Whenever I order batteries from AliExpress I already know that it’s an iffy proposition. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. This time is a loser. In the past I have got some really good deals on 18650’s.
I ordered 12, 18650 “Original Samsumg 3000mAh cells”. What I actually received was 1700mAh cells that I suspect are sand filled because they are nearly the correct weight. They look really good. VERY good imitation with the wrapping and printing.
I started a dispute and of course the seller denies ALL of my evidence (ultra clear photos of discharge test results on both my IQ338XL and on my MC3000). Their reply is I am not fully charging the batteries and my equipment is incorrect. Totally false.
What’s really annoying is that the SNAPSHOTS for the original listings is no longer available so I cannot go back and look at the original listings to see if they had advertised free returns. I found that very odd.
Anyway, for you first time AliExpress battery buyers here’s my advice to you…
1). Don’t do it unless the seller has VERY good reviews and a lot of them.
2). Never, ever buy from a store with a name that begins with “Shop” because this indicates a store that pops up then closes and changes names frequently.
3). Buy from sellers who have been in business at least a year or more.
4). Be prepared to get less than you expected.
Most of my AliExpress orders went well. Occasionally (especially with electronics and batteries) you roll the dice.
You’ll never get the stated capacity for the guys just selling recycled rewraps. That’s to be expected. But 1700mah is too low. Probably not filled with sand just old.
I have a couple low drain things that run 24/7 I use AliExpress batteries with. There’s a pair of fake Panasonic’s I got maybe a year and a half ago for like $3 each that I had 2450mah when I got them, but super low internal resistance for an AliExpress battery. <20mah always. .
They’ve been in use 24/7 since I got them. They discharge at about 200-300mah till LVP kicks in at 2.5v, then I charge back up with 500mah and the cycle continues. So they’ve gone through 400-500 cycles at least. Did another capacity test a week ago and they were at 2350mah. Not bad at all. They weren’t even from the store I was trying to order from, it was one of those random guys. just luck
Cool.
Those wouldn’t be the brown ones would they?
I bought 20 of the brown “3000mAh” 18650’s about 2 years ago and most were right at 2800-3200mAh so I was happy. They’ve done well. Glad I got those.
Nice. No they were in the standard green Panasonic wrap. Doesn’t mean anything really.
Anybody can buy whatever wrap. Just luck of the draw. You never know what you’re gonna get.
I haven’t bought any batteries off any AliExpress sellers probably since then tho. And wouldn’t anymore. Not worth the price even for low drain stuff when only like half look safe.
Another great reminder for me not to be tempted to buy batteries from AE when we have so many reputable options here in the USA. Unless it comes with a Convoy flashlight from Simon!
Same with eBay and Amazon, just not worth the risk of them being fake and possibly dangerous.
The last time I ordered a Li-Ion from China was with Kaidomain since I wanted to get my order up to $15 to get the free shipping. It was a Sanyo 14500 and turned out legit, but also added several weeks to my order and came in a non-working plastic flashlight.
Make sure there’s several spelling mistakes on those liitokalas. That’s how you know it’s a real one lol. And don’t mix freah batteries with other battery lypas!
UPDATE: AliExpress eventually did refund all 12 batteries.
AkiExpress is not an honest platform to do business with.
After going back and forth with the seller for over a week, I escalated the case to AliExpress and they decided in my favor and issued a full refund without return. I had submitted photos of tests of the batteries on several different testing devices as well as a screen shot of another buyer who posted a review of the exact same problem with their batteries.
If you do buy on AliExpress and you get poor products please consider leaving a review because it will help others and someone elses review could help you some day.
I commend AliExpress on a fair outcome in this case. Please avoid AliExpress sellers who s store name starts with 'SHOP" or who have not had the store for long as these are usually the shady sellers who close stores frequently just to reopen under a new name.
I agree it’s not a good idea to buy batteries like this off of AliExpress even though I have bought lots of very good 18650’s at unbeatable low prices on occasion. It’s still a roll of the dice overall unless it is a VERY reputable store. I just received some 20Ah 50v LiFePO4 pouch cells that have passed all my capacity tests for fantastic good price. VERY FEW LiFePO4 cells are not made in China so not much choice if you need a few replacement cells.
UPDATE: AliExpress did eventually refund all 12 batteries.
I know, right ?
I got most of my batteries from IMRBatteries but when I want some “Budget” batteries AliExpress has done well in the past.
This is the BudgetBatteryForum after all. lol
This is I believe the first time I’ve personally had a bad battery batch from AliExpress but you hear them all the time. Can’t remember, maybe I have? But AliExpress made it right so there’s that.
I think most AliExpress sellers are fair and honest. Probably as good as on ebay. Amazon customer support is unbeatable IMO, a league of it’s own.
For sure. These days the reputable domestic webstores are selling good cells for cheap. $2-3 18650s, $4 21700. I wouldn’t gamble with buying cells from Ali or Ebay or Amazon, etc.
Sure wish you’d post up a link or two.
I just checked IMR and the same cell is $6.00ea plus shipping.
BatteryJunction = $6.85 ea
18650BatteryStore = $5.99 ea
What reputable webstores ?
I’m pretty sure you’re talking about prices 3 or more years ago.
Good “used” cells maybe ?
18650batterystore has Samsung 35E’s for $3.80. I got some and theyre top notch. There’s an clear difference between these and a liitokala 3500 or anything on AliExpress.
The industry is so secretive. I have questions.
Like…why do molicel’s have QR codes on them? E-one moli says they dont sell to to individual consumers or to resellers that resell to individual consumers. So who is that QR code for? And what is NPE anyways? Their website is offline their only online presence is a twitter and a facebook profile that hasn’t posted in 2 years and their only follow is Mooch. But their batteries are as good as ones I’ve taken right out of battery packs off the shelf at home depot.
Why would TTI or Dyson need to whip out their cell phone to scan a QR code on an individual Molicel to verify its legitimacy? They got 300,000 of them right off the truck from the molicel factory with the signed paperwork. And their engineers are going to make sure this batch meets the terms of their contract. They aren’t relying on a QR code.
And you aren’t using that QR code. The cells are sealed in your appliance’s battery pack, remember. That’s the only form they can be sold to you, the consumer. You aren’t supposed to be disassembling those battery packs.
So who’s that QR code for?
The QR code is there for the same reason that there’s text (brand, model, date code, etc.) stamped onto the can and the wrap. Parts/components have identifiable markings for obvious reasons. Whether that’s text, or barcode, or QR code, or all of the above is up to the manufacturer.
QR codes are just easier to scan by a vision system than text.
Other manufacturers seem to prefer bar codes… Data matrixes are commonly associated as a consumer facing anti-counterfeit measure and tiny little things. Still, it’s plausible, except why then will you never find a data matrix on any Molicel pulled out of any battery pack? Moli makes or has made a lot of 18650s over the years. Cheap 1400mah ones, yellow ones, green ones, purple ones… None of them have a data matrix.
I don’t quite understand what’s so bad about having a bar code / QR code / Matrix code on the cell. It’s just some machine-readable data.
You could always remove it and rewrap the cell, takes like 2 minutes.