Can Anybody On Here Recommend Any Good Reasonably Priced 18650 Batteries With USB-C Charging?

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JAS

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My wife and I are RVing now and I brought my Streamlight Stinger. It works just fine, but the charger is bulky and I am thinking about the USB-C charged 18650 batteries for a different flashlight. Are there any USB-C 18650 batteries that are reasonably priced? Also, how do you tell when they are fully charged?
 
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I believe these lights use a proprietary cell with the positive and negative contacts on one end. I'm not sure about the newer offers in their lineup thought.

From the Streamlight manual

For the Stinger® LED series flashlights, use only NiMH battery #75375 or Li-Ion battery #75176.
For the UltraStinger® LED flashlight, use only NiMH battery #77375.
The contact arrangement in the flashlight precludes the use of other batteries
Click to expand...
 
Not specifically, but based on experience plus a little conjecture, if I were ordering some today, I would probably order Nitecores, probably from Battery Junction, and I'd expect to pay a bit over $20 each for them.

In general, I've had good results with both Fenix and Nitecore cells, and I believe they are of high quality. The 2 pairs of USB-charge 18650s I'm rotating in a Stinger 2020 are working out well, but are micro-USB. Most of the 16340s & 14500s I've bought in recent times are Nitecore, and when I recently ordered a couple of new 18650 cells, I went with Nitecore, however those are not USB-charge.

Both Fenix and Nitecore have current model 18650s with USB-C charging specifically, and if I wanted to order USB-C charge 18650s today, I would likely choose to try the Nitecores based largely on my experiences with other sizes.

I do test my cells when new (IR and capacity), monitor IR as I recharge them, and very occasionally capacity check them, but not often, as that stresses cells a little, so I don't run discharge tests routinely, particularly if their IR appears as expected.

That's a long answer considering I'm not currently using any 18560s w/ USB-C charging;-), but that's what I would do and why. Others may have more complete information / direct experience with exactly what you're looking for.
 
JAS said:
Yes, they do.

I am looking for a USB-C 18650 for a different light.
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Sorry I missed that part in the original post. I buy Nitecore and haven't had a failure yet. I also have some Klarus cells but last time I looked they were more expensive around here. I will second Battery Junction. They are a great supplier. My only issue is they dont have a Canadian warehouse and cross border shipping got too expensive.
 
Maglite has some (2 for $35) that work well, but are fairly long. Streamlight BL26 batteries are USB C 18650's that are shorter than most 18650's with built in chargers and work well in Streamlights and other that require fairly short cells. Keep Power makes some too, but I haven't tried them in 18650 size.
 
JAS said:
Also, how do you tell when they are fully charged?
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Sorry, I slipped a bit and left off this part.

All the Li-ion cells I have w/ integral USB charging incorporate an LED indicator in the North end of the cell which clearly indicates 'Charging' and 'Charged', so you'll easily know what the status is.

As mentioned above, I've also had good results with Streamlight 18650s. They came with several of my lights, including that S-2020 I mentioned (which is used daily). BJ sells those too.

The usual fundamentals do apply, such as any length constraints, and some idea of the continuous current required by the light; with possible tradeoffs between the latter, and capacity.
 
Surefire has micro USB charged 18650s. They have lights at the top of the cell that indicate charging (red) and fully charged (green). I use them in several of my flashlights--Surefire and Maglite.
 
IMA SOL MAN said:
Surefire has micro USB charged 18650s. They have lights at the top of the cell that indicate charging (red) and fully charged (green). I use them in several of my flashlights--Surefire and Maglite.
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I'm interested in the Surefire batteries also. I would think quality is high, the company does have a reputation to protect.
 
I have been using some these in my Malkoff lights. $10.99 each from Illumination Supply.

18650 KeepPower P1832TC 3200mAh Protected Button Top (USB-C Charge Port) ​

69.5 mm long
 
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+

If you decide to go the type c port setup,, make sure your battery tube has lots of extra length.

On illumn the shortest is 69.5mm~72.00mm
THAT'S LONG for a 18650

Absolutely don't want to overly compress driver, battery, tail spring, etc....etc.
issues
 
According to the The Streamlight® SL-B26® protected Li-Ion USB rechargeable battery pack with integrated USB-C
charge port FACT SHEET the SL-B26 is 70mm long.
 
jonc2 said:
I'm interested in the Surefire batteries also. I would think quality is high, the company does have a reputation to protect.
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Bingo! You're one of the smartest people reading this thread. This is one of the most important factors to keep in mind when selecting lithium ion cells, and is also perhaps the most under appreciated / under valued factor by many here.

What do Streamlight, Surefire, Nitecore, and Fenix have in common in these recommendations? They each are long term, well established manufacturers with large and long term market presence in the U.S. market, experience / history with lithium ion cells, have high value 'names' and reputations to uphold and protect, and thus each undoubtedly do proper and due diligence when qualifying and selecting cells to put their name on. This is 'common sense', yet many people don't 'get it'. You obviously do;-)
 
aznsx said:
Bingo! You're one of the smartest people reading this thread. This is one of the most important factors to keep in mind when selecting lithium ion cells, and is also perhaps the most under appreciated / under valued factor by many here.

What do Streamlight, Surefire, Nitecore, and Fenix have in common in these recommendations? They each are long term, well established manufacturers with large and long term market presence in the U.S. market, experience / history with lithium ion cells, have high value 'names' and reputations to uphold and protect, and thus each undoubtedly do proper and due diligence when qualifying and selecting cells to put their name on. This is 'common sense', yet many people don't 'get it'. You obviously do;-)
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Thanks!

Looks like the Surefires 18650s are 69.4mm x 18.6mm and the KeepPower I get from Malkoff are 68.90mm x 18.60 mm.

So, with two Surefire batteries, that would add 1mm of length. I already run a spacer in the Malkoff for two protected batteries so this should be OK, maybe.
 
aznsx said:
What do Streamlight, Surefire, Nitecore, and Fenix have in common in these recommendations?
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Oops, I left one out....

For icing on that cake, they're also all PLATO members, generally adhere to ANSI FL-! specs, and list their compliant specs on their lights specifying exactly the type of cells used in their testing, which also are generally cells they provide &/or recommend the use of with their lighting products (per FL-1). It all goes together, and ties the performance of their lights to the performance of their cells, and is a further indicator of due diligence.
 
NotRegulated said:
According to the The Streamlight® SL-B26® protected Li-Ion USB rechargeable battery pack with integrated USB-C
charge port FACT SHEET the SL-B26 is 70mm long.
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There are a couple things to be careful here...

SL-B26 is available with either Micro USB (#220115) or USB-C (#220162). I don't know if they are still making the Micro USB version, but I have some with date codes from 2024 and there will definitely be retailers with old stock, so USB-C is not guaranteed.

SL-B26 is 2,600mAh, so you're probably going to want the SL-B34 with 3,500mAh instead.

SL-B34 is taller than SL-B26 and could potentially be a problem. Also, note the flat side of the button top (it's keyed to ensure correct orientation of the USB-C port in the MegaStream USB) which could reduce the area of the contact surface.

SF18650B is by far the shortest, but the button top is very flat and could potentially be a problem. For example, it does not make contact in the ProTac HP-X which uses the SL-B26.

Here is a comparison, from left to right: SL-B26, SL-B26, SL-B34, SF18650B...

1762163998619.png
 
Robin24k said:
There are a couple things to be careful here...

SL-B26 is available with either Micro USB (#220115) or USB-C (#220162). I don't know if they are still making the Micro USB version, but I have some with date codes from 2024 and there will definitely be retailers with old stock, so USB-C is not guaranteed.

SL-B26 is 2,600mAh, so you're probably going to want the SL-B34 with 3,500mAh instead.

SL-B34 is taller than SL-B26 and could potentially be a problem. Also, note the flat side of the button top (it's keyed to ensure correct orientation of the USB-C port in the MegaStream USB) which could reduce the area of the contact surface.

SF18650B is by far the shortest, but the button top is very flat and could potentially be a problem. For example, it does not make contact in the ProTac HP-X which uses the SL-B26.

Here is a comparison, from left to right: SL-B26, SL-B26, SL-B34, SF18650B...

View attachment 85888
Click to expand...
Great post. Very good details.

Streamlight is still sending MICRO USB SL-B26's packaged in new lights. I just received one in a PolyTac-X. My ProTac 2L-X Streamlight came with a USB-C SL-B26.

I don't think I will be buying Streamlight SL-B26's now. I have been purchasing KeepPower 18650's (P1835J 3500 mAh battery) for my Malkoff lights in the past and recently purchased their USB-C 18650 (P1832TC 3200mAh). They all work great in my Streamlights that take the SL-B26. The capacity is more as well. Both KeepPowers are slightly snugger in the PolyTac-X but fine in the ProTac 2L-X. The real beauty of these lights is they take 2xCR123's as well.
 
NotRegulated said:
Great post. Very good details.

Streamlight is still sending MICRO USB SL-B26's packaged in new lights. I just received one in a PolyTac-X. My ProTac 2L-X Streamlight came with a USB-C SL-B26.

I don't think I will be buying Streamlight SL-B26's now. I have been purchasing KeepPower 18650's (P1835J 3500 mAh battery) for my Malkoff lights in the past and recently purchased their USB-C 18650 (P1832TC 3200mAh). They all work great in my Streamlights that take the SL-B26. The capacity is more as well. Both KeepPowers are slightly snugger in the PolyTac-X but fine in the ProTac 2L-X. The real beauty of these lights is they take 2xCR123's as well.
Click to expand...

Those are 2 great 1x18650 lights! I have and dig both:-) Very good/smart choices!
 
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