Is a visible seam a definitive sign of fake sony vtc5s?

[vaep]

Hi, I just purchased some sony vtc5 batteries and have reason to believe they may be fake. I am new to mods as I have only owned cheap vapor pens in the past where I have never had to buy rechargeable batteries. I bought them [my first set of 18650s] not knowing the high amount of fake clones that are produced intended to replicate this battery. From research I have done, videos and forums, these batteries seem to have attributes of legitimate vtc5 batteries, the major flaw that I can find is on all 4 batteries I have purchased there is a seam that is visible. Does a visible seam automatically constitute a fake Sony battery? I used the battery lookup tool and got:
Production date is Thu Nov 05 2015
I, however, am still somewhat skeptical and am prepared to return these batteries if they are indeed fake and order a different brand.

Can anyone with some experience take a look and let me know if these look fake?

I plan on running them with a Sigelei TC Mod, and after reading some of the forum I have found that Illumination Supply is a reputable distributor. If these are fake I plan on purchasing a set [non sony] from them, Are there any batteries that a more experienced person would recommend?

EDIT: Sorry I forgot to post the image with the batch # and Logo. Sorry for the brightness, Ill change the picture when my camera battery recharges

 

[Vapin4Joy]

Liion Wholesale is my go to for batteries and quite a few VU members use them also, this is what Liion has on their blog concerning Sony VTC5's.
http://liionwholesale.com/blogs/rev...d-proof-we-sell-authentic-sony-vtc5-batteries

 

[Jon@LiionWholesale]

No, all Sony batteries have a visible seam. The seam is just much worse on fakes. I don't see anything obviously pointing those out as fakes, but my caveat is always you can't tell on appearance alone.

As for recommendations, see this post on our blog: http://liionwholesale.com/blogs/rev...date-best-battery-substitutes-for-sony-18650s

 

[NickyGiaccone]

Hi, I just purchased some sony vtc5 batteries and have reason to believe they may be fake. I am new to mods as I have only owned cheap vapor pens in the past where I have never had to buy rechargeable batteries. I bought them [my first set of 18650s] not knowing the high amount of fake clones that are produced intended to replicate this battery. From research I have done, videos and forums, these batteries seem to have attributes of legitimate vtc5 batteries, the major flaw that I can find is on all 4 batteries I have purchased there is a seam that is visible. Does a visible seam automatically constitute a fake Sony battery? I used the battery lookup tool and got:
Production date is Thu Nov 05 2015
I, however, am still somewhat skeptical and am prepared to return these batteries if they are indeed fake and order a different brand.

Can anyone with some experience take a look and let me know if these look fake?

I plan on running them with a Sigelei TC Mod, and after reading some of the forum I have found that Illumination Supply is a reputable distributor. If these are fake I plan on purchasing a set [non sony] from them, Are there any batteries that a more experienced person would recommend?

EDIT: Sorry I forgot to post the image with the batch # and Logo. Sorry for the brightness, Ill change the picture when my camera battery recharges

• I've only bought VTC4s and actually just found the last bunch left in a sites warehouse and ordered 3 for my RX200"S" which rocks but They're not consistently powerful and half way through the battery charge it performs like a Samsung 25R but safe enough for high wattage and .12ohm coils. Just don't expect them to perform well even if they don't die as soon as HB4s by LG. I can EASILY tell by holding the battery, looking closely at the wrapping, how reflective or clouded the negative side metal is as well as how far the wrap is meant to cover that reasonably reflective neg. circular metal area, the wrapper is a specific shade of green, the typing is hard to explain but it can't be typed so well that it's the boldest and most aligned battery information since it's meant to be printed on the reverse side of the wapprer, not the front and not perfectly in line. The UR looking symbol must appear in a shape that is probably the best way to tell if the cell is fake. The shape of the symbol connection line/curve appearance must be a very particular curve/line ratio, also the the top pos. end has to have connected by it being one piece instead of slight separations between the four pos end "legs" and the round center piece which should be raised up but niether too high up unlike most batteries you've used and not too limp and appearing pushed downward. Those are the ways to tell by eye but it's not as much of a gaurantee as a test by battery pros like my buddy or dudes online. I will tell you when I get mine in the mail whether they tested out to be real as well as passed my eye exam without any concerns. Then I'll tell you they're for sale at the low price of $6.50 each. I've bought them there before and they're always been real. But I'm not using them often. They're the last or soon to be the last of the VTC4. HB4s...thank goodness for LG, man.