How to Detect Fake 21700 Batteries?

21700: a lithium-ion battery that has taken a fair bit of heat lately, thanks to increasingly popular use cases in high powered products EVs, power tools, and energy storage.
It’s not that tough to end-up getting a fake and of course power or rather lack of it is the prime thing but then again making it just explode if asked too much or don’t be in a good mood. Here’s how to spot a fake and if it’s even worth worrying about.
1. Check the Packaging and Labels
Usually picking out a fake kicks off with the first tell on the info of the packaging.
Brand and model info . Be sure that the brand and model info, on the battery and packaging, conform. Too often are there the most confusing or wrong brand names all garbled up and the other way round.
Rigour of certifications . The good brands will get their product certified (think UL, CE, RoHS) and put it on the packaging accordingly. Counterfeit 21700s sometimes don’t even stamp a standard on them and fly under the radar too with fake marking.
Quality of the packaging . Nice brands will use decent packaging, fake ones you’ll sometimes smell from the uselessness of the packaging.
2. Inspect the battery’s build quality. Real 21700s should have high-quality finishing.Good brands will also manufacture to a quality control set of standards. A giveaway sign of a fake 21700 battery is when it has irregular visual features.Weight: Fake 21700 batteries will be lighter than the models they’re imitating as they themselves are made of cheaper materials. Weight: Compare to a genuine 21700 battery, and if there is huge difference it might be fake.
Casing and Labeling: Things like mottling in colour colour of casing, or mismatched design / texture, etc. Real 21700 batteries have very smooth uniform finish, and the actual look of the battery casing is roughly better made.
Protective Seal: Proper 21700 batteries should be tightly sealed, and have a very smooth surface at their ends. Fake batteries typically are improperly sealed at factory, or they show very uneven surface at their ends.
3. Test the Voltage and Capacity
Take a tester and see if the voltage, and battery capacity, are even close to real 21700 batteries. A easy way to spot a fake 21700 battery is to actually test it for proper voltage and capacity – fake batteries are not usually built for performance like real 21700’s are. Voltage: Properly charged 21700 battery will have charge voltage around 4.2v, and shouldn’t be lower. If fake, the battery is more likely to be just a low quality, badly deformed, or damaged. Capacity: Proper 21700 batteries should have proper “mAh” (“milliampere hour”) rating. The best 21700 cell run somewhere between 4000mAh, and 5000mAh, generally.3 Capacity Test: If you’re feeling brave – load up your battery tester, and see how much of a capacity it actually is – if you’re fancy you might even have a battery analyser.Warning – Fake batteries tend to have lower capacity than you think! 3. Discharge Test: An original battery will give you approximately a constant amount of voltage and not drop too rapidly in use. Counterfeit batteries can even surprise you with how dramatically the voltage changes, may not hold the charge properly, etc. 4. Battery Markings and QR Codes. To protect against counterfeit batteries reaching the marketplace, a lot of manufacturers deliberately print special serial numbers, QR codes, and occasionally even holograms that you can use to identify the true battery. Got yourself a 21700 battery? Get the smartphone out and scan it’s QR code! Confirm that the information you receive back is indeed the information the manufacturer said that it should be.Serial Numbers: Check it out closely and see if there’s any kind of serial number printed on there or not. Many real batteries have a unique serial number that can be traced back to the original manufacturing lot.QR Codes: Some makers will use QR codes that you can follow onto a product verification service or site.Try scanning and see if it’s going to end at the right place?Have It Tested for Overheating and In performance issuesFake 21700s are more likely to overheat and have other issues in compared to the real deal.Charge one up and test in your application. If again, if it seems to get too hot on use, or even when charged, it’s possibly counterfeit or bad quality
Getting too Hot While Charged or in Use: True 21700’s don’t detection hot on use or being charged. Naysayers often leave in contact with the battery—they are legit, we shouldn’t be worried of things reacting on our skin without twice being confirmed and we stay. For when we touch our battery, and it creates serious—that’s call for alarm.
Poor Performance: Fake batteries, & poor battery performance is a tale we’ve heard of before. If, what anybody our attach our battery to!
Shop with trusted distributors
So to cut the odds again at a receiving baneful 21700 batteries, always go for reputed and recognized distributors. Never buy of random, third-party sellers—they hail mostly from internet marketplaces that house tons of fake products.
Trusted Distribution Entity: Shop with a battery product handlers Such retailers have strong long ties of associations with battery manufacturers and as such, products they stock will generally be authentic.
Crowds of Reviews: Loads of reviews of them—positives, the minutes we want to will and we’ve nicked something close to an original….
Talk with Battery Technicians
If we still aren’t able to know if our 21700 battery is fake and we may need to talk battery tech
Professional Battery Testing: Some companies may acceptable accept our battery for testing to ascertain if it is fake/original. Countless dedicated battery labs are here to confirm that for us.
Make Contact with the Battery Manufacturer Get in touch with the manufacturer’s help support, utility in finding out if it is fake;
Final Words
Spending comfortable time here and lights, we’re either one from the God; either we’ve found a fake 21700 battery? Aside those simple test, detects a counterfeit and that’s done to wise cribbing of information. Take into acccount therein the packaging, quality or performances of our battery and how that can tie into the functionality, safety etc. of that device we’re using and we’ll be ahead clear of fake 21700 batteries. Use only recognised channels, and seek help from competent ones if we’re not sure.