More fake Sony VTC5
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LG he2 is a damn good battery. I wouldn't worry about Sony discontinuing the VTC just yet. That rumor has been going around for years. There's a good possibility that they'll be releasing a VTC 6 soon.
I have been looking for a VTC5 as well and most online shops are sold out; well from the well-known vendors anyways. I also see that some vendors are not carrying them at all so i wonder if they picked up on the fact knock offs were everywhere. Several shops do have the VTC4 in stock.
Has there been any mention of the market getting flooded with fake VTC4s? I was thinking of getting a couple of these.
What is a good alternative to the VTC5?
Has there been any mention of the market getting flooded with fake VTC4s? I was thinking of getting a couple of these.
What is a good alternative to the VTC5?
I have 2 Sony VTC 5 batteries and they seem to work fine with my vtr. After doing some searching online,it seems that Sony officially stopped making them after the vtc3. There seems to be alot of different information about batteries on different sites. I found a good video on the subject its long and hope it helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2--worq4ekE&list=UUwJIB4JL9RVYZjf1qtoHmsQ
Having watched that video, I'm even more confused about battery origins than I was before. It appears there are no absolutes concerning lithium batteries. Battery spec numbers are all over the place because there are multiple manufacturers making the same battery model, and apparently not keeping to a specific "recipe" or "formula", for lack of better words.
What I got from this video is that you shouldn't put too much confidence into whatever battery that you use, and you should never push your batteries to their "advertised" limits. As this gentleman pointed out, manufacturers apparently don't agree on using a "continuous" or a "pulse" amp rating in their spec sheet. As I always have done, I use the most conservative rating published and hope for the best that this allows for some safe headroom should the ratings be over-rated. In other words, nothing is written in stone.
I'm convinced that you guys who are running 0.1 ohm coils are running a even bigger risk now that I have seen this video. Unless you have sophisticated bench testing equipment to test your batteries, you have no idea how good your batteries are. Relying on published vendor ratings seems even more foolhardy now than before.
I found it interesting that this guy seemed to be saying that Efest batteries were more legitimate in their ratings than Sony's. Doesn't he know that the purple Efest 30 amp batteries are re-wrapped Sony 30 amp batteries? Doesn't he know that the purple Efest 35 amp batteries are re-wrapped LG18650HE2 batteries with only a 20 amp limit? Doesn't he know that the purple Efest 20 amp batteries are a re-wrapped Panasonic with less than 10 amps?
And, AW stopped producing batteries years ago? Then why is Andrew Wan still posting on http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?191277-IMR16340-IMR14500-IMR18350-IMR18490-IMR18650-IMR26500-*Part-2*&p=2272984#post2272984
This guy seems knowledgeable about batteries, but I found a lot of discrepancies in his presentation. I can't really blame the guy, because I discovered myself just how frustrating it is to try to find consistant and accurate information in my own research. The problem seems to stem from there being no industry standards or authoratative governing body to oversee the production of lithium batteries. Manufacturers are very protective and close-mouthed about their industry. They appear to not be held accountable by anyone and able to advertise whatever they wish. Buyer beware.
What I got from this video is that you shouldn't put too much confidence into whatever battery that you use, and you should never push your batteries to their "advertised" limits. As this gentleman pointed out, manufacturers apparently don't agree on using a "continuous" or a "pulse" amp rating in their spec sheet. As I always have done, I use the most conservative rating published and hope for the best that this allows for some safe headroom should the ratings be over-rated. In other words, nothing is written in stone.
I'm convinced that you guys who are running 0.1 ohm coils are running a even bigger risk now that I have seen this video. Unless you have sophisticated bench testing equipment to test your batteries, you have no idea how good your batteries are. Relying on published vendor ratings seems even more foolhardy now than before.
I found it interesting that this guy seemed to be saying that Efest batteries were more legitimate in their ratings than Sony's. Doesn't he know that the purple Efest 30 amp batteries are re-wrapped Sony 30 amp batteries? Doesn't he know that the purple Efest 35 amp batteries are re-wrapped LG18650HE2 batteries with only a 20 amp limit? Doesn't he know that the purple Efest 20 amp batteries are a re-wrapped Panasonic with less than 10 amps?
And, AW stopped producing batteries years ago? Then why is Andrew Wan still posting on http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?191277-IMR16340-IMR14500-IMR18350-IMR18490-IMR18650-IMR26500-*Part-2*&p=2272984#post2272984
This guy seems knowledgeable about batteries, but I found a lot of discrepancies in his presentation. I can't really blame the guy, because I discovered myself just how frustrating it is to try to find consistant and accurate information in my own research. The problem seems to stem from there being no industry standards or authoratative governing body to oversee the production of lithium batteries. Manufacturers are very protective and close-mouthed about their industry. They appear to not be held accountable by anyone and able to advertise whatever they wish. Buyer beware.
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Baditude, I agree with the points you made. I'm not a cloud chaser or go into the sub-ohms. I vape my vtr with a nautilus or kayfun at 1.0 -1.6 ohms, as long as it keeps me from smoking. I am just trying to figure out what is what. I watched some of his other videos and he tries to shed some light on topics to help vapors. I think people should be careful with pushing these batteries to limits that might not do what they claim. I just seems like there many vendors just trying to make a quick buck and are not really worried about the customer. Everyone should do there own homework before buying any product. Buyer beware.
I hear ya Bad. Personally, I don't put that much faith in what Pegasus said. I found it very interesting and it would not surprise me at all if it turned out to be true, but I need confirmation before I believe him. Until then I'll keep it in mind and watch for something that will confirm or deny it. He also did not come across to me like any kind of battery expert. I took his video as his opinions from his personal experiences as a buyer only and you caught the things he doesn't seem to know about too.
Honestly, I've never put all that much faith in either continuous or pulse maximum amp specifications. Sure, I feel better knowing I'm not going over the stated max continuous ratings with my builds, or even anywhere close to them, but I also know it's not that much of a big deal. If I draw 40A from one of my healthy VTC3 or VTC4 for 5 second vapes for a while, I really doubt it's going to vent. OTOH, if I have 300 charge cycles on it and have really abused it through that time, I suspect it just might vent at lower than a 30A vape. I also noticed this chart online the other day, showing a Samsung 25R apparently being discharged at 35A continuous and actually doing better than a real VTC5 in my range of vaping voltage. And if you know me well enough by now, you'll know I need confirmation of that before I believe it
The big deal for me is if I continue to use mechanical mods, one day I will hard short a battery and there's a chance it will vent. If I didn't believe my batteries would not vent with major out-gassing, or with flame I would not risk using mech mods. Roly's sub-ohm advisory about no serious battery injuries from sub-ohm vaping was confirmation for me that I am on the right track. IMR and hybrid batteries are very safe.
But as you very well know, this assumes we're actually using the safer chemistry batteries and that's what is really important to me. If someone were to put ICR cells into a VTC wrapper that would be really dangerous. It's nice to know Illumination Supply test their batteries and I think they would have caught it if their counterfeit VTC5s had been ICR. After all this going down lately, I will however be more careful with new cells I buy from anyone in the future and do more to verify for myself that they are good before I start to vape them.
In the end though, the only thing that's changed for me is that we've had a couple of instances of the first known counterfeit Sony batteries. The battery industry hasn't changed from what it's been the lest few years and IMO it's been pretty good. It would certainly be nice if the industry were a little more transparent, but I can understand why they might find it hard to do that for the public.
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I believe whatever Badtitude says! 
But seriously after reading everything Badtitude has produced clearly he has taken a large amount of time to do proper research into this area.
This is the one part of vaping that scares the heck out of me. I am not Mr Battery and to be honest i don't really want to be but i do want to be safe so i simply stand on the shoulders of giants and reach from there.
But seriously after reading everything Badtitude has produced clearly he has taken a large amount of time to do proper research into this area.
This is the one part of vaping that scares the heck out of me. I am not Mr Battery and to be honest i don't really want to be but i do want to be safe so i simply stand on the shoulders of giants and reach from there.
I follow Peg and watched that video last night. I was about to make a thread about it and hope that Baditude would watch it and comment, but you beet me to it!!
Here's an interesting tidbit... Sony.com support forum moderator isn't familiar with the VTC5 battery, apparently.
Sony 30a 18650vtc5 batteries, are these authentic? - Sony's Community Site
Sony 30a 18650vtc5 batteries, are these authentic? - Sony's Community Site
B1sh0p, I'm moving away from the VTC batteries too. I will not have to buy any 18650s for a while yet, but if I did have to I would pick between the 25R and the HE2. I've read very good things about both and I think either is very good. Let's hope these don't start being counterfeited too next month
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B1sh0p, I'm moving away from the VTC batteries too. I will not have to buy any 18650s for a while yet, but if I did have to I would pick between the 25R and the HE25. I've read very good things about both and I think either is very good. Let's hope these don't start being counterfeited too next month
So I'm still looking into what batteries to buy, and what reputable dealer to buy from. I saw someone mention illumination supply, and then learned they are located in my city. Cool,I can save on shipping. But then I read something about counterfeits. They accidentally got some, but while testing figured it out? What is the 25r and the he25?
I misspelled HE2 as HE25 in my last post. Here are both batteries at Illumination Supply. Both in stock, both $8.00 each and both rated 20A continuous:
LG 18650HE2 2500mAh
Samsung INR18650-25R 2500mAh
Illumination Supply got some VTC5's that were really 25R's last week. They figured it out pretty quick. Their VTC4, HE2 and 25R should all be good as far as I know.
I'm going to do some work on comparing the data I can find on the VTC4, VTC5, HE2 and 25R tomorrow and post what I get. I'm a little too tired to attempt it right now.
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Thanks. So you'd say illumination supply is a reputable place to buy batteries. And 20 amp should be fine for the 1.2 to 2 ohm range I want to be in? I'm still trying to find a post showing how to get there. What gauge wire, what size drill bit, and how many wraps.
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