Yeah, you don’t need high-drain cells for those lights, but they will perform better (higher output) with good high-drain cells. With lower-drain cells, the battery will sag voltage so the FET driver in the light won’t provide as much current to the emitter(s). This means less current demand from the battery, which keeps things safe.
There are some really high-powered FET-driven lights where I wouldn’t want to use a low-drain cell. Those are all multi-emitter lights, like the Emissar D4 or Astrolux S43. And, avoid high-output lights that use a boost driver, such as Zebralights. Those will suck more current from your cell than is safe.
Jehu Garcia tested a Liitokala HG2 in his most recent video and it was 100% fake. Didn’t come close to meeting the discharge specs. Interestingly, he tested their 35E awhile ago and it was real.
To be fair, the sellers are not the ones making the fakes. They’re just buying from a distributor, and don’t really know (or care) whether they’re fake or not. They just want something cheap, so they can mark it up for a decent profit. Fakes make for more profit, generally. But if an honest distributor supplies them with genuine cells, they’ll happily sell those too.
The problem is that it could be anyone in the supply chain that is making the fakes. Since we can’t buy directly from manufacturers, we’re at the mercy of a supply chain that can often be cheating.
That’s why they meticulously avoid naming the manufacturer and instead call them “LiitoKala NCR18650B” or somesuch? Nah, I’m not buying it. They may just slap their label on it, but they’re very well aware.
I mean… most of the stores themselves are a ripoff, although I’m not even certain if that one mythical original “LK” ever existed. And I bet, if you asked them
every single one would tell you they’re the real deal and all the others are the clones.
I removed the heat shrink and PCB from one cell (here is what it looks like : dissasembled18650protected ) and BlueSwordM pointed out that “Real NCR18650Bs have 3 legs on the positive pole”. Where can I find the official document that specifies it so I can confront the seller ?
I’ve given up on ‘best deal’ cells… and all the work that goes into trying to source “legit” stuff…
For one, I am going with 30q , VT6, or GA cells…Overkill for some lights, but good general all around batteries.
And I go to one of the big name US places that are reputable. They source well and test them.
Yes, it’s $5-$6 a cell….but what is that? $2 more each? My cell needs ran me… $40 more than if I tried to source from the “right” China seller?
I’m good with that. 20 batteries I can rely on, for years to come
For small quantities it makes sense to pay that for a 100% legit cell. If you need hundreds or thousands of cells then paying $5+ per cell isn’t a great option.
The actual problem with all of this stuff is false advertising. I would buy Heter, BAK or Lishen cells with much better peace of mind if they were not concealed under misleading wraps.
Recently I dumped all my suspicious cells from suspicious buyers, including Bangood and only kept name brand ones from US sellers. Two reasons of that, one is safety and the other is, why not support a US buyer that gives us legit cells at a halfway decent price.
Did you mean “… why not support an US seller that gives us legit cells at a halfway decent price”?
So you dumped a stack of perfectly good cells? Ouch! Daring fellows around you could have given use to them without problems. Even most fake cells are perfectly fine and safe to use when treated with care.
Yes, I think chances are better with a company such as illumn or 18650battery.com that the cells are legit. My NCR18650 protected bangood batteries were emitting a strange smell in my cabinet. Took me some time to figure out it was those batteries, but that did it for me. Dumped them, dumped the fake 40T's from Fireflies since Jack never answered what he thinks those fakes could have been and dumped 4x30Q's from fireflies and bangood as well that lose their charge too fast as well as 4x26350 no name cells. All in all about 20 cells and never felt better. Before that i got rid of 4x18650 ncr panny's from ali as the cells were completely distorted and almost oval shaped. I don't know what they did to those cells to get that way but enough is enough.
I'm starting to be convinced many of the sellers such as bangood, ali and others are using fake or low graded cells and I just don't want to be a part of that or go down that road anymore just to save a few bucks.
This is my first post to this forum. I like to thank the creator of this thread. Made me realised that i have fake cells. I have bought from LiitoKala Official Flagship Store, GTF Official Store, Globalpower and Battery4PX Store for testing purpose.
I have tested cells from GTF and liitokala cells (NCR18650b) I confirm they are fake. They have same capacity at low drain like 0.2C but capacity doesnt match when you draw 1.6A or 3.2A. with the original ones.
My tester is ‘’icharger 3010B’’ I will post the logview results meanwhile i am starting to open disputes on aliexpress.
