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Ordering 128 batteries through Alibaba ( Deligreen) - please help

coolwaterxii

New Member
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Mar 12, 2021
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This is my first time ordering from Alibaba, and it's a huge order of 128pcs - CATL 310Ah through April Cao with Deligreen. April broke the order up to 4 separate orders to make sure it goes through, but my initial attempts paying by three different CC's failed. Alibaba blocked it due to security reasons, but my CC companies found no issue with my cards or didn't get any request from Alibaba.

From reading one of the posts, I lowered the amount to test it out ($100+ and $1600+), and it worked. Yey... So, the plan was to break it up to 16pcs per order, but the third and subsequent attempts failed. The same issue where Alibaba blocked it due to security issues (nothing to do with my CC or shipping address).

April said that it is due to the large transaction, and we have to do it through Wire Transfer (TT). We had to break it up to 3 orders, and I paid through TT on the 1st order but put a pause and ask this group.

It seems that a few people in this group have dealt with April Cao from Deligreen, and it's my opinion that her feedbacks are descent.

At the same time, most people in this group always mention using credit card.

The way Wire Transfer works through Trade Assurance is that you click on Wire Transfer from Alibaba's payment form and it will just show you information where to wire too. In Deligreen's case, I'm wiring it in the US branch at California, not to China. I guess that's a good thing, but at the same time if there's an issue, will Trade Assurance be ok with it?

Anyone dealt with paying through Wire Transfer (TT) to DeliGreen (April Cao) in this group? Is it safe?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
 
I have used TT on Big Orders (not with Deligreen) but other Alibaba suppliers direct from my bank to their Canadian Account (I'm a Canuck obviously) and it was instant with verification receipt. I've also used VISA CC and PayPal but for lesser amounts. CC's can be funny and require verification with a photo of Drivers License or other which freaks out some folks because they are hyper-paranoid.

BTW: April should have told you upfront as well, shipping out of China to anywhere is a major mess thanks to Covidus Interruptus. Some folks have had to wait 3 and even 4 months ! Patience & Calmness is MANDATORY as none of this is in the control of a vendor. Air Express Freight is fast BUT $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ You really don't want to know. I get Express air freight occasionally because it must happen and ugh..... BTW: DHL is the most reliable for Express Air Freight.
 
Thank you Steve!
So I wired money to their US account as the Deligreen’s name as the beneficiary name. I didn’t get any verification receipt from Alibaba; just a confirmation from my bank.
 
Update on this: I was able to pay another order with CC, and then got declined again by Alibaba for the second order. Maybe because I'm new with Alibaba they are throttling the frequency of ordering large transactions. So half of my total order's through CC and half through Wire Transfer.
 
I have ordered only once from Ali, not the company you said, and it was not trouble free, but went. It was a credit card order for a measly 16 X 280 ah cells. The first time I tried, I got a text from the credit card company saying did you do this? I said yes, and it never processed. I called the CC company the next day, and they said to pay for it again, which I did from the link from Ali, and it went through with no issues.

Ordered mid June, I got a notification Around 8 Jul that my batteries were being shipped from the supplier, and I got a UPS Tracking number, but when I open it up its an 8 piece shipment that says check back tomorrow.

I’m told I can expect 1 day notice before these arrive. I hope i get more like on the boat, offloading at the port, etc....

I am interested in hearing how this large order turns out for you shipping wise.
 
I have ordered only once from Ali, not the company you said, and it was not trouble free, but went. It was a credit card order for a measly 16 X 280 ah cells. The first time I tried, I got a text from the credit card company saying did you do this? I said yes, and it never processed. I called the CC company the next day, and they said to pay for it again, which I did from the link from Ali, and it went through with no issues.

Ordered mid June, I got a notification Around 8 Jul that my batteries were being shipped from the supplier, and I got a UPS Tracking number, but when I open it up its an 8 piece shipment that says check back tomorrow.

I’m told I can expect 1 day notice before these arrive. I hope i get more like on the boat, offloading at the port, etc....

I am interested in hearing how this large order turns out for you shipping wise.
I will post my updates...
 
FYI: No Courier Tracking Nuber goes live till it has cleared customs. Not even Air Express stuff, never.

With TT always follow the instruction precisely, different banks handle it differently, even different if you go into a branch or do it online. I go into the branch for TT transactions because I get the immediate receipt from my bank by doing so.

The CC issues is not unusual. Some card like Capital One (I believe) works virtually everytime, Mastercard can trip and Visa well.. it's Visa and each version is different. Like each issuing bank has their own little rules.
 
I have ordered only once from Ali, not the company you said, and it was not trouble free, but went. It was a credit card order for a measly 16 X 280 ah cells. The first time I tried, I got a text from the credit card company saying did you do this? I said yes, and it never processed. I called the CC company the next day, and they said to pay for it again, which I did from the link from Ali, and it went through with no issues.

Ordered mid June, I got a notification Around 8 Jul that my batteries were being shipped from the supplier, and I got a UPS Tracking number, but when I open it up its an 8 piece shipment that says check back tomorrow.

I’m told I can expect 1 day notice before these arrive. I hope i get more like on the boat, offloading at the port, etc....

I am interested in hearing how this large order turns out for you shipping wise.
I've been told you can get the boat they are shipped on and track that.
 
@solardad, that’s great to know! The only thing that April couldn’t do for me is to match the cells. She said it’s too big of an order.

Let’s hope it won’t be too big of a difference.
 
Did you receive this? how big is the cell difference? thank you
I received the order, but I haven't checked them. I will post my findings soon. So far it was delivered in two pallets, with minor shipping damages. None of the batteries had shipping damages.

As far as grade, I honestly don't know if they are B or C. Definitely not Grade A for reasons below:
  • No QR code
  • Blue cover had mix tint. You can tell they're not from the same material/color.
  • IR is mixed, ranging from .18 - .28 mu
  • Bottom of the batteries had some padding some didn't (Aluminum were exposed)
  • Bottom of the batteries have different models. Mostly T2, but there are T3, U2, and D1.

I haven't capacity tested them, and I don't know if I can individually do them as there are 129 of them.
 
I'm sorry to say but the info you posted does not look very promising. IR's at .28 !
Not sure what you mean by "Bottom of the batteries have different models. Mostly T2, but there are T3, U2, and D1."

Sounds like they just took a delivery from one of the battery brokers and just forwarded it to you "as/is whereis". I think testing each is warranted to see what are useable and what isn't... maybe batch them after testing into similar IR groupings.
 
Do you have any plan to mix and balance the IR and different models in parallel or build similar specs in the same batteries?
I can't imagine this is a single battery of 128 cells.
 
I'm sorry to say but the info you posted does not look very promising. IR's at .28 !
Not sure what you mean by "Bottom of the batteries have different models. Mostly T2, but there are T3, U2, and D1."

Sounds like they just took a delivery from one of the battery brokers and just forwarded it to you "as/is whereis". I think testing each is warranted to see what are useable and what isn't... maybe batch them after testing into similar IR groupings.
What IR range is normal?

Since there's no QR code, I looked at the battery to know more, and the only thing I can find is that at the bottom of the battery there's a marking: T2, T3, U2, D1. I don't honestly know what that means, maybe that's the version of the battery.

That's pretty much what they did as April Cao from Deligreen said it's too many. :(

1634061192998.png
 
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Do you have any plan to mix and balance the IR and different models in parallel or build similar specs in the same batteries?
I can't imagine this is a single battery of 128 cells.
I am flexible in terms of the design, but for now the plan is to have two 16s4p modules. My BMS will be a Batrium BlockmonM8.

I will have to know more about the capacity and what the resistance differences will have effect on the modules.
 
What IR range is normal?

Since there's no QR code, I looked at the battery to know more, and the only thing I can find is that at the bottom of the battery there's a marking: T2, T3, U2, D1. I don't honestly know what that means, maybe that's the version of the battery.

That's pretty much what they did as April Cao from Deligreen said it's too many. :(

View attachment 68566

I looked at the CATL 310Ah spec sheet that Deligreen gave me for this battery. The SOC are mostly at 3.29+ v. Maybe I should measure the IR after all cells are balanced?
1634062443156.png
 
I don’t have a real IR tester, but a DL-24p that does capacity testing with an ohm reading.

Resistance goes up significantly as SOC goes down. Can start at 1 or 2 ohms fully charged, but climbed to 25 - 54 ohms when discharged.

Looking into buying a better IR tester procedure was to fully charge the battery or cell and then test while 100% SOC.
 
I don’t have a real IR tester, but a DL-24p that does capacity testing with an ohm reading.

Resistance goes up significantly as SOC goes down. Can start at 1 or 2 ohms fully charged, but climbed to 25 - 54 ohms when discharged.

Looking into buying a better IR tester procedure was to fully charge the battery or cell and then test while 100% SOC.
That actually helps about SOC. Once all batteries have the same SOC, then I'll measure the IR's again.

I do have the YR1035+, a lot of members do use this meter. I have to say that I have to finagle the leads a few times, and make sure I measure the same area of the battery posts for consistent result. It's completely possible the numbers I gave above aren't correct due to the battery post aren't clean enough, user error, and the SOC aren't the same.

This is my first time using an IR tester, and it's different than measuring voltage. With a volt meter, I can get consistent and repeatable results almost every single time.

With that being said, the best way of testing these batteries is to do capacity testing and check if I'm getting ~300Ah capacity as communicated by Deligreen.

I think capacity testing per 16 batteries should be better as the IR might affect the discharge and charge rates. If one battery discharges faster than the rest, the BMS will cut off the entire module.

I think... This is the first time I've done it. :)
 
I do have the YR1035+,
I had wanted to order that, but my batteries have shown up, and now its time to do something with them.
I think capacity testing per 16 batteries should be better as the IR might affect the discharge and charge rates. If one battery discharges faster than the rest, the BMS will cut off the entire module.
I think what I am going to do now is partially charge the batteries on a 70 amp charger, than add these to my power supply 10 amps 30 volts to finish the top balance. Could take weeks if I don’t get something in these batteries first. I have 16 vells to do, and capacity testing could take weeks, so I plan on only capacity testing four batteries, and if the results are close to what is on the data sheet from the supplier, I will then top balance those four again and call it a day.

My last plan had been to do IR testing with the YR1035+.

I will assemble these cells into two 8S 24 volt batteries.
 
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