On Molicell IMR- 26700A batteries, from a Molicell representative.

B42, great information here. I’m a little shocked and perhaps scared now that I know the 3 Moli 26650’s I have (bought off ebay) were originally manufactured on March 22, 2002! 11 years old (Moli FSPE70038.0812 01)…. I might have to look at recycling these….?

That’s exactly one of the main reasons I put this out there, looking at some of those sales I saw too, its possible some of these batteries could become quite dangerous, especially if used in series… It also seems to be true there is NO way to get them from the manufacturer legitimately, so when people sell them to you saying that, they are starting out lying to you.

It also seems to show that if they are 11 years old and still working well, Molis may be a great battery after all, lol

Excellent. Thank you very much for your diligent work researching and reporting this. This is a great service to BLF that you have just rendered.

Thanks B42.

I guess getting brand new Moli cells is going to be extremely hard then..

thanks for this very useful information, good research!

. . . which will cause lithium plating on the
electrodes which in turn causes internal short circuits that can lead to
“rapid disassembly” of the cell

Sounds like another way of saying explosion. Or does it mean something less sever? Based on the other statements about safety, explosion doesn't seem like a probability.

EDIT: I know in a sealed flashlight, venting can cause an explosion. I'm asking only about the cell itself.

So, do you think then this is real then? ebay Brand-New-MOLI-26700-2900mah-3-7V-Li-ion-battery

I ordered one yesterday . It says brand new... Crap - from the pic it's 2008... Double crap! I see the example you use in the OP is this pic, crap!

Excellent digging D42. Very useful info. Both the part about must be a 10K a month purchase to buy from them and also the decryption of the date code.

My MOLI cell indicates shipped, so I'm contacting the seller (saftymind) saying it's date code is 2008 - hope that's ok B42... Not mentioning BLF or anything about where I got this info from, of course. This is what I sent:

"I noticed today the date code on the picture of the MOLY cell is from 2008, and the manufacturer stopped making this model cell in 2009. Is the one I'm receiving as old as the one in the picture?
Please be honest. You are claiming "Brand New", but I'm not sure how that is possible.
Thanks,
Tom"

Tom,

I think you did the right thing by contacting the seller. He probly doesnt know anything about the manufacture date ( the way none of us did until just now LOL). By saying its "new" he probly just means it has never been used, ie not harvested from a tool pack etc. He may not be meaning to deceive any one. I mean if I had a maglie still in the package from 2008 I would consider it new :)

I had no idea of the age of the batteries.

I bought and sold 100 of them in 2012. I am presently looking to buy 100 more, and, have a pre-sale going on them. The batteries I had before were awesome and worked great. My understanding of ‘new’ is never have been used before.

Anyway, I contacted the company I’m buying from and presenting the information (not mentioning source I got it from, exactly.) I want to know what the date is of the battery I’m intending to buy, so everyone knows what they are getting. I misunderstood to think I was buying from the manufacturer which is E-One Moli. I cannot give the name of where I’m buying them, obviously.

I appreciate the time and energy put into finding this information out. (of which I should have done so myself.)

(I hope it’s okay to post here on this subject? )

Wayne

Yes - didn't want to come down hard on him, but he's got a pretty big eBay store, and things like batteries do have a shelf life but he may not be aware of that... Dunno, 'brand new' to me sounds like recently manufactured, tuff call.

Wayne - really appreciate your postings here on BLF. Please, I think we all love your integrity.

His response below. Honestly, I think it's a fair reply. I'll probably keep it and do my own tests with it on a high amp or direct drive single cell build to see if it match's or exceeds a KK ICR. I also got 3 of the SONY 50A cells on order that HKJ reviewed. Actually, what we do to CREE LED's is far beyond manufacturer's recommendations, so, not sure if the shelf life concern of the manufacturer is all that accurate as well, but I'm sure it's a factor.

"The date code is 2008. I purchases from distributor. Your information is correct with Moli. The battery I sent you is in brand new condition. If you don't like the date code, you can return it. I will refund you the money.

So far, none of customer bought this Moli battery, has problem.

Terry"

Link Please…

flo - post #8

Tried it, doesn’t work :expressionless:

I had the same problem with the link, but if you copy and paste in in your browser it will work.

Yes, I think they’d never say their cells “explode” directly, but “rapid disassembly” in a contained space would lead to that…and technically explosion could be described as “rapid disassembly”. Sounds to me like they are “a little” safer than other chemistrys, but have the same dangers.

I’m not sure any seller necessarily knows these cells dates really. It sounds like all stocks of them are either “misdirected stock” or “sales of old stock” or “re-purposed batteries”. Doesn’t mean they aren’t “new” as in unused, and if unused they may be relatively “OK” but since you cant know the origin, its impossible to tell. Seems unlikely they would hold enough charge for 4-5 years though without some kind of charging/maintenance.

Part of the nature of these cells then will be: since they discourage sales and don’t sell to resellers, all stocks will be “under the table” and probably prohibited by their contracts (I’m guessing this is why he had interest in knowing where I saw the cells for sale). So this means any “original” source of them either has no real idea where the cells are coming from and is not the “original” source, or is… less than fully truthful.

No, I dont think I was had. The seller did not mislead me at all, I never considered at all, the manufacture date, and never asked. They buy or purchased these new for their product. I think it might be that they are selling excess stock or stock they do not need any longer.

Anyway, I’m checking with them on the manufacture date, etc.

Wayne