Eve 105 with questionable (reprinted?) QR code

[marksman]

I tried to balance the cells and it didn't turn up good, as I've previously stated. The charging current didn't go to zero. I tried charging individually, but only got to do it for two cells and one settled well below 3.600V. Bummer.

Also, I don't know what is under that sticker: a recycled cell? a lower spec cell? an out of spec cell?

 

[marksman]

This one. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...9204640.1005001458325206&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

But I want to buy the 600W version,

Unfortunately I can't afford to splurge on a battery tester. I even asked among friends and neighbors whether someone has a tester I could borrow, but no luck.

 

[Pi Curio]

I tried to balance the cells and it didn't turn up good, as I've previously stated. The charging current didn't go to zero. I tried charging individually, but only got to do it for two cells and one settled well below 3.600V. Bummer.

Do you have a shunt installed in your system?

Maybe you could do a few charge-discharge cycles to try balancing the cells further and get a sense of just how much capacity are you getting out of the battery on each cycle and observe if the cells are improving.

Also, I don't know what is under that sticker: a recycled cell? a lower spec cell? an out of spec cell?

That's something probably only EVE could shed some light on with certainty.

 

[houseofancients]

Contrary to the impression my words may have left, I want NKON to succeed, but only NKON can make sure of that. Not me, I have no say in how they run their business, nor I'm affiliated with it.

If I were to run a business that in its entirety depends on doing a business with another business that operates in another country with a different language and culture, and do so for over a year, rest assured I would be very familiar with their language and culture and would be prepared for the cease of operation of the business in question during their national holidays.

And do so, by simply making sure there's a sufficient number of extra units in the shipment to make sure I can fulfill the part of the deal of replacing the bad or inadequate units for a decent portion of orders in the batch during the Chinese holiday period, and sort out the matter with EVE when possible.

Later, the remaining units can be redirected to orders made within the holiday timeframe.

Just my 2 cents.


Once again, I hope NKON does right by the OP.



@marksman

Just a thought,

You've probably already done this, but have you tried to assemble the battery and run a few charge cycles with your solar system, and let the BMS do its thing balancing and bringing the cells to life so to speak?

Didn't get the impression that you wanted nkon to fail, just stated a rather obvious thing..
It is Chinese new year, good luck in getting any answers from china during that period

 

[marksman]

I can confirm, I was there for work a decade ago and during Chinese new year the office was closed.

 

[marksman]

And I've got an email. Basically it says that Eve confirms that sometimes the etching is not clear and then they print the QR on a sticker and put it over the etched QR and these stickered cells are no different than the others.
I've asked for written permission to peel the stickers without voiding warrranty and see if there is any trace of an identical QR over there. If there is not, I call bulls**t and invoke warranty. If there is, well, Eve is kinda sketchy.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Eve is kinda sketchy

Wouldn't be the first time...

 

[houseofancients]

Wouldn't be the first time...

exactly... erm 280K comes to mind....
however that doesn't explain the top balance symptoms OP described

 

[houseofancients]

And I've got an email. Basically it says that Eve confirms that sometimes the etching is not clear and then they print the QR on a sticker and put it over the etched QR and these stickered cells are no different than the others.
I've asked for written permission to peel the stickers without voiding warrranty and see if there is any trace of an identical QR over there. If there is not, I call bulls**t and invoke warranty. If there is, well, Eve is kinda sketchy.

did NKON forward the official EVE email ?

 

[EastFalcon]

This is sounded like some fairy tale the company is making up, you should look under the qr code. I have not seen this before and why hasn't this come up on any other cells before. Most of these companies with real grade A also give you a test report like 18650batterystore and sunfunkits, did you get it with your cells?

 

[marksman]

No, I did not. However, after I started my email exchange with them, I got a large excel file, with 5000+ entries, which contain voltages and capacities for each cell in the shipment. Found mine there, towards the end of the list, 4000 hundred-ish, with voltage matching my measurements as they arrived. I've scribbled the values on the top of each, and after getting the Excel it was a surprise to see they matched.

did NKON forward the official EVE email ?

No, I only got a quote of a few lines out of it.

 

[marksman]

however that doesn't explain the top balance symptoms OP described

I'm currently trying to balance individually. On the 3.362 V cell it managed to charge to 3.638 V, end current was 0.01 A, I called it a win. I have 4 more to go, these came to rest at 3.512 V. The other 4 came to rest at 3.575 - 3.590V after individually balancing, almost the same as the good batch (3.580-3.600).

 

[ZEUS-FL]

Cells are holding the charge pretty good and balanced after 2 hours of finish charging

 

[marksman]

Test again after one day.

 

[marksman]

The saga continues. My communication with Nkon has apparently gone cold, it's more than a day since I've proposed to check if there is a trace of the same QR on the cells, under the stickers, and no reply.

In parallel I've contacted Eve to find out whether the stickered code is something they usually do or am I looking at a sketchy cell. I provided a picture and asked for their opinion. This trail has gone cold, apparently they passed my email address to a middleman, who promised me a good deal on Eve batteries. I asked them the same question: is the stickered cell an original Eve? Got an automatic reply stating they will get back to me in two days.

I'm not sure whether I'm going to pursue this matter forward. Sure, I can file a complaint with the European Consumer Center and show them the email exchange with Nkon, and maybe get some compensation. Money can't buy trust and I wish this thread didn't exist, I do not want harm done to anybody but I felt cheated when I discovered the stickers.

 

[marksman]

@ZEUS-FL how are the voltage readings now?

Later edit: the middleman (actually middlewoman) answered my email. She said that both cells are legit. I took the plunge and removed the white part off of one of the cells then peeled the sticker: nothing, not a trace of sanding, not a trace of any attempt to etch a QR code there, just shiny metal. Under the minus sign there is another QR code, probably an internal, factory code.
I don't know what to make of this, because the QR on the sticker does not cover another QR code, most I could tell is that Eve is sketchy and Nkon is in the clear.

Email reply:

 

[ZEUS-FL]

@ZEUS-FL how are the voltage readings now?

Later edit: the middleman (actually middlewoman) answered my email. She said that both cells are legit. I took the plunge and removed the white part off of one of the cells then peeled the sticker: nothing, not a trace of sanding, not a trace of any attempt to etch a QR code there, just shiny metal. Under the minus sign there is another QR code, probably an internal, factory code.
I don't know what to make of this, because the QR on the sticker does not cover another QR code, most I could tell is that Eve is sketchy and Nkon is in the clear.

Email reply: View attachment 194039

They all of them are sitting on 3.412V

 

[marksman]

It' time to wrap this up. Nkon came back, said it's ok to look under the white top because they contacted Eve and Eve confirmed that it happens with very few cells and as such not too many folks know of this. If capacity/IR is not in line with specs we can talk warranty.
I'll give them the benefit of doubt. Meanwhile a friend of mine to whom I told the story bought me a capacity/IR tester. It's on its way from China so it'll be two weeks at least. I'll do a test then, but I'm confident these are indeed Eve cells. Why they're labelled like this could because of a glitch of the etcher but it's nothing Nkon could do about it. So yes, I'd still buy from them.

 

[marksman]

Got the capacity tester today. I'll have a go at testing one of the cells tomorrow, hopefully. With all the hubbub at work, I haven't had any time to work on building the battery. Got the BMS ready, need to work on the case that doubles as a fixture for the cells. The other cells already have 10 cycles. I'll be reworking their case as well, but only after building the second battery, which seems to be taking a few more weeks, maybe.

 

[marksman]

And I have tested one cell, the one that rested at the lowest voltage of all: 111 Ah with 0.1C discharge current. Inline with what was mentioned inside the Excel file I've got from Nkon.