Cheap lithium ion phosphate

[davef]

For the first time I ordered something from Aliexpress - A VFD to power a 3 phase motor from single phase. So far it is working very well and was amazingly cheap. Since then I've been inundated with adverts from Aliexpress, including these for lithium batteries and wondered if anyone has tried them

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008364685024.html?ug_edm_item_id=1005008364685024&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21GBP%21%EF%BF%A1307.23%21%EF%BF%A1101.39%21%21%21%21%21%40214134671751069974426

Datouboss 12v 100ah for £118.33
or this Kepworth 12 100ah with charger for £140.52
Now not much difference in price compared to lead acid.

 

[Robmac]

I see they do a 300AH version for £337 as well.

 

[wildebus]

For the first time I ordered something from Aliexpress - A VFD to power a 3 phase motor from single phase. So far it is working very well and was amazingly cheap. Since then I've been inundated with adverts from Aliexpress, including these for lithium batteries and wondered if anyone has tried them

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008364685024.html?ug_edm_item_id=1005008364685024&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21GBP%21%EF%BF%A1307.23%21%EF%BF%A1101.39%21%21%21%21%21%40214134671751069974426

Datouboss 12v 100ah for £118.33
or this Kepworth 12 100ah with charger for £140.52
Now not much difference in price compared to lead acid.

You are quoting prices there, but are they the 'landed' prices which you really need to use to do a price comparison for batteries available locally in the UK.
Aliexpress will add on 20% VAT for UK address orders. There will also be shipping costs which can range from £0.00 to ridiculous amounts (some sellers have a cheap product price to make theirs look better but hike shipping).

 

[colinm]

Now not much difference in price compared to lead acid.

Some UK sellers have Lithium cheaper per usable Ah, add in the longer lifespan and they are considerably cheaper, but if swapping over you have to factor in possible changes to charging systems

 

[merl]

I buy quite a lot from AliExpress and find it excellent but so far my orders are low value between 10 and 20 quid. Im pretty sire there's a risk of being hit for import duty/vat when you import goods over a certain value? Plus the UK delivery firm make a secondary charge for collecting the duty

 

[davef]

I cannt see shipping costs for the first one as it will not ship to my island address, however the Kepworth ships from the UK and is free delivery, so there should be no further costs.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008747290659.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller.3.55c2uopGuopGer&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid

 

[Fazerloz]

I cannt see shipping costs for the first one as it will not ship to my island address, however the Kepworth ships from the UK and is free delivery, so there should be no further costs.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008747290659.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller.3.55c2uopGuopGer&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid

I just tried it but didn't actually buy and it is the price it says with no additional costs.

 

[Fisherman]

I buy quite a lot from AliExpress and find it excellent but so far my orders are low value between 10 and 20 quid. Im pretty sire there's a risk of being hit for import duty/vat when you import goods over a certain value? Plus the UK delivery firm make a secondary charge for collecting the duty

There is and this now applies to the EU even from anywhere in Ireland north or south since the B word. . Basically you have to pay UK vat plus the uk carrier charges a handling charge. I had to pay over £70 for a part from Truma sent from Germany two years ago. A real bummer. It applies to any goods over a certain value I think it’s £38.

 

[Fazerloz]

The one in the link is shipping from the UK so no additional costs.

 

[merl]

If you weren't bothered about bells n whistles heater/ Bluetooth then I reckon it'd be a decent battery for not a lot of Dosh. They're all much the same TBF, I paid £200 each for my , two 100Ah lithiums around a year ago so prices are still falling quite fast. If you're into DIY you can build a 315Ah battery for under ,£300 using Fogstar cells.

Envision LiFePO4 315Ah Prismatic Cell (Grade B)

315Ah LiFePO4 cells are engineered to deliver exceptional performance, making them ideal for crafting high-capacity 12V off-grid batteries for solar systems, campervans, and boats.

www.fogstar.co.uk

 

[Geek]

My experience of Aliexpress is that it's generally good, usually cheap (but not always).
I have bought scores of things and never once paid a penny in postage.
They have called bundle deal thing where you buy three things and get free postage. Then you add 3 more and itwms get £1.50 knocked off the bill.
I wanted two plastic brackets costing 60p each.
The postage was about £3.50, so I added a third bracket. The total went from £1.20 to £1.80, but buying three items meant delivery was free.
I then added three more of them, bringing the total to £3.60 but for some reason I got a £2,00 discount.

I paid £1.60 for six brackets, which was the sweet spot. More than six or fewer than six would have cost more.

Once my order never arrived. Evri left it at the local post office - I think. Evri or the PO managed to lose it. I got a refund from Aliexpress.

I once ordered a 4' by 8' garden shed, which was £4-odd including delivery. When it arrived it was nothing like a shed (well, that was a surprise!) Aliexpress gave me an instant refund and I got to keep the mystery object.
The only real downside of Aliexpress is the excessive number of order status emails they send.