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How dangerous are swollen LiFePo4 cells received from AliExpress ?

A general question on swollen cells.
I believe that inside the case are pouches of individual cells, all connected in parallel. Pouches like these;
At some point there was a buildup of gas pressure from one or more of these pouches which was so severe that it caused the outer casing to distort. These outer casings are made of aluminum which means they are not elastic and won't return to their original shape on their own.
So, can the pouch cells re-absorb the gas that caused the swelling, and return to their original shape, meaning that the aluminum casing can be squeezed back to it's original shape?
 
You'll need a really big shovel to move that amount of bulls**t.

After dispute was opened and AliExpress stepped in they now want to negotiate :

3861C200-408F-4780-827E-307AFA35829E.png

so they admit that is not a grade A battery, because if one of the following problems are found on a battery that is a grade B or defective battery:

05A159CB-6406-4326-985A-CF7ED483BE13.jpeg
 
I think that they had old cells and they scratched the original QR code positioned in the middle near safety valve and allied a new fake QR code with a new plastic cover over the rusted old cells as you can see in the picture , this can be called a refurbished cell if this therm exist and it is not a grade A cell, right ?

61FD14C7-C963-4D5E-A1C0-BA12A20BDE7E.jpeg
 
Hi guys, newbie here. I have read the above thread and I have the same problem, my 8x310ah cells were from OYE store, swollen, scratched, codes not working, advertised as brand new, they dont want to know, something about VIOLENT shipping, they've stopped responding now. I Paid via debit card, so no recourse there. I have to use them in my van, I cant afford to replace them at this stage, I'm top balancing them,taking forever with 10amp psu, my smart chargers wont recognise them as they're in parallel ie 3.2v unless I'm missing something? How do peeps feel about using 50mm2 copper covered aluminium jumper cables as a permanent battery connection, any thoughts? Hi again, kind regards, Steve
 
Hi guys, newbie here. I have read the above thread and I have the same problem, my 8x310ah cells were from OYE store, swollen, scratched, codes not working, advertised as brand new, they dont want to know, something about VIOLENT shipping, they've stopped responding now. I Paid via debit card, so no recourse there. I have to use them in my van, I cant afford to replace them at this stage, I'm top balancing them,taking forever with 10amp psu, my smart chargers wont recognise them as they're in parallel ie 3.2v unless I'm missing something? How do peeps feel about using 50mm2 copper covered aluminium jumper cables as a permanent battery connection, any thoughts? Hi again, kind regards, Steve
Post some pictures to see the swollen amount when connecting the bus bars and how the defects look like for you so others will know and give you advice.
 
A debit card is usually a MasterCard or Visa ..... I've contested charges on mine and gotten resolution. In that case, I went thru the bank to do it, but seems like there should be protections.
 
These cells look like they came out of a wrecked bus, That or a flooded buss that was written off. Lots of floods in China.
 
I have read this entire thread and I am the LifePO4 Cell "buyer" for the company I represent. It is very difficult to resist the low low price of cells on AliExpress. That is unfortunate. I can tell you that none of them are legit. There are ways to discover if they are, but, good luck. I am fortunate to have a collegue in Guangdong China that does the leg work for our company.

Nearly all are just a trading company (equivalent of Ebay or Craig's List). All those deals are too good to be true and with sea shipments, it ties up your money for months and you go through that battle to get any kind of response or recourse, if you can get any.

The Chinese seller on AliExpress has no problem in telling falsehoods to get your sale. They are not career employees with stock options and loyalty to the company. One seller told me she makes 1% of of the sale price as a commission up to Gross sales $70,000 USD and 1.5% over that. So, volume is important to them and they really don't care how they get it.

My advice, take it or leave it, is to buy from an American Company that has much more to lose than a web page on AliExpress that can be re-invented the next day under a different name. You WILL pay more, but you will have your cells in less than a week with instant customer service and a rock solid return policy and guarantee of satisfaction. There is an old saying "Penny Wise and Pound Foolish" Which Webster Dictionary defines as: " careful about small amounts of money but not about large amounts —used especially to describe something that is done to save a small amount of money now but that will cost a large amount of money in the future "

John B.
there are trust worthy chinese seller just the same john, they can be found here.
just speaking my mind here, but this "buy american" thing is a big hoax, with sometimes HUGE upmarks , and screw deals too ( mind you , i am not saying anything about your company, but renogy comes to mind).

i prefer to go by "if you want to buy for peanuts , you'll end up with monkey's"...
 
What seems to be the best compromise, imho anyway, is the Chinese company that has facilities here in the U.S. I recently purchased my new Li-Ion cells that way. Arrived a week after purchase and they always respond to any questions I have (even on Sundays). From a price standpoint, I actually don't think I could've saved any money buying from Aliexpress actually, but this case may simply be the specific cells I'm using. Caveat Emptor is thrown around constantly, it seems, but it's absolutely the best advice on any purchase; Buyer Beware.
 
What seems to be the best compromise, imho anyway, is the Chinese company that has facilities here in the U.S. I recently purchased my new Li-Ion cells that way. Arrived a week after purchase and they always respond to any questions I have (even on Sundays). From a price standpoint, I actually don't think I could've saved any money buying from Aliexpress actually, but this case may simply be the specific cells I'm using. Caveat Emptor is thrown around constantly, it seems, but it's absolutely the best advice on any purchase; Buyer Beware.
What was the price and/or link?
 
Saw the name “Lossigy” around the forum and immediately thought it was a portmanteau of “loss” and “renogy” ?
 
How do peeps feel about using 50mm2 copper covered aluminium jumper cables as a permanent battery connection, any thoughts? Hi again, kind regards, Steve
I'm not going to compress my 280AH cells. I will seperate mine by a small amount and use custom length copper bus bars.
For those who can use a band saw and drill, McMaster Carr has flat 1/8" thick copper bars 1" wide that are perfect for making high-amperage bus bars :
https://www.mcmaster.com/flat-bars/multipurpose-110-copper-bars-with-rounded-edges-9/
 
Have you tried cutting and drilling copper? It’s not a friendly material for DIY tools.
Drilling through 1/8" copper flat stock is difficult ? Most serious DIY guys have good drill bits.
 
Have you tried cutting and drilling copper? It’s not a friendly material for DIY tools.
I live on a boat and cut the bar stock with a hacksaw and drilled with a handheld drill. It was not difficult. Use a punch so the bit doesn't skate, and drill a small hole first, and work up to final size in several steps. No special tools required. Just the proper technique.
 
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