Warning! Please Vets LOOK! Fake? AW IMR 18350 Battery - 850 mAh

[panto911]

I thought the AW IMR 18350 battery is only 700mah? Is this a fake? Only place I can find them is this site....

AW 18350 IMR (high drain) cells (batteries) - 850 mAh for Electronic Cigarettes

I just bought the Lavatube mini and was trying to find the best battery for it. I'm guess the AW IMR 18350 700mah is the best, if the 850mah is fake?
Better pictures can be found here, but I dont know if its the same.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...eat-prices-contest-too-tropical-vapors-2.html

I hope there not fakes, but I thought AW doesn't sell flat top batteries, nor do they sell these outside the US?

 

[Creniker]

They don't look fake. The 18650 AW IMR batteries came out in a higher mah not too long ago, so it's completely possible that these are real. Did you check to see if they were listed on the AW website?

 

[Frick]

Well until I hear back from the folks at L-Rider, I'm going to pull the 18350's from the site.

Already pulled from the site.

I'd be interested, because with a magnet spacer it would be great to have 850 MaH in the Provari Mini, but I don't think AW has any flat-top batteries.

 

[StrikeEagleCC]

They don't look fake. The 18650 AW IMR batteries came out in a higher mah not too long ago, so it's completely possible that these are real. Did you check to see if they were listed on the AW website?

Perhaps I'm missing something obvious, but what is the AW website? I haven't been able to find manufacturer information, other than the name "Allen Wang."

 

[knivesout]

I believe AW = Andy Wong. The batteries are manufactured by Panasonic, here's some info I saw posted on candlepowerforums, where he first started selling the batteries I think.

AW uses quality panasonic batteries. They have been proven to be high quality and reliable cells from AW.
AW only puts a pcb on the battery then heatshrinks it with the AW label. Its a panasonic cell.

I've gathered that it's roughly like this: Lithium battery factories churn out everything from top grade to unusable quality cells. Big companies like laptop manufacturers get most of the A quality cells. The B and C grade cells are sold in bulk to whoever will buy them, usually people who slap a fancy sounding label/brand on them, and a made up mAh rating. In addition to this there are various "recycling" operations that break apart old laptop packs, take out the cells and put a label on them.

AW obviously doesn't manufacture anything himself, but we've come to trust that he always has sourced good quality cells with consistent performance and excellent safety record.

 

[Creniker]

He doesn't only use Panasonic cells as far as I'm aware. I was under the impression he used an array of different manufactures that he trusted, then then test the cells t make sure they are quality, and then puts PBC protection and his label on it. Though I could be wrong on this.

 

[conan]

Already pulled from the site.

Indeed!

I'd be interested, because with a magnet spacer it would be great to have 850 MaH in the Provari Mini, but I don't think AW has any flat-top batteries.

Not the Imr, but they do have flat top protected batteries. Of course those are not for a Provari.

 

[Phangtonpower]

I was also looking for 18350 batteries. What do you guys thunk about this one?? It's rated at 1200mah.
Ultrafire 18350 1200mah 3.7v BUTTON TOP Rechargeable Lithium Battery Li-Ion UF18350

 

[Bmays]

I'm no battery expert, I'm researching information on the Fake AW IMR's now so that I don't get screwed into buying any.

BUT...Those batteries do not appear to be protected. Someone chime in if I'm wrong.

 

[knivesout]

If you can find info on what to look out for regarding fake AW batteries, feel free to share it here. I'd be curious to know as well and couldn't turn up a whole bunch of info aside from some threads here about fake AWs that were being sent out with the lavatube.

 

[iowajosh]

I was also looking for 18350 batteries. What do you guys thunk about this one?? It's rated at 1200mah.
Ultrafire 18350 1200mah 3.7v BUTTON TOP Rechargeable Lithium Battery Li-Ion UF18350

Less safe chemistry and from the fleamarket type company.

 

[sailorman]

I've gathered that it's roughly like this: Lithium battery factories churn out everything from top grade to unusable quality cells. Big companies like laptop manufacturers get most of the A quality cells. The B and C grade cells are sold in bulk to whoever will buy them, usually people who slap a fancy sounding label/brand on them, and a made up mAh rating. In addition to this there are various "recycling" operations that break apart old laptop packs, take out the cells and put a label on them.

AW obviously doesn't manufacture anything himself, but we've come to trust that he always has sourced good quality cells with consistent performance and excellent safety record.

Not exactly. The battery manufacturers label their top grade batteries with their own labels. They sell some to other manufacturers who may or may not re-label them. Andy Wong has no special privileges with Panasonic and Sanyo. His volume is relatively low in the world of battery distribution. He certainly doesn't get any better cells than the ones that have the Sanyo or Panny label on them. He may be able to get the same ones that are sold to the laptop manufacturers. Maybe. When he's lucky. He certainly doesn't take top priority over a company like HP or Sony. Andy Wong is a marketer and somewhat of a huckster. He's managed to turn a fan base on CPF, and now ECF, into a mythology that his batteries are better than Panasonic or Sanyos own labeled batteries or their industrial lines. That's ridiculous. If he could get batteries that passed his secret specifications from Acme battery company, he'd do it and slap his label on them too.

If you want a top of the line Panny or Sanyo, buy a Panny or Sanyo. You might get just as good a battery with an AW, but not necessarily, it might not even be real, and you'll almost certainly pay more for it. There are millions of counterfeit AW's out there and, unlike Panny and Sanyo, AW isn't big enough to do anything about it.

 

[knivesout]

What was quoted was just something I found on CPF in my attempt to find out more about AW batteries. From everything I've seen, the last statement:

AW obviously doesn't manufacture anything himself, but we've come to trust that he always has sourced good quality cells with consistent performance and excellent safety record.

is indeed factual, and why AW cells are recommended for high end mods like the provari. I wasn't trying to say anything about AWs being "better" than X brand, I was just trying to pass on a little info about what/who AW is, from the CPF forums where he first started selling batteries. Do you have any sources for your assertions about AW? I'd be interested in reading more, but haven't been able to find a whole lot of info regarding Andy Wong and his relationship with his suppliers.

 

[guesswhoy0]

I've been looking around for an IMR 18350 battery for my lava tube but I can't seem to find a flat top battery that is in stock. =\

 

[VAPNJ350]

AW batteries are all Panasonic cells , pre-tested then wrapped with the AW famous red-orange vinyl wrap and stickered. The DO NOT make ANY flat top IMR's or 850mAh IMR's in 18350 size, ONLY 700mAh 18350 nipple/button top. The ONLY flat tops AW make are the AW ICR protected line of batteries which are the black with chrome sticker. Example like the AW 3100mAh ICR protested battery is the Panasonic NCR 3100mAh PCB Protected battery. I've seen this same battery sold overseas to another person. "THEY ARE FAKE" AW doesn't make a 850mAh in the 18350, their ALL 700mAh with a nipple/button top. Hope this helps.

 

[VAPNJ350]

Less safe chemistry and from the fleamarket type company.

This is my opinion backed by my own discharge tests at multiple amperage rates. If it says Trustfire, Ultrafire, Palight, or Soshine I would NOT use them in my flashlights. (my opinion) They just don't have any kind of decent discharge rate or a good solid sustained amperage output. The devices and attys/cartos we use in this industry really need something that has some Amperage output to it. The best battery I tested and use personally are #1 Panasonic CGR18650CH 2250mAh hybrid, #2 Sanyo 2600mAh Protected & unprotected IMR #3 AW anything,...which ALL use a Panasonic cell base. Now this being said, yes the crap batteries named above do work. But they don't work great. As much as we pay for some of our devices I think it deserves the best battery I can buy. ....Don't you ? Always keep this simple analogy or statement if you will in mind when your shopping for batteries for your nice expensive mod.

"" YOUR DEVICE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE BATTERIES INSIDE IT""

Tip: If your looking for a good IMR 18350 battery thats been tested very thoroughly..go to C.C.V..he's got some nice 18350's that tested very well for dirt cheap on his site.

 

[panto911]

Wait wait you go on how not to buy cheap batteries, but the ones you say are good are no name brand....on crystal clear vapings site. Buy only aw 18350 and make sure they're only 700 mah. Because the fake aw or the cheaper not so good ones claim higher than 700 which are not...

 

[tinstar15]

I think what VAPNJ350 is getting at is that if you want good batteries buy the good ones. If you can't swing it monetarily and need something cheap that will provide a decent level of performance, the CCV ones are worthwhile.

There's a lot of sites out there selling some bad, useless, or downright dangerous stuff to use in an ecig device. These sites generally cater to RC, hobbyist types, flashlight fans, and just about anything but ecigs. The batteries might be great stuff for those uses. Ecigs are weird creatures that have odd power demands.

 

[knivesout]

Where did you find the info about all AW cells being Panasonics? Curious since in my limited research I never found anything too definitive about the exact brand cells AW uses.

 

[panto911]

AW is a company just like any other just like Panasonic. Both battery companies source their cells, Panasonic has their sources just like AW. AW just sources cells that meets his own specific specs and buys them.