Taking a chance on Alibaba (K Power battery)

Are HK LiFePO4 any good these days?

There's a REASON I stopped buying hobby king packs in lots bigger than two or three packs, and never ever again from the china warehouse.
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Ah they shipped them as toys did they.
When I receieved my 3 shipments from China warehouse they were all labelled seemingly correctly, with warnings etc.
 
Shipping lithium batteries of all types has been undergoing a lot of change in regulations, requirements and training. It probably still varies in different parts of the world, but lots of attention is being paid to this. Even "safe" LiFePO4 Headway cells have to meet packaging, training, labelling and extra fees charged to meet all the new requirements. It is not just lipo or pouch cells, and many aircraft and lives have been lost to accidents with 18650 and other cell types as well.
 
999zip999 said:
Dogman why are the shipping certification important to you ? The receiver of goods ? Is there a liability on your side ? Are E.S. members liable for hobbyking lipo batteries being shipped without proper certification ?
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So you know that you package wont get seized and destroyed by customs, like it happened to me.
 
Well, that is news, if Hobby king is shipping legally now. I missed that info. Very good to know there are more and more vendors shipping it legal.

Used to be a common topic here, was when would it be safe to buy again. They'd have the guy they bribed at Swiss post, or EMS, get caught or whatever. Then they'd have to reopen the pipeline to illegally ship again through a different exit port. Sometimes, they'd limit the buy to two packs or something like that.

I went to ordering HK packs from the US warehouse, and only in small lots. I never got a defective, puffy, leaking pack again doing it that way. The package took less beating. But it still was not labeled as a lithium battery, up to early 2014. Shipped entirely in the US, and under 4 pounds, it was not labeled what it was at all. Nor was it labeled, "from Hobby King". Just a stealth address of the warehouse.

The last battery I bought, was properly shipped as hazmat, lithium battery, and the fireproof vermiculite packing would have helped smother a fire if it got hot. That was an allcell pack. Expensive as hell.

Alibaba says my battery shipped. No tracking number from K battery, and honestly, don't expect them to send one. If they do, it will start tracking in the US the day after I get it, like normal.

Should be here in about 8 days, depending on if they decide to destroy it at customs. :twisted: That is indeed, the part I worry about. Whatever they send me, if it won't work, I'll make it into something that will do something. But hoping for it plug and play, and run with reasonable sag on a 22 amps controller.
 
I wish they had a warehouse in Canada, like TO and Van or something. Too small a market.

I hope your battery works good for your needs.
 
Missed your lifepo4 question. I have no idea if HK lifepo4 is any good. It was always just too high priced for me, and as with all HK stuff, wildly overstated c rate.
 
Well, it did come. Arrived very fast, but not shipped legal.

No hazmat lables, nothing to indicate a battery inside. Invoice says "charger" Well, one of the items is a charger. Cheap ass charger too. Huge rattle inside. Popped it open, and put the fan back where it' supposed to go. Charger does work, but I'll be charging this with my trusty kingpan.

Humongous bms box, Seems to me I should vent it. For now I'll leave it be.

A few test cycles, and I'll try to see what's inside, and I want to add jst plugs to use cellogs, see what it's doing, find out if any group is weak.

Right now, doing my usual break in cycles. They make me feel good if nothing else. Charge, ride around the block, back on the charger, 3-4 times. Then charge overnight if it won't hold 54.6v right away.

First lap and I'm happy. Maybe not such great cells inside, but in 20 ah size, I'm getting only 2v of sag under a 900w load. I can be very happy with that. My Allcell sags much more, but it's only 13 ah. Never planned to run this pack on a bigger load, unless I parallel in the Allcell with it.



Just the battery..jpg
 
Inevitable banana for scale.

Bms in the white box, but not all of it in the frame. on the left.
 
Still to be seen what it's real capacity is. But yeah, real glad customs didn't nab it.
 
I am looking forward to all your "post purchase" performance posts. From what I can see, it's a little bulky, but for the price (and speedy delivery), this could work out to be a good basic source for a "standard performance" batteries.

I bought a 48v 15Ah LifePo4 pack from Sun-Thing28 last year, and am happy with it. My controller is 25amps, so not a high demand/high performance machine. I am curious to see how your new pack compares.

Thanks for taking the time to share your details, and I figure that in a day or two, you could make some tasty banana bread with the banana... :)

IAN.
 
The banana left Costa Rica July 15 both arrived on the July 22. Both a little bruised.
Alert :
Neither with proper documentation, notice no Chiquita banana sticker. illegal southern border crossing ? A well packed banana can hold a quarter kilo more or less. I think Donald trump will be down for a visit.
 
Hey Dan, so far so good. I am anxious to hear how it goes because I am still planning to buy the one I pointed you at a few weeks ago:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/48V-20AH-Electric-Bicycle-Lithium-Battery-with-BMS-Charger-Rear-rack-Aluminum-battery-48V-1000W-Samsung/1714144_32309134019.html

Looks like the same specs just a few more bucks for the rear rack mount aluminum packaging and key lock. I am planning to tell them I want the case solid black. Did you get a chance to communicate with the seller or manufacturer when you bought yours?

Any way to peek at a cell and see if it is genuine Samsung?

Thanks for taking the lead on this and for keeping us posted.
 
Just to be crystal clear here, because of the illegal shipping, K Power will never be on my recommended vendor list.

But on the other hand, if prices stay this low it's an option for those that need a rock bottom price. There was no BMS battery bullshit about shipping cost. (do they still do that?)

I'll be peeling it open to see what cell is inside fairly soon. But not this weekend.

Bulky? bear in mind it's 1000wh. The bms is bulky as hell. The dimensions are awkward, and not what they said they would be.

Since it's a big square, it could be awkward to carry on some bikes. But I have no problem with it on the cargo bike I plan to use. I would have preferred a bit longer and narrower. The bms box is huge, and really adds to the bulk.

I put it in the usual coroplast protective box with a carry handle, and the end result is bulky due to the bms and all the wires. 9x8x4.5 inches.

For sure, it won't fit in my EM3ev triangle bag. But I knew that going in.
 
20ah in lifepo4 is hard to get inside the triangle or triangle bag. My12s A123 is the wrong shape for a em3ev bag. I guess your main goal was price , ah , cycle life in that order ? What were your priorities ? In this choice ?
 
Overnight, after the first deeper cycle, the battery dropped from 54.6 to 54.3v. Not too bad, and likely just still not perfectly balancing. May never be so perfect it holds 54.6 till morning. S ok with me. Nothing bad going on, like losing 2v overnight.

The first priority in deciding to buy a new battery at all is not having 2000 wh of lipo in my house anymore. So it was going to be something 18650 NMC most likely.

The hobby king packs are outside most of the year, but in summer I bring it in to the fireplace. right now I have 700wh left that is in good shape, so not as much inside as the last 4 years. It's on it's last summer of being any good now. Next summer, at most a 500wh pack for off road riding, and more likely only 250wh.

So the need is to replace 1000wh or so of battery that I use on longer rides, so I have the 1500wh I need to make it across 60-80 miles of desert on a long day trip or tour.

So many choices, and the three criteria on which vendor was price, price, and lastly price. No money is pretty relentless for driving the decision. Pretty much every dollar goes to the Subaru payment. A good investment I don't regret, but for now it's a real cash sucker.

Funny though, needing to shave $300 from the battery purchase, so I'm enabled to not drive the car that eats all my cash. But that was always the plan, buy the car nearly new, and when it is paid for, it's still in nearly new condition.
 
I saw smoke down the hill went by to find a burned out garage July 12. Well the fire didn't get everything the smoke damage pretty much made them useless for his construction job. His 12 son was charging Lipo hobby batteries in the garage mid day so the alarm was called in fast. I told him don't be mad at his son for cheaply made hobby batteries and suggested a barbeque for storage and charging. Lucky to have renter insurance. I will go down today to see how things are working out. I also told him how thieves follow a fire for free stuff as if after a fire disaster all things are free. Just ask A.W. ~ looters.
 
Never store or charge lipo (lithium cobalt hobby cells) where you would not build a fire.
 
Dogman- thanks for buying and reporting on your new battery.

Did you consider http://lunacycle.com/battery/? If you did, what ruled them out in the final decision?

Hard to believe there are still members with 1000+ posting histories recommending hobby lipo. Just in the last few days a guy asking about 2 kilowatt hours worth of battery for long distance touring- batteries bound to get knocked around and charged in hotel rooms by a very tired rider- and a "senior" member comes on and points him to lipo! Brilliant.

Your readers would enjoy watching you put your last lipos into use to drive the JP spot welder to put together a pack with 18650s from Tumich or Tesla cells from okashira.
 
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