Reduce the Risk When Buying Lifepo4 From Alibaba! This Is What I Have Learned.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ธ.ค. 2021
- In this video, I share my experiences with three very different suppliers of Lifepo4 cells. This is one of the hardest parts so I hope this helps you avoid the pitfalls and know what to expect.
There is a link below to my preferred supplier of cells based on trust and my experience with her honesty in our transactions and communications to date. If you use the name of my channel in your communications with Jenny Wu then they have offered me a small commission. I did not ask for this and they have not given me anything previously. My opinions that I express in this video have nothing to do with a potential compensation.
This channel exists to share the knowledge that I have gained. When they offered this commission it is because I made a referral to them and they thought that should be rewarded. Of course, they are looking for more sales. What I really find rewarding is when others are helped by the information that I share so please do what makes you comfortable. I am comfortable recommending Jenny Wu at Docan Technology.
You can mention "Ray Builds Cool Stuff". The price you pay will not be affected. Jenny can help you with the different options available.
jennywu896@gmail.com
Best wishes for the new year.
Thanks for the comments and detail Ray, And Hi! From Australia. My experience is identical to yours, and a I chose Jenny from Docan after reading a lot on the DIY Solar Forums. Amy was excellent also. Jenny kindly arranged some extra yellow 0.3mm fibreglass sheets for insulation between the cells and they were very reasonably priced (under $1 each), and then she messaged me and said “we’ve checked the measurements from the company that made them and they’re under size by 3mm shall we get them re-made or is that OK?” I said it’s OK but that was a great reinforcement of her attention to detail and integrity. They’re at the outbound forwarder now and she’ll let me know when they actually leave and 55-60 days later they should arrive. I’ve ordered 20 for a 48V “inverter” battery and 12V “house” battery for a new motorhome arriving in June. Best regards again and thanks for your efforts and attention to detail
Hi Bruce I am from Brisbane. Can you inform me how much it costs for the cells plus the shipping costs as it is confusing when you look on their website. Thanks mate.
Yes Alibaba can be confusing. Here are some other ways to reach Jenny Wu. She can then guide you through the Alibaba maze.
jennywu896@gmail.com (best way to contact her)
Facebook: facebook.com/jennywu896/
Whatsapp: api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=+8613537721971
@@sammaimas155 Hi Sam, sure, The batteries were USD$110 each and would have cost (from memory) $120 per pack of four to ship which would have avoided (potentially) Australian Duties (+5%), but I chose to send the five packs of four for US$552 as I figured I'd rather have one batch than five and the difference in Duties was neither here nor there. Hope this helps - this was to Adelaide FYI
@@brucemunro9555 Thanks for the information Bruce. I have been quoted $115 for each CATL 3.2Volt 310Ah cell and $160 shipping to Brisbane per 4 cell pack.
@@RayBuildsCoolStuff thanks
What an absolute nightmare with that first supplier. I nearly lost it when you said brass bus bars. And their rated capacity figures are awful. Her responses make me so angry. I'll remember your experience forever. That's just awful.
Amy does cost more, as do a few others, but you get what you pay for. Their cells are fantastic.
Really makes me mad when they lie. It happens so much.
Good to know about that warehouse in Texas. I was curious about that business. Wow! The capacity was good?! What a deal.
What gets me angry is when I order cells on my own, months ago. I finally get the cells and test them. Pull full capacity, and look great. Then someone uses my affiliate link to buy them, and gets a different set of cells. Drives me absolutely bananas. Even the good experiences you had with Jenny and Amy, I'm still skeptical. I'm always skeptical. What cracks me up is when they send out products for free, and all of it is junk 😂 it happens all the time and it confuses me to no end!
Hi Will, yeah the brass bus bar thing was crazy. I never considered it and prepped a bunch of them without noticing. It wasn't until I was testing resistance that I noticed the problem and instantly smacked my head realizing why the resistance was high and how much time I had wasted not recognizing the yellow color when I was drilling and tapping into brass.
The other thing I didn't mention is that you really have to stay on top of the time limits for filing complaints. If you wait too long, you can't even leave a bad review on Alibaba.
@@WillProwse Why not have someone else buy them for you. That way they wouldn't know a popular TH-camr is buying them to review.
Purchase 16 x 280 ah batteries from Amy, received them with a bit of delay , but this supplier was always honest in is communication and product they sales.
But how they can ship dangerous good by boat from China to Vancouver and ground across Canada after without label and proper documentation.
I try to used the same box and shipping doc to send two batteries to a friend by UPS in the same province of me and I had to pay 300$ label and dangerous good documentation and shipping cost.
@@WillProwse so glad you research the stuff on other channels that's awesome man, also shout out to Ray for the full story, and shout out to Jenny wo!!!! If I get some they will be from her and I'll mention Ray
That's the most honest video I've ever seen. I don't think people realize 99.9% of what you see is fake or a sales pitch or just made for clicks.. this video is just an honest guy that plowed a path for others. If anyone has ever deserved to get a little commission in the history of TH-cam, it's this guy by far.
Send this to a body language channel. They'll tell you he's not lying. He's honest to a fault... it kinda freaks me out a little. People don't do this. They aren't this straightforward
honesty par excellent
Hey, Bud. Only came accross you a couple of days ago, but you have already become my go to guy. We all appreciate your upfront and honest approach. You make us all feel a little safer in our endeavours. We thank you.
This is the first time I've seen your channel. I too had bad experiences with unethical companies in China. Thanks for making this info available. I am subscribing now. Good job.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience, Mr. Ray! Wish you all the best for 2022 and God bless you!
Thanks to you I had a great first experience buying from China. I’m new to this crazy battery game and stumbled across this video. I’m building a van with way to much solar and battery power then I’ll probably ever need. I guess I’m a product of “Tim the tool man Taylor…more power.. arf arf!!” Went to Jenny Wu and received my batteries in a week. I let her know your channel sent. Thanks a bunch. I’ll keep watching for sure.
Ray I subbed this morning You just showed up in my feed I guess because I had been searching on and off for information on a 6s balance board etc.. You seem real and genuine I'm going to watch your other videos today! thanks for the video.
Thank God you are out there and being a honest man ! Awesome video we need everyone to be just like you in this world .
Thanks for the very informative video, first time I've viewed, and its exactly what I was looking for, I order a lot from china but it is so difficult to sort the bad stuff from the good. I've placed an order with Jenny Wu for 4 cells to the UK, and so far she is exactly as you've described, and I'm very happy with the price. I've also subscribed, as I'm a new DIY Solar person just getting set up.
You absolutely deserve the commission they’ve offered you. Wonderful content, and I’m happy to be a new subscriber.
This was extremely useful. Thank you Sir. Happy new year from Jamaica 🇯🇲.
Hi Ray, thank you for posting this. I subbed and happy to have found you. I’m new to all of this and can’t wait to see more content.
Wow Ray, thanks for being a really decent human and taking more than enough for the team - subscribed!
Hat´s off Ray! The honesty and integrity you represent literally brought me to tears. This surely is a very helpful vid to any novice (like me), scared of placing an order on Alibaba. Thank you! Of course: My sub+not+thumb is yours. Greetings from Germany.
Wow, thank you!
Subscribed and look forward to seeing more videos from you. Keep up the good work. I don’t have a need for cells, but thanks for the heads up about the buying experience!
You have answers so many questions I had about buying these bulk batteries purchases. Good job I liked the sheet notes and breakdowns.
Thanks so much for your recommendation, Ray.
Great vid Ray, really appreciate an honest review, didn’t think id last it out but i did, so Kudos to you!
You are an honorable person ... I got sued literally in a court for calling a thief who stole from me a man with no honor on a whatsapp message !! The court fined me double the fine than they fined the thief who deliberately falsified documents and a trade license!! This is the new norm and the world we live in today unfortunately.. Anyway thank you so much for this video
Subscribed... Your honesty and integrity, no words. Just wish you and this channel the very best always. What an easier and happier world we would all be a part of only if we did "1" thing. No lies, period. Thanks Ray and look fwd, keep em rolling!
Truly appreciate your comment. I totally agree. Your timing was very good.
I'm just getting ready to put together my first Real solar system. I've tinkered around for years and bought from AliExpress and AliBaba with mixed results (30 AH LiFePO4 x 8 and got ripped off once on a 12V battery) But I'm getting ready to buy some serious numbers of cells and it's nice to know of a solid "known good" sales rep and company that I can depend on. Thanks for posting.
Amazing informtion - thank you for sharing. It is so hard to know what you are going to get and who to trust. Jenny sounds like a person that is genuinely interested in helping and doing what is right for people. I always seek out people with integrity, so that I can trust them to feel compelled to be honest.
love the honesty and information thanks for sharing your experience, i almost went the Alibaba route but found some cells in US (ended up being OK) (older style Sinopoly cells) next time i upgrade my system ill reference this video.
Great video Ray, I like the conversational style and appreciate you sharing your experiences and knowledge.
I'm glad you like it. Thanks so much and best wishes.
Ray, I had been trying to find a supplier I could feel good about when I saw your video about Jenny Wu.
I contacted her and decided to place an order. So for I have had the same experience as you. She has returned everyone of my emails within 15 minutes of sending them. She has been the absolute best of any China suppliers I have dealt with. She has a way of making you feel very comfortable with her as a supplier. All the 280a/h modules I needed as well as the BMS are in stock in Houston. I am going to pick them up at the warehouse there.
Thanks for the video and I am very pleased I have found a good supplier in China!
L. Moore
I subbed. I will be using that link when I get cells here in the near future. I have been wanting to find a solid supplier but I have issues with alibaba from buying large quantities of packaging supplies through them. Basically got ripped off in a few ways. The prices are so temping on that site but it's so hard to trust them when you know you have zero recourse. Thanks for the nice break down!
New subscriber here. Very refreshing to see someone with honest integrity on TH-cam. Seems to be more and more of a rare commodity. Excellent video and channel my friend! Thank you for your time and the extremely useful education!
Best regards,
R.M.
I stumbled across your channel. And I am always suspicious on any batteries coning from China, for the every reason you mentioned. And its refreshing to know that their are companies their, that do care about their customers. Thank You for your review on this subject, and for finding a reliable supplier.
Very useful info. I've played the 'buying batteries from China' game some years ago, and it is very hard to tell whether you are getting what you expect or not. Well done for going to trouble of making this and naming names. Will be helpful to lots of people.
What names were given?
These are individuals names. Generic western names and a Chinese family name. Anonymously operating through Gmail accounts. Who knows who they are actually.
What are the COMPANY names?
Names to
Thank you for telling us your experience. I hope many many people see this video and avoid those scammers.
Hi There. Greetings from New Zealand. Thank you for your honesty and integrity. I've subscribed to your channel. because of your valuable information. Have a great day!
Your opinion and research means everything so thank you very much sir and I shall follow up and be purchasing from that supplier
Always love your kindness. Happy New Years! Hope you are in the Ozarks celebrating.
Ray, Happy new year to you and yours sir
thanks for taking the time to lay this all out. I am going to stick with the finished batteries for now, but if /when I decide to build for myself this will be handy
I certainly do not begrudge you any small bump you get from your efforts, the information you’ve shared is certainly worth it
That being said, you once mentioned some feedback on the inverters you used for the genset builds. What inverters were they, and what was your experience
Happy new year Edward! On the solar generator, the inverters I used were labeled Novopal. I used a 1,000 watt and later a 2,000 watt. The 2,000 watt failed almost immediately and was replaced by amazon in 2 days. The replacement has worked without any issue.
@@RayBuildsCoolStuff thank you sir
You are absolutely awesome! Also Thank you for putting me onto Jenny Wu.
Hi Ray, I am so new to this, and not the brightest bulb, but I really appreciate you and your rare qualities. You are a precious man with integrity. A rare bird indeed. Bless you. I am eager to learn and hope to set up solar power to charge my travel trailer battery system to start.
Thank you for being honest
Hey Ray. I am liking you videos and appreciate your honest commentary and it is commendable that you allow persons to benefit from your experiences. I particularly like how you integrate the use of wood working in your builds. I think this will allow true DIYs to make power systems on the cheap.
Just wondering if you material has a fire rating or should have a fire rating.
Also I find some of your videos run long. I think you would get more views if you try to keep your video short(around say 15mins with post editing). I cant see myself watch video that are run at 45min 60mins etc. Anyways thanks for all of you efforts to share your experience and educated like minded persons.
Damani
I used an intumescent paint on the inside of the the solar shed. It is in the video from a couple weeks ago.
I don't and won't edit my videos. I spend most of every day working on my projects. If I had to edit these videos I wouldn't be able to do them. I once spent 7 months exploring north America. I blogged the journey for my friends and family and spent countless hours editing while in my campsite. It chewed through too much of my time.
I only get to respond to comments because I stop for short rests and coffee breaks.
The videos are unedited, one take and taken on my iPhone. Sometimes my wife holds the phone for me and sometimes I hold it myself and do selfies when I address the camera.
Try turning up the playback speed and it seems to help. Sorry it isn't more professional but it's what I can offer. Thanks for watching and I really do value your comment even if I can't change my style for those that want that. I do try to keep them short and every one of them gets a dang it when I see how long it took.
@@RayBuildsCoolStuff Hi Ray, I understand your point of view - these are your productions after all and you can film/edit/present... them the way you want, I fully agree especially since do not have a staff nor the time to "polish" your videos. Using a a faster playback is a good idea.
May I suggest a slightly better written description of your presentation or of what your video is all about. I am not here to criticize but TH-cam is flooded by amateurs some of which have questionable (or no) honesty. It is by pure coincidence (i.e. mistake) that I discovered your video - I am now a bona fide subscriber. A (very) short bullet-like summary/description of your video would help people like me to discover your videos. In any case, thank you for your time and effort sharing your experiences with the community and taking the time to answer some of the more significant comments, Happy New Year, Ciao, L
@@lancelot1953 I’m glad you are here. I thought I was giving a clear description so now I will go back and look again and see what I have left out. Do you find that to be the case on all the videos or just the older ones? Thank you for taking time to comment.
Hey thanks a lot! I appreciate your honesty! I subscribed and hit the bell lol. 👍🏻
Thank you for this video, exactly what I needed
Thanks for your integrity and honesty Ray which I must say is quite rare these days. I have not yet committed buying into those large cells because I believe their price per Ah should go down as LiFePO4 cells is becoming the de facto standard for powerwalls in the US homes.
What we should do is have a TH-cam video that posts a spreadsheet of common chinese vendors with their contacts or links. Anyone who bought cells from them could post reviews from their experience, price, delivery... and then recommend or discommend vendors much like what you just did in this videos. This way viewers looking forward to buy cells from China won't get disappointed. In addition it will force the vendors to keep competitive prices and provide better services since it's an opportunity for vendors to get more exposure.
that will end up in a nightmare or battleground cause you will realize that you will get false claims of bad cells just as a kind of compensation from a bad batch delivered 2 years ago.
And you do not know about how the people had measured and treated cells before.
It is also a trap that attracts other chinese dealers to hire customers for bad judgements about their competitors. We had already such strange issue that someone claimed that our so far good supplier had delivered a batch of shit till we uncovered that the shipping was from a different vendor.
Complete different game than we had expected and therefore the video had to be withdrawn.
Jenny Wu has a really good reputation and till now I have not seen any complaints about her.
That is what really matters.
No, price has actually gone up dramatically, about 30% in my case. The days of falling prices on PV and batteries is probably over. If something worse happens in Ukraine and the Chinese get sanctions slapped on them from the US, don't expect to be able to get any solar components from China anymore. Docan Power (the third company in Ray's video) tells me their China warehouse has emptied after the Ukraine thing started.
Great video ! Glad we are sharing the seller interactions . The market can teach them.
Very well said Joe, we are the market, and they need us. So we need to make sure we promote good sellers. The Chinese market needs guidance and less ppl paying school fees.
The sketchy actors simply create another name and company. The lesson is to go with trusted sources.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, and making videos of your battery projects.
Great update👍
I been there, only 1200$ for bad cells but a lot for my budget.
Thanks for the great info.
Cheers.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Ray. The lack of integrity in these companies most certainly can be cultural. Time is money too. I've had many bad experiences buying from China. Often times I'd find a winner eventually but that's after having spent too much time and money testing the waters. With battery cells I decided to circumvent those waters altogether and pay the extra premium buying them from a reputable importer in Australia. People complain about the extra mark up but to me it's worth it. No bad cells, unmatched cells, used cells and you receive a product within a few days.
so now y'all know why jenny and amy have such a good reputation, and why people are willing to pay a bit more..
have been talking to both jenny and amy, and had the same exp.
thanks for the video ray.
Mad props man. You are testing them thoroughly and spending the dollars to compare.
Just starting to dive into this. Happy people like you share your experience. Thank you for that.
Thanks Ray for your efforts, it's been helpful. Happy new year.
May God Prevail in your life and family for all eternity.
Que Dios Prevalezca en tu vida y familia por toda la eternidad.
Great video thanks for the information
As a newbie into this arena, your videos are very informative and helpful..thanks Ray.
great video, many thanks. good to see that honest people still exist.
When I was a child, I naturally used to believe and trust in people. As I grew up, and learned that some people are untrustworthy, I became cynical and stopped trusting in people unless they proved themselves first. So now I set LITTLE integrity tests first before committing to bigger ones.
I learned about cynicism from my seventh grade English teacher. She helped me learn to not be swallowed up by it. I like to give people a chance but try to not be gullible. It’s a balancing act.
I ordered batteries from Alibaba spoke to Jenny approximately a year ago I had the same result you did nothing but good my batteries were all matching perfectly good shape I received them on time even with the Covid hangups
I've read several of the comments below about fans for cooling. There is some benefit to pulling air from the enclosure. The fan does add some watts to the air when operating. It's best to have the exhaust fan power added to the exhaust air.
Thanks for the information I just wish there were more channels like yours it's so hard to find honest people in this day in age. Appreciate the information thanks have a great day
WOW, thats a scathing rebuke of a couple suppliers and kudos for one
Very methodical and matter of fact in your presentation. I subscribed to see if I can learn some more
Only scathing of one. Amy is just too expensive and that isn't a problem. That is a choice the buyer gets to make.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with buying cells. I never would have considered buying directly from China but now I may do that, thanks to your input. Very helpful. Please keep up the good work.
Glad it was helpful! I'm sorry it took so long to put out the info but the longer I waited the more complete the info was. That's why I said in the video that it was one I wanted to make for a long time.
Best of luck with it. I hope the other videos are helpful along the way.
Thank you Ray! Really usefull and instructive video. When ready, tell me/us a bit about what you’re doing with all those cells! 😎
Hi Ray, thanks for sharing this crucial info about Alibaba purchase. Loon from Southeast Asia. I'm a beginner of Solar Power DIY. All these while I've being following Will Prowse's videos until today watched yours for the 1st time today. For the previous few moths I've being going through many sites to get familiar with the branding, pricing and quality of solar power system equipment. And, I started to surf through Alibaba as I noticed the stuffs there are great. Nearly to to deal with solar panel seller till I watched your video. Now I have to redo my consideration again. Thank you thank you thank you so much for the warning.
Man, thanks for putting that all together Ray. I'm not buying cells, but not seeing a functional link for the cells.
I fixed the link.
Happy New Year.
Thanks for this video, I am now one of your subscribers
Great video Ray, Thank you so much for the information!
Hi Ray .....just caught up on all your videos, have only recently got interested in solar stuff and may experiment in the near future..If you want your scribbles for your wiring done in schematic let me know ,i can do it with ez schematc and convert to pdf...Happy new year !!
I pay the extra, and get grade A higher than rated capacity EVE cells from Amy. Three times now and no problems. Yes, shipping sucks. After the first 10 or so cycles, those 304AH cells get much closer to 304AH. Mine always arrived with the correct lithium paperwork and labels on the boxes.
Agreed
in fact, NO A Class in the market, all A class will use for car. the truth is 70% are disassemble from the car and 30% are eliminated by original manufacturer, belong to B/C class, which is enough for retail or DIY usage
Thanks, Ray. Will stay in touch and have subscribed. Let's see if I can edit it down to 10 minutes, not that it needs because you tell a good story and mix in a bit of philosophy. Thanks for the disclosure and sharing your risky adventure with us. For myself, learning to avoid buying the cheapest to avoid online fraud leads me to consider local cold storage and distribution facilities as the way forward. Hope I can move another 1000 units a month for them. BTW does each cell have a programmable BMS onboard or do you recommend individual thermal sensors or ai via infra-red camera monitoring the rack for thermal anomalies to a logger
Thank you a lot off people needed this information I wish a few more videos like this was made I might make one so that everyone can pick and understand you get what you pay for unless you find a honest company
"Everytime a man lies, he murders a part of the world" - Cliff Burton
I went with Amy, she costs more but other than shipping delays I could not find a single bad review. I didn't want to get into it like you did, I value my time and therefore went with a sure thing. Maybe I'll go with Jenny next time. Reviews like yours help us all weed out the bad suppliers, thx man!
Hi Ray, it is unlikely that I will order cells from China, but it has filled me with joy to watch this video, if for nothing else than for the integrity you radiate and uphold. Greetings from South Africa!
It's terrible that we have to live in a world where everyone is trying to manipulate each other but it's also nice to find that diamond in the ruff as well.
Ray, your honesty and integrity is something that money cannot buy. I share your experiences with Chinese sellers. You have found your Diamond in the rough. Once you find that good supplier, treat them like gold, which I know you will do, because you are a man of integrity. Continue spreading your message, this industry needs more honest businessmen like yourself!!! My Diamond in the rough, honest Chinese LFP Supplier is Basen in Shenzhen, I deal with Sheila. Also a very trustworthy honest supplier. Keep at it Ray, your guidance is very valuable to many!
Thanks Ray - thankfully I discovered your channel that has put me straight on quite a few things!
I've been thinking of replacing the bus bars on my 16S /280AH setup with aluminium bus bars with twice the cross section of copper buss bars (to compensate for approx half the conductivity of al over copper) . The key reason is avoiding different metals at the junction between terminal and bus bar, which over time *may* cause corrosion between the bus bar and the terminal.
I'm not sure this is a valid concern, but I figure I don't want to find out in 10 years time. I plan to sand the bus bars and the terminals (your drill sand paper attachment is a brilliant idea BTW). Any thoughts or comments - do you reckon I'm barking up the wrong tree?
The susceptibility of tinned copper and aluminum to suffer galvanic corrosion is fairly low and in a dry environment is not an issue at all. I would use an anti corrosion paste such as the mg847 or noalox on the aluminum to halt the long term oxidation of the aluminum.
@@RayBuildsCoolStuff Thanks Ray.
it needs to be dry cause then the aluminium oxidation is not there. Considering that copper bus bars are tinned to avoid copper oxidation I would NOT sand any tinned or aluminium busbars cause your blank shiny copper or aluminium will oxidate soon.
If you do really sand tinned busbars you will achieve the opposite if you have not used grease.
@@typxxilps Thanks. In aluminium the oxidation occurs within seconds of sanding, so yes I would sand the aluminium terminal and aluminium bus bar and bolt them down tight as quickly as I can. The oxidisation of the aluminium (or any metal) will occur wherever the metal is exposed to air. Once the busbar is in close contact with the terminal however, the metal is not exposed so will not oxidise at the contact surface.
That is not my concern however. The issue I am concerned about with using different metals is the galvanic potential difference between metals leads to corrosion at the junction between the different metals which then causes an increased resistance between the bus bar and the terminal connection over time.
This can't happen when the two metals are the same, so aluminium to aluminium is safe from galvanic corrosion, but between tinned copper and the aluminium there can be this kind of corrosion.
My application is in an RV and there it will be exposed to both humid and salty conditions, so I have to be particularly careful. I will be covering the connections with a grease regardless, so thanks for that tip.
@@BenMitro I think its best to avoid sanding terminals if possible. Where did you get the idea to use aluminum for bus bars? Is it just something that has a theoretical benefit or has this been tested to be worthwhile? If that was the best solution to preventing corrosion it would surely be a common practice already.
Your time and effort might be better spent on protecting your connections from oxidation with the use of a dialectric grease or something like what is already the standard procedure.
Just my 2 cents
Ray sorry to hear what happened absolutely incredible, horrible business practices. Thanks for posting this video!
Thanks Ray! Awesome summary of everything.
Thank you for sharing,As a chinese supplier, from my standpoint, what you said is truth. A reliable company, Good products are worth to promote, so as to avoid more people being cheated. I believe Ray will receive more gratitude in the future.
Can you tell us the present supply situation for cell makers? I had someone from Docan Power that said the China warehouses have emptied since the Russian Ukraine conflict. Price has gone way up too.
@@ForbiddTV The later purchase price has generally increased by 20-30%. Most of those who have not increased the price are stockpiled at the end of last year, just like us. Now the selling price is very close to the re-purchase price.
I purchased 20 cells nominal 280Ah a year ago. These took 90 days to arrive in UK as 272 Ah cells. Tested them all around 279 Ah They all looked in good condition and I paid $101 per cell including shipping on my credit card. Judging by your experience I got a good deal. These were from Sheila Chou of Shen something. Perhaps I was lucky as these are all OK
Can’t find it. Can you share company’s name please ? Thanks
Jeeze, I feel that pain. I had similar experiences in my IT career with offshore workers who would point blank lie to me and had no empathy about their zero quality work. In the end I took early retirement before I self destructed. Thx for the insights.
Thank you for the information and your sincerity.
In China they seem to consider "copper alloy" (brass and bronze) and "copper" to be the same thing. You'll see this in many descriptions in many places. I even see "copper plated" referred to as "copper". It's hard.
Same for a lot of things...
Ok Ray. Your video convinced me it's time for me to stop watching from the sidelines. I ordered 16 280ah Prismatic cells just a few minutes ago using your link. Holding my breath here hoping all goes well...lol. $150 per cell. Even after adding the cost for a BMS and cables this is a great price compared to the batteries that are not DIY. My solar journey has begun. Now I have to choose all the other components.... down the rabbit hole I go.... lol
Enjoy the journey. It will definitely give you something to do.
For what it's worth, and not being an expert, but I recently went down this rabbit hole, finally settling on the JK BMS, mostly for the apps fuctionality, but critically the advanced active balancing capabilities. Do your own research though, watch video's, there are many out there, will more than likely come down to the specs you yourself are looking for. GL 🙏
Hello Ray! Watching from here in Canada great review! I going to build a battery pack for my electric motorcycle and I need 24 cells but I am VERY scared to purchase. This has helped a lot. Thank you Ray I will be contacting her very soon when I am ready to start!
Thank you, I live on an electric sailboat and your video is extremely helpful. I'm sorry you had a bad experience but your video is helping other people.
Sounds like a challenging and wonderful life. Best wishes and following winds.
I can see why it was tempting to go with the cheaper order, but for me, I would have been sceptical of quality at that price when the other two quotes were a lot higher. You get what u pay for 99% of the time. Shipping has been crazy in 2021, containers sitting on the dock/storage for a month isn’t out of the norm at the moment until they are processed. Amy Wan has a very good rep, I don’t believe you overpaid, you got what you ordered at the price you agreed and got the cells you expected. Having said that, it’s Good to see there is more respectable selling options with Jenny, handy for those stateside. It’s a tough decision to take the commission, but it’s your choice and at least you let your viewers know and you didn’t hide it.
Another cost to consider is the cost of being ripped off. That first batch he purchased turned out to be far less than what he expected and what he paid for. So in that case, he likewise was overcharged, since he didn't get anywhere near the quality and total capacity that he paid for. I think it's worth it to pay a little extra for better service.
I bought from Shenzhen Qishou x8 302ah cells for 120 a piece plus shipping 154 (I over paid). They took 50 days (US Warehouse empty) but arrived new and at capacity. Fyi . But I was nervous as all hell.
Hello Joe ,Do you recomend Qishou supplier? Well you share your experience ?
Thank you, this is an awesome video. I am in the process of looking for new lifepro batteries. Sharing your experience is perfect.
Glad it was helpful!
good video, very informative, i liked your tyoed sheets of facts and figures to support the narrative, thanks
Hi Ray, a new Alibaba trick is to deliver 12 out of 40 cells and claim the transaction is complete so they get there money. The rest of the cells will come but u have lost the oppertunity to complain.
Sorry about your experience! We bought 52 280 AH Lifepo4 batteries from Alibaba a year ago, and they were all good. They were $86 each including taxes and shipping. The prices are really going up.
How much are they now? I bought 32 280ah cells and they were right around $71 per cell and luckily not any issue with them
@@JM-yx1lm Our first order was from Shenzhen Basin, but they didn't have the same batteries we bought last time We bought another set of 16, they were a different and supposedly better brand for $143 each. We haven't installed them yet, and I'm not sure when he will get around to it.
@@RedandAprilOff-Grid I just paid $160ea for 32 new grade A 302's, so yeah the price has definitely gone up even more now.
Thanks for this Ray. Be well
Thank you very much for the information in this video. I am going to purchase cells first time and this video bewares me from a lot of things that can go wrong in the proces. Greetings from Belgium.
Great video Ray, very open and honest, personally i don't like will prowse, every video has an affiliate link, praises a product than after people has bought loads and complains, retracts what he says
Totally agree on this ! I have given up on Will Prowse. He started good and strong but it quickly went down hill. I am not interested in how many houses he has bought or how many electric cars/Tesla's he has. It seems its all gone to his head and he cant handle it - or so it would appear. So many people dont get it - stay humble - its an honourable thing to do in this world. Ray gets it in spades!!
yes wil prowse is really just a saleman snake oil for profit.
I've pretty much given up on Wil too. I signed up on his DIY forum months ago, but never receive the confirmation email so I can post, despite trying to resend it over and over to myself on his forum. Since I can't post, I can't contact an admin or anyone else on the site to resolve. I've posted the problem repeatedly to Wil here on YT, never once a response or the problem being fixed on his forum. I guess he's too busy counting his money and ordering Tesla's to give two shits about the people that pay his income...
I've ordered from Winnie before and I can confirm that she's terrible and plays very loose and fast with the truth!
Please leave negative feedback on Alibaba, to reduce the risk for other people.
Thank you so much. For the integrity especially, it's rare nowadays.
Just Made a order using your link (also mentioned you). Im very new to this building a battery stuff and only making it for my RV. Thanks for doing the research for me! Let you know the outcome in a week when they get here. Now to find a BMS.
You look healthy. Do you have a good diet?
I do and I worked hard to lose 60 lbs 11 years ago. I got off of 8 medications as a result.
As a web developer it would help if you added these names and the company names in the description of this video. Anyone searching for info on them might find your video. It would probably take a few months but people would start finding your video.
Just saw this. Thanks! I am in Australia and based on what I read in the DIY Solar forum went with Docan, dealing with Amy Zheng. Exactly the same as your experience. Works day and night, easy to deal with, highly communicative and efficient. My first 8 cells arrived perfectly packed and looking great. Testing in progress but looks good so far. I have a further 4 cells on the way, here in about 1-2 weeks. My conclusion so far is that Docan is an excellent company with which to deal and employs trustworthy people. I did not pay the lowest price I could find, nor the highest. I reckon excellent value for money and most important seems to be a very trustworthy company and personnel.
Your content is gold Ray! I’m going to reach out to Jenny. Thank you.
Awesome! Thank you!