Cheap LiFePo4 on ebay

[leamcorp]

I'm sorry for your experience and its worrying me a bit.

Since you went through the Ebay system - make sure you rate him.

I also have a order with him but it isn't shipped yet (he said he's waiting for BMS and charger). Not sure what to do as I don't think he'll refund my money.

As for your battery - see if you could get a voltage without the BMS connected. If its just a BMS - he may send you a new one... or you maybe able to buy a BMS only from Ping. I don't know if these BMS's are universal - seems like it is (correct me if I'm mistaken).

 

[rguy56]

leamcorp,

I couldn't believe it... I'm an experienced ebayer, when I was clicking, I clicked positive!!! If you look at his feedback you'll see me there, and see the follow up note that I left. I felt like such a goof.

ypedal,

On our daily correspondence today, jimmywuu66 told me he was shipping me new batteries. I hope and pray that they're going to work when they arrive a month or two from now. So I won't have to do surgery on these old ones. Jimmywuu66's faulty batteries may only cost me another $125-$150 to ship back to Hong Kong, if I figure out how to get my taxes back on the warranty exchange... I think the taxes and paperwork fee was just under $150.

My appologies. I didn't mean to hijack the thread. Thanks for your help.

Just pretend I wasn't here...

Bob

 

[Ypedal]

On the contrary, keep the updates comming !! :wink:

 

[mrhat24]

After 18 days, my battery is not even shipped yet. Anyway, Lau (Jimmywu66) told me yesterday that He will ship today and give me shipping confirmation on sat. After reading that bad experience I'm really nervous about getting mine. Here is what some french forum have to say about the battery from jimmywu66. I used the translation option and gave broken english that is kind of hard to understand.

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?tt=url&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcyclurba.fr%2Fforum%2F33693%2Fbatteries-24-36-48v-lifepo4-jimmywu66.html%3FdiscussionID%3D2805&lp=fr_en&.intl=us&fr=fptb-msgr

Here is the original forum page in french
http://cyclurba.fr/forum/33693/batteries-24-36-48v-lifepo4-jimmywu66.html?discussionID=2805

 

[leamcorp]

I saw your comment on Ebay but that seems to be the only negative comment. The rest of reviews were all positives as far as I can tell.

I would have to put my experience on Positive side for my first purchase also (other than initial mix up). The battery 36v, 15ah is running fine at this point.

What concern me is your report of BMS over heating, which I'd experienced with initial battery I've received. That battery was also 48v, 20ah and it nearly melted the BMS. Well I ordered a 48v 20ah battery, which is bit delayed at this point (2 weeks).

But to be fair - I sent him a link to this thread for him to see... and to answer any concerns we may have. Well, in my panic mode, I did ask him to cancel my order, but that may have been bit hasty.

Good thing is, I haven't rated him yet on Ebay (and can open a dispute case with paypal).

 

[dogman dan]

As can often be the case, only the bad experiences get posted. You can see the same thing happening on car review sites and such. The satisfied customer never even reads the sphere, let alone posts here. Time will tell, and any battery vendor can have a bad circuit board fail after a good initial test. The proof of the pudding is how the vendor handles the problems.

 

[leamcorp]

As can often be the case, only the bad experiences get posted. You can see the same thing happening on car review sites and such. The satisfied customer never even reads the sphere, let alone posts here. Time will tell, and any battery vendor can have a bad circuit board fail after a good initial test. The proof of the pudding is how the vendor handles the problems.

I agree with you - these kind of post can turn into a feeding frenzy, which I'm also guilty of.

The reason why I had to stand back a little is that I haven't had a negative experience with Lau (Jimmywu). Sure its all relative in that he's bit slow in delivering or have a hard time understanding what you are saying, but you knew what you were getting into when you decided to buy from a vendor in another continent/country.

Still, he should honor his warranty promise. And if we could be of any help - in the end, it will all help us.

 

[rguy56]

Leamcorp,

Honestly, I think your having sent jimmywuu66 a link to this discussion really helped, because yesterday he wrote giving me his address and promising to replace the batteries. If this is why, then I owe you a major thanks!

Prior to that I found that company's communications to be unusual. Prior to the last, positive communication, the tone was even hostile, telling me that my experience with the battery was impossible, saying essentially, without using the actual word, that I was lying, but incongruently saying that he was going to fire four people. Sometimes, foreign ways of doing business are clearly beyond foreign, and are actually alien. It is going to be a challenge to do business with some Chinese companies.

If working batteries are delivered to me, It is my firm promise to let you folks know about it right away. Between the cost of shipping the faulty batteries back, the taxes, and the substantial initial price, these are going to turn out to be pretty expensive. If jimmywuu66 comes through. I'll be overjoyed to get the batteries of my dreams!

By the way, sometimes communications are signed by "lau", and sometimes"Dan".

 

[Sacman]

Oooooo…ouch! I hate to see others going thru the similar headache and difficulty dealing with new and unreliable LiFePO4 battery eBay vendors from China.

Other than Ping and Jimmywu, the 3rd LiFePO4 battery vendor on eBay is also another guy from China named Dan who’s eBay vendor ID is EastUnitedMusic. He was the one I was trying to warn everyone about earlier on this thread. The main reason I went with him was because he makes the battery to the size you specify and his battery packs are very nicely covered in colored plastic heatshrink instead of duct tape.

Anyway I’ve had a similar nightmare of an experience doing business with EastUnitedMusic and it hasn’t ended yet. I’ve been waiting 28 days now and still haven’t received the battery. After the auction he emailed me daily asking me to send the money but after he got my money he seemed to quickly disappear and forget about me. I waited 5 days but no reply so I started emailing him back regularly asking for status on the battery. It was like pulling teeth to try to just get an answer. When he did answer it was a lame excuse “sorry business got so busy I’ll weld your battery in 2 days” , or “ sorry I was out of town for Olympics tickets, and I forgot to bring my notebook”.

I checked UnitedEastMusic’s feedback ratings on eBay and found he got negative feedback from a customer in France to whom he sold another battery to 10 days prior to me. I contacted that other customer and found out that he, likewise, sent money to EastUnitedMusic many days ago and also still had not receive his battery either. That customer told me he was having done hearing excuses and empty promises. He was fed up and he opened an “Item not Received” dispute against EastUnitedMusic on PayPal. Six days later I had enough of hearing the same excuses and empty promises and opened up a dispute on PayPal against EastUnitedMusic as well.

Wow those 2 PayPal disputes got us some quick response!!! PayPal froze EastUnitedMusic’s ability to send or receive money from all his other auctions and now he was squirming. He emailed me back saying my battery with BMS was already made and ready to be sent but that he is out of stock on the battery charger and he asked me to withdraw my PayPal dispute so he can get some money to buy a charger and send it to me. I told him “no way” I won’t withdraw the dispute until I receive the battery and charger per our agreement. I also politely reminded him that I sent him money… a lot of money… 28 days ago for battery with BMS, charger and shipping… and why doesn’t he use that money to buy a charger and send it to me. Well he finally agreed to send me the battery first then send me the charger later when he can get one. I agreed. The next day he emailed me a tracking number to a parcel that I have been diligently tracking for the past 2 days. That’s where I’m at right now.

Remember the other dissatisfied customer in France? The one waiting for his battery 10 days longer than me? Well he emailed me 2 days ago saying that he finally received his battery and charger after 38 days. He also tells me that his initial testing showed that battery and charger seem to be working. He says he will email me more once he tests it on his ebike. I told him I’m happy and relieved for him and I’m still anxiously waiting for mine. I hope his LiFePO4 setup and mine work well to make up for the extremely unpleasant experience we both had dealing with EastUnitedMusic.

Oh, boy.

I couldn't wait to post to tell you all about 2-48v 20ah lifepos I got from jimmywuu66.

It has been terrible!

I bought the batteries on a best offer, and clearly quoted on the offer that it was inclusive of shipping. Jimmywuu66, predictably accepted the offer and added shipping anyway.

The batteries arrived about 7 weeks later, packed in the thinnest bubble wrap I've ever seen, covered by manila paper covered by clear tape, and with a pink plastic ribbon around it so it could be carried without ripping the packing. The first noticable problem was that one of the two rechargers was smashed. That should have worried me, because a charger is much more robust than these lifepo4 batteries, and they were packed and handled in the same manner, side-by-side.

I alternately charged the two batteries for days each, and then wired one into my current ride...NO power...hmmm...Tried the second one...nothing. Neither battery works. One battery after full charge shows 48.3v. only, and the other, 51.3. Neither one of those figures sounds right.

However, they reach their full glory when they're under load. I've tried them on 3 different controller/motor setups, and when connected they're producing 1.6 to 1.7v. I had planned to measure amps with a jig I had set up, but if the batteries are crud, they're crud...

I've been in correspondence with Lau/Jimmywuu66, and have made requests of him to honor his published 1 year warantee, and he simply WILL NOT HONOR IT. I've asked for his choice of repair, replacement, or refund, but he refuses to do any of these things.

You will probably get lucky and get a working battery, but if you aren't lucky, YOU AREN"T GOING TO GET ANY SERVICE. Sorry!

If I knew then what I know now, I would have happily purchased a Ping.

 

[dogman dan]

I'm not suprised that other vendors have shipping problems during the olympics, but if the problem is that he is broke from buying olympic tickets, that is not a good thing at all. Hopefully both vendors will improve with experience. I thought the east music batteries had lame specifications for running a 600 watt bike. Jimmywu's are better, and Pings the best. The other guy claiming specs as good as Pings, also claimed to be Ping, so belive him if you want to.

 

[leamcorp]

Rguy, I doubt its was me but who knows. We'll see what happens in next couple of weeks.

 

[leamcorp]

Mrhat, have you heard from him? I'm thinking of asking for a refund and if he resist, open a case with paypal/ebay. I'm getting bit pissed off that he took the money but aren't delivering. His excuse of not having BMS/charger is bit silly as thats his business - I guess maybe he spent the money on Olympic ticket. I'll give him one more day... Then I'm getting ping battery.

 

[mrhat24]

I'm already 1 step ahead of you. I filed a complaint on paypal on sat last week since he originally said he would ship it on thur and provide me tracking # on sat. On sunday without the tracking # I filed complaint on paypal. He emailed me back with a shipping tracking # from hongkongpost.com . I tried to track it but it did now show up. So I emailed him again asking why it didn't show up, but he said maybe it'll show up since he just shipped it. The liar originally said he was going to ship it last thur. Anyway, I'll give it till tomorrow until I take further action with paypal. This guy is a pain and I don't even know if the battery will work properly.

 

[Patriot]

cammy__cc

OK, I just tossed this one up here as another LiFePO4 seller on Ebay, who is selling packs with the same specs as Ping again. This sellers packs claim to be using 16 cells for the 48v/20ah pack.

I know it seems unlikely to be identical, but the size of it appears to be very close to the 6"x6"x10" dimensions of Pings 48v/20ah pack.

Is it possible for this seller to be using the same cells?

Granted, this seller has sold no batteries yet, as they have no feedback for them. However, they have a few listed, and many bids placed.

 

[dogman dan]

According to Mr Ping , no. There are other sources for cells than him, but the ping cells in use have proved out better than others using similar cells sold last spring. Battery construction has been more sturdy on pings packs as well. Since another bogus ping seller was just forced to quit calling the battery a ping last week, and a new one shows up this week, well, you figure it out. I know I can belive the specifications Mr Ping posts on his sales. Others who try to sell thier batteries as Pings, you can trust em , I don't. We don't have one post of Mr Ping ripping off a customer or not shipping when he said he would. If you don't like the recent auction prices, just email Mr Ping and get a price.

 

[docnjoj]

I'll stick with Ping for my new batteries. He has certainly done right by me!
otherDoc

 

[leamcorp]

I'm already 1 step ahead of you. I filed a complaint on paypal on sat last week since he originally said he would ship it on thur and provide me tracking # on sat. On sunday without the tracking # I filed complaint on paypal. He emailed me back with a shipping tracking # from hongkongpost.com . I tried to track it but it did now show up. So I emailed him again asking why it didn't show up, but he said maybe it'll show up since he just shipped it. The liar originally said he was going to ship it last thur. Anyway, I'll give it till tomorrow until I take further action with paypal. This guy is a pain and I don't even know if the battery will work properly.

Well I've asked for a refund and next day - surprise, he said it was shipped and he'll send me a tracking #. Following day, I got a tracking # and it also doesn't show up on Hong Kong Post.

I'll give him another day and if it doesn't show up on tracking, I'll also file a dispute with Paypal.

I wanted to give him a chance, since I bought a battery from him before, but it's getting ridiculous after 3 weeks.

 

[Sacman]

These problems you guys have been having with Jimmywu66 are similar to those I've been having with EastUnitedMusic. After you give them money it's a BITCH to get your battery from them.

It got me to do a little research and I think these 2 vendors could be the same person. I didn't want to hi-jack this thread so I started a new one and I discussed it there. Here's the link
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6034

 

[rguy56]

Smell a scam?

Not being a quick learner, I got a 24v battery on ebay recently. When I plugged it in to charge...poof, charger exploded, and oil blew out of the charger housing.

I know, chinese quality control, but it gets better. I tried a new seller, "peterwong228" 100% positive feedback, feedback rating of 42, but, look at that feedback. It's pretty well all private listings. Perhaps 1 cent listings to artificially boost feedback with the help of friends. I don't know, and far be it from me to suggest it...

Here's the good part. Your photos of the product made me think... so I went to the garage and dug up the boxes, and guess what?

jimmywuu66 and peterwong228 are the same person!!! It's right there on the shipping labels.

I have until the 25th to bring my paypal dispute to the next level on jimmywuu66. He had promised me about a week ago to ship replacement batteries in two days, but guess what? No follow up.

I think the really troubling thing is that I've trusted the ebay rating system, but I think that system is being scammed somehow.

I'll photograph the declaration forms if you'd like. It's the same address for both vendors, although now that we've figured that out, they'll just buy a new box number.

Bob

 

[leamcorp]

I've opened a dispute case with paypal. I'm not sure if this will do anything but if enough people open a dispute case, they will freeze his account. I see that he have lots of ebay auction - if his paypal account is frozen, he can't do any transaction.

 

[TPA]

I've been watching 48V 20AH ping batteries on ebay. Three consecutive auctions $650....$765....$950

Price keeps going up........

Looks like ebikes are really taking off...better get all the equipment you need before shortages become worse, and prices go higher.

 

[dogman dan]

Email Ping and ask for a price without the auction. He will give you a price that does not include the hysteria. It will take longer to ship, but you may save money.

Everybody who's had a charger go poof raise thier hand :lol: :lol: When my ping charger died it was my bad. I have proper connectors now.

 

[TPA]

Oooooohhhhhhh.... :wink:

I thought I read here somewhere that he was not going to do that any longer.....great if he still will.

 

[rguy56]

JUST A WORD OF CAUTION, EBAY BUYERS

I notice that neither of the two biggest listers of lifepo4s from China on ebay right now have a single feedback from the sale of lifepo4s. One of the sellers hasn't sold a single item worth as much as ten cents. Yet both of them have significant feedback numbers. Please take care to look beyond just the feedback summary.

That seems to mesh with a pattern that I've seen with other ebay sellers that is very troubling.

I have no idea if these sellers are good or not, but I would be very, very wary of purchasing an expensive battery without doing a little research.

By the way, neither of those sellers is ping.

Bob

 

[dogman dan]

Well it worked for me, last spring. Ping had to take a break at one point to sort out shipping issues related to the olympics, but untill I hear different, I assume he will still sell off ebay. At the time I had to wait longer for the battery to be built, but that was it. With the situation with other vendors as it is, keeping up with sales could be a problem, but he will not shuck you like some others.