Guys, if you want some real legit stores that I have ordered from, I would recommend the liitokala Official Store and Sunway store since I have bought cells from them, and confirmed they were legit.
Greed? Maybe. But I’m overspending on this hobby already and I prefer to cut costs by buying cheap as opposed to not buying.
It causes some headaches. But it’s worth it for me.
Will not buy from that store again. Will buy from other stores though.
It is if it’s about the only place that will ship (and free, too). I’ve got the VTC6’s from that store earlier this year, and they’re genuine (cheaper than the 30Q’s for some reason, too). If you factor in shipping (free), it’s a decent deal.
Personally, I’d avoid the 30Q’s from anywhere on Ali, until the mess with the fakes is sorted out. Maybe the fakes aren’t in every store, but if the Official Store is showing the 4-prong fakes, it has me concerned.
30Q cells have 4x lobed top, higher internal resistance and capacity about matches, but not as consistent as genuine cells. The 25Rs have a 3x lobed (but different) top, higher capacity, higher internal resistance and also lack genuine cells' consistency.
I've opted for “product not as described” and half refunds, sellers do not seem very cooperative despite this though.
We'll see how it goes, but I think it's pretty much nailed down.
Did you thought… if getting a PayPal refund is easy in this regard, did I found a mine of free li-ion cells? :-D
I’ve got 4 NCR18650B with tabs from LiitoKala Official Flagship Store
I suspect them being counterfight. The wrapper is bit different (tipical wrinkles on both sides) and letters fonts are different too. Before any disputes I’ll do discharge test with curve plot in parallel with unused geniue I’ve got two years ago . This will definitively show what cell is really inside.
For additional comparation I’ve ordered same from VariCore Official Store but it will take time…
I bought four. They’ve taken like two and a half months to get here. The worst shipping period I’ve ever experienced from a seller. They’re just as everyone else has described, fake but I literally CBA’d to start a dispute for the sake of less than a tenner. I’ve left feedback stating they’re not genuine.
Please understand they use the absolutely cheapest shipping service available, maybe even to the point of declaring the contents as “something not li-ion cells”. FastTech only quotes me shipping for cells via two carrier services, “PostNL” airmail or “China Post” (slow) ground shipping, and neither is free so this is the reason those sellers are using hacks for super cheap shipping.
I’ve got almost the same capacity at 2A, but the curve looks quite different. Wondering which cells are really under wrapper. Funny enough voltage curve is higher for the most of the time. Will try to use HKJ data to compare.
PS. The closest match by curve in HKJ comparator was Sanyo NCR18650BF/BL 3350mAh, but not by looking at them. I think I’ll need to unwrapp them.
Got my 30Q and 25R half refunds, but in the 25R case the cell appearances didn't convinced the AliExpress Case Management Team. My photos were very clear and well focused, so fuck with that and them. They bite the bullet because capacity was different, sent them combined photos of my Lii-500 result display shots.
There's some cylindrical li-ion cell crime syndicate out there in china. They're mass rewrapping cells, obviously. Hope they get spanked, preferably soon.
I will be very interested in your findings as i got the same 18650`s from that store and they were all 5 x lobed top, all there capacity’s were above 3200mah.