Mr. Lau 48V 15ah Lifepo4

[Toronto_ebiker]

Despite all the negative comments about Lau Chan batteries mostly with regards to faulty BMS and chargers that were broken in shipping, I ordered a battery from lifepo4.HK. These batteries are currently being sold under seller name lukeya59 as well as others. I did not realize at first that this seller was connected to Mr. Lau because I could not find any posts that linked them. When I won the auction ($280) for my battery and received my email from the seller I was horrified to read that the email address was chan71@gmail.com (Lau Chan), signed Emma. I contacted the seller and made a special note that If I was happy with the battery they sent me I would order more batteries form them. I was hoping that If I metioned this that the battery I received would be a "good one" and that the packaging and condition would be top notch.

When the battery arrived (3 days from China) the battery was packaged very well along with a working BMS and charger. I tested the battery and the volt reading was 53.6 volts out of the box. I proceeded to charge the battery which took about 10 min and read 56.8 volts on the battery. I then let the battery sit for a few hours (hockey game) and then checked the voltage which read 54.2. I then tested each one of the balance plugs which read as follows:

54.2
50.8
47.5
44.1
40.7
37.3
33.9
30.4
26.9
23.6
20.2
16.7
13.2
9.9
6.5
3.2

Looks like the battery needs some balancing.

Although many people on this forum are unhappy with these battery's from Lau Chan mine seems to be fine and I will make sure that my battery box is padded well. One thing I do not understand is why many of these lifepo4 sellers change there name every month when they tend to have good feedback. I will wait a few weeks to test the battery before a leave feedback to make sure the battery continues to work. Anyone else on the forum have any other positive experiences with this seller or lifepo4.hk

 

[Nicoist]

Hi there!
Well not yet, but I'm just about to make my payment for a cheap won auction of a 48V 20Ah pack by tonyyan51, which is also one of lau chan's accounts (as I realized afterwards )
I know I could still cancel this purchase (and evenutally risk bad feedback or so) and stick to ping, as he is known as an established trusted seller.
But lau claims he uses 4Ah prismatic pouch cells in these new packs, which seem to be the same which ping uses in his V2 packs (also 4Ah silver pouch cells)! So I think I'll be a hero and check such a pack out now...

I hope from the depth of my heart this will turn out alright!!

(btw it looks like the packs he sells as lukeya59 are round cell packs (the Ah numbers like 15Ah, are not a multiple of 4Ah), so this might be one of many reasons for using multiple accounts)

has anyone else had any good Lau experineces???

 

[ty cohen]

One thing I do not understand is why many of these lifepo4 sellers change there name every month when they tend to have good feedback. I will wait a few weeks to test the battery before a leave feedback to make sure the battery continues to work. Anyone else on the forum have any other positive experiences with this seller or lifepo4.hk

that is because they screwed up in the beginning and they got bashed here on the forums, so they try to start fresh again using one of their other accounts that was used to sell cheap costume jewellery. They rotate these accounts to when you look at them before researching them here, you think they are good.

Perhaps Lau has finally smartened up and is providing good batts now. Maybe it is because you dangled a carrot in front of him. who knows.

 

[Ypedal]

If loosing a few hundred $$ is more than you can handle.. i suggest staying far away from the ebay duct tape packs... if you can afford a loss and are willing to risk it, then great.. What we see on the forums is only a small portion of what is being sold out on the unknowing market..

Even the " Good Stuff " has it's limitations, having gone thru the whole line of SLA, nimh, nicad, liMn, LiFe, and different sizes and sources, Lithium is the holy grail of ebiking, until recently ( 2 years or so ) Lithium was mostly only used by the few who understood how to manage Cobalt chemistries, but with the release of LiMn and LiFe touted as " Safe " people are taking financial risks, far better than physical risks of days past with volatile packs..

The batteries ( cells ) themselves are only part of the solution, eventually someone will show up with deep pockets and engineers to support it, and i pray it gets " Done Right " ..

This seems like the progression of it all however.. interesting times ahead !!

Don.. stay out of this thread.

 

[Toronto_ebiker]

By the looks of the construction of my battery maybe he has cleaned up his act. There is not 40 layers of duct tape like other batteries people have taken apart, but rather a few layers and a very hard shell that holds the batteries tightly in a group. I did not want to investigate beyond this layer because I would have had to unravel most of the duct tape. I remember browsing through another post about the Lifepo4.hk and someone had taken the pack apart and the cells were valence saphion which are reputable cells.

Good luck on your purchase from tonyyan51. Let us know in a few days when you have it because his shipping is lightning fast. I do believe that Lau Chan is making good batteries, but as ty cohen mentioned "they screwed up in the beginning and they got bashed here on the forums".

 

[AussieJester]

Good luck on your purchase from tonyyan51. Let us know in a few days when you have it because his shipping is lightning fast. I do believe that Lau Chan is making good batteries, but as ty cohen mentioned "they screwed up in the beginning and they got bashed here on the forums".

I guess only time will tell...letz cross our finger he is making a genuine attempt...another seller of quality packs can only be good for us buyers, competition will (hopefully) result in some competitive pricing between the suppliers... I have been in contact with Dan Ko from Lifepo.HK regarding the packs myself but lost interest when i read here the cells he was using were the older cells...re-newed interest now hearing the prismatic cells are being used and pack construction etc is improved...I must say i am still leaning towards the Thundersky packs :-S ...Which ever way i go be assured the pack will s**t itself, its my luck NOTHING i buy works right straight off the bat :: sigh :: i have inherited this trait from my old man, Mr Warranty Claim...

 

[Toronto_ebiker]

I must say i am still leaning towards the Thundersky packs :-S ...Which ever way i go be assured the pack will s**t itself, its my luck NOTHING i buy works right straight off the bat :: sigh :: i have inherited this trait from my old man, Mr Warranty Claim...

Those single Thunder Sky cells are cheap! $37 for 3.2v 20ah? I might have to pick a few of those up at that price.

http://elitepowersolutions.com/products/product_info.php?cPath=16&products_id=74

 

[AussieJester]

Have sent an email to you Yesa-Battery for quote on 48v 20ah including delivery ..

Thanks


Kim

 

[John in CR]

I must say i am still leaning towards the Thundersky packs :-S ...Which ever way i go be assured the pack will s**t itself, its my luck NOTHING i buy works right straight off the bat :: sigh :: i have inherited this trait from my old man, Mr Warranty Claim...

Those single Thunder Sky cells are cheap! $37 for 3.2v 20ah? I might have to pick a few of those up at that price.

http://elitepowersolutions.com/products/product_info.php?cPath=16&products_id=74

Thunder Sky may turn out to be one of the low cost leaders, since with their cells there is size and weight penalty. I really like that they are already enclosed in a tough package, so they're more like existing consumer batteries and we don't have to worry so much about enclosing them in some kind of protective strong box. I'm going to hold out for $.25-.30/wh. With full retail under $.60 it can't be too far off. Where's my finger's crossed smilie?

John

 

[AussieJester]

I got word back from Yesa sadly they are a little out of my price range no thanks to the current financial situation...would LOVE one of their packs...Thing i have against Ping and the rest of the 'duct tape' packs like them is the number of cells in the pack and thus the number of joints...with the thundersky packs theres 16 cells...whats in a ping? 80? I just feel the chances of a cell shitting itself is alot higher? Correct me if i am wrong...Thundersky looks like the ones unless something changes in the next week or so...

p.s Thundersky packs are 11 kilo how much are pings and the like cant be a whole lot of difference i thought they were around that mark also? thats ~26 pound for the metric challenged Americans Better than the 25kilo im carrying now

 

[dogman dan]

I belive the Ping 48-20 ah is about 10 k. When the new cells came out 1 ah smaller than the old ones, I thought, that is going the wrong direction! Since most ebikes need a 20 ah pack anyway, why not a 10 ah cell, so you have 32 cells? Most of us don't need more than a 2c pack, so the high price cells make no sense for us. X5 and etek owners are a different story.

One thing about Ping, if you do have a problem, he speaks good english, and will try like hell to fix you up. Some of the other vendors will try to wear you down before making good on a claim. I doubt you will be sorry if you go for a Ping.

 

[AussieJester]

I doubt you will be sorry if you go for a Ping.

We wont know as i wont be LoL...I have had several emails from Thundersky now their english is better than mine hope their service is the same if i do have a problem...anyone had experience with them?

 

[Ypedal]

On a production line, smaller cells have got to be easier to quality control, and if you waste a cell or 2 out of X amount, it's a smaller loss, producing 20ah cells creates a big waste if you have a hickup on the belt.. and we all know nothing goes to waste unless it's absolutely Junked ( and by chinese standards.. it had to be REALLY bad !! )

edit to add : This is the case with those " valence " cells that were being sold by jimmywu etc.. rejected by Valence, but again, nothing goes to waste, so someone picks them up dirt cheap and sells them on ebay as " Valence " packs..

 

[Nicoist]

That Thundersky pack thing sounds interesting, and at first glance I'd say 16 20Ah cells is better than 80 4Ah cells too, but Ypedal you sound reasonable as well!
I just read the thread "elite power solutions, good or bad" there's a post by usatracy which seems to prove your assumption: they tested a thundersky pack and several cells of it didn't delivered too little Ampere: "We found 6 cells out of a 14 cell EVAL pack were only capable of 27 AH capacity at 18.8 amp loads. The other 14 varied somewhat disturbingly between 35 and 39 AH after only a few cycles..." (guess she was talkin about a 20 cell pack here)
Also I'm missing more info and specifications on elitepowersolutions...

Me personally, I'll go with that Lau 48V 20A pouch pack, as I won that action for a good price (478$ incl s&h)!

Yes I will let you know how it turns out.

 

[dogman dan]

The thunderskys may be fine too. They have also had problems in the past, who didn't? I wonder how many little pouches are in the 20 ah thundersky cells when you take the case off, 4 or 5?

 

[Toronto_ebiker]

removed

 

[Toronto_ebiker]

edit to add : This is the case with those " valence " cells that were being sold by jimmywu etc.. rejected by Valence, but again, nothing goes to waste, so someone picks them up dirt cheap and sells them on ebay as " Valence " packs..

Can you confirm that Valence sells their rejected batteries in bulk to manufacturers of duck tape packs or are you speculating?

 

[AussieJester]

I feel alot happier dealling with American company than someone in china who
for all i know slaps packs together on there dinning room table. (not directing
that at ANYONE in particular just generalizing) Elite Power Solutions warranty
sounds fair to me ie.

The warranty covers ELITE products (Li-ion batteries, chargers, BMS systems, etc.)
which fail due to defect in materials or workmanship. Warranty only applies to original
purchaser. Warranty period is one year, and it starts from the date of purchase. During
the one-year limited warranty period, customer will receive a replacement for every
defective product free of charge (except for taxes, where applicable).

Kim

 

[Toronto_ebiker]

I feel alot happier dealling with American company than someone in china who
for all i know slaps packs together on there dinning room table. (not directing
that at ANYONE in particular just generalizing) Elite Power Solutions warranty
sounds fair to me ie.

Kim

I agree with you, but for $280 I had to try it out. even if the few of the cells die (murdered) then I will take the pack apart and make smaller packs for only $1.60 a cell which is what I paid $280/176cells. I wish I had some decent equipment to test the cell with.....

 

[AussieJester]

I agree with you, but for $280 I had to try it out. even if the few of the cells die (murdered) then I will take the pack apart and make smaller packs for only $1.60 a cell which is what I paid $280/176cells. I wish I had some decent equipment to test the cell with.....

Oh absolutely i would have done the same for that price no question...hope they workout ok anywaz mate.

 

[Ypedal]

edit to add : This is the case with those " valence " cells that were being sold by jimmywu etc.. rejected by Valence, but again, nothing goes to waste, so someone picks them up dirt cheap and sells them on ebay as " Valence " packs..

Can you confirm that Valence sells their rejected batteries in bulk to manufacturers of duck tape packs or are you speculating?

More common sense than speculation, ok maybe a hunch, but i'm damn sure that Valence would not allow their cells to be sold covered in Duct Tape on ebay by a guy nammed Jimmy.. The shrink wrap says " Valence " on it, proffesionally looking so not likely " fake " valences, but setting up production runs of these cells has got to require some dry runs and test batches.. imagine working at such a factory and seeing a skid load of cells headed to the recycler !!!! no chance in hell.. Like i do with Makita packs that should be recycled ( sort thru the good and bad one's, pair them up and use them while they work ).. only that the cells that made it into the makita packs passed QC by contract $$$$$

I've been told by a few individuals that they are rejects, including a very well known DT seller well respected in these parts... asked not to be named but use your imagination..

While looking for a link i found a long time ago.. stumbled upon this:
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13351

Interesting list, a bit out of date on some things but still fun to read.

Googling for another 18650 valence ebay search result that is eluding me at the moment..

 

[Toronto_ebiker]

edit to add : This is the case with those " valence " cells that were being sold by jimmywu etc.. rejected by Valence, but again, nothing goes to waste, so someone picks them up dirt cheap and sells them on ebay as " Valence " packs..

Can you confirm that Valence sells their rejected batteries in bulk to manufacturers of duck tape packs or are you speculating?

More common sense than speculation, ok maybe a hunch, but i'm damn sure that Valence would not allow their cells to be sold covered in Duct Tape on ebay by a guy nammed Jimmy.. The shrink wrap says " Valence " on it, proffesionally looking so not likely " fake " valences, but setting up production runs of these cells has got to require some dry runs and test batches.. imagine working at such a factory and seeing a skid load of cells headed to the recycler !!!! no chance in hell.. Like i do with Makita packs that should be recycled ( sort thru the good and bad one's, pair them up and use them while they work ).. only that the cells that made it into the makita packs passed QC by contract $$$$$

I've been told by a few individuals that they are rejects, including a very well known DT seller well respected in these parts... asked not to be named but use your imagination..

While looking for a link i found a long time ago.. stumbled upon this:
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13351

Interesting list, a bit out of date on some things but still fun to read.

Googling for another 18650 valence ebay search result that is eluding me at the moment..

I do understand what you meant. I do agree that rejects can end up in these cells without Valence knowing or maybe they are counterfeit batteries who knows? We can only speculate without contacting valence. I did however take the battery for its first official test drive and I was happy with the result. The battery has more power then my SLA and doesn't get bogged down at full throttle.

 

[Nicoist]

yes, of course lifepo4 is better than SLA. but you might want to check if your battery really delivers the advertised Ah's.
(i once received a 14 instead of 20Ah pack)

btw: lau's tonyyan51 ebay-account just got deleted, and my cheap won auction is thus canceled as well. luckily i didn't make the payment yet. also i don't like the fact that lau uses 1000s of accounts and also has weird specs on his products so I decided not to buy from him (probably a wise decision) and will now head for a ping pack. i should have done so right from the start...
greetings
nicolai

 

[dogman dan]

Could getting out of deals he doesn't like be the reason for so many identities? I bet he also reads the forum just to keep a jump ahead of us.

 

[docnjoj]

I'll stick with Ping for now! Good quality control (1.3 years on my wifes) and really high power on my new 48 volt 20 ah! Prices were competitive with Good ol Bill footin part of the cost thru search.com!
otherdoc