what's the best 18650 battery

[jasonsmaglites]

i'm about to buy a charger for my ultrafire 2400 mah 18650 and since i got two more lights on the way i wanna pick up two more batteries. is ultrafire from dx the way to go. or is there a brand that really puts out what it is rated for a decent price. i really want to get all the runtime my flashlights can give me. plus i got a p7 18650 on the way so i really need my mah!

what battery should i get and where should i buy it.
this is what i have now
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1213

 

[jasonsmaglites]

also i would love to be able to test my 14500/10440/18650/rc123a cells to see if i have a couple dead cells. is there a charger that does that like there are for aa's. or even just some kind of tester.

 

[ronemca]

also i would love to be able to test my 14500/10440/18650/rc123a cells to see if i have a couple dead cells. is there a charger that does that like there are for aa's. or even just some kind of tester.

Have a look at a 'ZTS MBT-1'.

 

[VidPro]

well the "best" li-ions are the saft, followed by the LG cell followed by the sony.
but they dont sell them with protection curcuits normally. so that leaves you with PILA & AW and Trustfire and Ultrafire. all relative in quality to the price you pay for them (in the long term)

 

[VidPro]

also i would love to be able to test my 14500/10440/18650/rc123a cells to see if i have a couple dead cells. is there a charger that does that like there are for aa's. or even just some kind of tester.

charge them test with a voltmeter, then discharge with some "known" like a bulb , or a resister, or a lights head (keeping it cool) or a resistered led, or a 100$ CBA.
then of course dont discharge them to low when testing.

 

[MattK]

well the "best" li-ions are the saft, followed by the LG cell followed by the sony.
but they dont sell them with protection curcuits normally. so that leaves you with PILA & AW and Trustfire and Ultrafire. all relative in quality to the price you pay for them (in the long term)

Hmm, I'd put Sanyo, Panasonic, Samsung and Moli right up at the top too...disasters not withstanding most indutry experts I've talked to would place the Sony over the LG but many ppl are scared to put Sony's inside these days because of the past issues...

Also, don't forget the Tenergy protected 18650's.

 

[LEDninja]

i bought Ultrafires and Trustfires (along with my MTE P7).
Then I started reading (wrong order, I know).
Ultrafires do not have the rated capacity (saw a post claiming they were only 1400mAH).
Trustfires (blue) have funny low voltage protection (if the battery is below 2.75V it will not start up but if already running will run itself down to zero).
Do not know if these are isolated cases or a brand problem.
Trustfire gray seem to have the highest capacity.
AW seem to have the best quality but I do not have paypal so PITA to buy direct. Fenix store is out and Lighthound charges too much for international shipping.

 

[picrthis]

well the "best" li-ions are the saft, followed by the LG cell followed by the sony.
but they dont sell them with protection curcuits normally. so that leaves you with PILA & AW and Trustfire and Ultrafire. all relative in quality to the price you pay for them (in the long term)

Who sells "saft" ? I'm currently in the market for some high quality 18650 2600mah, no tabs, not protected; currently I can't find any. I was thinking of Sanyo or LG, but can't find them online.

 

[Illum]

SAFT [pronounced Safe-T] are French made lithium thionyl chloride cells
note the signature green on white label: http://www.atbatt.com/product/6710.asp
SAFT doesn't make the "industrial Lithium" we are so familiar with, that includes 17670, 18650, and so forth.
All I can find was the standard Alkaline Sizes with the exception of the cr123A
http://www.fedcobattery.com/view.cfm/Lithium-Cells/All-vendor/Saft-Lithium
IIRC SAFT cells are single use cells, non-rechargeable primaries:candle:

 

[picrthis]

Thanks, then I have NO idea why somebody would recommend them when the subject of this thread is 18650 cells, Geezz.

 

[MattK]

Saft makes li-ion cells too - I've never seen, nor looked for 18650 size saft li-ion cells but would not be surprised if they offer them...of course if they did they'd cost about $1B each

A while back I got a quote for D sized li-ion cells and they were like $60 each.

picrthis - because of the hazards of working with raw li-ion cells pretty much all of the top major mfr's carefully control the product and only sell them to certified assemblers who have credentialled personnel. For example we're a Panasonic distributor but we cannot buy/sell Panasonic Li-Ion cells; to do so we'd have to send personell to get certified and IIRC they would visit our facility to make sure we're properly equipped. If we did all that and then openly sold raw cells they would stop selling us the product - pretty much all of the mfrs work like this.

We used to be able to buy LG cells but the demand for those has been so great that LG has cut off all of it's small (<1MM ) customers in order to better meet the demands of major buyers/assemblers. We have been forced to turn down numerous high value opportunities of late simply because we cannot consistently source ANY of the 'premium' 18650's. We used to supply a number of small OEM's, assemblers and universities/govt agencies with these types of cells but have been largely unable to do so for nearly a year.

 

[picrthis]

Thanks for the reply, actually I have found many that sell them, but are out of stock right now; I already purchased some of these in the past, so it's never been a problem. In fact I can easily purchase right now LG or Sanyo but I have to buy a case of 100; I could easily have them by Monday, but I don't have a need for that many.

It makes no sense they won't sell for use in flashlights, etc I could understand IF we are talking about buying them with tabs to solder them together in packs, but that's not what I posted I wanted to do.

However when it comes to the ones with tabs, both LG & Sanyo are in-stock and ready to be shipped, I confirmed that with 3 dealers yesterday, who told me they could overnight ether one of those brands if I wanted the ones with tabs, otherwise I'll have to wait a few weeks.

I guess I'll just want until my favorite dealers get them back in-stock again and continue purchasing them like I have done for years now. I do realize there was a fire @ the LG factory, but there still has to be dealers and distributors that have them and also Sanyo, Samsung, Sony, etc still in-stock.

I'll keep looking around, I'll find them; just thought somebody would know who has some in-stock right now, that all; it's NEVER been an issue buying them, period.

 

[MattK]

I'd sure like to know where you're finding them available if you want to send an email or PM.

 

[coors]

http://www.fedcobattery.com/view.cfm/Lithium-Cells/All-vendor/Saft-Lithium
IIRC SAFT cells are single use cells, non-rechargeable primaries:candle:

I don't understand the IIIRC comment. Are all of these SAFT cells IIRC/primary cells?..or just the 3.0v cells. I can't see where the term IIRC is used on the provided link page. Also, if the 3.6v cells are rechargable...will the 14500, 2/3AA and 1/2AA sizes recharge on a normal Li-Ion recharger?

coors

 

[picrthis]

I finally found a dealer that has a small quantity available, I've got a few LG & Samsung 2600mah's on the way to me which takes care of my needs.

Mattk:

If you like I might be able to work out a deal if your looking for large quantities of these. I can get them 100 at a time, but the best price break would be 1,000 at a time, and if you can wait for LG to re-open their factory the price will drop on these again; right now they are being a little greedy because of supply & demand, with LG being offline due to the fire.

 

[MattK]

I don't understand the IIIRC comment. Are all of these SAFT cells IIRC/primary cells?..or just the 3.0v cells. I can't see where the term IIRC is used on the provided link page. Also, if the 3.6v cells are rechargable...will the 14500, 2/3AA and 1/2AA sizes recharge on a normal Li-Ion recharger?

coors

IIRC = If I recall correctly, what he meant is that he though Saft just made primary cells which is not the case. They Make Li-Ion cells, NiMh, Nicd, etc...the Saft 14500 /23AA etc you'll see for sale commonly are NOT rechargeable cells, they are primary cells.

I finally found a dealer that has a small quantity available, I've got a few LG & Samsung 2600mah's on the way to me which takes care of my needs.

Mattk:

If you like I might be able to work out a deal if your looking for large quantities of these. I can get them 100 at a time, but the best price break would be 1,000 at a time, and if you can wait for LG to re-open their factory the price will drop on these again; right now they are being a little greedy because of supply & demand, with LG being offline due to the fire.

Thanks but we buy directly from LG once they have production capacity again. We buy considerably more than 1K at a time. I can get small quantities as well but unless I can get thousands it won't begin to meet our needs.

 

[LuxLuthor]

IMHO, in terms of rechargeable....A123 are the best designed and can be the most abused if you have a proper charger, and can work out the voltage and lower mAh. Next best I would say are Emoli. Both described in this thread with pix.

As single cells, my 3rd choice would be AW's protected Lithium cobalt Ion cells.

After that, in unprotected cells, I would say Sanyo/Samsung. I would not want primary Lithium in 18650.

 

[LEDninja]

IMHO, in terms of rechargeable....A123 are the best designed and can be the most abused if you have a proper charger, and can work out the voltage and lower mAh. Next best I would say are Emoli. Both described in this thread with pix.

As single cells, my 3rd choice would be AW's protected Lithium cobalt Ion cells.

After that, in unprotected cells, I would say Samsung. I would not want primary Lithium in 18650.

I think the OP has a DD SSC P7 light in the mail. LiFePO4 at 3V will not drive a P7 at the rated 3.6V/2.8A without a proper boost circuit.
It will have to be choice #3 from AW
- Protected 18650 ( 2200mAH ) ---- $12.00 each *Upgraded New *Button Top Cell
***All the above protected cells have Anti-explosion Vent / PTC ( mechanical thermal protection ) in addition to the electronic PCB protection.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=177100

 

[LEDite]

My ratings from using about 500 #18650 cells would be:


1. Sanyo -ahead of the pack

2. Panasonic - solid performers

3. Sony - good cells but too sensitive to overload

Samsung are about half as reliable.

Chinese are about 25% as reliable.

Larry