2012 Battery test/review summary

[MurphyCop]

I apologise for my newbie question - i've just ordered a klarus xt11 and an eagletac 18650 3100mah rechargeable.

I'm not sure how to read your charts so which battery would be best for my XT11....also which chargers do you recommend?

Thanks in advance

 

[HKJ]

I apologise for my newbie question - i've just ordered a klarus xt11 and an eagletac 18650 3100mah rechargeable.

I'm not sure how to read your charts so which battery would be best for my XT11....also which chargers do you recommend?

Thanks in advance

For longest total runtime the 3100 mAh battery will probably be best, the manufacturer does not really matter (for runtime), because they all uses the same cell inside.
If you want longest runtime at full brightness, you need to look at the "Discharge, capacity down to 3.6 volt" and with a 800 lumen light it is somewhere between the cyan and yellow bar (2-3 ampere), again the 3100 mAh batteries does well.

 

[MurphyCop]

For longest total runtime the 3100 mAh battery will probably be best, the manufacturer does not really matter (for runtime), because they all uses the same cell inside.
If you want longest runtime at full brightness, you need to look at the "Discharge, capacity down to 3.6 volt" and with a 800 lumen light it is somewhere between the cyan and yellow bar (2-3 ampere), again the 3100 mAh batteries does well.

So are you saying that theres not much between it with the 3100 mAh batteries? I've bought an eagletac one already but is it worth spending a bit more money for an AW or redilast as a spare?

 

[HKJ]

So are you saying that theres not much between it with the 3100 mAh batteries? I've bought an eagletac one already but is it worth spending a bit more money for an AW or redilast as a spare?

Without a full test of the light, I cannot recommend anything better than a 3100 mAh and even with a full test it would probably be the same.

The difference between the brands is the length of the battery, quality of protection and general build quality. The EagleTac looks good on all counts, how well it stands up to the bumps from the real world we will first know after some time, when a lot of people has used them.

 

[dts71]

Considering that some batteries like the Spark has higher voltage on their way to empty it would be more interesting to count Wh instead of Ah.
At least your 1A discharge plot seem to have the data to count the area beneath the curves.
Great review anyhow and I like the additional info about the lengths - maybe you could add the length of the batteries that has not been tested yet?
I'm curious of the length of other RediLast for example.

 

[HKJ]

Considering that some batteries like the Spark has higher voltage on their way to empty it would be more interesting to count Wh instead of Ah.
At least your 1A discharge plot seem to have the data to count the area beneath the curves.

If you look at the individual battery reviews, they do have a Wh curve and when my full comparison article is finished, it will also have it.

Great review anyhow and I like the additional info about the lengths - maybe you could add the length of the batteries that has not been tested yet?
I'm curious of the length of other RediLast for example.

All curves is build from a script and it only include batteries that are tested (or sometimes partially tested). I have some other RediLast in my test queue, but it will probably be some time yet, before they are tested.

 

[HKJ]

Added intl-outdoor's new 3100 mAh battery, it has a new protection PCB with very low resistance, making it one of the best 3100 batteries at high current.

 

[stickx]

The difference between the brands is the length of the battery, quality of protection and general build quality. The EagleTac looks good on all counts, how well it stands up to the bumps from the real world we will first know after some time, when a lot of people has used them.

Is there a way to identify the "quality of protection" in a battery? As a relative novice, that would be one of my most important criteria for choosing one battery over another assuming both meet my discharge requirements. Quality of build is also important. But it doesn't seem like either of these attributes can be really measured quantitatively.

 

[HKJ]

Is there a way to identify the "quality of protection" in a battery? As a relative novice, that would be one of my most important criteria for choosing one battery over another assuming both meet my discharge requirements. Quality of build is also important. But it doesn't seem like either of these attributes can be really measured quantitatively.

What I can see about the protection is the current it trips at and how consistent it is, my log looks something like this:

03/02-2012 04:16:29 Trip test 0 current 5,5A calculated ri 0,331
03/02-2012 04:22:10 Trip test 1 current 5,5A calculated ri 0,312
03/02-2012 04:27:50 Trip test 2 current 5,4A calculated ri 0,288
03/02-2012 04:33:30 Trip test 3 current 5,4A calculated ri 0,284
03/02-2012 04:39:09 Trip test 4 current 5,4A calculated ri 0,287

The trip current drops a bit when the circuit is warmed up, but not very much and the first measurement gives a higher ri than the rest (The last might also be higher, because the battery is discharged).

As long as the both tested batteries trips at about the same current and follows this pattern I will say the protection is good. If there is large variation in the current or Ri jumps up and down, I might say something negative about it.
Sometimes the two batteries tested does not have the same current limit, this shows that there is some tolerance on the components used and if it is large I will complain about it (See http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/EnerPower+ 18650 2900mAh (Blue) UK.html for an example).

 

[127.0.0.1]

I apologise for my newbie question - i've just ordered a klarus xt11 and an eagletac 18650 3100mah rechargeable.

I'm not sure how to read your charts so which battery would be best for my XT11....also which chargers do you recommend?

Thanks in advance

I have the same XT11 and Eagletac 3100 I chose after reading several other battery reviews. can't go wrong with them
in a single 18650 / 2xcr123 xm-l light.

 

[hjjaleon]

That's fantastic work! Thx u mate!!

 

[brted]

Great job, HKJ. This is great information to have up-to-date. Looking forward to how the XTAR does.

 

[Helmut.G]

HKJ, thank you very much for this extremely useful comparison!
Very interesting charts!
Very interesting batteries! Thanks for including the 17650 and especially the 16650!

There's only one thing I want to criticise: You don't include enough "classic" old-chemistry cells for my taste.
You have 8 new technology Panasonics, 3 high-current capable cells, 2 smaller diameter and only 2 "2600mAh" ones (not counting trustfires because they are not consistent).
To make the test perfect for me, include the 2200 and 2600 mAh AWs and a bare Sanyo 2600mAh.

 

[HKJ]

Very interesting batteries! Thanks for including the 17650 and especially the 16650!

There's only one thing I want to criticise: You don't include enough "classic" old-chemistry cells for my taste.
You have 8 new technology Panasonics, 3 high-current capable cells, 2 smaller diameter and only 2 "2600mAh" ones (not counting trustfires because they are not consistent).
To make the test perfect for me, include the 2200 and 2600 mAh AWs and a bare Sanyo 2600mAh.

I do have a couple of these batteries in queue, but my test have been more successful than expected, i.e. I get a lot of batteries to test and do not have time for my own list of batteries.
I have tested AW 2200 mAh and will publish the result very soon.

 

[Helmut.G]

I do have a couple of these batteries in queue, but my test have been more successful than expected, i.e. I get a lot of batteries to test and do not have time for my own list of batteries.
I have tested AW 2200 mAh and will publish the result very soon.

Nice! Looking forward to that.

 

[tobrien]

is it just me or, based on the results and how the batteries look to the eye, are Callie's Kustoms 3100s and Intl-Outdoors 3100s (black) the exact same pcb? I know theyre both based on the same Panasonic cells, right?

would you tend to agree HKJ?

 

[HKJ]

is it just me or, based on the results and how the batteries look to the eye, are Callie's Kustoms 3100s and Intl-Outdoors 3100s (black) the exact same pcb? I know theyre both based on the same Panasonic cells, right?

would you tend to agree HKJ?

No, the protection works at different values.
Generally it is possible that different sellers uses the same protection pcb on the same cell, these batteries are not manufactured by Callie or intl-outdoor, but by some oem supplied, that makes batteries for multiple sellers.

 

[tobrien]

No, the protection works at different values.
Generally it is possible that different sellers uses the same protection pcb on the same cell, these batteries are not manufactured by Callie or intl-outdoor, but by some oem supplied, that makes batteries for multiple sellers.

okay, but the Callie's Kustoms page and Intl-Outdoor page both quote 2.5 as the cutoff voltage, though, for example. I know you did test some older revisions by Intl-Outdoors right?

 

[HKJ]

okay, but the Callie's Kustoms page and Intl-Outdoor page both quote 2.5 as the cutoff voltage, though, for example. I know you did test some older revisions by Intl-Outdoors right?

The "Official specifications" are the sellers/manufacturers specifications, they are not always correct.

The protection circuit has 3 key values:
Over charge cutoff voltage (probably around 4.25 volt)
Over discharge cutoff voltage (Somewhere between 2.00 and 3.00 volt)
Over current cutoff current (Somewhere between 3 and 15 ampere).

The only value I test this time around is the "Over current cutoff current" and it was different on callie and intl-outdoor.

 

[HKJ]

I have added 7 batteries to the summary: AW 2200, 4Greer 3100, EnerPower 2250, EnerPower+ 2200, Xtar 2400, Xtar 2600 and Xtar 3100

It might be necessary to press F5 to get the charts updated.