Finally made the plunge to 18650.

[lilbigtom]

I've been lurking on here for a while, envious of all the gadgets that others are using because they're using Li-ion.
So, I put an order in to DX and with the attitude "it shows when it shows".
I got in a p7*1/18650, 2-18650 and a bike mount.
Wouldn't you know it, the charger go back ordered to a 2nd shipment.

One of the batteries showed 3.97 volts so I put it into the light and played with it some. Not sure if it was smart doing that before I had the chance to charge it up completely, but hey, I wanted to play with my new toy.

The 2nd battery is showing 0 volts.
I'm hoping that its just the protection circuit and it will take a charge once I get the charger in.

Any opinions on the weather this will charge or did I just get a dud from DX.

Tommy

 

[VidPro]

is fine to play with battery 55% charged. prefer to not fully discharge it while playing, which really means you still badly need a charger just to play.

the 0 one can be charged and tested, but it is very likly that if it didnt come 50% charged like they are supposed to be stored, that it has some sort of problem.
if you charge a 0 battery you do so in a very safe location, and assume that i can do 4th of july things

If it doesnt even start charging, then it is probably damaged, like it could have been damaged in shipping.

hope or not, that battery should be concidered SHMUCK JUNK CRAP, untill you fully prove otherwise, and even then it will probably BE crap soon, which can bite you. If i had received something like that, i would be doing a lot of testing before ever trusting it.

Ex; i would put it on the charge, and see if it lifted off of 0
if it does lift off 0, does it droop right back down again?
If it stablaises, then i put it out in the garage (you know with the gas and solvents and paint (duhh) and charge it
after it charges up then i park it safely somewhere, and test that the voltage doesnt droop.

and all that BS is only because it will take 2 weeks to get it back to china

and just to top off the whole thing, if they screwed up that one, now i gotta check the other one TOO .

 

[biker1]

I would stay with AW or Redialist cells, as they are very High Quality.
While every company can have a bad cell here and there (and with some cases, much more often than others ) ,AW has very view issues, if at all. I have never used Redialist cells, but there has been excellent feedback regarding their cells.
You can purchase AW cells from AW direct or the distributors in the USA.
Even though AW cells are slightly more in the US ($1.00 more), there is a quicker turn around time because I am located locally.

 

[lilbigtom]

Yeah, I knew it was going to be a crapshoot with the batteries but for the cost WTH. When I get serious about it and when I get a decent torch I plan on getting some "good" batteries. Kinda hard taking the plunge right off though and buying 1 good battery for more than the cost of 2 cheapo's.

Thanks
I thought putting an AW battery into a DX ultrafire would result in immediate :laughing:

 

[pae77]

I had a Trustfire I got from DX that registered 0 V initially but came right up to a reasonable 3.75 or so once I put it on the charger for a few seconds, which was a relief. Must have been something to do with the protection circuitry. I kept an eye on it for a while but it has been performing as well as my other batteries that came with the usual ~3.80 V initial charge.

If you do have a dud, just contact DX customer service. I've heard they are usually pretty good about just replacing items that are defective on arrival without requiring you to return the item to China.

My two Trustfire 18650's (red/black/flame) have been used daily and topped off daily for about 3 months now and are still doing fine, giving great runtime with no signs of any degraded performance yet. I'm really happy with them considering they cost less than $5 each shipped. Would definitely buy those again.

 

[lilbigtom]

I had a Trustfire I got from DX that registered 0 V initially but came right up to a reasonable 3.75 or so once I put it on the charger for a few seconds, which was a relief. Must have been something to do with the protection circuitry. I kept an eye on it for a while but it has been performing as well as my other batteries that came with the usual ~3.80 V initial charge.
Thats what I wanted to hear. But if mine doesn't, oh well. I've got the same ones. Now only if that stupid charger would show up. I'm just about ready to buy one outta the US somewhere. This waiting bites.

 

[deadrx7conv]

I just bought a couple AW 18650's and a WF-500 flashlight.
I will stick with the incan bulb until it burns out and then swap in the 5 mode ~1200lm 5xCree drop-in.

Since I go thru C and D sized batteries regularly, I'm hoping that the combo will last a year. I don't mind buying new rechargeable batteries yearly. Sure beats buying alkalines in bulk every month.

I also picked up 4 rcr123 rechargeable's for my smaller lights. These seem to be a definite smart move in place of cr123a disposable batteries.