Are these NCR18650B batteries legit?

Surely there must be alternatives. Perhaps you can PM some fellow Canadians for advice.

You could also get an analysing charger that measures capacity. Put 4 NCR18650B cells in them, wait half a day or so and check what it says. If all four cells have a capacity around 3300 mAh or so, then you’re good I think. You can also check for internal resistance, but usually this is not measured accurately.
I think the possibility to get fakes is pretty slim. But should you get them anyway, I think you should get completely off values for capacity…

Someone in this thread mentioned FastTech sells authentic batteries, and they do have some good prices. All over the site it advertises Free Worldwide Shipping, even on the battery pages. However, it seems they don’t ship batteries to Canada or the UK. And to ship four 18650’s to USA, the only option costs $32.46. That doesn’t sound like Free Worldwide Shipping. :frowning:

I checked specs and it looks like you can do it manually. You have to discharge the (protected) cells to 2.8V in a flashlight (until low voltage protection kicks in), then fully charge them in the VC4, and the charger tells you how many mAh went in the cells. So that’s cool. (A so called “analysing charger” does this automatically; just press a button and it fully discharges, then charges the battery to show capacity.)
You could ask member HKJ to what extent testing capacity is a reliable way to check for authenticity of cells. He’s a pro!
I think this is also a nice way to take the hobby to the next level. :sunglasses:

Welcome to BLF GreenLights! :partying_face:

Hey thanks man, I like! I can easily try and discharge two NCR18650B's in my L6 and then put them in my charger and see what happens. So I guess I could order a few cheapo's from aliexpress and see what happens. I did message two sellers on ali to confirm the batteries are 100% panasonic but mysteriously they have not replied as of yet

You could also try to find a reliable seller on Aliexpress. You can discharge the NCR18650B in the L6, but I would not use turbo. Turbo is around 5A, and that’s pretty much the limit for (protected) NCR18650B.
P.S. Are you sure you want protected NCR18650B? Like I said, the limit is 5A. You also have protected Samsung 30Q (15A) from Keeppower, or protected NCR18650GA (10A).

I repeat: the probability of finding the original batteries on AliExpress is tending to zero, no one else has succeeded. But many try … :slight_smile:

Where did you get this information? Can you please give arguments or links?

I grant you it can take time to find the genuine amongst the fakes on there.

But i bought 12 of these from another seller and 4 Sanyo’s for my x7 from a different seller on ali express and they were all genuine.

Just find a seller with good feedback on what your buying and do a discharge test when you get them and you cant go to far wrong.

ive also bought a custom 60 x 18650 cell pack on there and all the cells in that were genuine too.

Tbh ive never had a problem with anyting ive bought from ali, the only time ive had a problem was with DHGate and also with fake cells from a UK seller on ebay.

As for the cells the op listed, i wouldn’t buy them from the seller he listed, for the reason stated by other members

And can you name at least one store on AliExpress, where the original batteries are constantly sold? At least one…

Huh? I got two 4-pax of button-top 30Qs from FT a month or so ago. Shipping was only a few bux. Hang on…

Yeah, 8× 30Q for 37.03 total, 34.16 for the cells, 2.87 for shipping.

Actually, you need to do the opposite. Charge it fully, then measure the current coming out.

Imagine a leaky bucket that you want to fill. It’s a 10gal bucket, but you dump 25gal of water into it by the time it’s considered “full”. 15gal went out the holes and only 10gal stuck. But yowza, that’s a 25gal bucket! :smiley:

You’ll always be able to stuff more into a Li cell than is the actual capacity. The excess comes out as heat.

Yeesh, you guys must have the crappiest luck…

Mine came in exactly 1mo (ordered on the 27th, received on the 27th), and that’s after over a week and a half of sitting idle waiting to be “in stock”, so figure 2.5wks or so to cross the planet.

Sitting in customs, maybe?

I've only ordered three items at separate times from Fastech last year and then gave up. They all eventually did come, but I almost forgot about them and all of a sudden nearly 5 months later they show up at the post office. They still will ship to canada, but not batteries anymore as far as I can tell. Really, the only site that has constantly had speedy shipping to canada for me was banggood. So many items came within 10 days but they don't ship batteries anymore to canada either.

why it’s expensive ? . I always buy its with 1$ price

Again, hung up in customs? FT ships tracked to the US, dunno if you can track the package online however it comes to you.

I got things that sat in customs, well, forever, the longest, but still a month or more for other things before being handed off to the USPS.

Crazy. Right now on FastTech. Button top 30Q 4 pack $19.09 x 2=$38.18 When I select United States, the ONLY shipping option not greyed out for me is: “UPS/FedEx (Large Parcels) $40.25 (7 working days in transit typical)” That would be 38.18 40.25 = $78.43 Am I doing something wrong or missing something? (knowing me, most likely)

We may be seeing the reluctance of various postal services to accept LiIon batteries. . .

Ah I see what you did here. Looks like you were just making stuff up.

klrman have you checked out hkequipment? They’re also very reliable. HKEQUIPMENT - 照明及戶外用品

hlKARInoob, now that was a really good find, thanks!!! I just ordered from them and it was accepted, so they are on my list for good now. Really appreciate you helping me out there