Xuba Electronics: DEAL - 280AH LiFePo4 cells. Purchase & Review

[Altide8]

So at this point who is the go to supplier? Amy being gone surely raises concern. Xuba still?

There are some good prices out of aliexpress now

169.4US $ 23% OFF|4pcs Varicore 3.2v 280ah 200ah Lifepo4 Rechargeable Battery Diy 12v 280ah For Electric Car Rv Solar Energy Golf Cart Tax Free - Battery Packs - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[Just John]

So at this point who is the go to supplier? Amy being gone surely raises concern. Xuba still?

There are some good prices out of aliexpress now

169.4US $ 23% OFF|4pcs Varicore 3.2v 280ah 200ah Lifepo4 Rechargeable Battery Diy 12v 280ah For Electric Car Rv Solar Energy Golf Cart Tax Free - Battery Packs - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Amy is now here:
Please feel free to visit our site : https://szluyuan.en.alibaba.com
Please feel free to contact us through our email: Amylovelifesz@163.com

Apparently she worked for two different companies and is still working at Shenzhen Luyuan.
Certainly a safe bet, but there are also other companies with satisfied customers.

 

[Steve_S]

Amy is now here:
Please feel free to visit our site : https://szluyuan.en.alibaba.com
Please feel free to contact us through our email: Amylovelifesz@163.com

Apparently she worked for two different companies and is still working at Shenzhen Luyuan.
Certainly a safe bet, but there are also other companies with satisfied customers.

Amy took over Luyuan, she and her husband are running it now.

They are at present talking to wholesalers & manufacturers and lining up battery supplies, battery boxes and more.
There is a great deal for them to do and get lined up. Very soon she'll be posting her Luyuan Intro and have new products listed on the Luyuan site.

 

[DJSmiley]

Just placed my first order at Luyuan (previous one was at Xuba). I'm really curious about boxes. I've seen nice ones at appbattery.com and I hope they can provide these or similar (I've seen some metal boxes from ppl who have ordered at Xuba, but to make a more 'drop-in replacement' I prefer the normal (lead-acid) look-a-like cases

 

[Ampster]

I placed an order Yesterday (Monday in China). for 16 pieces of LF 280. Amy said they had 200 pieces in stock. She said there is a vessel that leaves every Tuesday for the US and if they get the boxes to the Logistics company by Thursday it most likely will be on the vessel for the following Tueday sailing. I got bids from Shenzen Basen and Delegreen. I had also asked for bids on Lishen 272 but Amy said she had no stock. Shenzhen Basen had a very good price on Lishen but since my pack is already LF 280 cells it was worth the $12 per kWh to have the same cells. The form factor on two dimensions is within a mm but the post height was 5 mm higher.

 

[Dzl]

I placed an order Yesterday (Monday in China). for 16 pieces of LF 280. Amy said they had 200 pieces in stock. She said there is a vessel that leaves every Tuesday for the US and if they get the boxes to the Logistics company by Thursday it most likely will be on the vessel for the following Tueday sailing. I got bids from Shenzen Basen and Delegreen. I had also asked for bids on Lishen 272 but Amy said she had no stock. Shenzhen Basen had a very good price on Lishen but since my pack is already LF 280 cells it was worth the $12 per kWh to have the same cells. The form factor on two dimensions is within a mm but the post height was 5 mm higher.

Out of curiosity what was the out-the-door (well I suppose more accurately to-your-door) shipped price per cell?

 

[Ampster]

Out of curiosity what was the out-the-door (well I suppose more accurately to-your-door) shipped price per cell?

$1598 for 16 cells DDP plus $47 credit card processing fee. Just a little over $100 per cell versus about $105 for 32 cells from another vendor in May. The big difference was a much lower number for shipping. I think the actual cell price was more than my May order. Amy did say that she has changed to a cooperative logistics company. The word cooperative could have several meanings but I suspect it just means better and less expensive.

 

[Steve_S]

$1598 for 16 cells DDP plus $47 credit card processing fee. Just a little over $100 per cell versus about $105 for 32 cells from another vendor in May. The big difference was a much lower number for shipping. I think the actual cell price was more than my May order. Amy did say that she has changed to a cooperative logistics company. The word cooperative could have several meanings but I suspect it just means better and less expensive.

She's negotiated a new shipping arrangement with a new shipping broker that is a much better deal for everyone.

A sneeky kitten escapes the sack:
There will be new & different cell choices, new hardware and devices and a more complete selection of all the bits needed to assemble battery packs. More in-line with a One Stop Shopping experience if so desired. That also translates into saving on shipping, put assorted bits & pieces into "one box" to ship is saving money... better than 3-5 packages from diff vendors with diff delivery timelines etc... each package needing customs & duty clearance etc.. adds up fast.

 

[AussieSim]

Maybe the Lishen 272 cells will be the best option, they appear to test at over 280Ah and are substantially cheaper, whereas the EVE cells reach 280Ah max.

Lishen 272AH thread?

I'm going to guess cutting off at 3 volts (as measure by a meter at the cell terminals, not at the cables or any other pieces of attached hardware) will net you about 5Ah less than actual capacity. So if you get 267, then I think you'd have a perfect 272Ah cell. Thanks. I'm hoping these test...

diysolarforum.com

280A EVE Cell Capacity Test Report

Example test report from Luyuan for one of my cells that was tested for capacity. Cost US$4 / cell extra. Amy said they sent 20 batteries to the factory and sent me the best 16. Reports all provided in Chinese but I was able to read in Google...

diysolarforum.com

 

[scott harris]

I bought 16 Eve 280 AH cells from Amy in September. Delivered mid November and just getting around to testing them now. So far, not impressed. I am capacity testing them from 3.65 to 2.50 volts at 18 amps (0.064C) and I haven't got one to test at 280 AH yet. Some only 276 AH. At this low of a discharge rate I was expecting more than 280.

 

[Dzl]

Maybe the Lishen 272 cells will be the best option, they appear to test at over 280Ah and are substantially cheaper, whereas the EVE cells reach 280Ah max.

That is what the resellers seem to be saying, but the resellers say many things many of which are not true or at the least very 'optimistic':

Craig's test (which is the actual testing I have personally seen so far) did not show the consistent 280-285Ah that the resellers have been claiming. It is just one data point but its the only one I've seen (if you have seen other test data I would be curious to see). What it does show is all cells met or exceeded the minimum rated capacity of 272Ah, which is a good. Probably too soon to draw any conclusions until more test data is available, but I would caution against repeating optimistic reseller claims until they can be independently verified.

	Test 1 (Ah)​	Test 2​
Cell 1	275.9	276.9
Cell 2	276.2	277.1
Cell 3	280.3	280.5
Cell 4	283.0	283.7

 

[Ampster]

That is what the resellers seem to be saying, but the resellers say many things many of which are not true or at the least very 'optimistic':

Yes, and there is always the variable of the translator that is being used.

 

[Sharky722]

I bought 16 Eve 280 AH cells from Amy in September. Delivered mid November and just getting around to testing them now. So far, not impressed. I am capacity testing them from 3.65 to 2.50 volts at 18 amps (0.064C) and I haven't got one to test at 280 AH yet. Some only 276 AH. At this low of a discharge rate I was expecting more than 280.

Keep exercising them they will come good.
A couple of mine were <280. Successive charges/discharges saw an improvement each time. They are now 284-5 with the rest of them.

 

[Ampster]

Keep exercising them they will come good.
A couple of mine were <280. Successive charges/discharges saw an improvement each time. They are now 284-5 with the rest of them.

Yes, I think there is some value in exercising them. That is what is done at the factory. That is the difference between matched EV grade cells. My understanding is they are exercised more often after the initial screening and then matched to others that have settled at around the same capacity. The rest may be sold into the grey market as Grade A or B cells but they did not pass the test for high capacity discharge as would be needed for EV cells. All that testing and matching takes money and time, To me that explains the price difference. The manufacturer recovers their cost by selling these into the grey market and their real profit comes from the highest quality matched cells that they can sell at a premium. Where this has gone off the rails is everyone is using the specs for EVE branded cells but these did not met the standard for EVE to put their name on them.
To be clear, I am happy with my purchase because I had reasonable expectations.

 

[Steve_S]

The matching process takes cells through hard & gentle discharge rates as well as charge rates. At set-points in voltage & time, IR is recorded throughout the cycles. 3 full runs logging cell performance, then cells are matched for performance right across the voltage band with matched IR. Simply Put.

Re the EVE 280 Commodity cells.
I've been doing hard things to them, deep hard discharge Up to 200A to hard charge up to 150A down to 0% SOC to as high as I can get them before the runner takes off. After 4 major passes of doing this which was complex with stages and combos, the 280's seem to be evening up in several ways... taking more charge while remaining close in differential voltages longer. Staying closer together during discharge. I see an improvement but marginal really... Will mor e Thrash change it ? Still a few days of Thrash & Bash and I'll know if it's worth it. Better be, costing me a heap of cash... $45 per 7.5 hour Generator run for hard charging. X several days... damn, shouldn't a thought about that...

 

[Solarfun4jim]

The matching process takes cells through hard & gentle discharge rates as well as charge rates. At set-points in voltage & time, IR is recorded throughout the cycles. 3 full runs logging cell performance, then cells are matched for performance right across the voltage band with matched IR. Simply Put.

Re the EVE 280 Commodity cells.
I've been doing hard things to them, deep hard discharge Up to 200A to hard charge up to 150A down to 0% SOC to as high as I can get them before the runner takes off. After 4 major passes of doing this which was complex with stages and combos, the 280's seem to be evening up in several ways... taking more charge while remaining close in differential voltages longer. Staying closer together during discharge. I see an improvement but marginal really... Will mor e Thrash change it ? Still a few days of Thrash & Bash and I'll know if it's worth it. Better be, costing me a heap of cash... $45 per 7.5 hour Generator run for hard charging. X several days... damn, shouldn't a thought about that...

Main point about all your testing steve, is that you are getting to know your particular cells intimately and can thus set your control/charging and discharging values very accurately according to your own results, not necessarily the EVE datasheet expectations. You now know where your 'runners' start to diverge and can thus pinpoint exactly where the useful energy parameters are to maximise the longevity of your packs. Costing you now in genny fuel, but it will pay you back hansomely with less issues in the future. You know exactly where to push your cells to.

 

[Steve_S]

Main point about all your testing steve, is that you are getting to know your particular cells intimately and can thus set your control/charging and discharging values very accurately according to your own results, not necessarily the EVE datasheet expectations. You now know where your 'runners' start to diverge and can thus pinpoint exactly where the useful energy parameters are to maximise the longevity of your packs. Costing you now in genny fuel, but it will pay you back hansomely with less issues in the future. You know exactly where to push your cells to.

That is precisely why I am doing such things.
I really do Live out in the middle of nowhere. I can be snowed IN for days at a time and subject to some pretty extreme weather. I cannot have anything unreliable. I have 3 ways to heat, get my water, generate power, a large food reserve etc... and it has saved my bacon ! It is also why I am maintaining my 856AH of Heavyy Lead as well, as secondary bank.

But the info coming out of this is good. Not like a lot of folks here could or would do such things. Would be a heap load easier if I did have Grid Power for this part.... fricken gas costs... even with my discount... ughness....

 

[ArthurEld]

My use case isn't very demanding. I assume that will change someday like when the electric co. takes away net metering.
I'll use the BMS to know my limits.
But I am only planning to use 70% until I find the need to use more.
You guys are way ahead of me.

 

[sshibly]

FYI: I asked for quote for 280AH Xuba cells, they came back with quote for 272AH cells.

280AH are still listed on ALI, I am a little confused as to why they would counter back with 272AH cells.

 

[Ampster]

I am a little confused as to why they would counter back with 272AH cells.

Perhaps because you described them as Xuba cells. Xuba is a reseller. A lot can get lost in translation.

Have you tried Luyuan? Last week Amy said they had 200 LF280 cells in stock.