The problem is that I live in Canada, so that was why the shipping costs were so abhorrent in the 1st place.
So, even if you were to ship me one, it would cost both you and me way too much.
I wouldn’t mind a reasonable shipping cost but I forgot about customs/tax on your end. Makes sense.
All I’m able to do with my equipment is discharge with a Lii-202 (using that to charge a large portable battery pack) and then charge the cells in a VC4.
Yeah, still better than nothing.
But it could be a 3000mAh cell with high internal resistance for all we know.
If someone in Canada actually took the plunge, I could check.
Do you have some power resistors?
If you can parallel some resistors to get a load of about 10A, then connect and record the voltage instantly, you could easily calculate internal resistance and compare it to HKJ’s measurement.
Send him at least a couple cells to take a peek at cell consistency.
Cheers :-)
Good idea. Thanks Barkuti.
I’ll leave two as they came, in case I get some equipment to test. Until then, I’ll try the others in my regulated lights.
I ordered 6 30q
Tracking won’t work. I hope they are the real deal. What should the internal resistance be? I have an opus analyzing charger.
Just tested a couple 30Qs I got super-cheap as protected 26Fs (found 'em :-) after removing the protection) in my optimized Lii-500:
- After first seating in slots 2 & 3: 29mΩ & 32mΩ.
- After second seating: 31mΩ & 29mΩ.
Cells have little use.
Cheers :-)
P.S.: each slot's DC resistance adds up onto its AC cell IR, if I'm not mistaken.
Thank you, I ordered them when this thread started. As soon as they arrive I will check them
Or, it could be a cheap no-name cell that is not made to the same safety standards that the name-brands are.
Either way, it may not be a wise idea to use it in high-drain lights (like those that use a FET driver).
Just for reference, I ordered 4 x 30Q button top’s from the Banggood sale at the same time all this was going on from the Littokala Aliexpress store in this thread. They arrived last week and all 4 weighed in at 47gr, internal resistance was 20 ohm, capacity 3050 mah at 1 amp charge and discharge, and they have 3 vents each. With the coupon and shipping $22.99.
I also ordered 4 x 30Q button top from LIION Wholesale last week for $23.75, ships within the US in about 1 week. And when they come in, I will post the results here for reference.
They do look different from the ones I got from another AliExpress store, about half a year ago (“Liitokala official store”, the one that has ‘hongkong’ in the store URL)
For your 4-pronged 30Qs, are there markings or codes underneath the pink wrapper (they should still be vaguely visible)
(I have to use photo editing software to adjust the contrast since my budget camera had hard time to pick them up)
(this reads: L0H5 65V21)
(this reads: NMA6 W16)
I believe those markings underneath the pink wrapper are manufacture lot/date codes that should be on genuine Samsung cells.
(anyone knows how to decipher the date for those ‘underneath’ codes?)
Left is recent order, right is authentic.
It seems that the order of 6 use a thicker wrap. Can’t see any numbers underneath the wrap on those.
Received mine today. 99% certain they are fakes due to the following:
- Connected to 10 amp electronic load and could not even pull 850mA of current from the one cell I tried to test. I need to verify my setup tomorrow night. It's late and I have to crash.
- There are clear signs that there were previous wrappers that had been stripped off the cans. Remnants of the old wrappers show through the existing shrink wrap.
- The shrink wrap is slightly darker and thicker than my real 30Q's. I can not locate any signs of date stamp on the cans through the wrappers, but it's late. I'll check again tomorrow..
- I can't see vents (or what appears to be vents) under the button like I can on my real 30Q's.
I have 4 of the cells discharge testing on a Lii-500 at 1 amp rate. I should have results in the morning.
EDIT: I retract the struck out parts above. More testing is required. Please see my post about 4 posts down.
Ah! What kind of holder do you have to test the cells?
Because if it is a crappy eBay holder, these things can’t handle 1A without a massive voltage drop.
See you tomorrow morning!
Custom holder with short 18 gauge wires pressed firmly against the cell terminals, but I do need to make sure all my connections are in order. I think I see signs of corrosion on the wires. I'll report back tomorrow.
Ok then.
Prepare your credit cards for the results!
If anybody else can chime in and test the cells, then we can see what the cells really are:
- Real Samsung 30Qs(hopefully)
- 18650s with characteristics similar to 30Qs, but cheaper(LG HG2 is a bit cheaper usually then the 30Q for some reason on wholesale sites like Alibaba)
- Rebadged high drain lower capacity cell, like an HE4, or a Samsung 25R.
- Real 3000mAh cell, but with very high internal resistance, like a laptop cell
- Recycled cell and not tested for capacity
- Ultrafire
BTW, I just received my 6 Samsung 30Qs from Sunway store.
I will soon post a review of them.
^
I have to retract my earlier opinion. There is something wrong with my electronic load. It has served me faithfully until now. I'm getting the same odd results with my real 30Q's too. I played with connections and switched carriers and I still can only pull low amperage with even my trusted cells that once performed well in the load.
The raised areas that I thought were remnants of other wrappers turned out to be imperfections in the wrapper itself.
I stripped one wrapper and found no date stamp or any other markings on the can:
Bought 3PCS LiitoKala For panasonic USB-34B 18650 3400mAh 3.7V Li-ion Rechargebale battery With LED Indicator Light DC-Charging - here is the test result:
I think it is to low for 3400mAh…
In your picture it looks like the top part of the can is different then the top part of the fake cell. I’m willing to bet they saw this thread and changed their picture.
I’ve gone through about 50 Samsung 30qs and I’ve never seen one that hasn’t had date codes on the can there should be 3 or 4 of them. Not a bare Can. They maybe trying to pass off mh1 Cells off. Would give the right capacity and be a 10 amp cell. Just a wild guess on that.
Doesn’t make sense why liito Kala would shoot themselves in the foot and ruin their reputation.