The ones you have linked to are advertised as 3V, not 3.7V, and verified as such by inquiry to the seller. Presumably, those are LiFePO4 variety - not good for a single cell light unless you have a boost circuit to step-up the voltage.. That aside, I did purchase some 3.7V Moli 26650 cells from an eBay seller (fdk-cn), and they were verified via email exchange by Moli as genuine (excerpt from email exchange below).
Moli has manufacturing facilities in China and likely sold these cells to other companies for assembly into packs shortly after the cells were manufactured back in 2002. These cells appear to have never been used and are now being sold as loose cells by the third party without cooperation from Moli. About the cells, despite being 10 years old, my first three work great, and I have 6 more on the way. I have not verified the full 3.3AH capacity (the seller incorrectly underestimates capacity as 2800mAH), but can say that even ~half way into the cell's discharge, it still drives a 4.2A regulated single XM-L light to the fullest.
Here's an extract from the email I exchanged with someone from Moli about these cells. The blue text is from the person at E-One Moli and the black text is mine.
Mr.[masked] ,
Those are indeed MOLICEL's built in Canada, on May 30th of 2002.
The labeling on those cells are consistant with other cells from that era.
They do indeed look new and unused and show no indications of ever being put into a pack.
They may have been overstock that was sold by our customer to a third party who is now selling them on ebay.
From a visual inspection of the cells, they appear to be spinel cells made in Canada.
The original capacity was 3.3Ah.
Best regards,
[masked].
-----Original Message-----
From: [masked]
Sent: March 23, 2012 1:10 PM
To: [masked]
Subject: Re: counterfeit Moli cells on eBay?
Mr. [masked],
Thank you so much for your reply. I am pleased to learn that you are aware that Moli cells are being sold loose on eBay and taking action in the interest of public safety.
Attached are photos of the cells that I've received. As you can see, the heatshrink on the cell and the cans both look new and unused, despite the cell being an older model (2008?). I also noticed that in pics of a similar model cell, IMR-26700A, there is a . between FSPE and 7 (FSPE.7xxxx), whereas on my IMR-26650C, there is no . (FSPE70038). Not a concern?
Thank you for taking the time to examine these photos.
Kind regards,
[masked]
From: [masked]
To: [masked]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 3:17 PM
Subject: RE: counterfeit Moli cells on eBay?
Good day Mr. [masked],
Thank you for your valid concerns with respect to MOLICEL brand products showing up on EBay.
E-One Moli Energy Corp. is aware of the issues and is actively looking into how and when these products ended up for sale on online auction sites.
Many of the cells that we see on these sites are legitimate products and not counterfeit but are not being sold with our authorization.
Many of these cells are over ten years old and may have changed hands several times in that period as our records stop at the companies that we sold them to initially.
We have found that some of the cells advertised online are cells that have been recovered from recycled battery packs and yet others are 'new' cells that were never used by the companies that had purchased them and since then have been sold as scrap or liquidated when those companies folded.
If you would send me a photo of the label of the cells you have purchased, I can verify the lot ID printed on it to see what the cell actually is. With regards to the chemistry, E-One Moli Energy never produced and 26650 size cells using the LiCo chemistry.
For your general information, we have also found that some of the 'high energy' cells for sale on sites like ebay are also old cells that have been repackaged as new. We found a 5000mAh cell was actually a 1300mAh repackaged cell, they did not even take our label off, they just put another label over top of it. We have found this to be the case with every other major manufacturers cells ending up relabeled and resold as 'new' on ebay.
This is a problem that is being discussed at the highest levels of our corporation and also all other manufacturers and also governments and regulatory bodies.
At this point there is very little that we can do as sites like Ebay only let users post information, they do not actually control or vet the vendors and their wares.
We are approaching the problem from the point of the freight and air carriers and making the point that it is their responsibility to make sure that all Lithium-Ion cells that are offered for transport have the proper regulatory certificates in place.
Thank you again for your concerns, please be assured that we are working on the problems.
Best regards,
[masked]
Inside Sales, E-One Moli Energy (Canada) Ltd.
20,000 Stewart Crescent, Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada, V2X 9E7
Ph:[masked] Fx:[masked]
-----Original Message-----
From: [masked]
Sent: March 22, 2012 7:28 PM
To: molicel
Subject: counterfeit Moli cells on eBay?
I'm seeing a LOT of Moli IMR-26650C cells for sale from China on eBay. Is E-One Moli aware of any counterfeiting going on, or is there a likely explanation for how your older model cells are ending up for sale on eBay looking brand new?
I have purchased three out of curiosity, but have no way to verify that the the cells that I received are genuine or not. Is there a non-destructive way to verify the chemical composition of the cells that I have received? My main concern is that they might be cells of the more volatile LiCo chemistry masquerading as cells of the safer LiMnO2 chemistry.
E-One Moli should contact eBay about any counterfeiting activity, especially if the safety of the consumer is at risk.