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

[Capt Bill]

New info. I received 4.1.2020: re my Xuba quote for 8) 3.2v 280 Ah LifePO4s for shipping to California 95470 USA:
Asking for Clarification about Duties Due / and for Air Freight Quote:

***********
1. "you need to pay extra duty tax, "which means that UPS
It is not needed by sea transportation.
2. You choose shipping by sea,so what you will do is waiting,the package will be delivered to your door.
If you want to change to Air Frieght, only UPS,$532
Arrive at the door, arrive within 5-7 working days, excluding tax, and need to pay extra duty tax.

*******
My pre-order Interpretation is (I let you know how it eventual goes:
for 2 set of 4 ( 8 pcs 280 Ah LifePO4s ... total price: $661.36
w Sea Shipping : + $332.00 ... = $993.00 = total cost to door (I think, no extra duties

*************
Asking for Update to my Original Sales Order ... (Before Payment is when the buyer has this option) :

If I go with Sea Shipping. I want my Sale Order titled > "initial payment" >
to be changed to "full payment"

( to match up with the language under order that says):

"DDP: You can receive the goods at the destination place, your supplier will do the import
customs clearance at the destination port and also afford all the fees including import duty."

I am also requesting the "Trade Assurance" box be checked.
I noticed that little box was left unchecked (just a little square to no x mark in it) on first draft of my order.
I see what happens about that request. / glad the seller has good reputation here,
and the virus is a big challenge all over.

I desire a Trade Assurance" sales contract order; and will see what happens.
My interpretations may get further re-adjustments. Appreciate comparing note here !

 

[Steve_S]

New info. I received 4.1.2020: re my Xuba quote for 8) 3.2v 280 Ah LifePO4s for shipping to California 95470 USA:
Asking for Clarification about Duties Due / and for Air Freight Quote:

***********
1. "you need to pay extra duty tax, "which means that UPS
It is not needed by sea transportation.
2. You choose shipping by sea,so what you will do is waiting,the package will be delivered to your door.
If you want to change to Air Frieght, only UPS,$532
Arrive at the door, arrive within 5-7 working days, excluding tax, and need to pay extra duty tax.

*******
My pre-order Interpretation is (I let you know how it eventual goes:
for 2 set of 4 ( 8 pcs 280 Ah LifePO4s ... total price: $661.36
w Sea Shipping : + $332.00 ... = $993.00 = total cost to door (I think, no extra duties

*************
Asking for Update to my Original Sales Order ... (Before Payment is when the buyer has this option) :

If I go with Sea Shipping. I want my Sale Order titled > "initial payment" >
to be changed to "full payment"

( to match up with the language under order that says):

"DDP: You can receive the goods at the destination place, your supplier will do the import
customs clearance at the destination port and also afford all the fees including import duty."

I am also requesting the "Trade Assurance" box be checked.
I noticed that little box was left unchecked (just a little square to no x mark in it) on first draft of my order.
I see what happens about that request. / glad the seller has good reputation here,
and the virus is a big challenge all over.

I desire a Trade Assurance" sales contract order; and will see what happens.
My interpretations may get further re-adjustments. Appreciate comparing note here !

STOP CROSS POSTING ! That is FORUM SPAM !

 

[Sgt Raven]

STOP CROSS POSTING ! That is FORUM SPAM !

I told him back in post 433 to pick one of the three threads to ask his questions.

 

[ghostwriter66]

Yes, the shipper can send on your account. We do that all the time.

BUT you want to compare what their rates are and what your rate is going to be ... We have DHL and FEDEX here at work for China shipments BUT somehow THEM shipping from China themselves and using their ACCOUNTS are always cheaper ... and makes THEM responsible -- otherwise u use your account and something goes wrong at customs --- its on YOU

 

[ghostwriter66]

CELL TESTING RELATED <--- because there is now so much of everything in this thread it's lost track of it's intent.
As previously mentioned in this thread, I ordered components to be able to do Cell Specific testing and it has been an "adventure".

The first piece was a 180W / 20A test unit. Arrived quickly and in good condition.
View attachment 10002
LINK FOR ABOVE: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...59.html?spm=a2700.12243863.0.0.3fb83e5foaWrVp

Then there was the Cell Charger
Grey 3V -15V 50A : voltage meets range 3v-15v with anti-reverse protection
Arrived 2 WEEKS Late, after paying for expedited service, got lame excuses and Bull Phooey !
Arrived in good condition BUT they didn't even bother to include the 120VAC Power Cord !
Otherwise it appears OK, it IS a LiteOn powersupply which is good.
IC Cogogo ! NEVER EVER AGAIN ! Bought through their eBay store.
View attachment 10003
Link to the EBAY store: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/192923407126?ul_noapp=true
Link to AliEXpress IC Cogogo Store: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33019693095.html

I am still waiting on to more pieces before I start testing cells. I'm not that concerned about the cells so I am not sure if I will run through all 16 or not, depends on how long it takes I guess. My todo list is growing fast as the snow melts and I have got to get some tasks done before anything greens up.

Steve - saw your note about the Power Charger ... moment this comes in I will test mine also but have a feeling tis the same story ... These guys are pissing me off - they are literally just making up excuses now -- telling me that shipping has been temporarily shut down ... REALLY !!! No one informed the dozen other ppl that we buy from daily of that !!! Total BS ... so NOW they are telling me end of April .... NEVER AGAIN IC COGOGO

Anyway -- i paid with it via credit card so if it does not do what it is advertised to do I will DISPUTE it ...

 

[ghostwriter66]

People, please understand Xuba does not make a large mark up on the cells they sell. Their primary business is supplying large quantities of cells and battery to large buyers who arrange their own shipping. Normally by ocean freight to their own warehouse. In these cases Xuba sells FOB, ie all charges after the buyer takes delivery in China are at the buyers' expenses.

Amy is doing all of us on this forum, who are small customers even if we order 16 or 32 cells, a major favor by selling to us at all. She does her best to ship at the best price, but after the shipment gets to the US she has no way to have any control or knowledge about what customs, port, dock, duty, remote delivery, or any other fees are imposed by US or other countries' entities.

From experience, few if any duties and fees are added to small shipments coming to the US by Fedex/UPS or other door to door air services. Generally these items are for personal use. Sometimes duty, etc may be added, but no-one, least of all Amy knows what that might be. Trying to save a few hundred dollars by shipping ocean freight exposes the buyer to many more fees, because ocean freight goods are often not just for personal use. Again, these fees cannot be known to sellers in China, so how can they possibly include them in a shipping quote? Its simply not possible.

If you don't want surprises you always have the option of engaging a Chinese shipping company yourself. Your shipper can pick up the items from Xuba. You pay the FOB price to Amy, and she as the seller is done. Then you have your shipper deal with shipping. This is obviously way more hassle and expense. And you are then likely to have to pay a large number of fees once the shipment gets to the US. No-one can tell you precisely what those fees will be. This is one reason large importers have to post a large customs bond - it ensures you'll pay whatever duty, etc the local authority levies. Unfair? You bet. Anyway around it? Only if you are really big and order full container loads, not just a few cells.

Amy, as are a large number of other Chinese sellers, is an excellent person. She really values her customers and will do all she can to have satisfied and happy customers. But what she is simply unable to do, no matter how much you ask her, is guarantee that US and local authorities will not add duty or other fees onto your shipment. No-one can do that. Forget about DDP and all that nonsense, really. Pay the extra to have your order sent by Fedex/UPS or some other door to door carrier. You might still be hit with some unpredictable fees, but the chances are more in your favor.

The above is not theoretical info. I've done this for the past 10 years. Regardless of these unknown fees, buying direct from China is still an incredible deal. If you can't understand this, just pay twice the price and buy local, from importers who have dealt with this. Or wait until items are so popular that Costco and Walmart import containers full and sell them at lower prices than you can get them shipped from China ;-)

Agree with everything EXCEPT ""Xuba does not make a large mark up on the cells they sell"" .... Dude - your smoking crack -- we have a huge field office in China -- if you knew what locals get these cells for your would cry ... As for me -- I figure paying what we do for LFP from China is still WAY cheaper than anything out there .... seriously -- you are NOT getting the regular price but the American price ...

 

[Sgt Raven]

Steve - Have you ever got your Power supply ... These guys are pissing me off - they are literally just making up excuses now -- telling me that shipping has been temporarily shut down ... REALLY !!! No one informed the dozen other ppl that we buy from daily of that !!! Total BS ... so NOW they are telling me end of April .... NEVER AGAIN IC COGOGO

Look up the Page at Post 446.....
Cancel your order if you can, turns out the thing is a POS......

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

BUT you want to compare what their rates are and what your rate is going to be ... We have DHL and FEDEX here at work for China shipments BUT somehow THEM shipping from China themselves and using their ACCOUNTS are always cheaper ... and makes THEM responsible -- otherwise u use your account and something goes wrong at customs --- its on YOU

Yes, of course. I was just generalizing since the person I replied to (@Sgt Raven) also asked it in a general way if this was possible (as far as I understood anyway).

 

[ghostwriter66]

Took two weeks from order, shipped EMS Express / Canada Post delivered. Shipped FEB.22 Arrived at my box on FEB 28 no extra fees.

ANYONE / EVERYONE: I cannot find a Manual / Doc for the Power Supply. It's a LiteOn PS2751-5Q LF
Yes, I know it's a hot swappable server power supply used by Dell, HP & Others but I want the specs / docs / manual and had no luck with google or duckduck.

Try contacting customer support ...

• Website: http://us.liteonit.com/us/
• Support Phone: 1-510-824-0066
• Support Email: oddus.support@liteon.com
• Support Website
• View other products from Lite-On

 

[ghostwriter66]

Look up the Page at Post 446.....
Cancel your order if you can, turns out the thing is a POS......

Just say it and modifed my other post ... LOL ... I will tell them to cancel BUT will guarantee they tell me that its suddenly on its way ....

 

[Sgt Raven]

Just say it and modifed my other post ... LOL ... I will tell them to cancel BUT will guarantee they tell me that its suddenly on its way ....

I said it Bold and Loud, to be sure you saw it and Steve's post about it....

 

[ghostwriter66]

Look up the Page at Post 446.....
Cancel your order if you can, turns out the thing is a POS......

I know when I saw this picture on their website that something was not right -- but I thought -- what the heck - I'LL roll the dice ... aaaggghhh

 

[ghostwriter66]

I said it Bold and Loud, to be sure you saw it and Steve's post about it....

Sorry -- LOL -- I meant to say SAW IT and modified my other post .. LOL ...

 

[KauaiMolokai]

Agree with everything EXCEPT ""Xuba does not make a large mark up on the cells they sell"" .... Dude - your smoking crack -- we have a huge field office in China -- if you knew what locals get these cells for your would cry ... As for me -- I figure paying what we do for LFP from China is still WAY cheaper than anything out there .... seriously -- you are NOT getting the regular price but the American price ...

Hi ghost,

Copy that. Can you or I just get a buyer's rep in China to buy at the local price and have a shipper send them Fedex to us? I get it that Price+Shipping is way higher than local price and take them home, but if there is a big difference between basic prices there should be room to work on this.

 

[Sgt Raven]

Sorry -- LOL -- I meant to say SAW IT and modified my other post .. LOL ...

I knew you meant to say, Saw It. It was the Logical way to read your post.....

I've read enough of your posts, to know when something is probably a typo on your part.

 

[Delta-V]

Jumping tracks from the shipping concerns...

Ok, I ran my 2nd ad-hoc capacity test on my other half of cells from Xuba (second set of 8 cells of 16 total, 24V nominal).

More of a real-world capacity test running some home office devices and kitchen appliances. The highest I was running was around 2.2Kw peak for a few minutes running the microwave, coffee maker, or toaster oven on top of running Refrigerator, TV, computers, fan, etc...

Good news again! The cells met expectations. Hopefully this continues for the long-term.

2nd capacity test was slightly better than the 1st test.

Pic 1 - Basic setup using new Samlex 4000W inverter/ charger instead of 3,000W Reliable inverter.
Pic 2 - 3.2V@280Ah * 8 cells = 7,168 Watts expected. Have plans to configure better setup, but wanted to get a sense-of-comfort I got what I paid for (had already got jipped with my Shunbin battery box).
Pic 3 - Reached the 7,168 Watts expected
Pic 4 - Reached the 280Ah marketed capacity
Pic 5 - Lowest cell got below 2.2V, called it. 7,297 Watts total (281Ah). Better than 7,229 Watts from 1st capacity test.

 

[Capt Bill]

I just made a my purchase of 8 280 Ah LifePO4s from Xuba: Since I've learned so much for this forum, I posted my learning curve lessons on different thread, including some clarification about shipping option from Amy @ Xuba: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/n...43-and-280ah-for-79-80.5094/page-3#post-59597 posting this for newbies

 

[drinskta]

Hi everyone, I got 4 cells from Amy and they came within 15 days of payment. I am trying to charge them with the smart BMS / overkillBMS that I bought through overkillbms. One of the cells keeps jumping up in voltage at the end of the charge before the others can catch up. Three are at ~3.42 v and one jumps to 3.65v and the bms stops the charge. I have tried to parallel balance them for 2 days and the same thing keeps happening. They will be balanced before the charge but then the same one jumps up within 5 mins of starting the charge. I measure the internal resistance of the cells and they are all 2-3m ohm except fo the one that jumps up quickly which is 13m ohm. What is going on here? defective cell?

 

[Capt Bill]

Wow, ... Makes me think how it might have been worth ordering one extra cell on the 8 cell set of batteries I just ordered from the same source. Hope to hear more about how this gets resolved. If after confirming this is not a wiring, connection, or BMS problem (by maybe hooking up secondary way of measuring volts) ... and/or different BMS? or maybe rearranging cell positions and repostioning your BMS wiring to see if same cell is doing that? ??? (.. . from my Fix It Brain giving advise without your asking, just what my women friends don't want) ... If that Battery Cell turns out to be the actual problem; ... I certainly will be very interested to know If, and/or how it might be resolved ... Best Wishes from me.

 

[AndreL]

Hi everyone, I got 4 cells from Amy and they came within 15 days of payment. I am trying to charge them with the smart BMS / overkillBMS that I bought through overkillbms. One of the cells keeps jumping up in voltage at the end of the charge before the others can catch up. Three are at ~3.42 v and one jumps to 3.65v and the bms stops the charge. I have tried to parallel balance them for 2 days and the same thing keeps happening. They will be balanced before the charge but then the same one jumps up within 5 mins of starting the charge. I measure the internal resistance of the cells and they are all 2-3m ohm except fo the one that jumps up quickly which is 13m ohm. What is going on here? defective cell?

@drinskta I have heard that IR varies w.r.t. SOC. Maybe try to parallel charge the 3 lower voltage cells to 3.65 Volts, then parallel in the 4th and let sit for 12 hours or so and then cycle as a pack? Maybe worth a shot.

Also have you double checked the voltages of all your cells directly with a good Digital Volt Meter? I found my BMS was badly calibrated. Just a thought.

 

[Sgt Raven]

Hi everyone, I got 4 cells from Amy and they came within 15 days of payment. I am trying to charge them with the smart BMS / overkillBMS that I bought through overkillbms. One of the cells keeps jumping up in voltage at the end of the charge before the others can catch up. Three are at ~3.42 v and one jumps to 3.65v and the bms stops the charge. I have tried to parallel balance them for 2 days and the same thing keeps happening. They will be balanced before the charge but then the same one jumps up within 5 mins of starting the charge. I measure the internal resistance of the cells and they are all 2-3m ohm except fo the one that jumps up quickly which is 13m ohm. What is going on here? defective cell?

Did you charge them in parallel to 3.65V before building the battery? You know, Top Balance like many have recommended here? I did and after building the battery, none of them are that far off from the others. There may be a difference of 0.0V1 to 0.05V between the cells, but nothing as far off as you wrote. I have the same BMS you have. I still need to go in and tweak the settings some more.

 

[Steve_S]

BAD DEVICE REPORT THE CELL CHARGER
Running it con't.

PHOTO of my Charger... from IC Cogogo (do not buy)!
View attachment 10073
Bottom Labels: Dial = [AMPS] Set Screw = [VOLTS]

Considering the ADVERT is terrible and this unit cannot be dialed down to do single cells only with 3.65 volts @ X Amps. I've gone ahead and setup a 4S of new 280AH cells, set the charger to 14.6V and dialed it to 50A. It is now charging away "but" see below.

1. This thing generates a high pitch sound when operating, "very nasty"
2. The dial and set screw for Voltage are extremely finicky / fiddly ! so be VERY CAUTIOUS and make sure you check and recheck BEFORE connecting battery. AMPS should be ZERO but Volts set to Target Voltage desired PRIOR to connecting Pack.
3. Set the Amperage using the dial AFTER the pack has been attached.
4. Once connected it shows the "Actual Voltage" of the pack being charged and increememnts up while it is charging.
5. The Small Fan WILL Kick on and I have to say, it's such a little fan but Holy Macaroni it's LOUD and blows a LOT of Air.
6. Presently charging first 4S set to 14.6V @ 50A, on my 24V System, it is pulling 32A from the battery bank.
7. The leads from the PS to teh battery clips get quite warm but not hot, I'm feeling that is the edge of the capacity for the wire in question. It would have been prudent to use a thicker wire set I believe.
8. VOLT Display is OFF by 0.2V from charger to battery. Confirmed with two different DVOM's. (Digital Volt Ohm Meters)
9. The Charger does not get very warm, so the cooling does work, even if it's noisy and annoying. (don't use it in a occupied living space, it will make you nuts)

Ongoing Charging: Cells were at 3.29V / 13.16V for the 4S pack,
All cells were equal @ start


Hope it helps.

 

[Sgt Raven]

BAD DEVICE REPORT THE CELL CHARGER
Running it con't.

.....snip....
VOLT Display is OFF by 0.2V from charger to battery. Confirmed with two different DVOM's. (Digital Volt Ohm Meters)
...snip.....
Hope it helps.

You had to do that..... It took me forever to switch from VOM to DMM... Now I'm gonna have another Acronym stuck in my head....

ETA1: Oh yeah, the "M" was for milliammeter.
ETA2: I still want a Simpson, but can't justify today..

 

[johntaves]

I have 8 of these 280ah cells on order. I am wondering if anyone is going to make, or is interested in, a 3-d printer design to hold these in a pack. I am thinking that it should be possible to design something like the Fortune cell plastic top and bottom that Will was excited about (OK, he's always excited)

https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/uploads/1/2/9/6/12964626/cescd_orig.jpg

 

[Sgt Raven]

I have 8 of these 280ah cells on order. I am wondering if anyone is going to make, or is interested in, a 3-d printer design to hold these in a pack. I am thinking that it should be possible to design something like the Fortune cell plastic top and bottom that Will was excited about (OK, he's always excited)

https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/uploads/1/2/9/6/12964626/cescd_orig.jpg

tim0shel posted a link to his build out in the thread linked below, that has pictures including a couple of the metal tray for the bottom of his 4 cells. I would post the link, but that isn't my place. There is a link in post #33 of his pics.

https://diysolarforum.com/threads/12v-overlanding-advice.5570/page-2