Help understanding imr 18350

Ordered some batteries from eBay and was given a different brand then was advertised
Claimed to be AW but are effest
are these any good?

It looks like you live in the US? You have lots of good quality options for lithium ion batteries and don't have to resort to Ebay. The closest major retailer to you is Li-Ion Wholesale and iirc they are located in PA too so shipping should be fast. I've got their entire inventory in my battery search engine if their website is confusing

Efest is usually okay. Each battery should come with a little scratch off area with some numbers underneath it. Plug that into Efest's website to confirm that you have genuine batteries. They are frequently faked on Ebay....

Which colour? Black, purple, or red? Effest is usually good. The IMR red wrap one's are very good and considered one of the current alternatives to the original AW, AFAIK. AW factory is closed for further notice.

I'd be concerned about fakes given the combination of ebay and getting the wrong brand.

The Keeppower 1200 mAh, Aspire 1100 mAh and at least one more using the same cell are the best 18350 available right now. I usually reject the idea of a single "best" just about anything, but it's true here. Most capacity, least voltage sag, highest sustainable current, not by small margins. Illumn sells the Keeppower version.

Zak said:

I'd be concerned about fakes given the combination of ebay and getting the wrong brand.

The Keeppower 1200 mAh, Aspire 1100 mAh and at least one more using the same cell are the best 18350 available right now. I usually reject the idea of a single "best" just about anything, but it's true here. Most capacity, least voltage sag, highest sustainable current, not by small margins. Illumn sells the Keeppower version.

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To add to Zak's comment, Vapcell has a 1100mAh 18350 that appears be another rewrap of the Aspire, and so far tests well too.
https://liionwholesale.com/products/vapcell-18350?variant=6132565278752

Thanks for the recommendation guys. Are there any good IMR 18500 & 16340 you can recommend?

Midnight.Sun said:

Thanks for the recommendation guys. Are there any good IMR 18500 & 16340 you can recommend?

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700mAh Efests for 16340s. Illumn is a legit source.

18500 can be had in Keeppowers for low cap high drain and high cap low drain. Highest cap one is a 2000mAh Panasonic, and it is good for 3-4 amps.

Yes, AFAIKnew, Red IMR Effests are good as I mentioned above (authentic ones of course). Anyway, things were easier back in the day when original AW IMR dominated those three size categories.

Thetasigma said:

700mAh Efests for 16340s. Illumn is a legit source.

18500 can be had in Keeppowers for low cap high drain and high cap low drain. Highest cap one is a 2000mAh Panasonic, and it is good for 3-4 amps.

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I have the 18500's in both the Panasonic and Keepowers and can vouch for them as well. I'm not using them in a vape but they do well in several high drain triple mods that I have.

mkphc said:

Ordered some batteries from eBay and was given a different brand then was advertised

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Ebay is not the right place to buy batteries unless you really have no other choice.

One thing eBay is good for is the Panasonic Industrial lithium (not lithium ion) 3V CR123A, still made in Japan batteries. I just bought some for our smoke or carbon monoxide detectors (I'm not sure which as we have both) and they've been fine. Mine came in a six-pack. I checked the voltages and they all check out.

fivemega said:

Ebay is not the right place to buy batteries unless you really have no other choice.

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Not true. eBay is the same as any other marketplace. If you buy from a trustworthy seller then there is little to worry about. I've purchased thousands of electronics items on eBay at deep discount (including most of my batteries) and only very rarely had issues (resolved via buyer protection, often with the item being free).

For example, for Li-ion cells I am averaging under $0.10/Wh for ~4kWh total. I get those great prices because I buy large packs and reuse/harvest them. It's difficult if not impossible to obtain such deep discounts in any other marketplace.

Gauss163 said:

For example, for Li-ion cells I am averaging under $0.10/Wh for ~4kWh total. I get those great prices because I buy large packs and reuse/harvest them. It's difficult if not impossible to obtain such deep discounts in any other marketplace.

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Please explain. You have bought ~$400 worth of cells that provide 4kWhr on ebay, or when you average your ebay purchased along with other cells you have harvested from ? your average cost is $0.10/Wh.

Regardless, if you have a recommendation for the names of trustworthy sellers on ebay, please share.

Funny that some people dispute the claim that Ebay is a bad place to buy batteries, meanwhile the whole reason for this thread is because the OP ordered a specific battery and received something entirely different than advertised.

sbslider said:

Please explain. You have bought ~$400 worth of cells that provide 4kWhr on ebay, or when you average your ebay purchased along with other cells you have harvested from ? your average cost is $0.10/Wh.

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The first.

sbslider said:

Regardless, if you have a recommendation for the names of trustworthy sellers on ebay, please share.

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I don't have a list. Rather, I have automated searches that turn up things of interest. Then I evaluate the seller based on feedback, answers to questions I pose, etc.

DayofReckoning said:

Funny that some people dispute the claim that Ebay is a bad place to buy batteries, meanwhile the whole reason for this thread is because the OP ordered a specific battery and received something entirely different than advertised.

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Not clear what your point is. That one seller is bad does not imply the same for all sellers. Experienced eBay buyers can greatly minimize the risk and obtain amazing discounts (esp. with patience).