are li-ions really hard to buy now?

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

I used to buy li-ions from AW (directly), XTAR, DX, and other places. But it’s been a couple of years now and it seems difficult or really expensive to buy them.

I’m looking for a good quality 14500 IMR but AW doesn’t seem to sell direct anymore, and I can’t find a seller with a reasonable shipping cost. Same for Efest. I can find a battery for around $5, but shipping adds $20, so it’s not worth it.

Or I can find them on ebay, but I don’t trust that they’ll be authentic.

Where do you all buy your (high quality) li-ions and IMRs?

Oh, a related question… I’ve read that Efest is just a repackager of manufacturers’ batteries. If so, then an Efest IMR must be identical to the manufacturer’s IMR battery, since there’s no protection circuit in an IMR. If that’s correct, then who is the manufacturer of these high-quality IMRs, and can we buy them in small quantities? Same question for AW IMRs.

2

Have a look at this thread
(Incorrect info edited)

Shame the thread hasn’t gotten more input, it could be a very valuable resource here.

Phil

3

I bought from illumn.com last month. Shipping was 11. But each lg 18650 was 5. Usd of course, still cheaper than anything in Canada. Also a few bucks more than buying from China, but why risk it. Gearbest was cheaper per battery, but their shipping is crazy now. Each pair came nicely packaged in a case, in their own box surrounded by foam. And I received them within a week of ordering. I was impressed. Also, because it was usps shipping it, i didnt incur any duties or tax. I tested the batteries and they were legit. Highly recommended.

4

Banggood still ships Li-Ion batteries to Canada for free. I’ve ordered a fair number them and never had an issue the product they supply… shipping can sometimes take a month or more though.

5

Thanks everyone for the responses.

SawMaster, I don’t see that post you mentioned. Post #20 is from the UK.

Dep668, I checked out Illumn, and their shipping cost to my home is $10, better than $20, so I might order from them. The cells I’d buy are backordered though, so I’ll keep looking for a while.

Kwarwick, I’ve ordered from Banggood before and had no problems either, but I’m hoping to get only a brand considered a “good” brand. Do you know if they carry AW, Efest, or other brands that are considered good? I tried searching their site for “14500 imr battery” and got > 4000 hits. Not easy to narrow it down. (Edit: I searched again, this time for just “imr” and got 11 hits. No 14500 cells among the 11 though, too bad)

6

I have had good results from www.orbtronic.com. fast shipping packaging was very secure with no taxes or duties.

7

+1 :+1:

For shipping in my country (Greece), the most reasonable solutions these days are shown at #3.

Don’t know for Canada, as there’s no feedback at any post. :frowning:

8

If sending from gear best to USA, NL Post might be better than USA direct shipping. They switched mine.

9

Thanks. They don’t have a 14500 IMR at the moment though unfortunately.

Meanwhile, I’ve found a couple of vape shops that seem to sell AW or Efest IMRs: HappyVaper, and CanVape. I ordered one from CanVape. $14.xx shipped ($Cdn I believe).

10

You’re right- my bad. Must have scanned in another thread- I sometimes have several tabs an threads open when I’m looking for something and I can be easily confused. Will edit my other post,

Phil

11

HKJ just reviewed the Hibatt IMR 14500 favourably. Free shipping from Aliexpress. I might have tried those, but oh well.