I used Moochs’ guides to verify the Samsung 25Rs I got from Vapah Inc on eBay. Turns out 25Rs have very unique identifiers that are specific to genuine cells that fakes (at least as of May 2019) don’t have. Even very good fakes. Like stamps under the positive terminal on the vent. 6 cells for like $26 shipped. The 30Qs were like $45 shipped for 8. I was looking at 18650GAs and they were $35 for 6. I couldn’t find guaranteed genuine cells cheaper stateside or even in China. Maybe Neil can get them cheaper!
Here’s my experience with buying from across the pond. In word, caveat emptor, buyer beware. You need to realize you are most likely getting what you pay for. I’ve got good, as-advertised stuff from Aliexpress and eBay, but also got the wrong items or something not as described from. Pay attention to the seller rating and feedback. Also, expect to get some bad eggs if you buy a lot from China and forget about returns. All the Chinese sellers always refund me and the ones who’ve sent me the wrong or defective items have even sent me new ones that mysteriously disappear in transit at which point you wait for a month and then ask for a refund. The moral of the story is…it might be worth while to buy local and pay a few bucks more.
I’ve decided that it’s just not worth my time or concern to buy batteries from overseas. Although I’ve brought probably 25 batteries from Banggood, Gearbest, and Fasttech in the past few years and all appear to be genuine (and how can anyone be 100% sure with some of the better fakes?), my last 8 have been from Illum and Liion. After considering that I have many thousands of bullets and primers sitting in my basement that will probably never be used (anyone in the SF Bay Area in the market for lead bullets/primers 
), I concluded that a few extra dollars spent on USA based suppliers is well worth the money.
I wouldn’t buy from merica.
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Well, if this ’first line, second character should be zero (to be considered as genuine), then this 30Q I got from BG (albeit years ago when lilos are freely shipped world-wide) is a sample of my other several genuine 30Qs I got from them.
I see a lot of content from this person, but I didn’t see any guides. Where should I be looking?
I can confirm purchasing Samsung 30Q 18650’s from Banggood, @ June 2019 that are fakes. They’re not too happy refunding either so i’ve filed a dispute via Paypal.
Buy only from reputable dealers would be my advice.
Flat top or button top?
They’re capable of selling fakes of both types.
A while back I wanted the cheapest but still new cells I could find, ’cause when selling a light, no one wants to pay an additional 5-10bux for one cell. So I got some “genuine LiitoKala” (pffft) cells trussed up like panny-Bs for like 3bux a pop. Flattops.
They were probably rewrapped commodity cells like LiShens, but they were all pretty much to-spec as far as capacity, they’d be going into low-stress lights, so would be fine. I was and am perfectly okay with that, as I knew what I was getting, and the price “fit”.
Now… if you want real 30Qs, or VTC5s/-5As/-6es, or HG2s, NOW we got a problem if they’re fake, as that’s outright fraud, like selling a Bolex watch for the price of a Rolex.
The problem is proving that you got fake name-brand cells, as a 3-leaf clover vs 4-leaf clover on the button, crappy welds vs good welds, leading-‘0’ stenciled on there or not… neither the seller, nor AX/BG/whoever, nor PayPal, nor credit-card company, would want to hear it. No one there is going to do research to see if it’s true, or if you’re just pulling it out your ass to try to make a fake claim and get free batteries. “You got battery, it hold voltage, it good!” Claim denied.
So, caveat emptor, cave canem, all that Latin wisdom.
I got a LietoKala panny-B disguised cell together with a Lii-100 charger a few months ago. After some testing, cell spot weld disassembly, investigation and a couple questions to vapcell Dennis, I came to the conclusion the rewrapped cell is a BAK 18650-34T:
At ≈42mΩ DC internal resistance and more than 3300mAh of capacity the figures are comparable to Sanyo NCR18650GA ones. So very good cell.
I think the consensus here is just that. Don’t pay $3.50 for a “Samsung 30Q” and expect to get a Samsung 30Q. You’ll probably get a factory reject at best or a knock-off with a forged wrapper or a steel can with a AAA or capacitor and some sand inside at the worst.
I had great experience with these 2 sites
This is a new site selling out of Canada
Why not? If you know how and where, it may be possible. Or at least close. €3.75 a pop at NKON, and €3.39/piece if you buy at least 10. Samsung has great pricing and 30Q cells have been in production for quite a bit already. Shipping excluded, of course.
Kewl. Was just gonna ax ya if they’d be any good, then caught that.
Now, who sells “genuine BAKs”? :laughing:
That’s true and good point that you can find screaming deals out there, but for buying stateside you’re not going to find real 30qs for under $5 US.
That is what really stinks in all of this. There is a bunch of not so well known li-ion cell OEMs which mostly remain in secrecy before our eyes. Let me remember to all of you fellows, the fact we are buying li-ion cells in their original wraps is a sort of grey market thing. This is because li-ion cells are industrial products, not consumer grade. They are meant for knowledgeable and responsible staff, not for @%$€$ (guess what ;-) word is that). This mostly means that if you get hurt with the stuff, the modus operandi is clean your poopie and get along.
I would love to buy cells in their original wraps, while also having easy access to their OEM datasheets. Really.
Illumn has them on right now for $4.99 US. Add the BLF discount, and it brings them down to $4.74 US each. A lot of places have similar prices. It’s getting them under $4 where I’d get suspicious.