Ultimate 18650?
- Thread starter rmorgan84
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SilverFox
Flashaholic
Hello Rmorgan,
Sanyo makes excellent 18650 cells, and Schulze makes high quality chargers.
Tom
Sanyo makes excellent 18650 cells, and Schulze makes high quality chargers.
Tom
michelkenny
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2008
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- 111
SilverFox
Flashaholic
Hello Rmorgan,
While I think the Sanyo cells qualify as best 18650 cells, they are not available to the general public. If you happen to own a battery manufacturing company and want to feature the highest quality laptop batter packs, you should consider going with the Sanyo cells.
Here is the data sheet on these cells. You will have to click on the .pdf file to view the data sheet.
If you enter "Schulze chargers" in to Google, you should find information on them. Here is the website for Schulze.
Tom
While I think the Sanyo cells qualify as best 18650 cells, they are not available to the general public. If you happen to own a battery manufacturing company and want to feature the highest quality laptop batter packs, you should consider going with the Sanyo cells.
Here is the data sheet on these cells. You will have to click on the .pdf file to view the data sheet.
If you enter "Schulze chargers" in to Google, you should find information on them. Here is the website for Schulze.
Tom
Tekno_Cowboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
+1 for the AW's. I've had good luck with my wolf-eyes cells too.
mdocod
Flashaholic
depends on your needs, for building a pack or using in a device that provides automatic low-voltage cutoff, a bare cell from Sanyo or LG or Varta or Sony or Emoli or Panisonic are all rock solid options, if you are using it in most flashlight applications, it would be wise to select a breed of cell that comes with protection circuits built in. I think the Pila 600P may represent one of the highest quality options available at this time.
As far as protected 18650 cells for use in lights, it's tough to beat AW.
Normally, I'd never use Made in China cells of any type. But AW is the huge exception to that rule. My 18650 AW cells have never let me down.
You can also find them at Lighthound.com
(On a personal note, I really like the fact that the Hound takes money orders as well as more sophisticated methods of payment).
Normally, I'd never use Made in China cells of any type. But AW is the huge exception to that rule. My 18650 AW cells have never let me down.
You can also find them at Lighthound.com
(On a personal note, I really like the fact that the Hound takes money orders as well as more sophisticated methods of payment).
Having taken old and new AW cells & Pilas apart with photos, I am equally confident in AW's current PCB & protective ring design as Pila. My thread shows pix of both versions taken apart.
To OP: I agree it depends on what your intended use for the 18650. If you don't need protected, and want high current output, none of the above mentioned brands will work except Emoli, Konion, or A123 brands of safe chemistry Lithium Ion cells.
Regarding chargers, it also depends on what is your intended use. It is silly to spend big bucks for a Schultze, Triton, Hyperion + power supply if all you are charging is a few 18650 cells. In that case I would just use a Pila IBC charger.
nzgunnie
Enlightened
My suggestion is the AW cells. They are very good, for what you will be using them for they will be great. You do not need the worlds fanciest charger either.
The highest rated protected 18650 I've found are these (2600mAh):
http://www.batteryjunction.com/2600pcb-18650.html
I'd like to know how they compare to AW's 2200mAh cells in terms of actual capacity and safety features etc. One thing I would say about AWs cells is that a lot of people on CPF use them so they are known to be safe.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/2600pcb-18650.html
I'd like to know how they compare to AW's 2200mAh cells in terms of actual capacity and safety features etc. One thing I would say about AWs cells is that a lot of people on CPF use them so they are known to be safe.
They are heavily overrated http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2454394&postcount=8
I was expecting something describing a horrific failure of several AW 18650 cells, when I clicked on the link. How are they heavily overrated? True, their capacity is less than that of some other 18650 cells, but AW cells are known for their reliability. Mine have never let me down. Can't say the same for the two Ultrafire 18650s I bought that ended up in the trash because they worked like crap. (To be fair, I use an Ultrafire charger for my AW cells).
