A123 COPY CELL from GEbattery

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miro13car

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here is "offical" copy of A123 20Ah cell from GEbattery.
It can scare hell out of you if you look for A123 20Ah and see it, because it is so nicely copied down to the right size.
here is email:

Dear Sir,
The cell is our own made cell, which is copy from A123 20Ah cells. Please see pictures attached.
Thanks and best regards
Emmy
Sales Manager
General Electronics Battery Co.,Ltd.
Add:Bld. 2, Chaohuilou Hi-tech Industry Park, Dalang, Longhua, Baoan District, Shenzhen 518109, P.R. China
Tel: 86-755-81762726 ext.636,
Mobile: 86-13424289426
Fax: 86-755-81762723
Skype: emmy.geb
MSN: ydspower@hotmail.com
E-mail: emmy@gebattery.com.cn
Website: http://www.gebattery.com.cn
 

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I bought some A123 18650 clone cells from China once.

Those were the last cells I bought from China.

Those no good clone cells from China are the reason I learned to recycle A123 cells from Dewalt packs so I could get the real deal.

I would not buy too many right away. Maybe a couple to test first.
 
As far as I know that is the first documented case of "fake" A123 20Ah cells but only physical appearance fakes.
They GE battery clearly states they are 5C rated so they are no real fakes?
they are just Chinese cells identical in apperarance to A123 but completely different electrically.
So you didn't read specs before buying?
that is why I do not call them fakes.
 
i did not see the A123 label on these. does the box they came in say they are A123? i assume they are the same size which would account for how they use the term 'copy' for a description.
 
On third picture, one can see a leftovers from original A123 marking. It is simply cleaned off.
And first picture has the same marking left intact. Why? If these are fakes, whey are near to identical to originals. I have never seen fakes made so close to original. Knowing this supplier (not a manufacturer) and it's capabilities I doubt that this is a fake.
So this could be the real A123 cell. Probably faulty and without QC pass, but still "working".
 
circuit said:
On third picture, one can see a leftovers from original A123 marking. It is simply cleaned off.
And first picture has the same marking left intact. Why? If these are fakes, whey are near to identical to originals. I have never seen fakes made so close to original. Knowing this supplier (not a manufacturer) and it's capabilities I doubt that this is a fake.
So this could be the real A123 cell. Probably faulty and without QC pass, but still "working".
Click to expand...

Nice catch, and absolutely correct. That's an A123 cell with the markings washed off. Common solvents can clean the ink off with ease.
 
that are the specifications they GB battery sent me in email:

Model
A123 20Ah Prismatic Pouch Cell
Nominal capacity
20Ah
Nominal voltage
3.3V
Cell Weight
496g
Max continuous
discharge rate
5C
Pulse Discharge rate
10C
Cell Dimensions
7.25 x 160 x 227mm
Operating Temperature
-30°C to 55°C
NOTICE: Discharge ONLY 5C
Pulse discharge ONLY 10C
A123 20Ah are much more than that.
 
dnmun,
there is no box, I course never bought from them, they say themselves copies, they say 5C so basically they say do not expect A123 20Ah performance from this cell/.
 
Chinese clones are good for somethings but when you get to sensitive things like batteries... I wouldn't risk it.
 
Looks like last desperate twist in trying to trick people into buying crap so they don't have huge loss. Typical. I would not be surprised in seeing these QC fail cells going for pennies in some time unless there are stupid people there who still believe in Easter Rabbit :D
 
Same guys who say their lifepo4 is self balancing. :wink: Uh, I guess, with a bms attached they would be.
 
I would love to buy QC rejected A123 20Ah cells if they just missed QC requirement, I mean just.
you can call them grade one rejects.
There must be of course treshold all A123 20Ah must had met before passing them for shipment at A123 factory.
The one I bought from Vict are really good maybe 90% of them with literraly same discharge or slightly worse curve as Mavizen posted here.
But mechanically they have uneven folds and majnor defect which I don't care about. Such looking cells were of course rejected REGARDLESS electrical testing.
In contrast A123RC sold me 10 perfectly looking cells but with sagging discharge curves -obviously rejected on electrical tests.
 
Omg that's a very similar spam email they sent me. Lol
 
miro13car said:
dnmun,
there is no box, I course never bought from them, they say themselves copies, they say 5C so basically they say do not expect A123 20Ah performance from this cell/.
Click to expand...
Basically that is a correct rating for grade B cells...

Jason27 said:
Omg that's a very similar spam email they sent me. Lol
Click to expand...
They sent it to everyone...
 
From the A123 20AH I have, and from the feedback I had from other owners, most factory second sold may work initially ok.

But they will FAIl within 6-12 months and swollen even with good care.

So the advertised extra long lifecycle will be completely false, and in real world they probably have a lifecycle closer to lipo or even less.
 
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