Review of my purchase from Shenzen Luyuan Technology Co. LTD. Alibaba, Wan Amy,

[Yurtdweller]

First off, I am very happy with my purchase, thus far. The transaction went smoothly, and Miss Wan was quite nice to deal with. A detailed timeline included below. I have thus far built just one pack out of four, but I have found all voltages to be either exactly or within thousandths of a volt of test reported voltages. I have not yet done capacity testing, as I am currently using my first build in my off-grid system.

The cells seem to be new, or at least, they are in excellent condition. They are clean, unmarked, and have intact Qr codes. These cells have welded studs, and these studs were cleanly threaded. They are Eve lf280k cells, qty: 16. I asked Ms Amy to include 12v 4s JBD 100 amp BMS x 4. Total cost, including shipping was app $2600USD.

I text-chatted Ms. Wan several times, over several months before making my decision. Due to my frequent travels, I had to wait to make my purchase until I knew that I would be at some location at the right time, and for a reasonable period of time, to accept delivery.

Ms Wan sent a picture of my batch at the time of it leaving her facility, included was a list of each cell by it's serial, and three sets of separate test results(image included).

Timeline of events:
Chatted with Amy a few times over months. Asked specific questions in the week leading up to purchase.
payment made 9-2-21
shipping confirmation, with photos of crates and full test results. Three separate tests were performed.
All cells within .003 volts of each other. All cells either 14 or 15 IR. All cells tested between 287 and 289 ah capacity. 9-17-21
received FedEx tracking numbers 9-18-21
Wrote to request ship name. I was asked to enquire again in a few weeks. Did so, got ship name 10-13-21
Ship Ident: COSCO shipping Andes
Ship crossed Pacific and proceeded directly into port, no wait at sea. Apparently, COSCO has their own private port facilities? IDK.
Ship offloaded and left port 10-19-21
Thus began a long wait for the packages (8 in total) to enter the FedEx tracking system(22 days of nothing!)
Packages received by FedEx 11-11-21
Final delivery 11-14-21

73 days, total.

Upon receipt I observed that all cells were within less than .01 volts of each other, and within 1 milliohm resistance.
All cells undamaged. Very well packed, 2 to a box.
No bloating at all. If any cell wall was out of 'true', outside of it's dimensions, it would be by less than a millimeter.

I will come back in a few weeks, when I've built all my packs, and had them in use for a while, and when they've all been tested in a variety of ways.

My first build was already able to run a 600 watt heat gun, but some part of my system was unable to operate the 1000 watt setting on the heat gun. IDk if it was the BMS, or the inverter. I suspect that my inverter drew down the voltage, and triggered itself, but, as I say, I will be investigating that.

This was my first Alibaba purchase, and I have no complaints, thus far. In fact, the cells were so evenly matched that I did not not need to perform a top balance. I decided to build my 12v pack first, and charge it with my solar charge controller, rather than using a benchtop power supply. It was my intention to bring the voltage up a bit, and then parallel and balance, but the BMS's passive balance function was able to bring all cells into balance during initial charging.

I have not been paid for a favorable review, nor have I received any incentive towards my review.

 

[Roswell Bob]

First off, I am very happy with my purchase, thus far. The transaction went smoothly, and Miss Wan was quite nice to deal with. A detailed timeline included below. I have thus far built just one pack out of four, but I have found all voltages to be either exactly or within thousandths of a volt of test reported voltages. I have not yet done capacity testing, as I am currently using my first build in my off-grid system.

The cells seem to be new, or at least, they are in excellent condition. They are clean, unmarked, and have intact Qr codes. These cells have welded studs, and these studs were cleanly threaded. They are Eve lf280k cells, qty: 16. I asked Ms Amy to include 12v 4s JBD 100 amp BMS x 4. Total cost, including shipping was app $2600USD.

I text-chatted Ms. Wan several times, over several months before making my decision. Due to my frequent travels, I had to wait to make my purchase until I knew that I would be at some location at the right time, and for a reasonable period of time, to accept delivery.

Ms Wan sent a picture of my batch at the time of it leaving her facility, included was a list of each cell by it's serial, and three sets of separate test results(image included).

Timeline of events:
Chatted with Amy a few times over months. Asked specific questions in the week leading
up to purchase.
payment made 9-2-21
shipping confirmation, with photos of crates and full test results. Three separate tests were performed.
All cells within .003 volts of each other. All cells either 14 or 15 IR. All cells tested between 287 and 289 ah capacity. 9-17-21
received FedEx tracking numbers 9-18-21
Wrote to request ship name. I was asked to enquire again in a few weeks. Did so, got ship name 10-13-21
Ship Ident: COSCO shipping Andes
Ship crossed Pacific and proceeded directly into port, no wait at sea. Apparently, COSCO has their own private port facilities? IDK.
Ship offloaded and left port 10-19-21
Thus began a long wait for the packages (8 in total) to enter the FedEx tracking system(22 days of nothing!)
Packages received by FedEx 11-11-21
Final delivery 11-14-21

73 days, total.

Upon receipt I observed that all cells were within less than .01 volts of each other, and within 1 ohm resistance.
All cells undamaged. Very well packed, 2 to a box.
No bloating at all. If any cell wall was out of 'true', outside of it's dimensions, it would be by less than a millimete
I will come back in a few weeks, when I've built all my packs, and had them in use for a while, and when they've all been tested in a variety of ways.

My first build was already able to run a 600 watt heat gun, but some part of my system was unable to operate the 1000 watt setting on the heat gun. IDk if it was the BMS, or the inverter. I suspect that my inverter drew down the voltage, and triggered itself, but, as I say, I will be investigating that.

This was my first Alibaba purchase, and I have no complaints, thus far. In fact, the cells were so evenly matched that I did not not need to perform a top balance. I decided to build my 12v pack first, and charge it with my solar charge controller, rather than using a benchtop power supply. It was my intention to bring the voltage up a bit, and then parallel and balance, but the BMS's passive balance function was able to bring all cells into balance during initial charging.

I have not been paid for a favorable review, nor have I received any incentive towards my review.

Thanks for the time you spent putting post together. Glad to hear you had a good experience with Amy Wan. I have ordered cells from her as well. They are on a container ship that is tied up in LA. I hope that Amy will consider stocking cells here in USA so wait time is not so long. https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9430777

 

[bryn]

Wow, if my cells arrive packed like that i will be very happy.

I did also order my cells from Amy Wan after seeing the quality reviews on this forum.

 

[Just John]

Wow, if my cells arrive packed like that i will be very happy.

I did also order my cells from Amy Wan after seeing the quality reviews on this forum.

Amy has learned and goes to great lengths to ensure adequate packaging. All of her large cells are packaged like this. The corner reinforcement is a nice touch.

 

[Coda]

Thanks for the time you spent putting post together. Glad to hear you had a good experience with Amy Wan. I have ordered cells from her as well. They are on a container ship that is tied up in LA. I hope that Amy will consider stocking cells here in USA so wait time is not so long. https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9430777

Thanks for the link, I'm going to ask Amy for my ship. Otherwise I expect I will hear nothing until I surprisingly get an SMS from DPD at 7am saying there's a delivery coming 8-9am...

 

[MadMax03]

They're setting up shops here in the US now. I just bought 4, beautiful 280 Eve cells from Alibaba that were shipped from one of their warehouses in Rhode Island and received them in 4 days for $600 shipped. I'm noticing a lot more "US Stock" flags on Aliexpress cells too. Shouldn't be long before they have ships of just cells hitting our shores soon and keeping domestic warehouses stocked.

 

[Yurtdweller]

Yes. There is warehouse (of a different seller) just 37 miles from me in North Houston. I am dying to go down there and buy some cells, just to write a review, but I must sell the 8 extra cells I have before I can do that, and due to the fairly small size of my array(800 watts) and bad weather, It will take some time top up my other packs and test them. Unfortunately, the ones available to me locally are $145-ish each. I must hit the road again in late January, so I will not be able to order from Amy again for some time.

 

[TWNomadin]

I too ordered from Amy. (32) 280eve cells on Oct1 and received them on Dec1. 2 Months, not a bad wait at all, even battling the Long beach mess. Packed exactly like above, 2 to a box and. Every cell was just as above, all were within .001 volts of each other, and within 1 milliohm resistance. I am still in the process of testing capacities, but I have no fear they will meet their rating.

 

[Roswell Bob]

I ordered my cells on September 30. According to Fedex they were in Hamburg, NY today. Only a few hundred miles to go to get to Warner, NH.. I'm so f***in excited I had ordered a set in March but they never materialized, so canceled that order and reordered with Amy.

My Lead Acid units are just about dead. I have to run my generator for two hours to get an hour's worth out of them. Wife is getting cranky

 

[Yurtdweller]

Yeah. My AGMs went downhill fast. Got to where I was only getting 20ah out of an Odyssey industrial 125ah battery. I was forced to buy a 100ah LiFePo4 from Lynx battery for 6 bills. I ran off that for a year on the road before I placed my order.

 

[curiouscarbon]

thank you for taking time to write this up, i really appreciate it

 

[SoOrSolar]

I just received 68 280AH cells from Amy. Ordered on 8-6-21, arrived 12-22-21. The packaging was 2 per box, best I have ever received. The cells look new unlike previous purchases (over 1200) from other vendors. I can't be more enthused about this purchase. It's all about the testing but if it matches what I am seeing so far, a very bright Christmas indeed.

 

[Steve_S]

FYI for those that do not know, Amy deals directly with EVE & CATL with contracts (including testing & validation), no battery brokers or intermediaries. The Bulk Cells she carries are those that do not make the cut as such from the testing processes, this is why she can offer Matched cells at such a price. Normally if done by a 3rd party, the cost can be as high as 50% above the retail cost, because cells that don't grade become bulk cells or if dubious they go to brokers.

 

[Just John]

I just received 68 280AH cells from Amy. Ordered on 8-6-21, arrived 12-22-21. The packaging was 2 per box, best I have ever received. The cells look new unlike previous purchases (over 1200) from other vendors. I can't be more enthused about this purchase. It's all about the testing but if it matches what I am seeing so far, a very bright Christmas indeed.

I see Steve already answered, but I can confirm all cells will exceed specifications if purchased from Amy. My experience from 3 orders with her is that all cells are brand new and grade A.

 

[Zwy]

I've had great success ordering from her. I made a suggestion to move to a heavier grade cardboard box as the outer ripped when they double boxed them. She informed me they have moved to a heavier box now. Great person to do business with.

 

[Yurtdweller]

I'm giving the used foam padding to friends as tiny foot stools They're a hit, and you can't stub your toes on them😂

 

[rhino]

I'm giving the used foam padding to friends as tiny foot stools They're a hit, and you can't stub your toes on them😂

This is great thing to point out... what to do with all that foam used for these cells.. any other ideas? Hate to just throw all of it out,

 

[fatfash]

a workbench won't be a bad idea.

 

[Bluedog225]

FYI for those that do not know, Amy deals directly with EVE & CATL with contracts (including testing & validation), no battery brokers or intermediaries. The Bulk Cells she carries are those that do not make the cut as such from the testing processes, this is why she can offer Matched cells at such a price. Normally if done by a 3rd party, the cost can be as high as 50% above the retail cost, because cells that don't grade become bulk cells or if dubious they go to brokers.

I did not know this. It explains why the houston warehouse first said they had no idea what a testing certificate was. And after I explained, they said they could not provide one. Different Amy.

I wonder what the practical impact is of “not making the cut?”

The transaction seems a little suspect now.

Thanks Steve!

 

[NMNeil]

The, "transaction seems a little suspect", has me concerned. Has anyone heard from Amy Wan recently?