It has come to my attention that the popular chocolate LG HG2 18650 3000mAh 20A battery is being counterfeited. The counterfeits have shown up at several reputable battery resellers recently. Like the popular red AW batteries and Sony VTC batteries in the past, this LG model appears to be the latest victim of counterfeit crime.
Physically, it can be difficult to tell the counterfeits apart from the authentic models unless you can do a side-by-side comparison. The counterfeit’s top insulator ring is shiny, while the authentic’s top insulator ring is matte or dull.
Knowing this, if you were going to be buying this battery in the upcoming future, you may want to substitute another like battery for the time being until the resellers can sort this issue out with their suppliers.
The AW IMR 18650 3000mAh 20A and the Samsung INR 18650 30Q 3000mAh 20A are both comparable to the LG HG2. Having dealt with counterfeiters before, the AW has a special holographic AW sticker and a distinctive half-circle black ring around the bottom of the battery to make it more difficult to counterfeit.
Counterfeiting is a huge business in the battery world. Disreputable resellers can purchase cheap poor quality batteries for 10 cents a piece, re-wrap the cell to look like a popular brand, and then sell the battery for $8 – $16 a piece. Now that’s a huge profit margin! Counterfeit batteries are mostly sold to online resellers like on EBay and Amazon, but some may find their way to online ecig vendors or vape shops, too.
To decrease the risk of purchasing a counterfeit battery, I recommend buying from reputable resellers such as RTD Vapor, Illumination Supply, IMR Batteries, or Orbtronics, who specialize in batteries.
SOURCES
- Can You Identify the Fake LG HG2 18650 Battery?—Battery Brothers
- Counterfeit/Low Grade LG HG2 Test Results —Mooch, ECigForum
- Fake/Low Grade LG HG2 Update –Mooch, ECigForum
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