"Budget" 18650 Batteries

[scott2907]

Hi
I am looking to buy some 18650's for some colleagues who want to buy a "torch like mine" but are put off by the cost. I'm buying them L2 bodies and UF-139's at the moment, but I wondered if I could reduce the cost significantly by buing Ultrafire branded cells as opposed to the ones I currently source.

Has anyone had any positive expereinces with DX cells ? I was looking at sku3287 and these seem to be reasonable cells from the reviews. Any other suggestions? I have been sourcing SF cells from ITC shop and I can say that so far they have been very good.

Of course, safety is the main concern here. Price next. Lifespan/performance should be reasonable but I'm not looking for the best.

 

[mfm]

SKU 20392 are the best on DX.

 

[randomlugia]

Either that or SKU 28678.

 

[march.brown]

I use the grey (or is it silver) protected Ultrafires plus the Blue unprotected 18650s and have had no problems with them at all.

Go for it.

Don't forget to tell your friends to use a meter to check the voltages ... It's essential unless you have a charger that will absolutely shut off at 4.2 volts ... I don't trust any charger so I always use a meter.
.

 

[skyfire]

the red/black trustfire 2400 seems to be the best at DX. ive been using these without any problems.

 

[brted]

I agree on the flame-colored Trustfires. I just ran some tests against gray Ultrafires and Trustfires and got about 20% more runtime with the flames. Of course they cost about 20% more too, so if your budget is really tight, the protected gray ultrafires are fine.

http://budgetlightforum.cz.cc/node/346

 

[gcbryan]

I've had no problems with the blue Trustfire 2500mA protected batteries so I stick with those.

 

[RedForest UK]

I got over twice as much capacity with the red and black 'flame' trustfires than with their blue '2500mah' ones.

 

[Chauncey Gardner]

The best bargain brand I've tried is the WOW 18650.

It seems better made than the Ultra/trust fire & did well in comparison tests done here.

link: http://cgi.ebay.com/18650-2600mAh-P...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335992b5a2

They run longer than the blue ***fire batteries & ship quicker than DX.
They are also protected.

Old 4570 did a good roundup of 18650's & here is the WOW (or MOM) battery he reviewed:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=266764

 

[greenLED]

Hate to poop on the parade...

I'd personally stay away from cheap 18650 setups for gifts. Not everyone will want to learn about li-ion safety, and those cheap cells are known to malfunction....

If you want to give your friends cheap lights, there're plenty of AA options available. AA's are ubiquitous and a whole lot safer than li-ion chemistries.

 

[AvPD]

I have 4 blue and 2 grey unprotected trustfires, the only thing I've had gone wrong is one of the blue ones go dead around a year after purchase.

 

[ToNIX]

SKU 20392 are the best on DX.

QFT.

Make sure they have the proper knowledge about handling/recharging them.

What charger will you get them?

Do they have a DMM?

 

[vali]

Hate to poop on the parade...

I'd personally stay away from cheap 18650 setups for gifts. Not everyone will want to learn about li-ion safety, and those cheap cells are known to malfunction....

If you want to give your friends cheap lights, there're plenty of AA options available. AA's are ubiquitous and a whole lot safer than li-ion chemistries.

I agree.