Are these batteries fake? ICR18650 30Q

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

There was a thread on another forum a few years back with the same printing and the consensus was that they are fake.

I ordered 4 of these batteries described as Samsung INR 30Q (along with an SC64w HI, though not from Zebralight directly).

The printing on these batteries was covered by a sticker stating the cell size and voltage.

After peeling back the sticker, the printing is “ICR18650-30Q Samsung SDI 136”

My other 30Qs have a lighter pink wrapper and are labeled INR.

Hopefully the pic embeds…

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No picture is showing. :person_facepalming:

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I’ll have to do it from a PC since I can’t seem to do it from my phone.

Here are links to the photos though

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Imgur
Imgur

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Just from your description I say those are fakes and the photos confirm that. They also look rewrapped from the negative side. You can peel off the wrapper and look for other markings that may further confer or possibly refute that. You can weigh and measure them also and compare to Samsungs datasheet.
30Q cells are never ICR chemistry, but INR and they are labeled INR. Lower discharge cells for laptops are usually ICR chemistry. There’s so many fakes out there now due to the shortage and rampant price gouging on 30Q’s and VTC6.

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All I can suggest is to buy from reputable dealers like IMR or liionwholesale, the only two I buy from and get a charger you can check capacity and get a small scale to weigh milligrams to compare manufactures specks against. :wink:
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Test your new batteries and return them if not up to spec.
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6

Ok, I unwrapped a cell. It looks to me like the markings don’t match what is in the 30Q datasheet (i.e. letters where there should be numbers and vice versa).

Yeah, I should have ordered from a more reputable source and known it seemed too good to be true.

Any idea what cell this is?

First, here it is still wrapped:
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Here are the markings on the bare cell:
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7

My guess is those may be completely fake (not even Samsungs) or 26F’s, which are extremely common 2600 mah ICR cells. You need to run them through a analyzing charger or one that can measure capacity. Make sure the cell is fully discharged (2.7 volts or so) and recharge it, then see how many may was put into it.

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Where did you buy them ? How much ?

9

I’m guessing you purchased them for something too good to be true, usually the case for every fake, that’s how they draw you in

10

Thanks for all of the helpful info.

The seller was responsive and is refunding the batteries.

11

Good deal. Glad it worked out.

12

The markings look similar to Samsung battery markings... but not Samsung 30Q.

I'm guessing it might be a Samsung 25R, that was unscrupulously rewrapped and sold as a Samsung 30Q.

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I've had several Samsung 30Q with different markings (refer to picture below)

I've determined (based on AC IR measurement, capacity test, and weight) that all the ones on the right side below are genuine Samsung 30Q (though with various markings).

The one on the left does look like a Samsung battery, and capacity test will also pass for Samsung 30Q. I didn't unwrap, but could see the underlying marking look similar to Samsung battery markings. I'm guessing it may be a Samsung 29E that was unscrupulously rewrapped and resold as Samsung 30Q.