2100 so do you think that Redilast are made in? Same stuff like IOS, Cell and IC made in Japan assembled in China.
2100: Yeah, I know. I do have few flashlights but even I notice the difference in price. And I'm OK with that.
I also see that a 5$ cell wont perform as good as a 15$ cell. Thats all fine.
But 2000mAh @ 1A isnt really an exaggerated request, seeing that the old cells did that without problems. And thats what bothers me, such fluctuation in quality or even knowingly selling fakes (they could have tested some and seen "oh, they are crap, lets send them back")... thats just not right.
To me, that's the whole reason BLF exists. So people can talk this stuff out and say where there is garbage and where there is good stuff. Some people will get garbage still, but by telling everyone else, maybe it can be minimized. I've said all along that budget lights deserve and need more discussion than good lights that just work right out of the box. So you can buy $5 cells and get ripped off every now and then, or you can buy $20 cells and get ripped off (in my opinion) every time by paying more than you need to. If you have unlimited funds and very limited patience, the latter is the way to go. But if you have limited funds and a lot of patience, you can do okay on a budget. The people who are really getting ripped off are the ones who fall for the 4000 mAh cells on eBay and don't know they are getting 1500mAh, if that.
Don't forget too, that Trustfire may have quit using the same cell and labels. To save money and increase profits, maybe they're producing genuine cells that just aren't as good as the old ones. That's assuming Trustfire is even a real company, and not just a piece of clipart that people affix to products.
This is not the first time that DX has sold fake TF Flames, whether intentional or not, I have no idea. That is why when it came time to buy mine, I bought from Manafont. I had not heard of anyone getting fakes from MF, in my research, which, admittedly, was far from extensive. About the time I ordered from MF, I had understood that DX had started carrying real TF Flames again, but I decided to not take the chance. Even their own site people had posted that they received fakes.
Are there better deals to be had than on MF? Yes, DX was cheaper and at the time I bought mine there was a thread here raving about a deal on Ebay over Tenergy 18650's. Even in that thread, some folks were getting dud Tenergy's. I would rather pay a bit more and get reliable batteries from a reputable dealer than take advantage of a limited time deal and possibly get screwed. I am no shill for MF, however, as soon as they start selling fakes of things I want to buy, then I will not order those items from them, either. Until that time, if there is a choice between MF and DX or other sources for a particular product, I would order it from MF.
+1 Well said.
Yes, DX has been a huge disappointment lately. Fake TFs, not sending orders because of obscure problems and so on. I tend to order my stuff on other websites, although I had to split my order to KD, MF and ebay instead of getting everything from DX. I paid more now, but well, DX ruined it for me. Although I find their site still the best out there. Well sorted, great search function.. very sad. :/
Yes. But these are good fakes. The bad one have even less capacity
if you're talking about marrsinc - test your cells when you get them (takes awhile w/ those 10A D cells!) and if there's a bad one they'll send you another - and you'll still be inside manafont's initial delivery time (to US)
That's fine. I'm not really a gambler. :) Didn't intend to run the seller down as I understand he did not have any problems with making things right. Problem is that I'd rather not have to deal with the hassle. That's me, though.
I was pretty miffed when i posted that, I apologize for implying that you are any kind of a shill. You are an asset to this BLF community, and without people like you Noobs like me would never even had known we got ripped off. I dont mind buying Chinese Made products, Hell, Its impossible not to. And its Inevitable Im going to HAVE to buy from China again, especially because I want a couple of those '3-mode Ultrafire XML P60 Drop-ins' and I cant find them anywhere in the US.
Also, just to clear the air, I wasnt calling the Chinese "Rats" in General - Just the people who are giving the OK to sell fake stuff. In China. Shoulda Clarified. This thread has served its purpose, hopefully nobody will buy TFF's anymore. The more I read, The more I have realized that TFF's arent what they were 6-7 months ago. I'm on to XTAR 18700's for now.. Until those get faked. Seems Bag for Buck, 2600 XTAR 18700's cannot be beat at only $7.99 shipped per battery here in the states.
+1 I bought at least 200 different batteries (Ds, Cs, AAs, AAAs, 9v, 4/3af, Tabbed AAs and Tabbed SubCs ) from Marrinc and only two bad cells. One email and three days later replacements were received. On capacity of the Tenergy18650s vs Xtar18700s the Tenergy were better by 150ma tested with my Turnigy 8150. Would I pay retail for these batteries? NO. But 4@$14.95 is better than any 18650 out there. I have had wrapper cracks on AW 18650s and leaks from TF Flames. Actually I am finished buying 18650s. Why buy when they are free via ”Dumpster Diving”
XTAR recently changed the color of the writing on its label from red to purple. But at the same time, the diameter of the cells changed. Since I doubt Sanyo all of the sudden changed the diameter of their cells, that's a red flag for me. I should be getting some purple ones soon and I have some red ones, so I will do a comparison.
some test and comparison would be awesome. I was just reading the group buy thread, and was thinking the same thing, "if they are sanyo cells, why did the diameter change?".. could it be the protection strip down the side? Soon I'm just going to start buying Callies Kustoms 3100's @ $18.00 per cell. Just so I know I'm getting a trusted, safe battery with a good protection circuit. Something I should have done long ago I'm starting to realize. before wasting so much money, trying to SAVE money...go figure.
Just FYI bought a couple of TF flames with my Most recent DX purchase (stl-V6). They are genuine as far as I can tell. The writing is holographic and they work well. Money is important to me and even though they are slow, DX has never sent me anything that I could tell was fake. Believe me , I’d like to only use AW cells and CK but those batteries cost more than the lights I’m using them in. I also believe that application is an Extremely important consideration. If I was running extremely taxing, high drain lights or a 5 grand night vision setup, then I’d want the best quality to be found. But for my uses the cheapies are fine for now. 
I received fakes from DX. Thats why I switched to HiMax cells.. 6$ per cell, not that expensive either.
My memory is shot, but I seem to remember that when I first started buying TFFs, none of them had the holographs? Maybe a year ago? Or am I dreaming again while awake?
I went through my 30-40 18650 TFFs and all were holographic except the ones I bought last December, some of the oldest. Those work just fine. As good as any TFFs I have. Maybe old stock before they added the holograms?
Not saying there aren’t fakes out there …. but I am wondering if they always had holograms. Then again, maybe I was buying non-hologram fakes when I first started buying TFFs.
All of my 30 14500 TFFs have holograms. Never bought from Tmart, DX, MF until this forum …. Always did the best ebay sellers (95+ feedback and many TFF sales) and seem to have made out all right …. Until now maybe. 
;–0
AFAIK those non-holographic are fake.
And there is as I know 2 kinds of holographic that are “fake” too.
I think good sources for best one sare manafont and kaidomain…
I had 4 “kinds” of trustfire flames in my hands, and 3 of them were with silver holographic lettering.
I wanted to start a new topic but Ill write it here first.
Im just checking some cells capacities and protection circuit with Imax hobby charger.
Can yomeone tell me how I should test low-voltage protection,m and how would charger act (during 1A discharge) if this protection works??
Im little sceptical, on two kinds of batteries low protection does not work. I discharged them to 2,2V - so….
But maybe Imax keep discharging them even if protection circuit kicks in, or what??
Really, dinodirect (of course), buyincoijs, and dx are a big gamble regarding buying these batts. Even lightake (although they say they are now changing too new, single supplier.) Only manafont and kaidoman are reliable (and know what they are doing, regarding cells etc), it seems…
Can’t recall the movie, but the main actor was a runner. The bad guys tortured the runner. They kept asking him “is it safe”!! :lol:
So, I am asking now, because I got some store credit with DX, IS IT SAFE TO GET TF FLAMES FROM DX, in 18650 & 26650??
thanks in advance,