Faulty Winston lifepo4 or plastic not straight?

[Jorox]

Hi ... I ordered a pre top balanced set of 4 Winston cells from a European distributor. This is one of the cells straight from unpacking.
Two people from the company replied to my request for advice , one said this can only happen from over or undercharging , the other said , and I quote “The reason for this situation is that the cell is high and the plastic in such a length cannot always be 100% straight.”
What do you think?
ps all 4 cells were 3.26 volts

 

[RGIvy]

Did you buy them from GWL?

 

[nigelivy]

Hi ... I ordered a pre top balanced set of 4 Winston cells from a European distributor. This is one of the cells straight from unpacking.
Two people from the company replied to my request for advice , one said this can only happen from over or undercharging , the other said , and I quote “The reason for this situation is that the cell is high and the plastic in such a length cannot always be 100% straight.”
What do you think?
ps all 4 cells were 3.26 volts
View attachment 41332View attachment 41337

3.26v doesn't sound like they were "pre-top balanced" to me. ?

Did you pay extra for the "pre-top balancing"?

I put a set of Winston cells into my campervan last November, which I bought from GWL. I've already run into an issue whereby one of my cells is not getting above 3.4v, even if the others charge up to 3.65v. That particular cell is also not maintaining balance with the rest of the cells. It's always out slightly.
I'm about to pull the battery out of my van so I can take it apart to top balance again to see if that will fix it, but I suspect the cell in question is faulty.

Quite disappointing given it's only a few months old and Winston cells cost A LOT more than other cells on the market. You kind of expect them to perform a lot better?
I contacted Winston directly to try to get some support and they just fobbed me off to the seller. I was simply asking if it was expected/acceptable behaviour and if they had any advice.

GWL's customer service also leaves a lot to be desired. I've mentioned previously, but I would be very cautious buying from them again. My experience of their customer service and assistance has not been positive.

 

[Jorox]

Did you buy them from GWL?

Yes,

 

[Jorox]

3.26v doesn't sound like they were "pre-top balanced" to me. ?

Did you pay extra for the "pre-top balancing"?

I put a set of Winston cells into my campervan last November, which I bought from GWL. I've already run into an issue whereby one of my cells is not getting above 3.4v, even if the others charge up to 3.65v. That particular cell is also not maintaining balance with the rest of the cells. It's always out slightly.
I'm about to pull the battery out of my van so I can take it apart to top balance again to see if that will fix it, but I suspect the cell in question is faulty.

Quite disappointing given it's only a few months old and Winston cells cost A LOT more than other cells on the market. You kind of expect them to perform a lot better?
I contacted Winston directly to try to get some support and they just fobbed me off to the seller. I was simply asking if it was expected/acceptable behaviour and if they had any advice.

GWL's customer service also leaves a lot to be desired. I've mentioned previously, but I would be very cautious buying from them again. My experience of their customer service and assistance has not been positive.

Hi, yes I paid extra, and yes their customer service is totally crap....I have returned the cell , we shall see what happens,

 

[Gazoo]

3.26v doesn't sound like they were "pre-top balanced" to me. ?

They may have discharged the cells after top balancing for shipping reasons.

 

[Jorox]

Hi, yes I paid extra, and yes their customer service is totally crap....I have returned the cell , we shall see what

They may have discharged the cells after top balancing for shipping reasons.

I am pretty sure they didn’t top balance, on further research it looks like 3.26 volts is in line with the voltage they shipped from China with and looking at my terminals I see one is covered in black stuff , looks like it has never been cleaned off which one would do if one was attaching a busbar to it.

 

[Jorox]

So, just had it confirmed (by GWL on facebook) that pre top balanced cells should settle at between 3.48 and 3.53 so looks like they just sent them out without a top balance. Quite annoying really, apart from paying for it , as a novice at this, trusting they had performed the top balance, I would have had a totally out of balance set.

 

[Jorox]

Ok so, GWL apologised completely.....I didn’t see that coming......they are going to replace the cell , charge up/ top balance the replacement and send me the replacement and a 3.65 volt charger to top balance my other three cells , all free of charge. So , maybe they aren’t so bad after all.