Is this IMR battery unsafe/damaged?

[jlomein]

I've been using two Efest 18350 IMR batteries in a mini box mod for a vape. One is fine, but the other has developed odd bumps below the purple battery wrapper. I don't believe these bumps were present when the battery was new (1-2 months ago).

Is this battery safe? Should I stop using this battery?

Thanks

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jlomein,

The question is What are they?

If it were mine I would cut away the wrapper just in the area were the bumps are. If it is corrosion, recycle the cell.

Tom

 

[archimedes]

....
The question is What are they?
....

Reminds me of that scene in Alien 👽 .... yeah, recycle.

Maybe don't even wait for whatever it is to pop out ?

 

[G. Scott H.]

Reminds me of that scene in Alien  .... yeah, recycle.

Maybe don't even wait for whatever it is to pop out ?

:twothumbs

I agree. Take NO chances with Li-ions. That is weird, I'll say that. I've never seen anything like that before.

 

[andrewnewman]

Good bet that it's surface corrosion. Probably from some moisture that got trapped under the wrapper when it was applied. Without removing that part of the wrapper and filing the corrosion away you have no way of knowing how deep it goes. It could be quite exciting (in the bad way) to file all the way through the can.

I also vote recycle...

 

[RobertB]

I've been using two Efest 18350 IMR batteries in a mini box mod for a vape. One is fine, but the other has developed odd bumps below the purple battery wrapper. I don't believe these bumps were present when the battery was new (1-2 months ago).
Is this battery safe? Should I stop using this battery?

Thanks

Fairly new the the flashlight business, but have been vaping for a few years. Efest is not a battery manufacturer. They re-wrap batteries with cells purchased from other manufacturers. There are not that many actual manufacturers out there. Stick to the brands like Samsung and LG. Although vape mods require a much higher amp CDR than flashlights, here is a good resource on testing. This guy is a designer and battery test engineer for large companies. He's into vaping so he tests batteries in his spare time, which can give you a good idea which ones to stay away from.

Many of these re-wrap companies over-rate the batteries. Who knows what brand that efest 18350 cell actually is, or what reject bin it came out of.

 

[ven]

Another recycle, just not worth it, cheap enough to replace and it will only play on your mind when using it..............

I would guess also at surface corrosion.........not good!

As mentioned, remove wrap and see:thumbsup:

 

[subwoofer]

That certainly is strange. It looks more like something has simply been trapped under the wrapper and you didn't notice before. To me it doesn't look like corrosion from your photo.

I'd contact Efest or the vendor who sold you the cell before you cut the wrapper off. If you get no joy from them, or even if you do and they ask you to cut the wrapper, let's see what is hiding under there.

Please post photos if you take the wrapper off.

As the others say, the doubt in this case is not worth continuing to use it, but I would check into it a bit more.

 

[jlomein]

Thanks guys, I'll recycle it. I'm forced to buy Efest 18350 cells locally though. I've had many problems trying to get cells shipped in to Canada. I don't know if it's Canada or the countries I'm buying from.

 

[ven]

Try vape shops, should have some good choices, 18350 cells are quite popular in the vape world

Still worth taking the wrap off just in case, if it is something trapped then some shrink wrap and good to go............nothing to loose.

Edit- you will know this as your a vaper :laughing:

 

[jfong]

Fairly new the the flashlight business, but have been vaping for a few years. Efest is not a battery manufacturer. They re-wrap batteries with cells purchased from other manufacturers. There are not that many actual manufacturers out there. Stick to the brands like Samsung and LG. Although vape mods require a much higher amp CDR than flashlights, here is a good resource on testing. This guy is a designer and battery test engineer for large companies. He's into vaping so he tests batteries in his spare time, which can give you a good idea which ones to stay away from.

Many of these re-wrap companies over-rate the batteries. Who knows what brand that efest 18350 cell actually is, or what reject bin it came out of.

Any 18350's you'd recommend that aren't efest? Their purple ones seem to be the most popular for this size and for high-drain, so whoever makes the cell doesn't seem to be selling it themselves anywhere.

 

[ven]

KeepPower are fine

 

[ven]

To add there is nothing wrong with Efest cells in general . If some choose to wrap poor quality batteries with the Efest wrapped then that's that. Just like people wrap cells with vtc5 wrappers. Inside the Efest (just like keeppower) are various brands of cells from the big names. The 2500mah are excellent, the 3100mah are ressonable at 10a and 20a pulse . As with all brands , there are risks of counterfeit . Buy from reputable shops/sellers and all should be good . Over the years I have had excellent results from Efest , Panasonic B inside to 25r inside 2500mah.

So so Efest from reputable sellers is fine imo from
experience and I will continue to use the brand(of wrapper :laughing: ) . Avoid the 2800mah cells as poor performers, still stand by the 2500mah cells as excellent in 18650 flavours. The 16340 are fine too with my uses , and cheap enough to replace once performance starts to tail off!!

just imo and experience , not saying the best , but saying a reasonable option for performance and cost!