Cheap 18650 LiIon update

[Fallingwater]

I haven't been keeping up to date with the latest cells and brands. The last time I checked, the situation was:
AW - best ever, expensive
Trustfire - cheap, surprisingly good considering the price
Ultrafire & the rest on DX - cheap, not very good

Is the situation still like that, or has it changed? I'm in need of more 18650s and about to order a few more Trustfires, but I'd like to be sure they're still in the "surprisingly good" category.

 

[csshih]

hmm.. don't forget solarforce and eagletac cells. they're decent I think.

anyone use wolf eyes cells?

 

[rizky_p]

yeah pretty much the same. i have done Trustfire 2400 (black) discharge graph they are really good, really close to Sanyo 18650 cells in capacity.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=245923

I haven't been keeping up to date with the latest cells and brands. The last time I checked, the situation was:
AW - best ever, expensive
Trustfire - cheap, surprisingly good considering the price
Ultrafire & the rest on DX - cheap, not very good

Is the situation still like that, or has it changed? I'm in need of more 18650s and about to order a few more Trustfires, but I'd like to be sure they're still in the "surprisingly good" category.

 

[giacominos]

take a look at this http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=235025. a little test between nine batteries

 

[shark_za]

I don't have anything to measure the capacity but my Solarforce protected 18650's are working really well in my lights.

Listed as 2400mAh on the packaging but even if they were only 2200mAh they are excellent.
Protection works well and I have had no trouble charging or running them down to protection.

 

[Fallingwater]

Has anyone tested the cheaper grey Trustfires (SKU 19770)? I'm planning to order a good few, the 30% price difference would be nice to save. BTW, I don't need protection.

 

[wshyang]

Has anyone tested the cheaper grey Trustfires (SKU 19770)? I'm planning to order a good few, the 30% price difference would be nice to save. BTW, I don't need protection.

Has anyone tried this SKU? I too am curious what's the difference between this and the other blue!

 

[pabcor]

Simple
Cheap cells: Trustfire 3000
Expensive cells: Enerpower+ 3100

 

[RedForest UK]

Well not that simple, Trustfire 3000s can be a little unreliable in quality depending on source. Cheapest decent cells is a question still up for debate with Trustfire flames (only genuine ones though, lots of fakes now even from big sellers) probably still near the best.

For expensive/top quality the best cells out there are the Panasonic 3100 cell and a few others e.g. Sanyo 2600 Samsung 2800/3000 etc. Many sellers add protection to these and sell them as their own brand, you really need to look for the cheapest seller of a battery that is confirmed to use this cell and which has a decent PCM attached too, I recommend Keeppower 3100mah (as long as they stay cheapest) but Eagletac are also good value as are intl-outdoor and a few other sellers. Bear in mind that the best 18650 cell out there is only around $7 unit price as a bare cell in decent quantities so to pay over $15 for any 18650 is never really necessary and prices above that in countries where taxes don't add much extra means you are probably just paying extra for the name and not just the quality of the product. Keeppower are top quality and do OEM for some other reputable sellers.

For overall best value/quality I recommend Protected Panasonic 2900mah cells from ebay in clear shrink wrap for around $7.50 a cell. Or possibly Xtar 2600mah/Sanyo 2600 with PCM if you can find them for around $6.50 a cell, or the HiMax 2600s if you can get them under $6 a cell which you can in the US from ebay.

 

[lwknight]

Here's my update:
Out of 4 Ultrafire 3100mah batteries 2 have crapped out.
One just totally died for no reason and the other would not reset the PCB
with the resting voltage at 3.65 volts. I removed the pcb and saved the battery.
The first was a total DOA.

I almost forgot. All of the UF3100 have less than 1/2 the run time of any other battery that I have.
I have UF 1600mah 18500s that run my Olight M-30 longer than the UF3100s
I say stay away from this UF3100.

 

[RedForest UK]

Well yes, no Ultrafire with a claim over 2500mah has been anywhere near it's rated capacity afaik, the higher the claim, the worse the actual capacity.