lithium batteries fake!

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john2051

New Member
Hi, I bought four 'Ultrafire 3200mah' 18650 lithium poly batteries from a company called m-zone. They advertise through amazon uk.
My intention was to use either a single cell for picaxe projects, or two with an ldo regulator for 5volts.
I found out that they were going flat rather quicker than expected. I used a west mountain radio battery analyser, and the best one of the four
managed 300mah!
These were advertised with protection for under/over charging. However it appears they dont even have that!
They seemed a neat way of powering picaxe projects, as I tracked down some holders for them.
Now I've had to get more batteries, but this time from a uk company and not china!.
I know I should have researched these more, but being in a rush, saw them on amazon cheapish and then threw my money away.
Hopefully this will prevent others being conned into buying downright dangerous batteries.
At least the name is appropriate "ultra fire".
regards john
 
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Goeytex

Senior Member
The customer reviews indicate that these are POS batteries. I suspect that Amazon does not care as long as they get their cut.

In one review the customer said the batteries were labeled "uitraflrc". So it seems the counterfeiters can't even do a good job on the fake label.
 
geezer88

geezer88

Senior Member
I bought some "Maxell" coin cells from Amazon US and they were bogus. I complained to Amazon, and they refunded my money, including shipping. They didn't want them returned.
tom
 
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Haku

Senior Member
Some time ago I bought some cheap 3000mah 18650 cells from China, 2 arrived dead and I took the wrappers off to see what was inside and discovered used Panasonic 17670 cells in plastic tubing & spot welded end caps to make them 18650 sized! The working 2 were about 1000mAh and I had absolutely no idea how old they were and how many charge-discharge cycles they'd been through.

I only bought them with the intention of using my own circutry+code to determine the true capacity of lithium cells, because I intended to re-cell my ebike battery pack but got stuck on building the capacitor discharge spot welder for doing the tabs, my knowledge of using transistors and MOSFETs isn't good enough to make the circuit work :(

I did learn perhaps that the best 18650 cells are the branded ones sourced from Japan; Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Sanyo etc. because you never know what you'll get from China.
 
Pongo

Pongo

Senior Member
Goeytex said:
The customer reviews indicate that these are POS batteries. I suspect that Amazon does not care as long as they get their cut.

In one review the customer said the batteries were labeled "uitraflrc". So it seems the counterfeiters can't even do a good job on the fake label.
Click to expand...
But they'll most likely get/give him a refund so he hasn't "thrown his money away". At least that's been my experience in a dispute about a laptop battery sold through (but not by) Amazon.
 
erco

erco

Senior Member
Very common, sadly. Ultrafire is a cheesy no-name brand to begin with, and the fact that they are making fake versions of those is really sad. I got four of the Uitraflrc marked 18650's off Ebay China. Two of them work somewhat (very low capacity, ~500 mAH) and two leaked their oily, foul-smelling electrolyte and had to be disposed of. They were shipped inside TWO plastic bags, as if the seller knew they were leak-prone. He refunded 100%.
 
neiltechspec

neiltechspec

Senior Member
A way I have used to obtain better quality Li-Ion cells is to buy a cheap spare Laptop battery pack (old Sony Laptop).
Test it on the laptop & if it gives anything like expected capacity then ok, if it doesn't then send it back.

When I get a good one, open it up & inside are 6 X 18650 2.2AH cells.
 
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john2051

New Member
re: fake batts

Hi, I did contact amazon, and they have agreed to a refund if the seller wont, so that's some good news.
The frightening part is that these came via Malaysian airmail, with a completely fraudulent label on it, with a declaration
saying this parcel contained no hazardous parts or material.
You would think that some authority would be jumping on things like this, but uk customs weren't interested in the safety issue. All
they wanted to know was if there was any duty that needed paying.
It does sort of add weight to the saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!"
 
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manuka

Senior Member
As forum regulars well know (OK- only too well) I've been a great fan of LiFePO4 cells , & continue to source many (both imports & locally) to great effect. Pleasingly I've yet to have any lemons amongst the scores in use here. Their performance in power hungry appliances - especially ~600-700mAh AA sized 14500 types in digital cameras- has been HIGHLY satisfactory. I've totally ceased using AA/AAA NiMH as a result.

Amazon have many offerings - typically 18650 sized LiFePO4 are 1000-1300 mAh. Although not as energetic as Li-ions, they appeal for their VERY long life (1000's of cycles),inherent safety, super tolerance & very steady 3.2V output until near total exhaustion. For PICAXE work you really can't beat them!
 
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geoff07

Senior Member
A good source of lithium rechargeables is old original laptop battery packs. Generally only one or two cells will have failed, or possibly even none at all if they have been left unused for a bit too long. Many seem to contain branded 18650s, but all are probably what they purport to be, having been sourced by a branded manufacturer.

The last 'failed' pack I had would not charge, but by carefully opening it up I found all the cells charged equally but to slightly below the probable minimum voltage tolerated by the electronics. I forget the actual voltage but I think around 2.2v. Charging directly onto the cells (i.e. not through the electronics) using a current-limited psu got them back up to a more normal voltage, whereupon the electronics worked fine.
 
premelec

premelec

Senior Member
I've salvaged a number of Li cells from laptop power units - one problem is knowing what the cells' chemistry is - so I don't try to go to full charge voltage...
 
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john2051

New Member
Hi, further to this fiasco, I must stress amazon were very apologetic. I got an email from the seller asking if I wanted a refund!!, and that I didn't need to return the batteries. According to the CAA who contacted me regarding the transport of dangerous goods, I couldn't have returned them by law anyway. This means that the post office, and couriers are either knowingly or otherwise are breaking the law, as is the person who sends them. I was told there are certain laws affecting the transport of lithium products.
I bought some cells locally, they arrived in a proper package with massive warning labels on it about being a hazardous parcel. A far cry from the one that arrived marked in the declaration as a charger, and that the package did NOT contain any hazardous material. Early tests on these new cells are magnitudes better and at least I'm getting fractionally over their marked capacity, and they have the protection circuitry built in. The others just said they had!
So, all this has been an interesting but frustrating experience. But I state again, Amazon were very apologetic and offered to refund my money if the seller didn't.
Hopefully people reading this wont fall into the same trap....
Thanks to all
regards john
 
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