18650 Cell Source

[Dak77]

I asked liionwholesale.com,
"I noticed that you guys no longer sell LG MJ1 cells. I'm actually having trouble finding MJ1 or M36 cells anywhere... Do you have any info why that is? I could at least by Samsung 35E cells from here, but I'm concerned that their cycle life won't be as good as MJ1 or M36 cells.

Thank you,"

and they thankfully responded,

"Thanks for contacting us.

Unfortunately we no longer carry LG products due to insurance reasons.
If you are looking for a substitute for the MJ1, the Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA battery is very similar in specs."

As if I didn't hate insurance companies already...

Car dealer: " We no longer carry Toyota's at this dealer , but we do have Hyundai and this Accent has very similar specs..."

 

[flippy]

its because LG chem's 18650 battery production is a daughter company and is a fully chinese company -legally-. and getting insurance claims or lawsuits passed in china is not a thing despite the mothership being in korea as the korean mothership just points to china and wishes you good luck. same goes with taxes. companies like apple are as far as the tax man is concerned located in some empty office building in ireland, starbucks is in amsterdam and so on.

LG, Efest, and MXJO are all uninsured for this reason.

and yes, its because of those dumbass vapers that use the wrong cells and get their hand/face blown off.

 

[thundercamel]

and yes, its because of those dumbass vapers that use the wrong cells and get their hand/face blown off.

I had a feeling that was the case! From 2018 when I tried to get a couple replacement MJ1 cells and called around to local vape shops, and was told they don't carry LG anymore. Good to see you flippy, and thanks for the explanation. BTW, you wouldn't happen to know of a reliable source for MJ1/M36 cells that isn't Vruzend at $5 each, eh? Shipped to US. If not, what are your thoughts on cycle life of GA vs. 35E cells? I'm building a large pack for endurance cruising, so they'll be used at less than 2 amps per cell.

 

[flippy]

i will take the GA over the 35E any day. these are the cells used in the upgraded tesla packs after the PF were demoted. their lifecycle is extremely well documented.

ps: you can buy them in whole blocks from scrapped tesla batteries if you are willing to put in some effort in stripping them if budget is a concern. but i dont know any shop you can get them brand new. apart from buying and stripping a model S that is...

 

[thundercamel]

Thanks flippy! I also just discovered that the Samsung 50E cells have cycle life properties close to the MJ1 and M36 cells, so they are an option for me.

As for Tesla cells, I wouldn't mind the work of striping a pack, but there are a lot of unknowns for me about how much the battery was used before, and how much capacity the cells have. Ideally I could find a partially damaged module that's really cheap, but haven't found any yet. This is what I have found, but would it kill them to include a little more information in the listing? 2012-2016 sounds kinda old too, with regard to capacity degradation.

 

[flippy]

This is what I have found, but would it kill them to include a little more information in the listing? 2012-2016 sounds kinda old too, with regard to capacity degradation.

those cells have been taking a swim. hard pass.