Raymond
Enlightened
past few weeks, I bought a lot of flashlight related gear, including li-ion batteries, hobby charger and a DMM with a memory.
With that equipment, I've done some tests on the batteries that I own. I'll present the results here.
Currently I only have 2 AW cells and a pair of dealextreme SKU11670 li-ion batteries. Altough the testresult of that DX cell is pretty good, I can't recommend it. One of them expired after only 2 cycles of use.
I have a pair of the grey trustfires in the mail, and will update the results here when they arrive. I also plan to buy a few r123's from both batteryjunction and batterystation to complete the comparison.
I plan to do discharges at 250mA, 500mA and 750mA, and also take measurements of the charge curves (because a low internal resistance will result in faster charge times, when the correct CC/CV charge protocol is used).
I chose those discharge rates because when I checked the current draw on my lights that support R123's, they showed similar current draws. My fenix P3D on turbo draws almost 700mA, on high it's a little less than 300mA for example.
Also, lower modes give current draws in the 50-100mA region, maybe I'll test those too. But I'm going to do those last, since it will take about 10 hours to complete a single test.
The batteries were charged on my ultrafire WF-138 charger, which charges to about 4.17 volts.
Dimensions of the cells (L*W in mm):
Batterystation: 34.4*16.7
DX11670 (white TF):35.9*16.7
DX8683 (grey TF):35.8*16.6
DX3273(ultrafire):35.8*16.8
KAI4512:34.5*16.5
AW:34.3*16.6
I'm fully aware that testing only a few cells of each brand is not really statistically relevant, but testing more than that requires more cells, which gets expensive in a hurry.
Comparison of the different battery types:
The AW's are the correct 34mm in length, the DX is longer, but does not offer a greater capacity, although voltage remains higher under load.
Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for the tests I'm doing
Added 26-apr:
Dealextreme 11670 cycle test, as per Silverfox's suggestion:
for images, see 11-may edit
There isn't a logical change in performance, as you would expect. Because of the time involved in these tests, not all tests are done with the same amount of rest for the cell. My opinion is that the more rest the cells gets between cycles, the better the performance. Cycles 2,4 and 5 are done with about the same amount of rest, and also show similar performance. The cell is currently doing cycle #6, with little rest after cycle #5, so I'm curious what the result will be.
Added 28-apr:
1A discharge test graph added above.
Interesting results. DX11670 manages a higher voltage under load, DX8683 manages similar voltage compared with the AW cells, but higher overall capacity.
I'll try to complete the cycle test on the single DX SKU11670 asap and also do the lower mA tests on my new DX SKU8683 batteries.
update 11-may:
Completed the tests on the batteries I currently have: AW, BatteryStation, trustfire DX-8683, trustfire DX-11670.
Notable results: The white trustfire (DX sku11670) gives the highest voltage under load, but not the greatest capacity. The grey trusfires (DX sku8683) give the same voltage under load as the AW's, but higher capacity.
update 26-may:
Added results for kaidomain SKU 4512
Seems to perform best under higher loads, where it holds it's voltage better than most other batteries. Total capacity exceeds AW cells, but not as good as grey trustfires. Also, size is smaller than the trustfires, just slightly larger than primaries and AW/batterystations. They fit in a fenix P3D. This makes them the best rechargeable choice for that light, imho.
update 24-june:
Added results for Ultrafire 880mAh
These cells are about the same size as the trustfires, and too big for a fenix P3D.
They also perform very poorly (as was expected from the different reports on the board). If you're looking for cheap chinese cells, the grey trustfires are a much better choice.
The AW's and batterystation have the same size, and will both fit a fenix P3D, whereas the trustfires are a few mm taller, and won't fit a fenix P3D. Of these two, the AW's perform a little better, they give a higher voltage under load, and have similar capacity.
update 3-jan 2009:
I've been away for awhile. I just read a remark about the KD4512, it appears that you'll receive a different battery then the one I've tested:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2631868&postcount=50
DX-11670 cycle tests:
Conclusion: After 10 cycles, capacity remained mostly the same. I've got the impression that the amount of time between tests makes more difference than the amount of tests done on the batteries. This makes consistent testing impossible for me, because I have to do the tests manually. After the 10 cycles, this trustfire still provides the highest voltage under load. So if you're looking for a cell with this characteristic, I can recommend this one (based on this single sample, at least)
With that equipment, I've done some tests on the batteries that I own. I'll present the results here.
Currently I only have 2 AW cells and a pair of dealextreme SKU11670 li-ion batteries. Altough the testresult of that DX cell is pretty good, I can't recommend it. One of them expired after only 2 cycles of use.
I have a pair of the grey trustfires in the mail, and will update the results here when they arrive. I also plan to buy a few r123's from both batteryjunction and batterystation to complete the comparison.
I plan to do discharges at 250mA, 500mA and 750mA, and also take measurements of the charge curves (because a low internal resistance will result in faster charge times, when the correct CC/CV charge protocol is used).
I chose those discharge rates because when I checked the current draw on my lights that support R123's, they showed similar current draws. My fenix P3D on turbo draws almost 700mA, on high it's a little less than 300mA for example.
Also, lower modes give current draws in the 50-100mA region, maybe I'll test those too. But I'm going to do those last, since it will take about 10 hours to complete a single test.
The batteries were charged on my ultrafire WF-138 charger, which charges to about 4.17 volts.
Dimensions of the cells (L*W in mm):
Batterystation: 34.4*16.7
DX11670 (white TF):35.9*16.7
DX8683 (grey TF):35.8*16.6
DX3273(ultrafire):35.8*16.8
KAI4512:34.5*16.5
AW:34.3*16.6
I'm fully aware that testing only a few cells of each brand is not really statistically relevant, but testing more than that requires more cells, which gets expensive in a hurry.
Comparison of the different battery types:
The AW's are the correct 34mm in length, the DX is longer, but does not offer a greater capacity, although voltage remains higher under load.
Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for the tests I'm doing
Added 26-apr:
Dealextreme 11670 cycle test, as per Silverfox's suggestion:
for images, see 11-may edit
There isn't a logical change in performance, as you would expect. Because of the time involved in these tests, not all tests are done with the same amount of rest for the cell. My opinion is that the more rest the cells gets between cycles, the better the performance. Cycles 2,4 and 5 are done with about the same amount of rest, and also show similar performance. The cell is currently doing cycle #6, with little rest after cycle #5, so I'm curious what the result will be.
Added 28-apr:
1A discharge test graph added above.
Interesting results. DX11670 manages a higher voltage under load, DX8683 manages similar voltage compared with the AW cells, but higher overall capacity.
I'll try to complete the cycle test on the single DX SKU11670 asap and also do the lower mA tests on my new DX SKU8683 batteries.
update 11-may:
Completed the tests on the batteries I currently have: AW, BatteryStation, trustfire DX-8683, trustfire DX-11670.
Notable results: The white trustfire (DX sku11670) gives the highest voltage under load, but not the greatest capacity. The grey trusfires (DX sku8683) give the same voltage under load as the AW's, but higher capacity.
update 26-may:
Added results for kaidomain SKU 4512
Seems to perform best under higher loads, where it holds it's voltage better than most other batteries. Total capacity exceeds AW cells, but not as good as grey trustfires. Also, size is smaller than the trustfires, just slightly larger than primaries and AW/batterystations. They fit in a fenix P3D. This makes them the best rechargeable choice for that light, imho.
update 24-june:
Added results for Ultrafire 880mAh
These cells are about the same size as the trustfires, and too big for a fenix P3D.
They also perform very poorly (as was expected from the different reports on the board). If you're looking for cheap chinese cells, the grey trustfires are a much better choice.
The AW's and batterystation have the same size, and will both fit a fenix P3D, whereas the trustfires are a few mm taller, and won't fit a fenix P3D. Of these two, the AW's perform a little better, they give a higher voltage under load, and have similar capacity.
update 3-jan 2009:
I've been away for awhile. I just read a remark about the KD4512, it appears that you'll receive a different battery then the one I've tested:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2631868&postcount=50
DX-11670 cycle tests:
Conclusion: After 10 cycles, capacity remained mostly the same. I've got the impression that the amount of time between tests makes more difference than the amount of tests done on the batteries. This makes consistent testing impossible for me, because I have to do the tests manually. After the 10 cycles, this trustfire still provides the highest voltage under load. So if you're looking for a cell with this characteristic, I can recommend this one (based on this single sample, at least)
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