Best 18650 these days?

[JakeNoah]

Hi there,

I've been abit out of the loop for awhile, still enjoying my numerous lights but realizing my collection of 18650s are really old and heavily beaten, I used to buy AW batteries many years ago, but what are people buying now for protected 18650s?

Thanks

 

[bluflaam777]

I only have two 18650s and they both are Samsung 30Q. They seem to have a good reputation.

I can't say much more about that. They work in my single cell light. My light is a hi/low with 600lms on high. My guess is that it's about 200lms on low.
I can use it on low 2hrs/day and it lasts about a week before needing a charge (14-ish hours). I use it to walk the dogs and futz around the house.

They seem like great cells to me.

 

[aznsx]

Hi there,

I've been abit out of the loop for awhile, still enjoying my numerous lights but realizing my collection of 18650s are really old and heavily beaten, I used to buy AW batteries many years ago, but what are people buying now for protected 18650s?

Thanks

That's a real $64 question, and you may get far more subjective opinion than objective fact. Most of my Li-ion cells come from flashlight manufacturers who have a strong U.S. market presence, history, and investment, and I have what I consider good (largely non-technical) reasons for that preference. If price is a high priority, those likely won't be at the top of your list. I have to pay a little more to get what I want, and I'm OK with that. Most of my 18650s have names like Fenix, Nitecore, Streamlight, etc. on the outer label. Others may have more specific, objective criteria, so I'll of course be interested in those recommendations and will stay tuned.

 

[aznsx]

That's a real $64 question, and you may get far more subjective opinion than objective fact. Most of my Li-ion cells come from flashlight manufacturers who have a strong U.S. market presence, history, and investment, and I have what I consider good (largely non-technical) reasons for that preference. If price is a high priority, those likely won't be at the top of your list. I have to pay a little more to get what I want, and I'm OK with that. Most of my 18650s have names like Fenix, Nitecore, Streamlight, etc. on the outer label. Others may have more specific, objective criteria, so I'll of course be interested in those recommendations and will stay tuned.

A lot of my objective test info has historically come from the 'lygte' site, however they have not done much/any cell testing lately. As far a 'brands' are concerned, although not specifically 18650, the only objective test info I can personally offer is from my fairly recent testing of 2 types of Nitecore 16340 cells, and more recently, some Keeppower 16650 cells (which I believe is a brand many here use). Just in terms of brand name / performance, this might be useful.

Here's are the results of the Nitecore 16340 testing I did (I was also comparing 2 chargers as part of the test):

Tests of Nitecore NL166 & NL169 16340s using MC3000, & BT-C3100

During the course of doing some cell testing in the past few weeks, plus the initial checkout of a new 'charger/analyzer' I acquired, some data from my notes may be of interest to some, so I'll share it: The 2 devices in use were: Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 SkyRC MC3000 FW EDIT: Rev:1.15 NOTE...

www.candlepowerforums.com

Here are the results of the Keeppower 16650 testing I did:

KeepPower 16650 '2500 mAh' Cells - Initial Check

I recently purchased 4 KeepPower 16650 ('2500 mAh') cells, which are my first cells in that size, and I just did my usual initial first basic checks on them to verify function / consistency, and get a general feel for the format. The market options in this size appear limited, and since I'm...

www.candlepowerforums.com

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I only have two 18650s and they both are Samsung 30Q. They seem to have a good reputation.

I can't say much more about that. They work in my single cell light. My light is a hi/low with 600lms on high. My guess is that it's about 200lms on low.
I can use it on low 2hrs/day and it lasts about a week before needing a charge (14-ish hours). I use it to walk the dogs and futz around the house.

They seem like great cells to me.

Those are horrible cells. Those are the cells they put in all the 18 volt Milwaukee 6 and 9 amp batteries and 12 volt Milwaukee 3 and 6 amp batteries. Bought 3 9 amp 18 volt batteries. One died in a couple months. One had one row of cells die (6 amps now). Only one of three still works completely. They swapped the cells to 20 amp rated LG cells which were better.

Best all around cell is Molicel M35A. It's 10 amp rated, 3500 mAh, and cold weather rated to -40. You can find protected cells around $10, unprotected about half that.

Highest capacity is 4 amp made by Nitecore, Klarus, and Keeppower. Unprotected ones also made by Vapcell. The last two cost $10-12. The first two, about double that.

Highest discharge rate maybe Molicel P30B 3 Amp, 30 amp drain

 

[bluflaam777]

I can only speak for what I have/use. So far they work fine. I'm not using them in series or parallel. As always, if I find they fail I certainly will say so.

I have read that there has been counterfeits made. Japanese made cells seem to do better in real life cases verses Chinese made cells. China seems to overstate compacity/performance on a lot of random cells. It's good to know which manufacturers are consistent no matter the brand.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I use the protected Molicel M35A in my Nitecore HC60 v.2 headlight. Doesn't have any problems putting out the needed power for 1200 lumens and has worked well on cold winter nights hiking. There are cells with up to 500 mAh more capacity, but you could lose that much or more on a cold night as well as a higher discharge rate. I think the Ridgid tool line has used Molicel batteries in the past (not sure now). My Ridgid batteries had a pretty good track record. I think one 12 volt compact battery died after about a decade of solid use. All the 18 and 12 volt others still work.

 

[PaladinNO]

Limited market / availability here in Norway, but if I want "the best", I buy Nitecore NL1835HP. Protected cell, 3500 mAh, 8A discharge rate.

NL1835HP (Discontinued)

charger.nitecore.com

There is a newer NL1836HP, with 3600 mAh.

Can't speak for longevity yet, as I only have this cell in a single light (Fenix TK75 2018)...which takes 12 of them with 2 battery extenders, and as I result I almost never need to recharge them.

For unprotected cells, I either go for Samsung INR18650-25R (2500 mAh, 20A discharge rate) or the already mentioned Molicel INR18650-M35A, depending on what I need.

 

[Monocrom]

Back in the day, it was AW.
No contest! Not even close! Best of the best.
Yeah, those days are sadly long gone.
Stick with Samsung 18650s. Best you'll get nowadays.

 

[MrAl]

Hi there,

I've been abit out of the loop for awhile, still enjoying my numerous lights but realizing my collection of 18650s are really old and heavily beaten, I used to buy AW batteries many years ago, but what are people buying now for protected 18650s?

Thanks

Hi,

Panasonic and Sony cells are usually pretty good.
I also recently tried a strange brand called "Taken" as they were tested by someone against some other brand names and they worked out pretty good. I got two of them (18650 size).

The main thing probably is what is their return window. Amazon has a 30 day free return window so if you get them from them and they do not work right you can send them back. If you do have to send them back you would have to take them to a UPS place and have them ship them because they do not do that return code QR thing if anything has Li-ion batteries inside, so same with the raw cells I would think. When I have to do this I put the items in a small cardboard box and use the right labels Amazon sends you in the email and I think on site too. They have to say that they contain Li-ion batteries. You could check that out in your area though.

 

[lightknot]

+1 for Keepower.