Well, I’m done with liitokala. I ordered a 26650 on 1 Jan, and they’ve repeatedly told me that it’s almost here, in spite of the fact that the tracking number was bogus. I finally demanded a refund, and now they’re just shovelling all this crap at me in messages on aliexpress about how they’ve proved to me that I received the package (they haven’t) and we’ve talked on the phone (we haven’t).
This was the Official Store (217753). I’m never ordering anything from any Liitokala store on aliexpress again. I can overlook selling new batteries as 30Qs, even if they don’t look exactly like them, but have pretty similar capacity and max current. That might not even be the store’s fault. But when their customer service (Ashley Zhang) thinks I have no capacity to tell her lies from the truth, I’m done. With the whole brand. When my Lii-500s need replacing, I’m not buying Liitokala chargers.
So I did all this with mine and they all work. They must be a pretty high current cell to run a Q8 on one cell. I’m not feeling quite so bad about it now.
My Battery-Resistance-Voltmeter-Internal-Impedance-Meter-LCD-Rechargeable-SM8124A arrived today and, using it, I took measurements of the six LiitoKala Factory 30Q batteries (Table 1), and six 30Q batteries purchased from Orbtronics (Table 2). The tabulated data indicate two things: (1) The LiitoKala Factory batteries are not 30Qs, and (2) the SM8124A resistance meter (a) provides consistent internal resistance readings that are reasonable, and (b) is a valid tool for comparing batteries.
Table 1 - LiitoKala Factory Store 30Q
Internal Resistance Measurements (mΩ)
Cell
Trial One
Trial Two
Trial Three
Trial Four
Avg
1
27.8
29.0
28.9
29.1
28.5
2
25.5
25.5
25.4
25.4
25.5
3
25.5
25.4
25.5
26.6
25.5
4
27.7
27.8
28.0
28.0
27.9
5
26.3
26.2
26.3
26.2
26.3
6
25.2
25.2
25.2
25.3
25.2
Table 2 - Orbtronics 30Q
Internal Resistance Measurements (mΩ)
Cell
Trial One
Trial Two
Trial Three
Trial Four
Avg
1
11.4
11.4
11.4
11.3
11.4
2
11.4
11.5
11.3
11.4
11.4
3
11.4
11.5
11.4
11.3
11.4
4
11.4
11.4
11.4
11.4
11.4
5
11.7
11.7
11.7
11.9
11.8
6
11.5
11.4
11.4
11.3
11.4
A reading was taken for each battery sequentially in each trial. The SM8124A advertises an accuracy of 0.1 mΩ for this measurement range.
Ashley, thanks for the introduction. Should your career as Lii CEO flounder, you certainly could have a second career as a model. I, for one, believe everything I read on the internet.
Thank you for the comparison! Fortunately, most of my lights are under 8 amps. Although, I have two D4s (Nichia and Cree). For whatever reason, I can't get more than 10A with real 30Qs, VTC5s, 25Rs, 20Rs, so these fakes don't deprive me of much with the current collection. Lol
It's great to have additional ammunition with test data above!
I received mine and they were clearly fake so I filed a dispute through Aliexpress using the positive end of the cell as evidence and describing the lack of serial number. Aliexpress stepped in and agreed with the seller because the seller apparently provided a “authorization file / purchase invoice from the brand owner” (Samsung). What should I do to provide more evidence? Should I remove the wrapper or would that make it worse?
Is there some unevenness in the wrapping that could lead to a conclusion of them being not from factory?
Can you measure internal resistance and compare with other good cells? Even of a different model….
In general, unwrapping shouldn’t hurt the proof in any way other than destroying evidence (i.e. wrap itself).
But it may affect the resolution - you won’t be able to return the items to the seller.
Oh, any photo/video of unwrapped cell in a charger will be less trustworthy unless you find some clearly visible markings on the cells.
I speak about the return because that’s what the seller asked for in my case.
I agreed on condition that the seller pays for shipping. They system does not allow such resolution, so I only sent a message with such requirement.
My case is still open and will probably be settled next Monday.