Online sales of personalized customized power banks, hidden dangers： virtual standard capacity, disassembly sparks fly out

Recently, citizen Xiao Zhang received a brand power bank presented by a cooperative enterprise, but the power bank clearly marked with a capacitance of 10,000 mAh charged the mobile phone once and then ran out of power. Recently, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that many personalized power banks customized for enterprises online are counterfeit products, not only in the name of big brands in the market, but also falsely marked battery capacity. After dismantling these "counterfeit products" power banks, the batteries inside are rusty, and even some power banks use cement batteries.

The "big-name" power bank network sells for less than 20 yuan.

Like Xiao Zhang’s partner companies, many companies would choose to give customers power banks as gifts, and there were also many stores selling customizable and lettering "brand" power banks online. Through the introduction of these sellers, it can be seen that these power banks are called customized power banks because they can print text and patterns, and because the actual capacitance of these power banks can be customized.

In an online store labeled Shenzhen, there are 10 different styles of power banks on sale, many of which are used by some companies as gifts.

In this store, the reporter of Beiqing Daily chose a "Xiaomi mobile power bank" priced at 12 yuan and sold more than 100 times a month. The capacity in the product introduction is 10,400 mAh. From the pictures uploaded by the seller, the shape of the power bank sold is the same as that of the Xiaomi brand. The pictures of the product details used are also the product introduction of the Xiaomi power bank.

After clicking on the purchase button, a reporter from Beiqing Daily saw that options for capacity and logo customization appeared on the purchase page. Optional capacities ranged from 1,800 mAh to 4,800 mAh. Depending on the capacitor selected, the actual price would also vary, ranging from 12 yuan to 19.2 yuan.

In addition, buyers can also buy the packaging and wire corresponding to the selected power bank separately, the price is 12 yuan per set. If you order a large number of packaged power banks, the price of each set is 19 yuan.

After the reporter of Beiqing Daily chose to buy four more mainstream "brand" power banks in the store, he was told by the owner that the power banks photographed were "not for sale, but at least 100 for sale". After many negotiations, the owner agreed to increase the price and sell them separately.

Batteries are rusty
Disassembly sparks fly out

After getting the four power banks purchased, the reporter of Beiqing Daily compared the "Xiaomi Power Bank" purchased with the power bank sold by Xiaomi official, and disassembled the two power banks.

If you don’t look carefully at the appearance, there is basically no difference between "counterfeit products Xiaomi" and the real "Xiaomi". After careful comparison, it is found that the shell of the "counterfeit products Xiaomi" power bank feels rougher than the real "Xiaomi" power bank. The MI mark of "counterfeit products Xiaomi" can see obvious imprints, but the MI mark of the real "Xiaomi" has no imprints. The capacity mark of the tail power bank of "counterfeit products Xiaomi" is darker in color, and it does not feel like the real "Xiaomi" has a raised feeling. The URL of "Xiaomi" written on the back of "counterfeit products Xiaomi" is "xiaomi.com", while the URL written on the back of the real "Xiaomi" is "mi.com".

When a reporter from Beiqing Daily disassembled the two power banks, he found that "counterfeit products Xiaomi" are very easy to disassemble, and the internal components of the power bank can be pulled out by prying open the plastic cover at the top. The real "Xiaomi" has a closed part fixed by screws after prying open the plastic cover at the top. All the screws at the top and bottom must be removed before the internal components of the power bank can be pulled out.

After removing the shell, the circuit boards and batteries of the two power banks were completely different. The circuit boards of the "counterfeit products Xiaomi" were simple and the workmanship was rough. The batteries were wrapped in blue plastic.

After disassembling the plastic outside the batteries of the two power banks, it was found that there were obvious rust marks on the batteries of "counterfeit products Xiaomi".

During the dismantling process, sparks could be seen flying out of the battery anode of "counterfeit products Xiaomi" when it came into contact with metal items such as scissors.

Cement batteries are sold online for 0.24 yuan each.

In addition to the "counterfeit products Xiaomi" power bank, the reporter of Beiqing Daily also dismantled another common polymer lithium battery ultra-thin power bank, which mostly appears in the gifts issued by enterprises. Similarly, the workmanship of this counterfeit products ultra-thin power bank is also very rough, it is easy to be pried open, the circuit board is simple, and the packaging of the battery is only an extremely thin metal film. After the metal film is broken, the liquid overflows, and the taste is very pungent.

As early as 2015, Jiangxi Province had destroyed a power bank counterfeiting den, and the seized "counterfeit products" power bank contained 6 batteries, of which 4 were counterfeit filled with cement.

In various forums and Tieba, some netizens also discovered the "tricks" of inferior power banks, and some netizens disassembled the cement batteries in the power banks. From the disassembly pictures provided by netizens, the reporter of Beiqing Daily saw that some of the cement batteries were filled with sand, while others were filled with cement columns.

In some online shopping platforms, Beiqing Daily reporters found by searching for cement batteries that the price of pure cement core batteries is as low as 0.24 yuan each, starting at 100, and wholesale prices will be lower in large quantities. Some businesses selling cement batteries have power bank components and power banks working in progress.

At the same time, the Beiqing Daily reporter also found that many manufacturers have purchased 18650 batteries used in power banks online at a price of 1 yuan each, with a sales price of about 4 yuan. The price of genuine brand-new columnar 18650 batteries is around 10 yuan.

Low-quality batteries are dangerous
Easily cause fire

What exactly is a customized low-priced power bank battery sold online? The seller of the online store said, "The battery in the power bank he sells is a real battery, a product A battery, not a cement battery used for heavy charging, but a small capacitor, so there will be no short circuit, and long-distance transportation will not catch fire and explode."

Industry insiders told Beiqing Daily reporters that the batteries used in the power banks sold on the market are columnar 18650 batteries and flake polymer lithium batteries similar to mobile phone batteries, while some of the power banks made by "small workshops" use real batteries bought by Beiqing Daily reporters, but the power content is very small, and some use real batteries and fake "cement batteries" for mixed charging.

Generally, if a real battery is used, several batteries are connected together. If it is mixed and assembled, the cement battery will not be connected to the real battery. "The cement battery is placed separately and cannot be powered on when connected together."

The industry insider also said that most of the batteries in "small workshops" are made by the workshop itself or purchased from the outside world, and the safety cannot be guaranteed. If there is a problem with the columnar 18650 battery, it may cause a fire, "because the power content is small, although it will not explode, there will be flames in severe cases." And polymer lithium batteries, if the packaging is not good enough, once the electrolyte in the battery leaks, it will chemically react with the air, which will affect the human respiratory system, and ingestion will endanger the health.

Photo by this reporter, Wang Tianqi