I going to get a reply from you? I am waiting since March for my 26 cells. When do I get an update on my order? You are obviously monitoring this thread.

 

[Mightymach]

(4) more 310ah cells with 0 voltage.

 

[Made in North Pole]

16 cells with 0.0000v. ?

 

[eugenesan]

@Michael B Caro
Thanks for the update.
I understand the supplier requested more info on cells that were delivered.
But, what about those cells that were not delivered due to refused delivery or returned to sender by sender request?

 

[NameBrand]

@Michael B Caro
or returned to sender due to bad address labeling with no further contact and not returning even FedEx's calls?

 

[Bubba1]

It looks like the fat lady is singing.

 

[David S]

ok so after waiting all this time, they want a count of now many cells for each of you fall in each catagory:

For this abnormality, we first suggest you the following operations:
1. Please tell you each customer to check all the batteries, and count the 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation to us,
2. Slight pits and insulation The skin is damaged and there is no leakage. Products with normal voltage are recommended to your customers as much as possible. I have confidence in the safety and reliability of the products we provide. At the same time, we will seek compensation from the freight forwarder to minimize the loss of you and your customers.
3. According to the products you provide with 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation in Article 1, we will be able to give you the best packaging, the best quality, and the most reasonable speed.

I assume that 3 means that for those cells they plan on providing replacements. Again, if this ends up being the case I will be having an Alibaba representative check what is being sent before the boxes are sealed up and they will check the packaging too.

Every one of my cells fall into serious deformation category. So 8 cells.

 

[ludditeal]

Have you cap tested any?

Has taken me a while but finally managed a capacity test for my assembled pack - 8S 24V CATL 310Ah using an inverter and a 300w lamp. I only tested down to lowest cell hitting 2.5V and the Victron shunt I have recorded 296Ah so less than 310 advertised but not as bad as some of the figures mentioned on here. Cell 8 voltage was the one that tripped. Voltages were 2.89, 2.77, 2.65, 2.86, 2.70, 2.93, 2.81 and 2.49 when BMS tripped out. As mentioned before, for me whilst I am not ecstatic it is 20+ more Ah than I had planned to install so I can live with it... will see what it is like in a year of traveling!

 

[MiPaul]

Has taken me a while but finally managed a capacity test for my assembled pack - 8S 24V CATL 310Ah using an inverter and a 300w lamp. I only tested down to lowest cell hitting 2.5V and the Victron shunt I have recorded 296Ah so less than 310 advertised but not as bad as some of the figures mentioned on here. Cell 8 voltage was the one that tripped. Voltages were 2.89, 2.77, 2.65, 2.86, 2.70, 2.93, 2.81 and 2.49 when BMS tripped out. As mentioned before, for me whilst I am not ecstatic it is 20+ more Ah than I had planned to install so I can live with it... will see what it is like in a year of traveling!

Good news. Did those get balanced before the test?

 

[ludditeal]

Good news. Did those get balanced before the test?

Yep... I followed the "Step and pause" process in the document "Top Balancing LiFePo4 Cells using a low cost benchtop power supply" from the resources going to 3.60V. Just recharging the pack and waiting to see if the cells do come out together. Having read elsewhere that cells that aren't matched have a habit of going out of balance to the point that the BMS can't balance I have also decided to invest in a 1.2A Active balancer which isn't fitted yet but will be once I acquire my solar panels and B2B charger and fit it all in the van.

 

[MiPaul]

Looks like you have 2 that are driving the pack capacity. I'm waiting on a shipment of 150ah cell for a 2P8S for our coach. I have a pair of 3.3V 60 amp supplies that be dialed up to 3.6V and an ET1300 load just waiting ?

 

[JJJJ]

For this abnormality, we first suggest you the following operations:
1. Please tell you each customer to check all the batteries, and count the 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation to us,
2. Slight pits and insulation The skin is damaged and there is no leakage. Products with normal voltage are recommended to your customers as much as possible. I have confidence in the safety and reliability of the products we provide. At the same time, we will seek compensation from the freight forwarder to minimize the loss of you and your customers.
3. According to the products you provide with 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation in Article 1, we will be able to give you the best packaging, the best quality, and the most reasonable speed.

If a cell is leaking, I would not consider it safe, regardless of any residual voltage that "might" be present.

 

[TWNomadin]

Yep... I followed the "Step and pause" process in the document "Top Balancing LiFePo4 Cells using a low cost benchtop power supply" from the resources going to 3.60V. Just recharging the pack and waiting to see if the cells do come out together. Having read elsewhere that cells that aren't matched have a habit of going out of balance to the point that the BMS can't balance I have also decided to invest in a 1.2A Active balancer which isn't fitted yet but will be once I acquire my solar panels and B2B charger and fit it all in the van.

What Active Balancer did you choose?

 

[ludditeal]

What Active Balancer did you choose?

I picked one with an LED so that I can see it is doing something as some of them have no indicator (although probably won't be able to see that when it is packaged in the van).. Haven't tried it yet though so can't give any feedback on whether it is OK. From first look the leads are a bit short - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274784760651 I am in UK but the same/similar are available on Aliexpress or Amazon and I would guess eBay in the US depending on where you are. My pack is 3/4 charged from my capacity test and at the moment all the cells are within 0.002 of a volt according to the BMS.

 

[MCJEFE]

This guy does pack them well and does the right thing with damage.
Apparently your order and at least one other one that has been delivered that were from him were in a shared container. One of the boxes that another supplier had in there caught fire and lots of damage was done to the boxes that were hastily pulled/thrown out of the container. No idea why they would go ahead and deliver any of them that were beat up like that.

I will ask him about the 2.907v cell tonight......................was the voltage that they were shipped at on the label?

Update.....my supplier says that the 2.907v cells should not be any problem at all.

Hey Michael,
You said the Supplier of my cells "does the right thing with damage"...

Based on your past experience, how long should I expect my damaged shipment take to be resolved since it came from your "Main Supplier"?

I emailed the pictures and information to you 8 days ago and have not received any feedback yet, except that the pictures are ok (last week)...

I am hoping that your "Main Supplier" will be more responsive than the "New Supplier" that screwed up the rest of these guys orders.

BTW, thanks for being a man of your word with me and "making things right" with the multitude of hiccups we encountered along the way with my order. I for one appreciate that your dealing with the damaged shipment and Chinese suppliers with your buying clout rather than me.

I don't envy you having to fix such a huge cluster F' at once with so many orders and 3 different shippers... But again, I do appreciate it!

 

[AER]

Hello all. I want my money back. This just has not worked out the way I thought it would. I bought thru friends and family so have no hope there. Without reading a million posts and threads, what do I have to do?

 

[audreez]

just got mine today (mid july order of 16x 280ah), i think I'm luckier than most here, no bus bars or screws, going to do top balancing and capacity tests and see if they are usable, they seem to be new cells with qr codes intact (peeled one back to check if a fake one was on top) if anyone knows by the qr code are these 280AH or 271AH

 

[Tingusone]

Hello all. I want my money back. This just has not worked out the way I thought it would. I bought thru friends and family so have no hope there. Without reading a million posts and threads, what do I have to do?

Im in the same boat

 

[gilatm]

expand...

All four of my 310ah cells fall into serious deformation category.
Gil

 

[Sanwizard]

just got mine today (mid july order of 16x 280ah), i think I'm luckier than most here, no bus bars or screws, going to do top balancing and capacity tests and see if they are usable, they seem to be new cells with qr codes intact (peeled one back to check if a fake one was on top) if anyone knows by the qr code are these 280AH or 271AH

Jeez. Whoever packed these at the supplier should be shot. If the supplier simply did not cheap out on packaging, none of these issues would have happened. They should be 100% liable.

 

[AER]

ok so after waiting all this time, they want a count of now many cells for each of you fall in each catagory:

For this abnormality, we first suggest you the following operations:
1. Please tell you each customer to check all the batteries, and count the 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation to us,
2. Slight pits and insulation The skin is damaged and there is no leakage. Products with normal voltage are recommended to your customers as much as possible. I have confidence in the safety and reliability of the products we provide. At the same time, we will seek compensation from the freight forwarder to minimize the loss of you and your customers.
3. According to the products you provide with 0 voltage, leakage, and serious deformation in Article 1, we will be able to give you the best packaging, the best quality, and the most reasonable speed.

I assume that 3 means that for those cells they plan on providing replacements. Again, if this ends up being the case I will be having an Alibaba representative check what is being sent before the boxes are sealed up and they will check the packaging too.

I have 8 damaged cells with swelling, as well as the skin is a mess. I also have 8 I never received. Outside of asking for a refund, what do you want me to do @Michael B Caro ?

 

[MrM1]

Hello all. I want my money back. This just has not worked out the way I thought it would. I bought thru friends and family so have no hope there. Without reading a million posts and threads, what do I have to do?

I think it depends on "IF" .

IF your cells have not shipped yet, I believe Michael holds your funds. Once the supplier ships, Michael pays them.

So, IF you have a tracking number or were told by Michael your order shipped, all you can do is wait for the suppliers response.

IF you don't have any indication of shipment , you need to reach out to Michael until he responds in private messages and email to stop the order as soon as possible.