AW Battery Problems from Canadian Vendor

[Glenn_K]

I've bought several 18490 AW batteries from a couple Canadian vendors, and it looks like there's a problem with some of them: they're not holding a charge. If I fully charge them up and then carry them around in a battery case for half a day, they'll be down to 3.4 - 3.5 volts by the time I try to use them.

The AWs i'm talking about have a silver 'AW' sticker, while ones I have that work fine have a black sticker.

I think I can figure out which vendor I got them from, but before I make a complaint, I wanted to find out whether anyone else had similar problems (rather than post Vendor names at this point, maybe a PM would be better). Wondering whether I have cheap AW counterfeits.



-- Glenn

 

[retired1]

Looks to be a counterfeit there. The legitimate AWs should have the black sticker.

 

[Glenn_K]

Grrrrrr. I'll have to figure out where I got them from. I bought AWs from two different vendors, have to figure out which was which.

-- Glenn

Looks to be a counterfeit there. The legitimate AWs should have the black sticker.

 

[egrets]

Don't mean to hijack this post. But does the 18350 AW IMR have a black sticker or silver one? I have two 18490 with black sticker but the 18350 has a silver sticker that doesn't work very well...I bought all these together with my provari at an authorized b&m store...thanks.

 

[retired1]

As far as I know, there's only one color scheme for legitimate AW batteries. Anything other than the black sticker should be considered suspect.

 

[Muggs]

I was under the impression that the AW's with the "AW" hologram sticker were genuine. I have 2 of them.

 

[twizted]

The newer AW batteries have a silver holographic sticker.
Most counterfeit AW's have ROHS, where the legit ones have RoHS.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Steamer861]

I have a few black sticker AW's I thought they were fakes I posted pics here on the site and was assured they were authentic just older stock
I have had mine for months now and there good I run my 18490's in my Reo at .8 ohms they last all day and no problems so far

 

[Glenn_K]

Sounds like you've got the same situation as me, an alleged AW with a silver sticker (non-holographic) that isn't working well. Unlike me, you know where yours came from, and can go back to the vendor. It's possible that the vendor unknowingly bought fake AWs.

Counterfeit batteries are a problem that come up on ECF from time to time. Unscrupulous sellers can mark up a $5 or $6 cheapie and get $10+ AW prices. No knowing whether a counterfeit has inherit safety issue; battery safety is one of the reasons that i'm willing to pay (real) AW prices.

-- Glenn

Don't mean to hijack this post. But does the 18350 AW IMR have a black sticker or silver one? I have two 18490 with black sticker but the 18350 has a silver sticker that doesn't work very well...I bought all these together with my provari at an authorized b&m store...thanks.

 

[Steamer861]

Glenn_K if you registered an account they will have your history on the site I have found and printed out receipt's on sites I shopped at

Sounds like you've got the same situation as me, an alleged AW with a silver sticker (non-holographic) that isn't working well. Unlike me, you know where yours came from, and can go back to the vendor. It's possible that the vendor unknowingly bought fake AWs.

Counterfeit batteries are a problem that come up on ECF from time to time. Unscrupulous sellers can mark up a $5 or $6 cheapie and get $10+ AW prices. No knowing whether a counterfeit has inherit safety issue; battery safety is one of the reasons that i'm willing to pay (real) AW prices.

-- Glenn

 

[retired1]

I was under the impression that the AW's with the "AW" hologram sticker were genuine. I have 2 of them.

Oh? I was unaware of the change in stickers. Let me do some asking behind the scenes and see what I can come up with.

 

[Glenn_K]

I know which 2 vendors i bought AW 18490s, but i can't remember which one sent me the black sticker ones and which one sent me the silver sticker (non-holographic) ones that are giving me grief.

I can be a space cadet in the morning, and forget to bring fresh batteries when i'm heading out, so i started leaving a spare battery at my office. The silver sticker ones, though fully charged at the start, are down to around 3.5 volts if i try to use them a day or two later. The black sticker AWs are fine. In fact, i keep a mech mod in my backpack (backup for my backup) with an AW 18650 (black sticker) in it. It's been sitting there for a few weeks, and still reads 4.2 volts, when i check the voltage.

-- Glenn

Glenn_K if you registered an account they will have your history on the site I have found and printed out receipt's on sites I shopped at

 

[Muggs]

The newer AW batteries have a silver holographic sticker.
Most counterfeit AW's have ROHS, where the legit ones have RoHS.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Didn't know that about the RoHS, thanks for that tip as well. I have 18650's with the RoHS and holographic sticker.

Quick pic of the one I just pulled out of my current mech.

 

[sbek]

The new AW stock has the silver holographic sticker on them (From about February). The black ones are older stock.