Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 12-18-2018, 08:01 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
vandiesel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,253
Garage
Batteries from Alibaba

I just got this from Alibaba:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...18d5731dZcD4Rb

For those who don't know Alibaba is like a giant direct shopping site for all things made in China. There are some great deals and some terrible ones as well. My thought on these is that it would be pretty expensive and likely very difficult to "fake" or make lesser versions of batteries of this type. Maybe this is worth a try as a trial for a few years. I'm curious what the forum thinks.

__________________
2001 Ford RB 7.3 Quadvan (sold)
2006 Sportsmobile EB Transformer 6.0
vandiesel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 08:25 AM   #2
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
I've gotten some counterfeit/mislabeled/crap lithium batteries from China. As soon as I saw them, and the fact they didn't match the picture and description on the Amazon page that I ordered from, I tried to get my money back from the seller, but I had to send the batteries back to China, and somehow they "never received them". Amazon made it right.


Herb


[EDIT: I will say that my batteries were 18650's and not major-size batteries.]
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 11:51 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 166
Quote:
Originally Posted by vandiesel View Post
I just got this from Alibaba:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...18d5731dZcD4Rb

For those who don't know Alibaba is like a giant direct shopping site for all things made in China. There are some great deals and some terrible ones as well. My thought on these is that it would be pretty expensive and likely very difficult to "fake" or make lesser versions of batteries of this type. Maybe this is worth a try as a trial for a few years. I'm curious what the forum thinks.
Ya remember Alibaba and his 40 thieves,nuff said
Beasty Boy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 12:09 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
LenS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,220
It REALLY sounds like a SURE FIRE idea to me. Stay safe.
__________________
Len & Joanne

The Green TARDIS
LenS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 12:48 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 137
VanDiesel -

"I just got this" like you just got the advertisement or you just got one of the batteries ??

I'm seriously considering redoing my 12V house electronics with some LiPo...

Thanks,
Steve W
Southern California
SteveW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 06:02 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
vandiesel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,253
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveW View Post
VanDiesel -

"I just got this" like you just got the advertisement or you just got one of the batteries ??

I'm seriously considering redoing my 12V house electronics with some LiPo...

Thanks,
Steve W
Southern California


In my inbox. I’m getting agm 6v batteries installed tomorrow at van specialties so I did not try these either.
__________________
2001 Ford RB 7.3 Quadvan (sold)
2006 Sportsmobile EB Transformer 6.0
vandiesel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 06:15 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
MadScience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Peninsula
Posts: 809
There's some perfectly good stuff on Alibaba. However, from afar, it is hard to tell it apart from things posing as quality products.

Those cells are most likely made up of a bunch of 18650s, and of those, there is a wide variety of quality out there.

Best case scenario you get a great deal on a battery. Worst case scenario, it burns your van and home to the ground. Since I really don't like the potential worst case outcome, I'll continue to source my lithium ion batteries from companies with US based engineering resources that imply some level of accountability.

I'm not implying that these or any other specific batteries on Alibaba are bad at this very moment. Just that there's no easy way of knowing how safe a particular item is.
__________________

'99 EB ex ENG KSWB news van, low rent 4x4 conversion (mostly fixed by now), home built interior.
MadScience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2018, 06:23 PM   #8
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadScience View Post
...I'm not implying that these or any other specific batteries on Alibaba are bad at this very moment. Just that there's no easy way of knowing how safe a particular item is.

Agree completely. One MAJOR reason stuff directly from China is generally much cheaper, is that many of those companies don't have to account for the cost of providing customer service, the cost of warranties, and the cost of returns.





Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2019, 11:22 AM   #9
Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Colorado
Posts: 31
i almost went this route but just couldn't justify the risk, check over on reddit as well and the sailing forums, but buying batteries on alibaba is a crap shoot. but please do let us know if you don't get burned, if only we could establish a reputable seller on there for cheap lithium batteries.
__________________
2004 E-350 Hi-Top, 6.0psd, 33" ko2's, Timberline 4x4
DHwreckage is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:17 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.