I had success buying some iJoy 26650’s from my local Vape Shop a few months. The only two they had in the store. I have no doubt they are real, and they work just fine in my two D4SV2’s.
The only other cells they had in the store were a bunch of Samsung 30Q’s all in little pink boxes. I kept that in mind and finally went back to buy one today. Im concerned it might be fake.
Is it supposed to come in a box?
Why does It have this sticker covering the manufacture print?
Does the manufacture print tell me/you anything?
I cant weight it or capacity test it or anything like that.
Can anyone here tell me anything for sure based on these photos?
I dont know if anything can be determined from the following.
It came out of the box at 3.62v.
I put it on my XTAR VC4L at 4pm, charging at 1A according to the XTAR.
It was full at 6pm with 1510mah added according to the XTAR.
DMM reads 4.16v/4.17v which is unusual since most my cells come off at 4.19v.
With sticker removed. There are no other marking on the cell.
You can measure the resistance using a DMM and a resistor.
From HKJ’s page under the Resistance (DC) section:
“In this method the battery voltage is first measured without the resistor connected, then the resistor is connected and the voltage is measured again, the internal resistance is calculated with this formula:
In my opinion they're fake. BatteryJunction and several vape shops got them, but they tested pretty good. How many cycles they'll last...don't know.
The first clue is when things aren't exactly centered, it's probably fake. Everything looks centered from your pictures, in real life all wraps and rings should look perfect.
Next is the labeling, everything should be high-speed dot print, and it should look good. You have a sticker. Personally, I'd say that's a problem given Samsung didn't just stop printing labels and switch to a more expensive sticker process. Then again there's a warning printed on them to not use for e-cigs or vaping, so I can see why vape shops might want to cover that up--but if they're being dishonest with your safety, do you really want to buy from them?
Hedgehog makes some good observations, as did Bender and Bort. Green is used to repair the housing when Blue is not available. [Or turns out to hold a magnet]
My first thought when seeing the photos was that it was a fake.
Thank you for that insight. It does not seem all of the standard Samsung factory print exists on the wrapper in CRC2's pictures?
I should mention the box and wrapper colors should match, and both should match the official Samsung colors. (incorrect colors are a dead-giveaway something is suspect)
CRC2 (the Original Poster) may have good batteries at a good price which last many cycles, so they may be a relative "good value." Personally I have found the "good-looking" re-wraps (fake) last 1/2 to 2/3 as many cycles before hitting 80% capacity (their lifespan), the poor re-wraps with obvious flaws generally have poor internal quality also and last 1/4 to 1/2 as many cycles as OEM.
My greater concern is the fire hazard, as these are high-drain/fast-charge cells that self-fuel once on fire. I run LiPo pouch cells in large hobbyist R/C helicopters, so am well aware of the fire risk and want only "safe" OEM cells which went through rigorous product testing (safe is relative, even phones/laptops have started on fire).
Thanks for your input everyone.
The cell is definitely the correct pink. Pictures make it look purple. And the box is a bit more magenta. They dont match.
With all the feedback on reddit, it seems a lot of people think theyre fake, and a lot of people say they have exactly the same cells, purchased exactly the same way (from their local canadian vape shop) and that they are real and work fine.
Ive decided based on reading <a href=”https://www.reddit.com/r/electronic_cigarette/comments/n14fz4/test_results_fake_samsung_25rs_samsung_30qs_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button”>this
that there’s no way for ME to determine anything for sure about this cell.
I think that even if it is fake, it will likely still work just fine. And everyone who says its real based on looking the same as theirs, could very well also have fakes that just work fine for them.
I however have also learned that even if it is real, that it’s not even a great choice of cell for use with D1/GTFC40 and that I’d be better off using one of the 18650’s I already own.
Either way I think it will probably work just fine, but I don’t actually really need it, so I’m just going to return it.
