4 ms·
You don't need much knowledge to recognize whether 18650 cell is genuine. Just measure the capacity under different loads (say 0.5A, 1A), and check whether its
by rofo1 7y ago
You don't need much knowledge to recognize whether 18650 cell is genuine. Just measure the capacity under different loads (say 0.5A, 1A), and check whether its weight is around ~45g (off the top my head). Get something like iMax b6 (dis)charger which is rock solid and cheap :) I've been using it for years.
Additionally, you can rely on other reviews.
When I buy 18650, I thoroughly review it for others.
Usually, the ones that come with some other items are cheap 18650 with low capacity and with sand (counterfeit / faking weight).
I want to point out something for everyone: there are cheap Chinese 18650 which are solid! For example, I've personally used official Liitokala batteries and the ones that I used are 100% genuine, high-capacity 18650.
As with everything else with life, you need to be careful and check reviews before you buy something.
- kijin 7y agoDoes it matter how thoroughly you check individual items and reviews when the next person who orders the same item on Amazon might receive a different product? We can't even trust known-good sellers anymore because their inventory gets mixed up with anything that has the same SKU, both genuine and counterfeit.
- rofo1 7y agoPoint taken. No clue how can you approach this problem (when the seller himself sends different products to different people). That's scary, but shouldn't such a seller go out of business relatively fast? After couple of bad grades and feedback, surely nobody else will order. But yeah, the first buyers are burnt like this.
- lozenge 7y agoNo, Amazon themselves lie about which seller the product is from. They call it comingling. https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/03/20/1553085361000/Amazon--sub-Prime-/ https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/03/20/1553085361000/Amazon-...
- astura 7y agoThese are fly-by-night "companies," if they go out of business/get banned they just open a new account under a new name next week. >And it’s easy for third-party retailers to disappear after selling a defective or dangerous product, even if they pop up a few weeks later under a different name and address, again selling dangerous products.