Feb-2022 Purchase - Appears Fake Sony (Murata) 18650 VTC6 Batteries

[Yoshi_523]

I've recently purchased (Feb-2022) a few batteries from an Australian retailer that were listed as genuine Sony (Murata) 18650 VTC6 batteries. I've taken photos showing a side by side with another Sony 18650 VTC6 battery that I purchased elsewhere and I'm confident is genuine. The genuine battery here I've covered with an extra plastic wrap that is clear so please disregard this and be aware that's why there is extra glare/shine. I've inluded some pictures at the bottom from 18650batterystore.com and eu.nkon.nl for a comparison of what I assume genuine Sony (Murata) 18650 VTC6 batteries should look like.

The most notable features of these batteries I purchased, that appear to be fake are:
- Single ring near top whereas all genuine ones have two rings.
- QR code near top appears smaller on the fake batteries.
- RU (UL listing logo) side facing bottom of battery appears cut off.

Please note the batteries I have (that I'm confident are genuine) are the older Sony print dated 2015. Sony has now changed to Murata so I've checked the date codes and these batteries that appear fake are dated Jan-2020. To be sure that recent genuine Murata batteries still have the same two rings at the top like the old Sony design, I've included at the bottom batteries that appear genuine from 18650batterystore.com from the user uploaded photos. These have date codes from Oct-2020 and Dec-2020.

Here is a list of the battery codes shown in some of the important photos incase you wish to check:
YF20A is date: 20-Jun-2015
CA20T is date: 20-Jan-2020
CJ22E is date: 22-Oct-2020
CL29p is date: 29-Dec-2020

If anyone wants a more extensive video to watch on how to tell fake from genuine Sony (Murata) VTC batteries, I hightly reccomend this one from Mooch:


Please can you give me your feedback on if you too think these batteries shown with the single ring near the top are fake? They all test with approx 200mAh less than a slightly used Sony (Murata) 18650 which I bought about 5 years ago. Test was done with LittoKala Li-500 @ 1A charge & 500mA drain.

NOTE THE IMAGES BELOW ARE SHOWN FOR COMPARISON OF WHAT I BELIEVE GENUINE MURATA 18650 VTC6 BATTERIES SHOULD LOOK LIKE. THEY ARE FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE LINK FROM 18650BatteryStore.com:
Sony | Murata VTC6 18650 3000mAh 15A Battery

USER UPLOADED PHOTOS FROM 18650BatteryStore.com

Date code - CL29p is date: 29-Dec-2020

Date code - CL29p is date: 29-Dec-2020

CJ22E is date: 22-Oct-2020


NOTE THE IMAGES BELOW ARE SHOWN FOR COMPARISON OF WHAT I BELIEVE GENUINE MURATA 18650 VTC6 BATTERIES SHOULD LOOK LIKE. THEY ARE FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE LINK FROM eu.nkon.nl:
Sony / Murata US18650VTC6 3000mAh - 30A - 18650 - Li-ion - Rechargeable batteries | NKON

 

[Daniel Forsyth]

Which Aussie vape store did you purchase these from?

 

[ShowMeTwice]

Which Aussie vape store did you purchase these from?

Perhaps the same Aussie store as the OP's thread about Panasonic batteries???

Feb-2022 Purchase - Appears Fake Panasonic NCR18650B Batteries

Doesn't say in that thread what store either.

 

[Yoshi_523]

Which Aussie vape store did you purchase these from?

Perhaps the same Aussie store as the OP's thread about Panasonic batteries???

Feb-2022 Purchase - Appears Fake Panasonic NCR18650B Batteries

Doesn't say in that thread what store either.

I purchased both orders of the Sony 18650 VTC6 and the Pansonic NCR18650B from tinkertechau.com.au. They're a battery and battery accessory store not a vape store.

I e-mailed the company this morning just after making these two posts. I requested a full refund since they were sold as "genuine" Sony 18650 VTC6 & "genuine" Panasonic NCR18650B. I sent them the links to these two posts. Within the day I recieved two e-mails from Paypal (one for each order) notifying me of a full refund. I have not at present recieved any correspondance to my e-mail from TinkerTechAU (checked my spam folder too). I haven't contacted Paypal so it would seem that TinkerTech have been very quick to issue me a full refund through Paypal, which I am very thankful for.

When I ordered from the same seller on ebay roughly a year ago (Mar-2021) (ebay seller: tinkertechau). I ordered 2x Sanyo NCR18650GA (button top with bottom protective circuit). I've double checked and put these along side other Sanyo NCR18650GA batteries I bought elsewhere and they look identical. They appear genuine with the QR code visible under the plastic wrap as well as the letter "C" and the very faint "SANYO" & "NCR18650GA" pressed into the pink plastic wrap with no ink. I tested the mAh with my LiitoKala Lii-500 and they appear correct. Pitty they are currently out of stock as I would have bought more of these instead of the Panasonic NCR18650B which appear non-genuine (fake).

So from my experiences with this seller it would seem that they have had batteries that appear genuine and also batteries that appear non-genuine (fake). There are currently a lot of vendors out of stock of many brands and models of 18650s. I think it's all the more reason to be very careful, especially at the moment since it seems that non-genuine (fake) batteries can appear very similar both in appearance and in tested mAh but may have totally unknown build quality and unknown specifications (such as max drain current). These unknowns therefore could be a significant safety risk especially in high drain applications.

In light of non-genuine (fakes) batteries going around, I would reccomend asking a seller for photos of the side, bottom & top of a battery from their current batch before purchasing. As you've seen from my photos there are a number of key identifying features unique to specific brands and models for example some having QR codes under visible under the plastic wrap or the number of rings of the can near the top or having a smoth flat bottom, ect.