# Test/Review of Orbtronic 18650 3100mAh (Black)



## HKJ (May 14, 2012)

[size=+3]Orbtronic 18650 3100mAh (Black)[/size]







Official specifications:

Protected Panasonic 18650 NCR18650A: 3100mAh 3.6V - 3.6V storage charge
Cell: Panasonic NCR18650A - 3100mAh
Typical Capacity: 3100mAh - Discharge:0.2CmA
Minimum Capacity: 2950mAh
Nominal Voltage: 3.6V - 3.7V - ±0.025V
Full Charge voltage: 4.2V
Max. working discharge current: 6.2A - 0ºC to +40ºC
Max. discharge current: 8.5A - 0ºC to +40ºC
Discharge cut-off voltage: 2.5V 
PCM Over charge Protection: 4.325 ±0.025V
PCM Over discharge protection: 2.5V ±0.025V
PCM Over current protection: 11A ± 0.3A
Storage Temperature: -20ºC to +60ºC - Less than 1 month
Storage Temperature: -20ºC to +45ºC - Less than 3 months
Weight: 48.5 g - 1.71 oz
Size: 68.9mm(H) * 18.4mm(D)
Bottom plate: Copper
Max charge current: 1C - 3.1A
Recommended charge current: .3C - 0.9A






The cell used can be discharged down to 2.5 volt, in my test I only discharges to 2.8 volt, i.e. I do not measure the full capacity. But then, not all lights will be able to use the full capacity.































































[size=+3]Conclusion[/size]

This battery uses a good cell, this secures many things:

The batteries does match in capacity, i.e. they can be used in series.
The battery is very safe.
The battery has the specified capacity. 


There is not anything to say about this battery except it is a very good battery.



[size=+3]Notes and links[/size]

The batteries was supplied by Orbtronic for review.

How is the test done and how to read the charts
How is a protected LiIon battery constructed
More about button top and flat top batteries


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## tobrien (May 14, 2012)

i have two of these and they're solid batteries.

I _wish_ though that the button top was more pronounced/prominent. otherwise I don't have any complaints


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## Changchung (May 14, 2012)

Thanks again... I been waiting for it...


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## Dubois (May 14, 2012)

Good review, and results very much as I expected. Will the new USPS regulations have an impact on the sale of these cells outside the US? I suspect they might.


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## dbare (May 14, 2012)

Thanks for the review HKJ. I have been waiting for your test.  Unfortunately, the price will now be increased.


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## tobrien (May 14, 2012)

dbare said:


> Unfortunately, the price will now be increased.


dang youre right, it's gone up by $2


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## roadkill1109 (May 14, 2012)

yup! back to AW's!


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## Changchung (May 14, 2012)

dbare said:


> Thanks for the review HKJ. I have been waiting for your test.  Unfortunately, the price will now be increased.



I just see that... For that price I choice the AW


SFMI4UT


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## ChrisGarrett (May 15, 2012)

dbare said:


> Thanks for the review HKJ. I have been waiting for your test.  Unfortunately, the price will now be increased.



It's funny, but I was on their site this morning and watching their ad on Ebay today. Their prices were $13.91 and $13.99 respectively this morning. I saw HKJ's review and went back to their website and in the middle of me mulling over the price, it changed to $14.99 and then the Ebay ad changed as well.

Can't blame them for that, as the product seems to test out well and after all, this is America, so why not get a buck or two more?

I ended up ordering a pair of their unprotected Pannie 3100s to fiddle with, but I'm now looking at their 840 mAh Sanyo 14500s and might be ordering a quad for my Xeno EO3 down the road.

Chris


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## Quest4fire (May 15, 2012)

> I just see that... For that price I choice the AW



Perhaps, but Orbtronic is apparently able to override the natural laws which govern the USPS. I ordered three of these cells *Saturday the 12th* (For 12.99 each btw). They traveled from central Florida to Nebraska first class mail (Not express or even priority) and were waiting for me when I got home from work *Monday*. WOW!


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## Danielight (May 15, 2012)

I have one in my EagleTac D25LC2 ... running fine. (I bought mine recently for $12.99 plus free s/h. Got it at the right time!)


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## RBWNY (May 15, 2012)

aaaahhhhh :shakehead



okay.... so I too checked out Orb's ebay page yesterday, with $14.99 as the price. So why..just NOW..does it have $1,499.00 as the price ... with more than 10 available. Is that a goof... or are they now selling them gold-plated .


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## Changchung (May 15, 2012)

Quest4fire said:


> Perhaps, but Orbtronic is apparently able to override the natural laws which govern the USPS. I ordered three of these cells *Saturday the 12th* (For 12.99 each btw). They traveled from central Florida to Nebraska first class mail (Not express or even priority) and were waiting for me when I got home from work *Monday*. WOW!



You are a lucky guy... I was waiting for this review, now I will past, I will preffer the AW instead. 

BTW is not a big deal about the li-ion batteries shipping new law, the batteries must be shipped in a very safe way, very protected, well packaged and write outside what is the contained. 


SFMI4UT


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## richardcpf (May 16, 2012)

RBWNY said:


> aaaahhhhh :shakehead
> 
> 
> 
> okay.... so I too checked out Orb's ebay page yesterday, with $14.99 as the price. So why..just NOW..does it have $1,499.00 as the price ... with more than 10 available. Is that a goof... or are they now selling them gold-plated .



Funny thing you said it because I just added 4 in my cart, and when I'm about to pay I realize $6,000 is a bit steep for 4x 18650s.

BTW there is this *"Keeppower 3100 mah 18650"* which appears in the HKJ battery review thread and did on par with other NCR based protected cells. At $11.50 each it is worth considering.


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## Dubois (May 16, 2012)

richardcpf said:


> BTW there is this *"Keeppower 3100 mah 18650"* which appears in the HKJ battery review thread and did on par with other NCR based protected cells. At $11.50 each it is worth considering.



I've been trying to find these since HKJ's review some weeks back, but haven't seen them anywhere for sale. Where did you find them?


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## richardcpf (May 16, 2012)

Dubois said:


> I've been trying to find these since HKJ's review some weeks back, but haven't seen them anywhere for sale. Where did you find them?



In the largest online marketplace


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## Norm (May 16, 2012)

richardcpf said:


> In the largest online marketplace


There's no problem naming the supplier, just don't link. 

Norm


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## HKJ (May 16, 2012)

Dubois said:


> I've been trying to find these since HKJ's review some weeks back, but haven't seen them anywhere for sale. Where did you find them?



According to Keeppower, it is possible to buy directly from them.


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## Dubois (May 16, 2012)

Ah, thank you HKJ. After your review I emailed them and it seemed that they only dealt in wholesale numbers. I'll have a look. Sorry to go off topic slightly.


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## Dubois (May 16, 2012)

richardcpf said:


> In the largest online marketplace



Woops, missed that when I looked some weeks back. Just found it - thanks.


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## space-cowboy (May 16, 2012)

It is funny


Some people still have courage to promote AW 3100 mah 18650 $24 cell vs. Orbtronic, Keeppower, Eagletac $13-$15 cells


To make this even funnier worst 18650 performer in HKJ tests was AW 3100 mah cell


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## Changchung (May 16, 2012)

space-cowboy said:


> It is funny
> 
> 
> Some people still have courage to promote AW 3100 mah 18650 $24 cell vs. Orbtronic, Keeppower, Eagletac $13-$15 cells
> ...



Hahaha I had not realized that... In my case I will preffer those for the size...

Edit; the redilast too. The eagletac is shorter...


SFMI4UT


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## richardcpf (May 16, 2012)

space-cowboy said:


> It is funny
> 
> 
> Some people still have courage to promote AW 3100 mah 18650 $24 cell vs. Orbtronic, Keeppower, Eagletac $13-$15 cells
> ...



Well sometimes people prefer to buy a more expensive product because they trust the brand and costumer service. *AW is a very trusted name and the general consensus of this forum when it comes to li-ion batteries.* The advantage of the keeppower and orbtronic over AW cells are minimal, and perhaps unnoticeable in real life usage. I used to be a AW-only battery guy, but now that I fully understand how Li-ion cells works I strictly use Japan-Made unprotected cells, because they fit in all flashlights, has no discharge limit, and I can fully drain it or even quick charge in case of an emergency. The NCR cell can be discharged to 2.5v without fatal consequences, and most flashlight don't reach that low. 

But in my personal opinion, AW and redilast cells are a bit expensive compared to the other high quality options available today. Keeppwer and orbtronic can be found about $15 a cell in ebay for those who want to know.


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## LEDite (May 17, 2012)

richardcpf said:


> Well sometimes people prefer to buy a more expensive product because they trust the brand and costumer service. *AW is a very trusted name and the general consensus of this forum when it comes to li-ion batteries.* The advantage of the keeppower and orbtronic over AW cells are minimal, and perhaps unnoticeable in real life usage. I used to be a AW-only battery guy, but now that I fully understand how Li-ion cells works I strictly use Japan-Made unprotected cells, because they fit in all flashlights, has no discharge limit, and I can fully drain it or even quick charge in case of an emergency. The NCR cell can be discharged to 2.5v without fatal consequences, and most flashlight don't reach that low.



I agree with Richard. 

Buy a name-brand" quality 18650 unprotected cell tested to U.L.1641

and you will have a more reliable power source,

with less Internal Resistance.

LEDite


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## tandem (May 18, 2012)

space-cowboy said:


> It is funny [...]Some people still have courage to promote AW 3100 mah 18650 $24 cell vs. Orbtronic, Keeppower, Eagletac $13-$15 cells
> 
> To make this even funnier worst 18650 performer in HKJ tests was AW 3100 mah cell



There is nothing funny about being a fan of AW. 

What is funny is you quoting 24 dollars a cell when they are 19.75 direct from AW.

More seriously... AW has been around a long time and for a long time was one of the few reliable sources of good quality protected cells. AW remains one of the few reliable sources of a wide variety of cells ranging from quality Japanese made 18650's to IMR cells in various formats to LiFePO4 to unprotected cells in 16 and 18mm.

I've continued to buy from AW because I'm thankful that we've had a supplier willing to go the distance to support high end flashlight users. He carries a broad product line. If I "overpay" a few dollars to be honest I really don't care.

There is more competition these days in higher quality protected cells. Just a couple years ago you had AW, and the newcomer Redilast, and very little else. Back then if you wanted something less expensive you travelled far down the ladder some distance to Trustfire (which seemed to morph into DisTrustFire), and far down the scale a whole bunch you found various other HouseFire cell marketers. These days there is more choice when it comes to 18650 Panasonic based protected cells. Probably this will drive prices down overall; hopefully this won't drive selection down.


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## HKJ (May 18, 2012)

tandem said:


> What is funny is you quoting 24 dollars a cell when they are 19.75 direct from AW.



It is difficult to compare prices, both your price of 19.75 and space-cowboy's price of 24 is mostly wrong. The difference is shipping, some dealers has free shipping for some location, other takes money depending on number of batteries.


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## ChrisGarrett (May 18, 2012)

tandem said:


> There is nothing funny about being a fan of AW.
> 
> What is funny is you quoting 24 dollars a cell when they are 19.75 direct from AW.
> 
> ...



Good points.

In just the last few months, we've had EagleTacs (which I bought 2 of last month), Orbtronics and now KeepPower. Throw in International-Outdoors and you've got 4 new players who's cells test out well according to HKJ.

The big question will be whether they bump up their prices, as Orbtronics did on Thursday (after HKJ's reivew hit this site), or whether AW, CalliesKustom and Redilast come back down a little bit to be more competitive.

For protected 18650 users, these are good times.

FWIW, I picked up 2 Pannie NCR 3100 unprotected cells from Orbtronics on Tuesday and they arrived today. For $19 delivered, they charged up to 4.19v on my WP2 II charger a few hours ago and I can't complain.

Chris


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## kaabob (May 18, 2012)

LEDite said:


> I agree with Richard.
> 
> Buy a name-brand" quality 18650 unprotected cell tested to U.L.1641
> 
> ...



Interesting.
I guess I'll be purchasing Panasonic's unprotected 18650 from now on.
Save myself some dough: One AW vs. Two unprotected Panny's 
Good point.. most flashlight's wont work below 2.8v anyway


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## RedForest UK (May 18, 2012)

Insider information removed AGAIN. Final warning RF UK


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## tobrien (May 25, 2012)

Price is now $15.91. Up by almost three dollars prior to being reviewed, right? That's terrible kind of how they're upping the price now that they're getting positive reviews.


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## guiri (May 31, 2012)

In case anyone's interested, I found a TWO pack with shipping:


*Price:* $23.44 
*Availability:* In stock*New/Refurbished: *New*Shipping: *$0


"TWO PROTECTED 3100mAh 18650 (Industrial NCR18650A Panasonic inside) Li-ion Rechargeable Orbtronic Battery Cells- Most Powerful 18650 Battery on Planet Earth - Button Top, PCB Protection"

Can't tell you anything about the site as I've never heard of them but if anyone wants to check them out, do a search for orbtronic 18650 on google, after you get the results, click on shopping on left and you'll see them. It's a short list.


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## nofearek9 (May 31, 2012)

can you pm the website pls, i only found them from amazon.


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## bullinchinashop (Jun 4, 2012)

tobrien said:


> Price is now $15.91. Up by almost three dollars prior to being reviewed, right? That's terrible kind of how they're upping the price now that they're getting positive reviews.





nofearek9 said:


> can you pm the website pls, i only found them from amazon.


hmm...I paid 27.98 for two (free shipping) off ebay


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## guiri (Jun 4, 2012)

nofearek9 said:


> can you pm the website pls, i only found them from amazon.




Pm'ed and remember, I've never heard of that site although that doesn't mean anything but it's your call.


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## guiri (Jun 4, 2012)

Norm, can you pm me the link please?


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## bullinchinashop (Jun 5, 2012)

Norm said:


> Mmm I paid $21.00 from the same source.
> 
> Norm


Wow
Was that an auction or buy it now?
Did that include shipping?


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## Norm (Jun 5, 2012)

guiri, bullinchinashop PM sent.

 slight mistake on my behalf the cells I purchased were Keeppower 18650 3100mAh Built In Panasonic 18650 Cell (2-pack)

My understanding that they are the same. See HKJ's roundup Here and review Here

Norm


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## Shadowww (Jun 5, 2012)

Norm said:


> guiri, bullinchinashop PM sent.


eBay lot + "make offer" for $21, I guess? :Р :thumbsup:


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## officermartinez (Dec 10, 2012)

I have (12) of these batteries.. I've had really good experience(s) with these batteries. My Soshine charger takes about 7 hours to charge them from a fully depleted state. I used (4) of them at a time for my Nitecore TM15 and (2) at a time for my Olight M3X..

*There is no need to quote the first post in its entirety to add two lines. Thanks - Norm*


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## JOHNTHOMPSON (Dec 18, 2012)

officermartinez said:


> I have (12) of these batteries.. I've had really good experience(s) with these batteries. My Soshine charger takes about 7 hours to charge them from a fully depleted state. I used (4) of them at a time for my Nitecore TM15 and (2) at a time for my Olight M3X..
> 
> *There is no need to quote the first post in its entirety to add two lines. Thanks - Norm*



will the protected and unprotected 3100MAH work in the TM15? also do you know if the newer 3400mah will fit the TM15?
thanks

John


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