Re: 18650 Batteries - Decent Make?
I agree with all the advice so far. I am also a newbie to the 18650 and have done my learning here on these forums.
My personal experience is with the Trustfire brand. I had read many reports that they were a good value for the money. I bought eight of them. They all worked very well, till I dropped one of them onto a sharp corner of one of the chargers.
The cell landed smack on the protection circuit. Landing on a sharp corner magnifies the forces in that area. (my understanding is that all protection circuits are fragile like that. It is, after all, a small circuit board with several surface mount chips on it.)
After removing the protection circuit, I now have an unprotected cell that works fine. I received three "free" unprotected Solarforce brand cells with a flashlight, and they seem to work nicely as well. Probably made in the same factory, just a different label....
All of my cells hold a 4.20 volt charge four days after charging. Very low self discharge rate. They started out at 4.22 to 4.24 immediately out of the charger. When used in a three cell flashlight, all three cells discharge at the same rate. This gives me some confidence in the consistency of manufacture.
I have heard very troubling reports for the Ultrafire cells, but I can not verify, just passing on a rumor - value it as such.
So, I don't have any long term feedback, but so far these Trustfires seem pretty good.
Best regards,
DGM
