What's the difference between AW regular and IMR?

[TDKKP]

The prices for IMR is cheaper and less capacity but I've seen people recommended IMR over regular protected, what're the benefits?

 

[ptolemy]

There are several
1. normal AW maxes around 4-5amps while IMR can get to at least 10
2. normal AW 2600 and now 2900mah while IMR only 1500-1600mah
3. normal AW protected while imr is not (i could be wrong)

there are few others but I am not confident enough to mention them.

Benefits on IMR is it can tolerate/draw much higher current. For example: directly driven, IMR may pull 4amps while normal only 3.5amps...for SST thats a good difference

 

[jellydonut]

Black labels are lithium cobalt chemistry while IMRs are lithium manganese.

In addition to the above IMR is not protected because it does not need a protection circuit - LiMn is a safer chemistry than LiCo. People tend to use LiMn's for high current draw incandescents and large LED setups.

So basically, LiMn vs. LiCo:

+LiMn is safer, does not need protection circuits
+LiMn can withstand higher current draws without danger of exploding/etc, there's also no protection circuit to trip

-LiMn has lower capacity than LiCo.

 

[45/70]

In addition to the above IMR is not protected because it does not need a protection circuit - LiMn is a safer chemistry than LiCo.

Just want to point out that while LiMn cells (IMR) don't necessarily require a protection circuit to be safe (they can still "vent" under certain circumstances), the cells will be damaged if run down to a low voltage, just as other Li-Ion chemistries.

As Jelly pointed out, "LiMn is a safer chemistry". They still require monitoring to ensure safety (but to a much lesser extent), as well as to maintain the cells in good health.

Dave