My Eneloops are 2277 to 2396 mAH? Huh?

Hello all,
Just tested my 12 Sanyo Eneloops AA cells I picked up from DX and have high readings on my C9000 analyzer. I did the break-in cycle followed by a 1000mA charge/400mA discharge.

1) 2277
2) 2294
3) 2300
4) 2305
5) 2311
6) 2329
7) 2332
8) 2337
9) 2339
10) 2340
11) 2369
12) 2396

Took one of the batteries that gave a reading of about 2280 and put it on a Cadex 7400 battery analyzer at work. It does not rest the batteries when doing the charge discharge cycle and after a 1000mA charge/400mA discharge, it gave me a reading of 117% (2340mAH) The C9000 is accurate so I ponder what is going on.

I bought the Eneloops from DX and wonder if they are fakes. They have very high capacity considering they are rated 2000mAH. My first dozen Eneloops were from Thomas Distributing and read in the 1950 to 2020mAH range.

Noted the latest batch of Eneloops have smaller positive nipples on them and I had to sand down the plastic film a touch so they would register on the C9000. Have the newest Eneloops use shorter nipples to increase capacity?

I am a bit confused, not sure if I am happy with super high capacity Eneloops or pissed because I have fakes. Anyone else get really high capacity readings on new Eneloops?

What are the date codes on the DX Eneloops?

Considering where you bought them from, I bet they're counterfeits.

They might be fake Eneloops, and just normal NiMH cells. I recommend charging a real Eneloop and a DX Eneloop, let them sleep for a month, and check capacities. This will tell you whether they're LSD batteries or not

BentHeadTX said:

Noted the latest batch of Eneloops have smaller positive nipples on them and I had to sand down the plastic film a touch so they would register on the C9000. Have the newest Eneloops use shorter nipples to increase capacity?

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On the contrary, the newest eneloops have a longer positive button on them as the early ones had contact problems...

No eneloops have been tested with a true capacity higher than 2100 mAh. Can you post pictures of the batteries and packaging?

They are likely fake. DX has been stung with a batch of fake eneloop in 2 cell packs. They offer refund or credit as a solution so you should contact the seller.

thanks for the test, now i can be "rest assured" that i wasnt stupid for buying them for a few cents more at fully reputable dealers.

Someday there will exist a LSD of great capacity along with longevity and robustness, but i am doubting that its today, if it was where are the 57 press releace threads on it

StefanFS said:

They are likely fake. DX has been stung with a batch of fake eneloop in 2 cell packs. They offer refund or credit as a solution so you should contact the seller.

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I remember several years or so ago a rash of fake Sanyo 2700 AA NiMH cells. They were extremely difficult to tell from the real ones and I knew a dealer who received fakes from one of his major suppliers so it was wide spread.

StefanFS said:

They are likely fake. DX has been stung with a batch of fake eneloop in 2 cell packs. They offer refund or credit as a solution so you should contact the seller.

Click to expand...

Thank you everyone, they are 2 cell packs.

I was ordering LEDs, thermal goop etc and decided to pick up the Eneloops. The "since I'm here" type of purchase. Now I have a dozen of ???? cells so I'll see what DX has to say. I wrote the mAH rating on each cell so they won't get mixed in with the real Eneloops.

It has been about 5 days since I cycled them, I'll run a discharge at C/5 to see what they read to verify.

Thanks!

My guess, like everyone else's here, is they are fakes.

But, good grief, counterfeit AA cells?????

If you're going to spoof something, I would think it ought to be a bit more lucrative than a $1 - $2 battery. Or is this testament to Eneloop's market share, ease of production of the fakes, or the pervasiness of counterfeit consumer goods?

BentHeadTX said:

I had to sand down the plastic film a touch so they would register on the C9000. Have the newest Eneloops use shorter nipples to increase capacity? [...]
Anyone else get really high capacity readings on new Eneloops?

Click to expand...

Hello BentHead,

just as a data point: With break-in mode on the C-9000, my newest 4-pack of Eneloops (code 08-11 US) came in between 1978 and 2002 mAh. Difference between best and worst cell is about 1%. Your readings indicate a range of about 5% between best and worst cell, which in my experience would be very unusual for genuine Eneloops of the same batch/age (even when taking into account that you tested more cells).

And as MrHappy said, no contact problems with new Eneloops on the C-9000.

This thread is worthless without pictures!

somebody had to say it

cave dave said:

This thread is worthless without pictures!

somebody had to say it

Click to expand...

no kidding it would be a real service to the community to be able to see all aspects of them to see if we can identify the "fake" from the real, so people "dont get fooled again" wherever it should come from.

if it says ENELEAP on the side or if it says "charge only with ultrafire charger" or something, then it would be easy to ID but even the top and bottom of the cells picture has some distinguishing charachtersitics usually.

OK,
I compared a real Eneloop with the two-pack DX Eneloop and noted the following:

The numbers, words etc. are identical to the real ones but slightly lighter in shade
The battery itself is larger in diameter, slightly taller with a shorter positive nipple
The DX Eneloops have thicker clear plastic to protect them

I ran a discharge cycle after 5 days of laying around with the following results

2340 is now 2267 (96.9%)
2396 is now 2234 (93.2%)
2294 is now 2048 (89.3%)
2277 is now 2147 (94.3%)

Soooo, I can say that they are fakes as the consistency is all over the charts. Now to get in contact with DX to see what can be done. Geez, fake Eneloops... whisky-tango-foxtrot!

cave dave said:

This thread is worthless without pictures!

somebody had to say it

Click to expand...

Here You go:

Looks like the label misspells the word, water, as "wather."

EDIT: There are other misspellings, too.

Not the first time counterfeit items have been found at DX.

"wahs them with clean wather"

At least that makes them easy to spot...

I got the eneloops also from DX, after the first charge/discharge @ 1A 2100mAh ... :candle:

I hope that the Sanyo 2700 from DX are real.

Zelda