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18650 batteries on the bay

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Sharpsman

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Looks like eBay have banned the sale of 18650 batteries on their site , wonder if it's due to that many dodgy batteries being sold and a safety issue . Seems odd only 18650 ones though .
 
You will find that many of the sellers are not doing what they are supposed to and that is clearly identify the package as containing lithium batteries. There are other considerations as well when it comes to posting. I guess ebay has had enough of the flack and it is in part to protect themselves.
 
I was "there" for this back in 2018.

I was a founder and director of a company called 18650.uk. We specialised in end user supply of 18650 and other lithium cells to end users. Behind the scenes, we were actually wholesaling mostly to the military, car manufacturers and others for prototyping of lithium power modules and energy recovery systems.

At the time, there was no standard for the compliance marking of a product which should technically only be used inside a larger battery pack so I worked with the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to come up with a framework for them, which is now being implemented by all the top suppliers, including our closest competitors Fogstar, who we worked closely with to make it all happen for the sake of safer products for the end user.

Unfortunately, lots of absolute bandits didn't want to play ball and with not everyone playing by the same rule book, eBay implemented a blanket ban.

If you want good batteries, 18650.uk now operates under the brand NuBattery, and you'll get good products at fair prices, and they'll be safer than any shit you can pick up on eBay or Amazon.
 
I used to work at a recycling place that delt with electrical goods , old laptops were thrown away because of not charging problems , they run off 18650 rechargeable batteries , held about 8 if i remember , if one battery failed the unit would not recharge (y) but the other batteries were fine . so if you have any old laptops take the batteries out they are great for reuse :)
 
Sam the man said:
I used to work at a recycling place that delt with electrical goods , old laptops were thrown away because of not charging problems , they run off 18650 rechargeable batteries , held about 8 if i remember , if one battery failed the unit would not recharge (y) but the other batteries were fine . so if you have any old laptops take the batteries out they are great for reuse :)
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They'll be unprotected cells and only any good if the device they're going into has an on board BMS/protection circuit for over charge/discharge. Reclaimed batteries are the source of many fires when misused. It's what half of the DIY eBike fires start from.
 
karlt said:
Been using them for well over a year, no problems at all.
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I'm sure they work just fine. They just won't be anywhere near the performance of decent ones. I've opened plenty of Chinese batteries in testing claiming to be "5000mAh" and the like, and found other, smaller circa 900mAh cells stuffed inside floating in talc like powder, attached to each end with small nickel tabs.
 
Andy from Sandy said:
You will find that many of the sellers are not doing what they are supposed to and that is clearly identify the package as containing lithium batteries. There are other considerations as well when it comes to posting. I guess ebay has had enough of the flack and it is in part to protect themselves.
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As always it's the genuine people who suffer . It was the same with posting Knives . Many were sending them via the wrong service and Royal Mail tried to stop carrying them .

I still see people offering used knives for sale and the postage cost is so low that the buyer is either taking the hit for age verified and tracked or just sending it any way they please .

Its around £7 age verified and tracked and they are posting it for £3 on top of the asking price .
 
Captain_Saxa said:
They'll be unprotected cells and only any good if the device they're going into has an on board BMS/protection circuit for over charge/discharge. Reclaimed batteries are the source of many fires when misused. It's what half of the DIY eBike fires start from.
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They have been running my t20 t38 and t75 torches for years , never had a problem (y)
 
Captain_Saxa said:
I'm sure they work just fine. They just won't be anywhere near the performance of decent ones. I've opened plenty of Chinese batteries in testing claiming to be "5000mAh" and the like, and found other, smaller circa 900mAh cells stuffed inside floating in talc like powder, attached to each end with small nickel tabs.
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As above . I have seen some stripped and they filled them with sand or in a metal tube to get the weight up and the capacity was no where near what they claimed .

 
Sam the man said:
They have been running my t20 t38 and t75 torches for years , never had a problem (y)
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I've heard that "never had a problem" before, unfortunately. Torches which are designed to run an unprotected cell are fine. Those which aren't, turn into fireworks. Might be the first time, might be the 109th time you charge, but it'll happen eventually.
 
Sharpsman said:
Just ordered 2 enook 4000 mah from torchy, last ones I ordered where good so fingers crossed these will be as good .
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Torchy is nowhere near as "big" in the industry as he used to be these days. He's been long overtaken by my old business, Fogstar, etc, but he is one of the originals, and I would bet he hasn't compromised on his products. Should be a very safe bet buying from him.
 
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