Best high capacity 18650?

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

I'm running some naked LG ICR D1 3000mAh 4.35v cells and some LG ICR E1 3200mAh 4.35v cells and they seem to be working out well. I have the Xtar VP2 charger, so this handles the 4.35v (3.8v nominal) cells quite easily.

Chris

 

[kyhunter1]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

AW 3100 mah 18650's in my bored Surefire's and Keeppower button top's 3400's in the rest. This eliminates any fitment or contact issues.

 

[UnderPar]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

I use the Panasonic 18650B in all my lights, protected and unprotected.

 

[Str8stroke]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

Efest brand for my "hot" lights. And Fenix for "normal" lights.

 

[fivemega]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

For incandescent flashlights, I use protected Redilast 3400 and very happy with.

 

[hiuintahs]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

Utah guys, NPS store 1600 Empire Rd. Salt lake city Ut. Battery section. 3 pack wrapped in blue plastic. $12.93 for three. Take off blue plasic and you will find green NCR18650B's.
Believe it or not.

Thanks for the tip. As far as I can tell they are genuine NCR18650B's. I looked them over close. I think the reason they are this cheap is because the label didn't make sense. The blue label had them as "NI MH 1000mAh 3.7V." Well the 3.7V is correct. NPS tends to sell lots of weird stuff and who knows where they got them. Obviously these wouldn't be sell-able as labeled in a normal retail store.

 

[tyxxvxl]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

Ha ha at least someone beliwved me.

 

[dazed1]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

So why would anyone wrap amazing cells in junk model/wrapper?

12$ for 3pcs? that's epic price.

 

[Wiggle]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

Fasttech Panasonic 3400 in my Armytek Predator and P60 hosts. Fasttech Panasonic 3100 in my K50vn.

 

[cland72]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

I have four Japan-made Panasonic protected 18650, 3400mah. Best bang for the buck, IMO.

 

[Overclocker]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

So why would anyone wrap amazing cells in junk model/wrapper?

12$ for 3pcs? that's epic price.

so they don't have to be declared in air cargo as "dangerous goods". crazy

 

[tyxxvxl]

Re: Favorite 18650 battery of your flashlight

I have no idea why these batteries are so cheap, but I'm not complaining. I have ten of them now and haven't had a problem with any of them. The have all come ot of the bag at 3.66 v and charge up to about 4.22v right off the charger.

 

[sillycelly]

Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

I am trying to commute by bike more frequently. The days are getting shorter, though, so I need a reliable light source. I bought a Fenix BT20 back in February 2014. The light itself works great ... when the batteries work.

When I purchased the light, I also purchased 4 UltraFire 18650 batteries. I also purchased a NiteCore Intellicharger i4. The Fenix is designed to run off of 2x 18650 batteries or 4x CR123 batteries. I don't have any CR123 batteries.

I don't know what is wrong with the 18650 batteries that I have. When I first got them, they seemed to work just fine. Within a week (and after very minimal usage) one of them failed. My light went from full power (green indicator) to partial power (red indicator and beam won't go into any of the optional brightness states). The batteries weren't used long enough to drain them, but I put them on the recharger to see what's up. One of them read as full power, but the other indicated as bad. That's why light wasn't working - one of the batteries had failed. Replace with one of my other 18650 batteries - light worked again. Within a few months, another battery failed. Same way as before. By September, 3 of my 4 original batteries had failed. I wrote to the seller, who sent me 2 new batteries. Just today (November 1, 2014), the last of my original 4 batteries failed. I'm down to 2 batteries with no more back-ups.

Questions for the Wisdom of the Forum:
1. Is this normal? I don't have any experience with 18650 batteries. I got them because they are supposed to be rechargeable. I understand that even rechargeable batteries have a usable lifespan. But 10 months? (Honestly, very minimal usage over the summer months when daylight was not an issue.)
2. Can you recommend any 18650 batteries that would be more reliable? I can't exactly run up to the grocery store to get more, so I'd like to keep 2 in my light and at least 2 (maybe 4) at home as a backup in case one fails.
3. Is there anyway to "fix" or "repair" a failed battery? What do I do with these? Just chuck 'em?
4. I had read something about these batteries having some kind of protection circuit. Maybe the circuit has been tripped. I have no clue. Is there any way to test and or reset that?

For what its worth, here is what I mean when I say my battery fails. My charger has 3 indicator lights on each battery charging slot. When you insert a battery, the indicators will blink a couple of times and then indicate the battery charge level. A "dead" battery will have 0 solid and 1 blinking indicator light. A little juice in - 1 solid and 1 blinking. More juice - 2 solid and 1 blinking. Fully charged - 3 solid indicator lights. When I have 3 blinking indicator lights - that means that the battery is not working.

The batteries say:
UltraFire
BRC18650 3000 mAh 3.7 V Li-ion
Low Discharge rate. No memory effect.
Low reoccurring operation cost. Short-circuit and overcurrent Protection.
Sheef-life (sic) around 10 years; Environmental friendly.
Rechargeable Battery With Re/Discharging Protection Circuit

Help! Any advice is appreciated. I don't like the idea of spending money on these expensive 18650 batteries if they are going to last less than a year. Are the CR123 batteries better? Supposedly, Fenix also makes a battery unit that takes 4 AA batteries (instead of the 2x 18650s). Am I better off just getting that?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SubLGT]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

Don't buy any 18650 batteries with "fire" in their name
Don't buy your 18650 batteries on ebay or at Amazon
To avoid counterfeits, buy from reputable sources.
IMO, reliable brands would be KeepPower, Efest, AW, Orbtronics, etc

 

[thedoc007]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

1. It is normal for ****Fire cells, yes. Certainly not for any QUALITY brand. Keeppower, SoShine, Eagletac, Nitecore, Orbtronic, and many other brands make good quality cells based on the Panasonic 3400 mAh cell, and none of them will give you the problems that you have experienced.
2. My personal recommendation for the cheapest quality cell would be the SoShine 3400 from Illumination Supply. Only $8.50 each, or $17.00 per pair, if you use the standard discount code. I have ordered more than twenty of that exact cell, and have had no problems whatsoever. They are also shorter than many protected cells, thus more compatible with a variety of lights. I know some people don't yet trust the brand (SoShine has released some mediocre products in the past) so if you aren't comfortable with that, Keeppower 3400 would be my alternate recommendation. They are $14 each before discount, but they are known, excellent quality, consistent cells. They also have a lower internal resistance than most other protected cells (that is a good thing, you can do a search if you want more info).
3. No, you cannot repair a failed lithium ion battery. (You can re-wrap them if the plastic wrap is damaged, but that is about all.) Nor would it be worth the effort, even if you could. They are likely crap to begin with (most ****Fire cells are) so you'd be throwing your time and money away.
4. A tripped protection circuit will reset in your charger, that is the normal way to reset it. So that is not likely to be the problem.

More reading about ****Fire cells:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?316888-Fake-Ultrafire-18650-battery-warning
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...st-Review-of-UltraFire-TR18650-5000mAh-(Blue)
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?280909-Ultrafire-18650-3000mA-exploded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTzEHsJVZhA

This is not to scare you away...quality 18650s are pretty darn safe. But you do need to buy quality, and follow basic precautions for any lithium-ion cells.

 

[SubLGT]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

I have bought several flashlights from Battery Junction, and I consider them to be a reputable vendor. But it perplexes me why they choose to sell the junk Ultrafire 18650 batteries in addition to quality batteries like Efest, Nitecore, and Xtar.

They also sell Tenergy, but I am not familiar with that brand. Is it junk?

 

[thedoc007]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

They also sell Tenergy, but I am not familiar with that brand. Is it junk?

Tenergy seems to have mixed reviews...at least that is what I have found. Many of the cells seem to work fine, but they don't appear to be as consistent as most other quality brands. It is hard to know whether user error, or the cells themselves are at fault. People with little knowledge, who buy cheap cells, are also the most likely to be ignorant about basic precautions, like using mismatched cells in series. Even a quality cell can be dangerous if abuse is involved.

That said, they aren't junk in the way that *****Fire cells are. At least you can be pretty sure Tenergy doesn't have recycled, or mismatched cells underneath the wrapper.

 

[oKtosiTe]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

Just chuck 'em?

If by that you mean "dispose of them at an appropriate recycling station/facility", then yes, that would be your best course of action for these low-quality, high-risk cells.
If you meant "throw them in the garbage bin", then no, because you'd not only place a considerable burden on the environment, but you'd also run the risk of injuring and killing other humans by starting a fire.

 

[StandardBattery]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

Don't buy any 18650 batteries with "fire" in their name
Don't buy your 18650 batteries on ebay or at Amazon
To avoid counterfeits, buy from reputable sources.
IMO, reliable brands would be KeepPower, Efest, AW, Orbtronics, etc

That's a little too general; Mountain Electronics sells on ebay, and I think they still sell some stuff on Amazon as well and they can be trusted.

... 2. My personal recommendation for the cheapest quality cell would be the SoShine 3400 from Illumination Supply. Only $8.50 each, or $17.00 per pair, if you use the standard discount code. I have ordered more than twenty of that exact cell, and have had no problems whatsoever. They are also shorter than many protected cells, thus more compatible with a variety of lights. ....

I think SoShine protected 18650 3400mAh, are a good choice right now. I understand people avoiding them though if they have had trouble in the past, I do that for Tenergy. If KeepPower does not start rating their batteries correctly they will be on my bad list too ... just because I expect them to change their cells without proper documentation at some point.

I bought some EVVA protected 18650 3400mAh cells from ebay and they look to be OK, but the protection circuit is still an unknown entity until there is a tear down or test. They appear to be a little longer than the KeepPower cells due to a thicker protection circuit.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

Re: Looking for Reliable 18650 Batteries - Any Recommendations?

Are Ultrafire batteries really THAT BAD?

They are incredibly cheap, no doubt about that.

My brother has 2x 4000mAh Ultrafire which I presume is not possible, so they're mis-labeled for a start which isn't confidence inspiring.

So far they work fine in his Thrunite TN-12.

I've bought the green Panasonic 3400mAh off ebay and had them for six months now using them in my Eagletac MX25L3 with the MT-G2 emitter and they work fine. Initially I had two failed cells, one after the other but they replaced them and not a single problem since then. I use the light a lot, several hours a week at least so I think I can safely say that they're OK. They have Sanyo PCB attached for protection.

I also bought a Thrunite Catapult V3 for $99AUD about $90USD brand new and I found the Panasonics wouldn't fit so I bought the Thrunite batteries, 3400mAh. They look like good batteries and seem to run well.