Test/Review of AW IMR 16340 550mAh (Red)

[size=+3]AW IMR 16340 550mAh (Red)[/size]




Official specifications:

• Nominal Voltage : 3.7V
• Capacity : 550mAH
• Lowest Discharge Voltage : 2.50V
• Standard Charge : CC/CV ( max. charging rate 1.5A )
• Cycle Life : > 500 cycles
• Max. continuous discharge rate : 4A
• Operating Discharge Temperature : -10 - 60 Degree Celsius

This battery is a high current battery.










The battery works fine up to 2A, but is not that impressive with a 3A load.











In this test I do overload the battery and one of the cells looks like it is running out of power.
When calculating the internal resistance I used the voltage drop between 2A and 4A.





[size=+3]Conclusion[/size]

I am not that impressed with the high current capabilites of this cell, but because it is better than most ICR batteries, in the same size, I will rate it as a good cell.



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

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

I just picked up two of these from LightHound last week, along with 2 AW 750s, for my SWM V10R and ShiningBeam I-Mini. One of my two Soshine/Orbtronics 700s is now fully self discharging in a few days and I needed some back ups/spares.

I'm resigned to the fact that the 16340/RCR123 family of cells is somewhat problematic and deficient as a rule and if we use them, it's pretty much only based on $$$ savings we'll realize over constantly buying CR-123s. Long runtimes, or long duty lives, probably aren't in the mix with these cells.

There's a boost in output with my two lights, going from CR>RCR, but as a noob to Li-Ions, maybe I was just expecting a tad more 'beef' for this category?

Thanks again for the review! Had you done this 2 weeks ago, I might have just bought 4 of the 750s, but oh well...I'm not going to jump off of my roof.

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

Had you done this 2 weeks ago, I might have just bought 4 of the 750s, but oh well...I'm not going to jump off of my roof.

Click to expand...

These test results has been lying around for a long time, because I wanted my comparator ready (It will be published in a few days).

Here is a comparison of the ICR and IMR 16340:

Thanks for that graph. Looks like for my two lights mentioned above, the IMRs lose a bit of voltage more sharply than the ICRs, but the IMRs ultimately have a a tad more capacity than the ICRs at 2A.

You mentioned this capacity 'equality' (more or less) to me in another thread a week, or two, back.

Chris

HKJ said:

I am not that impressed with the high current capabilites of this cell, but because it is better than most ICR batteries, in the same size, I will rate it as a good cell.

Click to expand...

Yeah, good relative to other cells the same size, but not nearly as good as either the IMR 18350 or IMR 14500.

ElectronGuru said:

Yeah, good relative to other cells the same size, but not nearly as good as either the IMR 18350 or IMR 14500.

Click to expand...

Exactly.
It will be interesting to test other (IMR) 16340 batteries and see how they compare.
If somebody has some good idea on batteries to test, please send a PM (Remember that I cannot buy from US based dealers). I have some efest and TrustFire on the way.

Excellent review again. HKJ! :thumbsup:
Thanks a lot for your time and effort.

HKJ said:

Here is a comparison of the ICR and IMR 16340:

Click to expand...

What is more interesting is the comparison of the AW IMR 16340 and 14500s..the 14500 ahve a definite edge.

Now...comparing the AW and keeppower ICR 16340 the AW 16340 looses again?

Is that to be expected or is something off?

Got one of these cells, just with a slightly different print:

IMR 16340 3.7V
550mAh (2.0WH)

Put it through a few cycles, at ~0.2A and ~0.6A discharge, and I can only say: that 2.0 Wh rating is spot on, and cell behaves pretty much like you'd expect from what's printed on the label. :twothumbs
Unlike the majority of 16340's out there, exaggerated mAh ratings etc, one worse than the other... :mecry: