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Dongguan Lightning New Energy order, used CATL 120Ah LiFePo4??

buddhafragt

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Joined
Jul 31, 2021
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18
Hello,
I ordered CATL 120Ah cells at Alibaba from Dongguan Lightning New Energy Technology, the seller was Hayley!
I ordered there, because of the good reputation here and in the net.
The cells arrives some days ago and I am quite angry because I think the cells are used: Upper cover foil comes off, Dirty and scratched underside, Remains of old adhesive on the underside.
Hayley denies this and says the cells are brand new, Grade A.
I checked the capacity and it is around 112 Ah. (full cycle 3.65V - 2.5V)
what do you think about it? I have attached a few pictures.....
 

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I use a professional battery capacity tester...
Doesn't really say much. You might want to check the voltage at the cells terminals when the capacity tester shuts off. That is unless your professional capacity tester has sense leads to measure voltage directly at the cells terminals.
 
Doesn't really say much. You might want to check the voltage at the cells terminals when the capacity tester shuts off. That is unless your professional capacity tester has sense leads to measure voltage directly at the cells terminals.
The tester has sense leads to measure voltage directly at the cells terminals! I tested many cells and the tester works correct! I Also checked the voltage with a high precision voltmeter.

But I dont like to discuss my test equipment, more the appearance of the cells....
 
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Obv the capacity is off by 7% If it is within acceptable margins is debatable. Normally cells rend to be higher capacity than rated tho ?

I do however believe cells are usually without extra padding under. I have 40x repts cells and they only got the blue shrink wrap on bottom.

Probably new but not grade A. If they where grade A you would have to buy them from a real catl reseller more expensive ?
 
But I dont like to discuss my test equipment, more the appearance of the cells....
I understand. Sometimes a reseller will rewrap a cell and call it Grade-A and capacity will be good.

Since your capacity test resulted in 112ah's and the appearance of the cells is not good, I would request a refund equal to whatever you think is fair. The cells you received are not Grade-A, but I am sure your cost per KWH is less than if buying directly from the manufacturer.

If it was me I would request a 10% to 20% refund of whatever you paid. It's better to go that route than to go for a full refund. Otherwise dispute the full amount with your CC company.
 
I understand. Sometimes a reseller will rewrap a cell and call it Grade-A and capacity will be good.

Since your capacity test resulted in 112ah's and the appearance of the cells is not good, I would request a refund equal to whatever you think is fair. The cells you received are not Grade-A, but I am sure your cost per KWH is less than if buying directly from the manufacturer.

If it was me I would request a 10% to 20% refund of whatever you paid. It's better to go that route than to go for a full refund. Otherwise dispute the full amount with your CC company.
I made the mistake of not paying by credit card but by bank transfer.... :cautious:
 
Obv the capacity is off by 7% If it is within acceptable margins is debatable. Normally cells rend to be higher capacity than rated tho ?

I do however believe cells are usually without extra padding under. I have 40x repts cells and they only got the blue shrink wrap on bottom.

Probably new but not grade A. If they where grade A you would have to buy them from a real catl reseller more expensive ?
Hayley wrote me, "brand new and grade A".... it is OK to sell grade B if the seller also sells it as grade B. But if the seller sells Grade B as Grade A, that is FRAUD!
I have already read here in some posts that people have bought 280Ah and then measured 272Ah or so and are "very happy." :oops:
I bought Winston cells 60Ah a few years ago and I deep discharged them 2x, I think they have 800 cycles now. I measured them the other day and they still have 61Ah!!!
If my cells I bought from Dongguan Lightning New Energy are used... how many cycles they have already???? And Grade B is also not better.
 
Oh grade A for them is the rejected cells that did not match the specs. For her there is something called A+ and those are the ones that matches the specs of the cell... go figure
I feel that when I order A+ they will tell me oh but there is A++ ...
 
@buddhafragt

I had a good experience with Hayley and Dongguan Lightning, so it's disappointing to see you didn't. Sorry to hear your plight.

Have you capactiy tested all the cells, yet? I would do that and take pictures of everything. Then submit all the info to alibabba in a dispute. If you were supposed to receive new grade a 120ah and you're clearly not, i would imagine alibaba should have no choice but to side with you.

I have no experience disputing with alibaba so best of luck.

I am following this thread. Curious to see the outcome.
 
The first thing that catches my attention is when the vendor claims the tops and bottoms were falling off when they got them. CATL would not ship batteries like that, and certainly wouldn't call them grade A. They should have rejected them if they legitimately ordered Grade A cells.
 
I have tested all the cells for their capacity, the cells were between 109Ah and 117Ah, none reached 120Ah.

I have filed a buyer protection claim with Alibaba. It has been rejected.
So I can only advise everyone to pay only by credit card or Paypal.
Alibaba's buyer protection always decides for the seller, so you should not rely on this.
 
I have tested all the cells for their capacity, the cells were between 109Ah and 117Ah, none reached 120Ah.

I have filed a buyer protection claim with Alibaba. It has been rejected.
So I can only advise everyone to pay only by credit card or Paypal.
Alibaba's buyer protection always decides for the seller, so you should not rely on this.
What did they reject it based on? What information did you supply when you filed it?
 
What did they reject it based on? What information did you supply when you filed it?
I supply them with the low capacity tests, pictures and so on, of course!
There was no justification as to why it was rejected,
except that they wrote that the seller wrote that I didn't do the capacity test properly.
 
I have tested all the cells for their capacity, the cells were between 109Ah and 117Ah, none reached 120Ah.

I have filed a buyer protection claim with Alibaba. It has been rejected.
So I can only advise everyone to pay only by credit card or Paypal.
Alibaba's buyer protection always decides for the seller, so you should not rely on this.
I only had one issue with an Aliexpress seller and they ruled in my favor.
 
I ordered from hayley at dongguan lightning last year and had good luck so ordered again aug 9, 2021 and something is not right, my alibaba will not even pull them as a supplier anymore and I no longer have access to any messages from hayley either...anyone elae having similar issues????
 
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