More fake Sony VTC5

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Baditude

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More fake Sony VTC5 batteries may have been sold, this time from a reputable dealer, Illumination Supply. The following FaceBook notice was posted as an email sent out to customers who had been sold the batteries.

"To Whom it May Concern:You are receiving this email because a recent batch of Sony VTC5s we received passed our initial test inspection systems but were ultimately found to be counterfeit. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of our end users and advise to pull the VTC5s from retail if you are a wholesale customer. You have the option of a complete refund no questions asked from this batch of VTC5s or you can opt to wait for a confirmed authentic restock (no ETA at this time) with no need to return the counterfeit cells. We have determined that the counterfeit VTC5s are actually re-wrapped Samsung 25Rs which are rated for 20A discharge and 2500mAh capacity. We have received a total of 2 separate shipments from different suppliers of this new kind of counterfeit cell, please be warned that their performance is very similar to VTC5s and would not be that noticeable without testing equipment, if you do choose to purchase VTC5s from a different supplier than Illumn/Illumination Supply be aware of this unique counterfeit that is on the market now as it has fooled several different suppliers as well. We apologize deeply for the mistake and will continue improve our testing process to ensure it never happens again.

If you are curious about the results of our battery test they can be seen below. The best fit line for the counterfeit VTC5s match closely with Samsung 25Rs and are extremely likely to be 25Rs. Our original 35A continuous test showed the counterfeits outperforming the authentic VTC5s for the first portion of the continuous test and passed our original assessment. Further investigation pointed towards the Samsung 25R as the actual internal cell which are only rated for 20A due to heat production at higher amp ratings. Consulting the datasheet for the Samsung 25R and our test data, we conclude that it is not suitable for a 30A continuous discharge due to heat generated and possible cell longevity issues. In terms of pulse use (which is what the majority of vaping would be considered), the Samsung 25Rs are capable of 30A pulses for durations of 6 seconds."

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Even more shocking, the same Face Book post also had this comment, "Sony discontinued vtc batteries. they will no longer be a part of the Vaping industry." This was posted by the owner/operator of Simply E-Juice, Steven Manley.

Anyone heard any news of Sony discontinuing their VTC batteries? I had already read that they were discontinuing their 26650 battery. What's up with this? :blink: If true, could this be a precautionary reaction to potential liability issues due to the nature of the customer base who primarily use these batteries for extreme sub-ohm vaping?

I know that the battery manufacturers have not been too keen on us using these batteries in single cell use in our mods; they were designed to be used in battery packs of multiple batteries for cars and airliners. Have we just lost our best battery available to us?
 
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Ryedan

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Thanks Bad, this is interesting. I thought Illumination Supply has been out of stock on these batteries for a while now. I wonder if the Facebook post is legit.

And why would anyone put Samsung 25R's in VTC wrappers? I mean, how much price difference is there between these cells? At least the Samsungs are safe :thumb:
 

Ryedan

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Just noticed I have three fakes from a local brick and mortar shop. They got burned too. They are trying to order me legitimate ones now. Sigh....

This must be really wide spread Newportlocal! Can you confirm that the battery differences in this picture are correct?
 

Newportlocal

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Baditude

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Hard to tell without taking of the wrapper, and I need mine intact to return when the shop gets legitimate ones in. I have all the differences posted by Baditude on the sun vapers site here.
How to spot a fake Sony VTC5 battery

Don't just depend on the warning pics by Sun Vapors. The link that Ryedan posted earlier were pics from another batch that Illumination Supply sold. There are more than just a couple of disreputable resellers who are making fake batteries.
 

Newportlocal

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Don't just depend on the warning pics by Sun Vapors. The link that Ryedan posted earlier were pics from another batch that Illumination Supply sold. There are more than just a couple of disreputable resellers who are making fake batteries.

I understand. I have in the past always bought only from reputable vendors online. I didn't expect a high dollar store down here to sell me a fake. Lesson learned on that.
 

Ryedan

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Hard to tell without taking of the wrapper, and I need mine intact to return when the shop gets legitimate ones in. I have all the differences posted by Baditude on the sun vapers site here.
How to spot a fake Sony VTC5 battery

Got ya Newportlocal, yours are the first counterfeits with the bad performance, not the Samsungs. Sheesh, this is getting crazy!
 

Nick N

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I have a Nemesis clone on the way (my first mech mod), so I will be shopping for an 18650 soon. Canceled my VCT5 order from illumi before they went out of stock a week and a half ago.

My question is, what can you get right now that has respectable performance in a mech mod and is rarely (if ever) counterfeited?
 

Newportlocal

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Got ya Newportlocal, yours are the first counterfeits with the bad performance, not the Samsungs. Sheesh, this is getting crazy!

The performance isn't bad, but I wouldn't be able to push the 30 amp limit and trust them. Also, the whole pesky I want to get what I paid for aspect.:)
 
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