Keeppower 3400 mah 18650

[NotSoBrightBob]

My collection of 18650 powered devices is growing so I'm reading as much as I can about stocking up on spare batteries. The winner appears to be the Panasonic NCR18650B cells in 3400mh that come in a variety of wrappers/ names. I found a very fair price on KeepPower at one of the major sites. I have read a few negatives on KeepPower but not enough to keep me away as I think I have a good handle on charging and cell usage.

My question is if the cell is Panasonic what does KeepPower or Soshine or any of the others contribute besides marketing and a pretty wrapper? Does KeepPower build and install the protection circuit?

Thanks for the education

 

[NoNotAgain]

That's about it. The cells ship from Panasonic bare. I'm sure that there are a few companies that offer protection circuitry that's used by most re-badging companies.

I have some Panasonic branded cells that have a protection circuit that are very long. They measure over 70mm long. They will not work in my Nitecore Tiny Monster lights, as the battery tube can't screw down far enough to make the ground contact.

The Keeppower 3400mAh cells work fine.

 

[loimpact]

Thanks for bringing this up. I was specifically interested in this very thing. As I've been reading lately til my eyes nearly bleed, I'm buying the same unless I can find some Eagletacs (the green/white 3400's) before I get to work.

If "short" is of interest to you (I definitely want a sub-69mm cell) the EAgletacs are supposedly the shortest 3400's out there right now though they appear to be a bit pricey wherever I find them.

That said & assuming the Keeppowers are 90+% of what you'd get out of the Eagletacs, I presume the Keeppowers to be the true current champion of value.

Care to tell where you plan to buy *your* Keeppowers?

TIA

 

[smooth2o]

That's about it. The cells ship from Panasonic bare. I'm sure that there are a few companies that offer protection circuitry that's used by most re-badging companies.

I have some Panasonic branded cells that have a protection circuit that are very long. They measure over 70mm long. They will not work in my Nitecore Tiny Monster lights, as the battery tube can't screw down far enough to make the ground contact.

The Keeppower 3400mAh cells work fine.

I have the Nitecore P12, P16, EC20 and EC21. Do you know if the Eagletac and Keeperpower cells fit in these lights?

 

[thedoc007]

Thanks for bringing this up. I was specifically interested in this very thing. As I've been reading lately til my eyes nearly bleed, I'm buying the same unless I can find some Eagletacs (the green/white 3400's) before I get to work.

If "short" is of interest to you (I definitely want a sub-69mm cell) the EAgletacs are supposedly the shortest 3400's out there right now though they appear to be a bit pricey wherever I find them.

I have a couple Eagletac 3400s, and I don't like them. The positive contact is barely raised at all, and seems flimsy. I have seen stories where it gets pushed in (even a half millimeter would do it) and becomes unworkable. Even if they were the same price, I'd definitely buy the Keeppower cells.

That said & assuming the Keeppowers are 90+% of what you'd get out of the Eagletacs, I presume the Keeppowers to be the true current champion of value.

Care to tell where you plan to buy *your* Keeppowers?

I get my cells from Illumination Supply or Mountain Electronics. Direct linking not allowed, but you can do a search easily enough. Both of those vendors are knowledgeable, and both have a presence here on CPF. Until recently (no longer selling them) IS had the SoShine 3400 (also based on the NCR18650B) and that was a better value...I picked up a number of them, and they have served me well. They still have the Keeppowers for $11.99, though, which is a good price. I haven't had any fitment problems due to the extra length.

 

[NotSoBrightBob]

Illumination Supply has been my go to for the KeepPowers.

 

[texastactical]

I just got some new Keepower 3400s and they are too big around to fit in my Zebralight. But they do fit snugly in my P12. Hope that helps. The strange thing is that I have some 1 yr old Keepower 3400s that do fit in my Zebralight. :shrug:

 

[NoNotAgain]

I have the Nitecore P12, P16, EC20 and EC21. Do you know if the Eagletac and Keeppower cells fit in these lights?

The Keeppower 3400 mAh cells fit the Nitecore P series lights without issues. My statement is based on using the Keeppower 3400's in a P20 and EC25 light.

The longer Panasonic protected cells fit with no issue either, It's just when you have multiple stacked cells does the issue of length come into play with some lights.

The Panasonic branded protected 3400 mAh cells I have are too long to allow for the battery tube to screwed down far enough to make a ground on my TM15 or TM26 lights.

 

[tandem]

I just got some new Keepower 3400s and they are too big around to fit in my Zebralight.

Which ZL?

In December I purchased 4 Keeppower 3400s; they all fit without issue in my ZL SC600 MkII L2 and all my SureFire and Malkoff lights.

Did you obtain your newer Keeppower cells from a different source tan than the 1 year old versions that do fit?

 

[tandem]

I have a couple Eagletac 3400s, and I don't like them. The positive contact is barely raised at all, and seems flimsy. I have seen stories where it gets pushed in (even a half millimeter would do it) and becomes unworkable. Even if they were the same price, I'd definitely buy the Keeppower cells.

^^^ this.

Despite the underlying cell being the same across a number of makers, the quality of the cell assembly and protection circuit, and dimensions of course, will vary.

 

[texastactical]

Tandem: It is the h600 Mk II. Yes different sources bought almost exactly a year apart.

 

[Norm]

Search of CPF for "Keeppower 3400 mah 18650" - Norm

 

[RCTPAVUK]

Got 12* keeppower 18650 3400mah. All good, work fine. 4 of them are 2 years in use, another 4 - 1 year. The rest 4 - a few months.
Need all 12 : have 3 * 4 cell flashlights.
All of them are Panasonic ncr18650b, as many other branded protected cells. The question is why would i pay 2-5$ more for a cell if I know they're the same?

 

[Capolini]

I have a couple Eagletac 3400s, and I don't like them. The positive contact is barely raised at all, and seems flimsy. I have seen stories where it gets pushed in (even a half millimeter would do it) and becomes unworkable. Even if they were the same price, I'd definitely buy the Keeppower cells.



I get my cells from Illumination Supply or Mountain Electronics. Direct linking not allowed, but you can do a search easily enough. Both of those vendors are knowledgeable, and both have a presence here on CPF. Until recently (no longer selling them) IS had the SoShine 3400 (also based on the NCR18650B) and that was a better value...I picked up a number of them, and they have served me well. They still have the Keeppowers for $11.99, though, which is a good price. I haven't had any fitment problems due to the extra length.

I totally agree with your thoughts on Eagletac and KeepPower.I also find that after 1 year the E'tac were weakening[losing capacity] at a noticeably higher rate than my K'powers! The only reason I bought the E'Tac was because I needed shorter batteries for the light I was using it in.

I also agree w/the vendors. They are the Two I use. They are hard to beat for price, quality and customer service.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is a general statement and suggestion for those NOT sure which batteries to use:

I also recommend if your not sure which 18650 to get, even the ones w/ the same Panasonic cells, then please check HKJ's "Comparator".You would be surprised that it DOES make a difference who puts these same genuine Panasonic cells together. For instance look at the difference in voltage sag b/w K'power and E'tac! Once you get to 2A there is a difference and at 5A K'power pulls away!

I was also told that Keeppower is an OEM[Original Equipment Manufacturer] and that Orbtronic is one of the manufacturers that use KeepPower. If you check out Orbtronic 18650- 2900mAh or 3100 mAh and KeepPower 18650, 2900mAh or 3100mAh you will see that the "Comparitors" voltage sag is exactly the same!

One night I literally spent a few hours comparing Dozens of 18650's! HKJ LINK Below:


http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650comparator.php

 

[incd]

I don't have Keeppower cause i read it is quiet long. I choose Olight instead. This cell has a long about 69mm and fit perfectly in my charger and flashlinght.

 

[Capolini]

I don't have Keeppower cause i read it is quiet long. I choose Olight instead. This cell has a long about 69mm and fit perfectly in my charger and flashlinght.

Believe it or not Olight batteries are slightly longer. I have both and put them side by side. I also checked 3 websites and One listed ~69.35mm and the other Two at 69.5mm.

K'Power ~ 68.9mm. I believe the 68.9mm because that is the same length as my Orbtronic and Cytac.

The most important thing is as long as it is quality and works! It is nice to pay ~$4 less for KeepPower!

 

[StandardBattery]

Just a heads up; there may be 3400mAh cells now from one or more Chinese factories on the market. They may be from a new Panasonic factory in China, but maybe not or not all of them. Some well known brands may be switching cells away from Japanese cells, some lower brands may be in short supply for a while. I think it's a good idea to keep an eye on printing on recent and future battery purchases for the next while. Slight changes in battery size may also be worth noting.

Note this is just speculation that there is Chinese factory producing 3400mAh cells I've seen no proof... just rumors which may be the result of other changes occuring.

 

[LEDite]

The new state-of-the-art 18650 cell is the Sanyo NCR1860BF cell . . .
Still rated at 3400 mah, but it maintains it's voltage better under load . . .

More info :
https://www.akkuteile.de/tpl/download/NCR-18650BF.pdf

 

[StandardBattery]

The new state-of-the-art 18650 cell is the Sanyo NCR1860BF cell . . .
Still rated at 3400 mah, but it maintains it's voltage better under load . . .

More info :
https://www.akkuteile.de/tpl/download/NCR-18650BF.pdf

There is something better coming... pretty sure...

 

[loimpact]

There is something better coming... pretty sure...

Any idea what the absolute limit is or *should be* for a 18650 cell considering the cell remains Lith-ion and doesn't stray out of the basic form of a 69 x 18.5 sized cell?? (Obviously, a 4000mah cell that's 75 x 20 and doesn't fit in anything would probably be considered a "cheat" by 18650 standards)

TIA