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

[loverofpeace]

I just ordered mine this past Friday and PayPal was and option. Along with Wire Transfer and other methods.

Greg

I stand corrected, it was Dongguan that wouldn't take paypal for my order earlier today. Amy never offered it when I was ready to pay so I figured it wasn't an option.

 

[Sgt Raven]

I just ordered mine this past Friday and PayPal was an option. Along with Wire Transfer and other methods.

Greg

The only constant, is everything changes from one day to another...

 

[Bob B]

So far all of them I have asked have been willing to send me a PayPal invoice. It is my preferred method for buying anything online.

I had to file a dispute for one Aliexpress item and got a refund thru PayPal....Get the PayPal Mastercard and get cash back. I haven't figured it out but it should offset the fee for using PayPal. I think that fee is the same as using a credit card directly but not sure.

 

[Delta-V]

I think this is capacity test #6. Another desirable outcome.

8 Xuba 3.2V 280Ah cells (24V nominal) - Rated capacity 7,168Wh

I set the Inverter/ Charger to 27V charging. Rested over night to 26.80V.

Test Range
Upper limit: 26.80V (rested voltage)

Lower limits (varying low C-rate loads):
25.24V, 5,833Wh = 81% usable capacity
25.27V, 6,253Wh = 87% usable capacity
25.52V, 6,444Wh = 89% usable capacity

1st Pic - Test Begins, Inverter off, battery rested all night.


2nd Pic - Inverter powered on. The 3 voltage readings show slightly different from one another.


3rd Pic - Powered stuff on, coffee maker & home office stuff. Noticed 2V drop right off the bat. Something to factor in when considering range usage.


4th Pic - 81% usable capacity


5th Pic - 87% usable capacity. Met 85% goal. Shut everything off soon after. Bedtime.


6th Pic - Battery rested over night. About a 0.41V recovery. Inverter off


7th Pic - The next morning, out of curiosity, I ran the coffee maker again to see if the battery's lower voltage would drop so much to trigger inverter cut-off (shutdown). It held up.


8th Pic - Finished brewing coffee. Inverter off. Ended test. Overall used capacity, about 89% @25.5V.


I did a similar test about a week ago where I charged the battery to 26.80V, but I set the charger to 26.80V, let the battery rest a bit, the voltage would drop, I'd charge it again, let it rest, the voltage would drop, charge again, etc... Did this numerous times and kept trying to stabilize the voltage to 26.80V. Still dropped. The best I got it to was 26.76V without wasting another day of fussing around.

The difference this time was I charged to a higher 27V then let the battery rest to 26.80V. Got a much better outcome this time compared to before.

So, it looks like a range of 27V - 25V is looking pretty reasonable to allow for some voltage fluctuation (charging, resting, under load) and still get a decent usable capacity of 80% - 90%.

 

[Frank in Thailand]

Whow..
A few days not following this thread..
So many pages!!

I liked the 3D design but....
In many posts people suggest that the cells should be placed strong/ firmly together even with pressure plates..

As the cells will expand and contract (mostly internally) pressure plate will prevent the cells from pillowing.
If the internal pressure is too big..
That's where the vent is for.

I'm newbie with lifepo4, just have them for a month or so and pillowed one by wrong charging....

They don't get hot!
Atleast mine doesn't.
And I have 456ah, 23kw to use max 15 KW each night.

Charging at 90A, no heat at all.

It's nice to have spacing between them, but in my humble opinion... Useless.

I'm still flexible with my setup and probably will make pressure plates, long enough for the whole line

(Don't mind the mess, I'm still in build up phase)

 

[Jeremiah]

I stand corrected, it was Dongguan that wouldn't take paypal for my order earlier today. Amy never offered it when I was ready to pay so I figured it wasn't an option.

XUBA used to have PayPal listed on the 280ah listing but I asked Amy about it and she said they don't take it any more because the PayPal fees to the merchant are too high. Yesterday I advised her that when I buy things from Hong Kong or services they often require me to pay the PayPal fees. Perhaps XUBA could consider doing the same? She said it's a good idea and she'll talk to her boss about it so fingers crossed.
I really hope they do because other wise I have to convert dollars to pesos to withdraw here in the Philippines. Then purchase dollars again to send by Western Union of course getting ripped off on the horrid PayPal conversion rates and Western Union rates.
I'd much rather pay the 5% fee PayPal is hitting them with and just count it as sales tax.

 

[Jeremiah]

I'm planning to get 18 of the 280AH cells.
Can anyone who has purchased 16 pieces of the 280AH cell tell me what the dimensions of your box was? If you know the weight that would rock too!
I'm trying to get estimates from freight forwarders; I know the sizes of the cells obviously but not packed and all safely tucked away.
Thanks in advance anyone!
**** edit ***
or if you got 8 pieces tell me that please; should be fairly close to just double the size.

 

[Sgt Raven]

The Alibaba credit card fee works out to just over 3%. Don't know if it is a flat fee or percentage.

 

[Sgt Raven]

I'm planning to get 18 of the 280AH cells.
Can anyone who has purchased 16 pieces of the 280AH cell tell me what the dimensions of your box was? If you know the weight that would rock too!
I'm trying to get estimates from freight forwarders; I know the sizes of the cells obviously but not packed and all safely tucked away.
Thanks in advance anyone!

The outer box for mine was 16.5 x 12 x 10 in US inches... I got 4 per box....

 

[Jeremiah]

The outer box for mine was 16.5 x 12 x 10 in US inches... I got 4 per box....

Wow, thanks! I literally got an answer in like 60 seconds after posting my question. This forum is awesome! Wish I knew about it years ago.

 

[Sgt Raven]

Wow, thanks! I literally got an answer in like 60 seconds after posting my question. This forum is awesome! Wish I knew about it years ago.

I had got an email of your earlier post and just looked and made a reply, when the other question popped up.
Just pure dumb luck for you. I wouldn't count on it all the time....

 

[Frank in Thailand]

If you know the weight that would rock too!

Weight should be in the spec sheets.
If I recall correctly it is 5.2kg per cell

18 cells?
You probably will need a custom build BMS for this.
Each cell gets its own spaghetti wire to the BMS.
In series 16 make 51.2volt.
If I understand, you want to make 51 volts available with 18 cells.
Or better,charge each cell to 3.325 max, 80% full.
18x 3.325= max 60 volt charge, correct?
I'm not sure if the 48 Volt equipment can handle this.
My 48 MPPT inverter finds 15 cells for lithium the maximum..
(As standard settings)
Custom it can do 16.
But 18??
You probably will be looking at an 60v BMS and always undercharge.

Even at 3.2v (20% charge??) You are looking at 57.6v for a 48v system that is designed to work between 42 and 51.2 volts but can withstand up to 60 or some even 64 volts.

I understand the idea of adding cells to lower the voltage (charge rate) per cell.
You might hit "a few" bumps along that road...
And might end up with 2 not used cells and buy a new BMS...
(Only a few 18S BMS support 16S)

My Daly 16S can not do 15S.
Apparently they could in the past, not today.

Just a few things to think about

 

[sharpey]

My cells arrived from Xuba. Packed well, 2 to a box. All were at 3.22v or thereabouts.. 3.22 to 3 25...

Initual observations, these smell factory fresh. Terminals are clean, qr codes visible etc.

10 busbar and screws provided, but be aware, screws are too long and are not stainless, so I'll be swapping them out. Busbsrs are tinned copper and slotted to allow for spacing between cells.. However, will not span cells if you want a 8s cube instead of an 8s rectangle. I may end up getting another made if the cube shape fits my battery area better (can't go and measure the boat)...

But yeah, buy with confidence. Amy and Xuba were awesome to work with. I'm out in Singapore & airfreight took coming to 2 weeks, but I was told to expect delays.

 

[Tball]

My cells arrived from Xuba. Packed well, 2 to a box. All were at 3.22v or thereabouts.. 3.22 to 3 25...

Initual observations, these smell factory fresh. Terminals are clean, qr codes visible etc.

10 busbar and screws provided, but be aware, screws are too long and are not stainless, so I'll be swapping them out. Busbsrs are stainless and slotted to allow for spacing between cells.. However, will not span cells if you want a 8s cube instead of an 8s rectangle. I may end up getting another made if the cube shape fits my battery area better (can't go and measure the boat)...

But yeah, buy with confidence. Amy and Xuba were awesome to work with. I'm out in Singapore & airfreight took coming to 2 weeks, but I was told to expect delays.

So you chose airfreight over sea? I'm excited to see how these turn out!

 

[sharpey]

So you chose airfreight over sea? I'm excited to see how these turn out!

Yeah.. not sure how wise that was considering I'm stuck at home till June 1st at the earliest lol.... But my mental health has had a nice boost today, so I'm saying it was worth it ;P

 

[Jeremiah]

My cells arrived from Xuba. Packed well, 2 to a box. All were at 3.22v or thereabouts.. 3.22 to 3 25...
...
But yeah, buy with confidence. Amy and Xuba were awesome to work with. I'm out in Singapore & airfreight took coming to 2 weeks, but I was told to expect delays.

Hey, I know Singapore has an awesome low tax situation, but I'm still curious. How much was your shipping charge for the 8 cells?
I'll be getting quotes soon when our lockdown is over. Also was your shipment DDP (tax and customs duties inclusive)? Thanks!
Nice pics, congratulations! Such a great deal for 280Ah cells whoah! Hi from your neighbor in Philippines.
I used to hit Singapore every few months when I had to reset my visa here.

 

[Jeremiah]

Weight should be in the spec sheets.
If I recall correctly it is 5.2kg per cell

18 cells?
You probably will need a custom build BMS for this.
Each cell gets its own spaghetti wire to the BMS.
In series 16 make 51.2volt.
If I understand, you want to make 51 volts available with 18 cells.
Or better,charge each cell to 3.325 max, 80% full.
18x 3.325= max 60 volt charge, correct?
I'm not sure if the 48 Volt equipment can handle this.
My 48 MPPT inverter finds 15 cells for lithium the maximum..
(As standard settings)
Custom it can do 16.
But 18??
You probably will be looking at an 60v BMS and always undercharge.

Even at 3.2v (20% charge??) You are looking at 57.6v for a 48v system that is designed to work between 42 and 51.2 volts but can withstand up to 60 or some even 64 volts.

I understand the idea of adding cells to lower the voltage (charge rate) per cell.
You might hit "a few" bumps along that road...
And might end up with 2 not used cells and buy a new BMS...
(Only a few 18S BMS support 16S)

My Daly 16S can not do 15S.
Apparently they could in the past, not today.

Just a few things to think about

Yeah so my strategy is to use about 60 or 65% of the middle charge zone (about equal on both sides of the 50% mark as @Will Prowse recommends in his video Lithium Battery Longevity: How to Double or Quadruple the life of your Lithium Battery). So, I had this idea to buy a couple extra cells to pad the upper zone. As I'm spec'ing out Charge controllers and inverters, I'm careful to note the listed high voltage cutoffs and low voltage cutoffs (and the tolerances) and while I'm on a budget, I'm still only going to get CE listed stuff.
Most of the 48v equipment I've seen allows for an upper charge limit to be at 60 or 61 v. I'm getting the highly programmable BMS Will found in his video DIY 48v LiFePO4 Battery with ANT BMS. I'm getting the 17s-20s version of it and it supports anything in those ranges.
My plan is to cycle between 25% and 85% (or 25% and 80%) we'll see. I realize it's not always so predictable what the SOC mapping will be so of course I plan to take my time and map all that out for my cells. If 18s pushes the voltage just too high no problem, I'll set the BMS accordingly. If its just too much of the pie i'm missing out on, then I'll remove the 1 worst cell from the batch, or even the 2 worst and end up with a 16s or 17s system with 2 or 1 spares (to be kept at a happy median voltage to be sure
Anyway, that's my plan. I want my battery to maintain it's capacity as long as I can. Right now I'm thinking of having a small airconditioner to cool the battery room to make sure it's always under 25 deg. C in the day time (and let the cool air overflow to my small bedroom) like you do and like WIll's video on adding a small AC to his solar shed. I'm gonna baby and love this battery bank. I'm hoping to realistically have 90% capacity after 5 years but we'll see. Even though I'm building an off grid system, I'll be setting up so I can fall back on mains for now in the rainy season so I don't have to dip into the lower 25% of my battery bank. This next year will be a data collecting time for me and if it works out I'll be able to go fully off grid later (hopefully with a couple of wind turbines to help out at night) like what you have . I have an extra paramotor propeller I could slap onto a big motor and get some power out of that; we'll see. Oh the other thing that seems good about being on the "higher" end of a 48v system is that this BMS is cool but it limits the battery charging to 50A max; by running at a higher voltage I can reduce the current; also reducing the C charge and discharge levels in my system which will all contribute to longer life. I've already spec'd my DC DC step down units to accept a high range (up to 72v); I'll be stepping down to 24v to drive my electric fans which I'll be converting to DC motors soon since we have like 6 fans on continuously.
So hopefully, my battery bank will: 1) have low ambient temp. 2) Have low internal temp from low C charging and discharging 3) Not build additional internal resistance too quickly over the years (since that means more heat) and serve me for many years (I hope).
Electricity is really expensive here in the Philippines as it's a largely Diesel driven (and some Hydro) monopoly.

 

[sharpey]

Hey, I know Singapore has an awesome low tax situation, but I'm still curious. How much was your shipping charge for the 8 cells?
I'll be getting quotes soon when our lockdown is over. Also was your shipment DDP (tax and customs duties inclusive)? Thanks!
Nice pics, congratulations! Such a great deal for 280Ah cells whoah! Hi from your neighbor in Philippines.
I used to hit Singapore every few months when I had to reset my visa here.

1106USD delivered. I had to pay sales tax (goods and services tax) on arrival... Hello from Singapore... have yet to visit the Philippines... one of these days we might sail there... if those bloody kidnappers get wiped out... Your PM really should focus on them more. lol ....

 

[Jeremiah]

1106USD delivered. I had to pay sales tax (goods and services tax) on arrival... Hello from Singapore... have yet to visit the Philippines... one of these days we might sail there... if those bloody kidnappers get wiped out... Your PM really should focus on them more. lol ....

Haha well I'm an American so I can't really vote here in the Philippines for their President But if you do sail over hit the island of Luzon up North (less kidnapping here than down South) and we can hang out!

 

[loverofpeace]

280ah measurements: 173.6mm x 71.5mm x 204.8mm

Based on the measurements a 4 cell battery = 173.6mm (l) x 286mm (w) x 204.8mm (h)

How much room would you guys leave above the battery and especially to the sides if I were looking for a box?

Would a 400x300x250mm box be adequate or too big?