battery newbie: What should I choose (18650's and charger)

[phaserrifle]

hello all,
having fairly recently taken the plunge into the world of lithium powered flashlights, I'm looking at upgrading from 2xcr123 primaries, to something re-chargeable.

as far as I can tell, the battery I need is an 18650. But having read various threads on here, I'm completly confused about which manufacturers are rubbish, and which are decent. Currently available to me are:

• Eagletac
• AW
• Wolf-eyes (assuming their LRB-168A is the same thing as an 18650, as claimed by one seller)
• Cytac
• Klarus
• Trustfire
• Ultrafire

and also, are any of these worth a look as chargers:

• Ultrafire
• Xtar
• Cytac
• 4sevens
• klarus

or do I need to bite the bullet, pay more than I paid for the torch, and get the Pila charger?
I'm trying to avoid getting involved with other brands if I can help it, since these are the ones I can find locally, rather than having to get involved with buying kit from overseas.

[Shadowww]

Xtar WP2 II is fairly safe & reliable charger, it also can change 14500's / 16340's when in 500mA mode.
Also it kind of prolongs cell lifetime by undercharging them a bit (4.17V instead of 4.20V).

For cells, all 3100mAh's are fine - Eagletac, AW, also RediLast, Callie's Customs, eX-cell, intl-outdoors, and anything else based on Panasonic NCR18650A.

[phaserrifle]

Xtar WP2 II is fairly safe & reliable charger, it also can change 14500's / 16340's when in 500mA mode.
Also it kind of prolongs cell lifetime by undercharging them a bit (4.17V instead of 4.20V).

For cells, all 3100mAh's are fine - Eagletac, AW, also RediLast, Callie's Customs, eX-cell, intl-outdoors, and anything else based on Panasonic NCR18650A.

what about the xtar mp1? I've found a decent deal for that and a xtar 3100mAh 18650

[ChrisGarrett]

Last month, I bought 2 EagleTac 3100s and the XTAR WP2 II charger for not a lot of cash, I'm happy with both.

[Shadowww]

what about the xtar mp1? I've found a decent deal for that and a xtar 3100mAh 18650

It's not as good as WP2 II when it comes to charging algorythm.

[tandem]

having read various threads on here, I'm completly confused about which manufacturers are rubbish

When just starting out, your best bet in my opinion is to go with what is universally known to work well (protected cells made with Japanese - these days Panasonic - cells only). That means you can drop all the HouseFire, PantsOnFire, xxxFire etc names. You might also want to question, or at least check carefully into, any of the newer light companies now flogging their own branded cells. If you want to buy a 2600 or 2900 or 3100 mAh cell, be sure they have the Panasonic li-ion cell inside, whoever is selling them.

When it comes to chargers, apply the same logic. Read the charger review threads. The Pila is the one with the longest track record, but do check on some of the other newer chargers and see what reviews have to say.

I won't recommend xxxFire / brand-of-the-moment type products to newbies because you just can't rely on them to be the same from one batch / one order / one day to the next. It is for the same reasons that I don't buy them myself.

Finally, buy from credible sources that have direct relationships with the original suppliers, meaning stay away from eBay for these sorts of products.

[tychoseven]

I just got into Li-Ion cells myself, and chose the 4Sevens charger and AW protected 18650s. I don't need to charge more than one cell at a time since I only have single-cell lights, and the 4Sevens charger is supposed to use a good charging algorithm. AW, Redilast, and Callies Custom are the cells I see most often recommended, but I haven't tried anything but AW myself. As tandem suggests, get quality protected cells from Japan.

[roadkill1109]

panasonics are a good start, unprotected 2900mAh, or the 3100mAh, both are so reliable and have great runtimes, you'd not bother with any other brands. It's the only 18650's i buy. Cheaper than the others too.

[JerryM]

panasonics are a good start, unprotected 2900mAh, or the 3100mAh, both are so reliable and have great runtimes, you'd not bother with any other brands. It's the only 18650's i buy. Cheaper than the others too.

Are unprotected cells used only in single cell lights? Thanks.
Jerry

[mdocod]

Hi Jerry,

Unprotected cells should ideally only be used in applications that perform as many or all of the functions of a protection circuit as possible. Some flashlights provide over-discharge protection, and some chargers may be considered trustworthy enough to get by without protection circuits (proper termination, long term reliability), however, having a double layer of protection is never a bad idea; on the other hand, the protection circuit is another component that can fail, so whether or not you want a protection circuit for your particular application is something you would have to weight the pros/cons/risk/rewards of. With modern Japanese made cells, I would personally feel pretty comfortable forgoing the protection circuit in single cell applications provided I included a few other precautions in my routine.

Regards,
Eric

[Sintro]

I'm getting two 18650's and a charger for a Crelant 7g5 v2 that i'll be getting soon. And after going to the battery malfunction forum section, I'm definately not getting the ultrafire brand batteries or other cheap china batteries. What I found was a pair of Panasonic 18650's, and it comes with a charger. If you search this in google, you'll find it, it's the first link, 18650 Smart Li-ion Charger and Two 3100mAh Panasonic Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Batteries Kit. (Can I do that in this forum?) So, is this a safe battery kit? And if it isn't, could you recommend one?

Thread Merge - Norm

[enomosiki]

AW cells and Pila charger.

[Shadowww]

AW cells and Pila charger.

Pila charger is totally unnecessary waste of money over WP2 II.
Just like AW's cells are unnecessary waste of money over Intl-Outdoors 3100mAh cells (which are made in same factory as RediLast 3100mAh cells).

[901-Memphis]

Pila charger is totally unnecessary waste of money over WP2 II.
Just like AW's cells are unnecessary waste of money over Intl-Outdoors 3100mAh cells (which are made in same factory as RediLast 3100mAh cells).

Where would one locate these 3100 mah Intl Outdoors cells?

[Shadowww]

Where would one locate these 3100 mah Intl Outdoors cells?

On their site, obviously, which you can find using various internet search engines.
Good try, though.

[diesel79]

Google it