LiIonWholesale shipping prices went through the roof!

Jon-LiionWholesale · 2018-06-15T22:27:54.000Z

CNCman:

This may be somewhat off topic but the 30Q batteries I recieved from LIION Wholesale do NOT appear to be Authentic. They only have 2 vents and the wrapping looks suspicious as well, with some writing visible underneath that you can almost read. Also the internal resistance checks 15, 85, 115, 95 after deducting 30mohm for the charger. The weight was also light at 46.1 to 46.3 gr. They are being tested now but I will not see the results until tomorrow. Any suggestions ??

Writing underneath the wrap that can barely be read is how all authentic 30Q are. You’ll notice there’s no date code on the 30Q outer wrap, because it’s printed underneath on the can. You can check Mooch’s post here showing what the can should look like under the wrap - note each battery varies a bit in exactly how the codes are oriented: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/threads/samsung-30q-20a-3000mah-18650-bench-retest-results-a-great-15a-3000mah-battery.727190/

If you’re talking about the button top, we add that ourselves, that’s not Samsung. I believe we have a couple subtly different buttons that we add on that are all equivalent so it’s possible one may be 2 holes and one may be 3, I could check that on Monday as I’m not at the office now. I think they’re all supposed to be 2 vents. Also if you’re talking about the button top, we add a clear wrap over it to secure the button top. If you’re talking about flat top and not button, then please clarify what you’re referring to as vent holes.

It sounds like you’re using an Opus or one of its clones - these are notorious for having very unreliable IR readings. If you do multiple readings in a row, you’ll probably see different readings. I recommend kinda jiggling the battery in the contacts to clean off any residue on the contacts too and then redoing it, a few times. Getting different readings this way tells you it’s the charger. We’ve found the Opus is pretty useless for IR readings, the readings you’re getting sound exactly like what we typically get on an opus. They’re great for charging and capacity testing but not good for IR testing.

We test all our batches very carefully with a procedure way beyond any competitor including high and low power testing, IR and impedance testing, etc, so it’s extremely unlikely you would get any bad batteries. We’ve not had anyone get a counterfeit battery in our entire company’s history. We have had some rare cases of abuse by the shipping company on their way to you internally damaging the battery and causing it to rise significantly in IR, but that’s very rare. If that were to happen we’d replace them of course.

Hopefully that clears things up.

contactcr · 2018-06-15T22:30:08.000Z

Can you just put them in a battery holder with lead wires? What qualifies as a device?

Here’s a (probably) garbage power bank:

LiitoKala or Miller single cell chargers? Might cannibalize your charger sales.

Cableboy123 · 2018-06-15T22:37:44.000Z

Just moved from Freeport to Myrtle Beach. Grew up on LI. Nassau county.

puglife2 · 2018-06-15T22:47:45.000Z

open a warehouse in canada

Jon-LiionWholesale · 2018-06-15T22:50:03.000Z

contactcr:

Can you just put them in a battery holder with lead wires? What qualifies as a device?

Here’s a (probably) garbage power bank:

LiitoKala or Miller single cell chargers? Might cannibalize your charger sales.

The technical definition is that the batteries have to power the device, and they say that it should be the equipment that the batteries are intended for. So chargers definitely don’t work. I definitely considered the battery holder with lead wires…that one is a grey area. I’m honestly pretty worried that people would hurt themselves though. And it would be a pretty tough sell if in the future sometime they actually did start enforcing this and questioned us about it. I feel like the fans and flashlights wouldn’t have this issue.

The cheap power bank option is one that we might do, but the cost I believe is a little more than the fans. And power banks have their own weird special regulations so I want to steer clear of that.

Right now the really tough thing to find is inexpensive devices for 18350s and 26650s.

14500’s are a funny one because I briefly considered sending a AA flashlight. A 14500 will totally power a typical AA flashlight….for about 2 seconds before the LED burns out ;). Obviously decided against it because I do want the gifts to have some value.

nquinn · 2018-06-15T23:06:37.000Z

Damn. My last 2 orders with with them instead of illumn because their overall price was lower taking shipping into account.

Sounds like they may not be the best option for small orders anymore.

CNCman · 2018-06-15T23:14:34.000Z

Jon-LiionWholesale:

CNCman:

This may be somewhat off topic but the 30Q batteries I recieved from LIION Wholesale do NOT appear to be Authentic. They only have 2 vents and the wrapping looks suspicious as well, with some writing visible underneath that you can almost read. Also the internal resistance checks 15, 85, 115, 95 after deducting 30mohm for the charger. The weight was also light at 46.1 to 46.3 gr. They are being tested now but I will not see the results until tomorrow. Any suggestions ??

Writing underneath the wrap that can barely be read is how all authentic 30Q are. You’ll notice there’s no date code on the 30Q outer wrap, because it’s printed underneath on the can. You can check Mooch’s post here showing what the can should look like under the wrap - note each battery varies a bit in exactly how the codes are oriented: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/threads/samsung-30q-20a-3000mah-18650-bench-retest-results-a-great-15a-3000mah-battery.727190/

If you’re talking about the button top, we add that ourselves, that’s not Samsung. I believe we have a couple subtly different buttons that we add on that are all equivalent so it’s possible one may be 2 holes and one may be 3, I could check that on Monday as I’m not at the office now. I think they’re all supposed to be 2 vents. Also if you’re talking about the button top, we add a clear wrap over it to secure the button top. If you’re talking about flat top and not button, then please clarify what you’re referring to as vent holes.

It sounds like you’re using an Opus or one of its clones - these are notorious for having very unreliable IR readings. If you do multiple readings in a row, you’ll probably see different readings. I recommend kinda jiggling the battery in the contacts to clean off any residue on the contacts too and then redoing it, a few times. Getting different readings this way tells you it’s the charger. We’ve found the Opus is pretty useless for IR readings, the readings you’re getting sound exactly like what we typically get on an opus. They’re great for charging and capacity testing but not good for IR testing.

We test all our batches very carefully with a procedure way beyond any competitor including high and low power testing, IR and impedance testing, etc, so it’s extremely unlikely you would get any bad batteries. We’ve not had anyone get a counterfeit battery in our entire company’s history. We have had some rare cases of abuse by the shipping company on their way to you internally damaging the battery and causing it to rise significantly in IR, but that’s very rare. If that were to happen we’d replace them of course.

Hopefully that clears things up.

Thanks ” Jon-LiionWholesale ” for helping with that. I’m new here and make mistakes often, Sorry about that, I edited that earlier comment in hopes it would not be seen and hurt LIION Wholesales in any way, My Bad, I should have read the description fully. Also I was not aware of the OPUS BT C3100 v2 problem. You are correct, that is the one I have but maybe not for long. Do you have a suggestion for a reliable charger / tester ?

snakebite · 2018-06-15T23:49:24.000Z

i am surprised there are no cheap 14500/16340/18350 plastic “tea lights” made primarily for shipping dummies.
a plastic box with a 5mm led and some minor parts.
in large qty these would cost a few pennies to make.
and could actually be useful in a power failure.
set a few of them around for just enough light to not stumble.
or mark it as a universal power emergency light and use a simple slider type holder.
a legitimate but ultra cheap item.

Jon-LiionWholesale · 2018-06-15T23:57:09.000Z

CNCman:

Jon-LiionWholesale:

CNCman:

This may be somewhat off topic but the 30Q batteries I recieved from LIION Wholesale do NOT appear to be Authentic. They only have 2 vents and the wrapping looks suspicious as well, with some writing visible underneath that you can almost read. Also the internal resistance checks 15, 85, 115, 95 after deducting 30mohm for the charger. The weight was also light at 46.1 to 46.3 gr. They are being tested now but I will not see the results until tomorrow. Any suggestions ??

Writing underneath the wrap that can barely be read is how all authentic 30Q are. You’ll notice there’s no date code on the 30Q outer wrap, because it’s printed underneath on the can. You can check Mooch’s post here showing what the can should look like under the wrap - note each battery varies a bit in exactly how the codes are oriented: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/threads/samsung-30q-20a-3000mah-18650-bench-retest-results-a-great-15a-3000mah-battery.727190/

If you’re talking about the button top, we add that ourselves, that’s not Samsung. I believe we have a couple subtly different buttons that we add on that are all equivalent so it’s possible one may be 2 holes and one may be 3, I could check that on Monday as I’m not at the office now. I think they’re all supposed to be 2 vents. Also if you’re talking about the button top, we add a clear wrap over it to secure the button top. If you’re talking about flat top and not button, then please clarify what you’re referring to as vent holes.

It sounds like you’re using an Opus or one of its clones - these are notorious for having very unreliable IR readings. If you do multiple readings in a row, you’ll probably see different readings. I recommend kinda jiggling the battery in the contacts to clean off any residue on the contacts too and then redoing it, a few times. Getting different readings this way tells you it’s the charger. We’ve found the Opus is pretty useless for IR readings, the readings you’re getting sound exactly like what we typically get on an opus. They’re great for charging and capacity testing but not good for IR testing.

We test all our batches very carefully with a procedure way beyond any competitor including high and low power testing, IR and impedance testing, etc, so it’s extremely unlikely you would get any bad batteries. We’ve not had anyone get a counterfeit battery in our entire company’s history. We have had some rare cases of abuse by the shipping company on their way to you internally damaging the battery and causing it to rise significantly in IR, but that’s very rare. If that were to happen we’d replace them of course.

Hopefully that clears things up.

Thanks ” Jon-LiionWholesale ” for helping with that. I’m new here and make mistakes often, Sorry about that, I edited that earlier comment in hopes it would not be seen and hurt LIION Wholesales in any way, My Bad, I should have read the description fully. Also I was not aware of the OPUS BT C3100 v2 problem. You are correct, that is the one I have but maybe not for long. Do you have a suggestion for a reliable charger / tester ?

No charger does IR that well because of the way the spring contacts work and how variable the resistance is in the spring contacts. Not to mention that it takes its own dedicated circuitry. You need a more dedicated IR tester if you really want IR. We actually do sell one that is just as accurate as our much more expensive industrial equipment that isn’t super expensive, here: Vapcell YR1030 Internal Resistance Tester KIT – Liion Wholesale Batteries

Honestly though I think the Opus is great for someone who just wants to make sure their batteries are still putting out plenty of life. As I mentioned, the capacity test part of it is great. I think IR is overkill for most.

Jon-LiionWholesale · 2018-06-15T23:56:29.000Z

snakebite:

i am surprised there are no cheap 14500/16340/18350 plastic “tea lights” made primarily for shipping dummies.
a plastic box with a 5mm led and some minor parts.
in large qty these would cost a few pennies to make.
and could actually be useful in a power failure.
set a few of them around for just enough light to not stumble.
or mark it as a universal power emergency light and use a simple slider type holder.
a legitimate but ultra cheap item.

That’s actually a really good suggestion and something I’ll look into, thanks!

Macka17 · 2018-06-16T00:29:36.000Z

Hmmm.
Try shipping in and out of Australia.
We buy Aust clothing, presents. For US/Canada Grandkids x 8. The shipping is often up to 3 times the cost of the clothing.

Anything from China. is usually fair or free price but 30 to 45 days point to point.
and freight for warranty returns. makes everything disposable.
(IE don’t work. throw it away) Paypal is ok. To a point.

It’s just taken me near a week to find a supplier that will ship any battery to Aust.
The cost now is at the point I’ll just buy from AUST dealers.
They work out the same price near enuff. and you don’t have to wait over a month for a maybe… delivery.
Quite a few orders recently are non arrival or DOA.

Must admit though. Ebay\Paypal since ’96 I’ve only had this DOA and Non arrival since I started dealing with China…

US Japan and EU. Most have never been a problem till a couple in the last coupla yrs.

Muto · 2018-06-16T01:52:20.000Z

2 1/2 years ago you were warned to stock up and prices would go up.

You might want to stock up on Lithium batteries soon Rechargeable Batteries

Just read this and if it goes through it will probably lead to higher prices and even longer wait times. http://news.yahoo.com/battery-fires-faa-back-ban-passenger-plane-shipments-145515140—finance.html Just when they started coming through reliably again. Buy now!

atbglenn · 2018-06-16T15:00:26.000Z

Here’s the package I got today with only 2 18650’s in it. Crazy, isn’t it!

Edit: It came with a portable fan! Thanks Jon!

WalkIntoTheLight · 2018-06-20T20:31:41.000Z

RobertB:

Jon, when did these usps rules change? My last order with you was Dec 2017, so it’s change since then. I’d also like to know when Walkintothelight last ordered from Illumn.

Heh, well I last ordered from Illumn this week! These new rules got me nervous, so I ordered a bunch more cells before all companies start obeying the fine details too.

My prior order was in March of this year. Took one week to arrive. Well packaged. No extra taxes, duties, or fees. Hopefully this new order (the same cell selection and amounts) goes as smoothly.

I already have enough cells, but some more in storage can’t hurt, especially as the shipping rules seem to make it more and more difficult to get them.

I’ve ordered several times from China, and while I’ve had good luck, it’s much more of a gamble whether the cells are genuine or not. Also, their packaging isn’t nearly as good.

WalkIntoTheLight · 2018-06-22T16:46:50.000Z

WalkIntoTheLight:

Heh, well I last ordered from Illumn this week! These new rules got me nervous, so I ordered a bunch more cells before all companies start obeying the fine details too.

Wow, and I received them already! I think that’s record time from the US using regular post. Well packaged: cells in plastic cases, inside foam-padded cardboard boxes, inside a bubble envelope.

It may not be strictly by the rules, but it’s way safer packaging than I get from China vendors. And, IMO, safer than sticking cells inside a device to adhere to the weird rules.

Oh well, I’ll get them while I can. Next rules will probably require them shipped inside 1-ton concrete blocks and carried by camel.

deleted-200707 · 2018-06-22T16:59:15.000Z

maybe drive them to me in a Tesla?

Stereodude · 2018-06-29T01:14:10.000Z

I ordered 18 18650’s and two 14500’s from LiIonWholesale today and the two cheapest shipping options were $8.xx for USPS slowness / $10.xx for UPS Ground. That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. I went with UPS. Are you guys buying your batteries one or two at a time or something? The prices after shipping were much better than anywhere else.

teacher · 2018-07-28T01:11:18.000Z

I just ordered 24 x 18650’s Stereodude & like you said above… I felt the shipping was very reasonable & FAST from Liion Wholesale. :+1:

Here is the breakdown……

Talk about Fast Shipping… This was it. . :+1:

24 x 18650 batteries ordered.

Order placed Wednesday July 25, 2018 02:54

Order received in NE Alabama Friday 07/27/2018 - 16:27

Shipping method: UPS Ground

Cost: $11.02

Not bad at all!!! Thanks Liion Wholesale…… . :+1:

Oh yeah, USPS was $1.05 cheaper at $9.97…… I went with UPS due to the project faster delivery. I was not disappointed.

contactcr · 2019-02-06T21:01:51.000Z

When I first read about this I thought I understood but now after ordering it seems like pointless bureaucracy.

I ordered 7 batteries via USPS priority. The box was huge, of course for that label, and contained mostly paper (as far as these rules are concerned we could call it “kindling”). I thought by having to have a product in the box you meant it would have to be installed inside as if that is some safer way but it’s just thrown in the box. How does it make sense to have 7 batteries in a box with a product that cant take more than one battery? This is no different than before and if this is how the rule is intended to be read I see why no other retailers are following it.

Should something catastrophic happen to one of these packages I don’t think they will just overlook it cause a random battery operated product was included.

WalkIntoTheLight · 2019-02-06T21:36:47.000Z

contactcr:

When I first read about this I thought I understood but now after ordering it seems like pointless bureaucracy.

I ordered 7 batteries via USPS priority. The box was huge, of course for that label, and contained mostly paper (as far as these rules are concerned we could call it “kindling”). I thought by having to have a product in the box you meant it would have to be installed inside as if that is some safer way but it’s just thrown in the box. How does it make sense to have 7 batteries in a box with a product that cant take more than one battery? This is no different than before and if this is how the rule is intended to be read I see why no other retailers are following it.

Should something catastrophic happen to one of these packages I don’t think they will just overlook it cause a random battery operated product was included.

They don’t even install the batteries in the dummy device they include? Well, that is a stupid rule! It’s certainly no more safe than just shipping the batteries without some useless device.

I thought the whole point was to install X batteries in X devices, to adhere to a loophole in the rule.

Yeah, makes absolutely no sense, and just adds to the cost.