want to order a set of 18650's and a charger, recomendations.

I am thinking of ordering a set of 18650's, and a charger, I know everyone always says to order aw's . Why is that, i see some other brands of protected cells show that they have 2400 mah, instead of 2200 mah like the aw's, doesnt that mean more power?

I do not even have a light that uses these yet. I may order the new eagletac m2, or the new T100C2, I like the idea of 3 hours or regulated use on turbo, with one battery.

And if it is the aw's that i need to order, which charger should i go with, Is there a good deal out their anywhere, i did see some aw 18650's for 12.99, where 4 sevens and the like want 15.00 or more,, help will be appreciated by this 18650 virgin.

I have been using trustfire 2500 Mah 18650 cells for some time now, and they have worked perfectly fine. They seem to have higher capacity than the AW cells.
Many here swear by AW's quality, but I don't really see the need to spend twice as much for less capacity at the present time. If I have issues I may get some AW's, but the Trustfires should be fine for moderate use. Stay away from the ultrafire ones, as they seem to have issues.
Any cheap charger will work; there is one on lighthound, as well as several on DX.

bigfish5 said:

I am thinking of ordering a set of 18650's, and a charger, I know everyone always says to order aw's . Why is that, i see some other brands of protected cells show that they have 2400 mah, instead of 2200 mah like the aw's, doesnt that mean more power?

Click to expand...

No, that means they just printed a bigger number on the label.

Don't cheap out with Li-Ion cells, get name brand.

I bought 18650's and a charger from dealextreme:
sku's 6105, 5790

Look around for good 18650's. I got an excellent charger from battery station . com that is on closeout for $10.00. Use the CPF gateway to battery station. I now have two of these chargers, the first one I bought somewhere else, can not remember. I ordered an extra from the closeout. This charger has never failed me, and has never overcharged my cells, and I mostly use unprotected LiIon's. It is model: YOHO-122. I have used my first one for several years now. I charges 18650 length, and 17500 length. If I would have had problems with it I would have switched to a higher brand name like Pila. Never had the need. I am talking years of experience with this charger, so I do not expect any flaming from others.

Bill

Would that YOHO-122 also charge 17670 cells?

I found a page with some more specs on it, and they only list 17500, and 18650 - 18670 cells.

Specs seem to be in line with what makes a good Li-Ion charger (i.e. CC/CV with a 4.2V cutoff).

In case you aren't familiar with lithium-ion technology, here are a couple of links that will provide valuable information on it's safe handling and use:
http://batteryuniversity.com/
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/201375

Personally, I'd recommend you purchase as set of AW 18650 protected cells. jbosman1013 provided a link to the CPFM thread where you can purchase those. Be sure and pay the extra $3 for registered airmail as it will get to you about 3 weeks quicker that way. OR, you could order them from 4sevens.com........ the price comes out about the same for two cells because 4sevens includes shipping in all his prices.

Why pay more for AW cells? Well, lithium-ion technology can be a bit more dangerous than standard alkaline or NiMh....... and AW has earned a solid reputation here on CPF for providing the highest quality cells with outstanding customer service.

Now to your charger. I've had good luck with my inexpensive DSD charger, which I bought before understanding what I was getting into. It's does a fine job, and has never overcharged a cell. And while it has two charging bays, it only has one charging circuit, so if I want each cell to get an optimum charge I have to charge them separately. Kind of a pain for multiple cells.

If I was buying one today..... I'd go ahead and spend the extra money and get a Pila........ however, as long as you are using good quality cells, you would probably be fine with something like the Ultrafire WF-139, which can be found both in AW's sales thread as well as at 4sevens.com.

The main thing is to not leave your cells charging unattended no matter which charger or cells you are using. Also, many CPF members (myself included) will go as far as placing the charger on a nonflammable surface away from combustible items....... just in case. An ounce of prevention.........

By the way...... just for future reference, most folks usually post these types of questions over in the "Flashlight electronics, batteries included" area.

Black Rose said:

Would that YOHO-122 also charge 17670 cells?

I found a page with some more specs on it, and they only list 17500, and 18650 - 18670 cells.

Specs seem to be in line with what makes a good Li-Ion charger (i.e. CC/CV with a 4.2V cutoff).

Click to expand...

Yes, it charges 17670, 17650's, 18500's, 17500's, and of course 18650's. Two channels, changing each cell seperately, one or two cells at a time, or different sizes at a time, each has its own led light. As it turned out one of my chargers charges right up to 4.2 volts, and the other 4.18, which is ok with me. Whoops, forgot to mention, also charges 17490's, and 18490's which are unprotected. Add 10mm to see what they would be if they were protected cells. BTW, protected 18650's are actually 18670's, measurement wise.

Bill

Althrough I don't recomend these DX batteries as your primary set, their stated capacity is pretty accurate. There was a thread discussing about the grey/blue/black labels of the trustfires batteries and they all have more capacity than AW's, with 1/2, 1 and 2 amp discharges.

Right now I've got 2 AWs and 4 Tenergys 18650, havent had problems with any but the tenergy have about 10% more power as I tested then with my flashlights.

If you are getting only a pair of these li-ions, stay away from the DX ones. They will fail when you really need them. I've been through 10 of them and now only 5 are working.

As for batteries go with Tenergy or AW they are both great quality, and for the charger get the WF-139, it is one of the best outthere.

Ultrafire :
dx/sku.21474
dx/sku.1251

+1 to what Derek said.

If there is one thing you will learn it is to not buy the cheap stuff, you pay for it in the end. Paying the extra money only gets you better cells. Plus you can get everything from AW including the charger and if you have any problems he will take care of you.

WRONG FORUM. Moving to the Batteries section.