18650 Recommendation

Hello! I'm a longtime reader, but infrequent poster. I just purchased a Jetbeam Jet-III M to replace by existing EDC, a Fenix P3D-CE. I'm probably going to get a Zebralight H60 headlamp soon too. I'm a newbie to the world of 18650 batteries. I've seen posts about some lights having problems fitting some 18650 batteries. I saw a 3000 mAh protected 18650, which is appealing becuase of the protection, and larger capacity. Any thoughts or recommendations? What about chargers? Thanks!

Somewhere I read a review of several 18650 (can`t find it)...the Eagletac was the only one that the protection worked as it should. Size wise...no clue. I have a newer 139 charger that seems to work perfect...but it`s not well loved around here...there were some reports the older one`s might overcharge.

Get some AW 18650's, protected. Propably the best you can get.

might want to look over the threads in the batteries forum?


:welcome:

Badbeams3 said:

Somewhere I read a review of several 18650 (can`t find it)...the Eagletac was the only one that the protection worked as it should.

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Probably it was Mev's shootout.

Badbeams3 said:

I have a newer 139 charger that seems to work perfect...but it`s not well loved around here...there were some reports the older one`s might overcharge.

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The newer wf-139 AFAIK can also overcharge - it trickle charges the cells.

This should be in the batteries section. As far as cells go, the ultrafire may be fine, but I personally stick with the trustfire blue and black cells (2500 Mah and 2400 Mah). For a charger the PILA IBC is probably the best non hobby charger you can get, but it is about $50.

It seems that you don't want to put your batteries in the charger and then forget about them for a long time. It's best to charge them when you can attend to them and remove them from the charger once they are charged. Of course unforseen things can happen to pull you away while your batteries are charging and that's where the trouble lies.
I'm thinking of getting the Ultrafire 3000's. It looks like AW's are not all they're cracked up to be.

Hi John4
The 3000mah Ultrafire a very tight fit in my Jetbeam3.
I've also had 1 of them die after only a few charge cycles. I've never had any problems with AW's.

Pila all the way....lights, chargers, batteries

Read the guide in my signature. Also, the 3000Mah cells cannot deliver as much current at the end of the discharge curve. Your light drops out of regulation sooner than with lower capacity cells, altough you do get longer light overall with LED lights.

The safest plug-and-charge combo is AW cells and a pila IBC charger, without a doubt.

John4 said:

Hello! I'm a longtime reader, but infrequent poster. I just purchased a Jetbeam Jet-III M to replace by existing EDC, a Fenix P3D-CE. I'm probably going to get a Zebralight H60 headlamp soon too. I'm a newbie to the world of 18650 batteries. I've seen posts about some lights having problems fitting some 18650 batteries. I saw a 3000 mAh protected 18650, which is appealing becuase of the protection, and larger capacity. Any thoughts or recommendations? What about chargers? Thanks!

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John: Size for size, 18650 have more power and last longer.
That is why more people are migrating to 18650's. As for which light is best foryou, that depends on what you are gonna use it for. Of that you will need to read the specifics that each light has. Some are excellent for close/flood others are for long range or any combination of both. The zebra is excellent for close/flood. I myself just brought a, MG L-Mini II. It has 250 lumen,3 mode and uses 1x18650 and I got the optional turbohead. Now this light is very small and has plenty of light. Time wise, 1x18650's last much longer, than say a 2x123. Chargers, the one to get is Pila, $45 and has 4 stage charge for a faster charge and works very well.

Mjolnir said:

This should be in the batteries section. As far as cells go, the ultrafire may be fine, but I personally stick with the trustfire blue and black cells (2500 Mah and 2400 Mah). For a charger the PILA IBC is probably the best non hobby charger you can get, but it is about $50.

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What is a "hobby" charger?

For R2/Q5 , almost any 18650 will be fine as long as your happy with the capacity . If you want protected batteries , then there are lots to chose from .

Yeah , AW - will be recommended since you asked .

Hobby chargers are usually used for things such as RC vehicles and other hobbies that usually require battery packs. I don't know much about them, but I know that good ones are normally more than $100. They usually use charging leads, since they often are used to charge packs, instead of separate cells.

Regarding "Hobby" chargers. The RC folks have been using ultra-fast rate pack chargers for years. Depending on the class the cars / planes use from 2 to 6 or 8 cells. Typically the owner has 3 or 4 packs on hand. They can recharge a pack in about 1/2 hr or less depending on size. They also use gel ice packs and fans to cool the packs during charging. They "fast" charging since most races last less than 2 minutes. Ideally they like to pack to drain shortly after crossing the finish line...

LightScene said:

I'm thinking of getting the Ultrafire 3000's. It looks like AW's are not all they're cracked up to be.

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Actually it is the Ultrafire 3000 that are not cracked up to be as they suck with high draw flashlights.

Yeah get the AW's... I have a Ultrafire 3000... and i DON'T use it...

The negative terminal isn't flat either, it's on an angle.

:thumbsdow

I got it for free with my Jet-III Military though, so I'm not to dirty

Get AWs if you have the money. If you're on a budget, the Trustfires aren't bad. Just don't get unprotected cells or the gray 2400mah ones. The gray ones used to be good, but now they're apparently only 2/3 their rated capacity.

For a charger, get the Pila IBC if you can justify spending $40 on a cradle charger. Personally, I would get a cheap hobby charger like the Turnigy Accucel 6 for about $10 more, but that's my opinion. I have one of DX's sku.6105 which follows the charge algorithm perfectly (credit to my DMM), but with DX, things tend to change and many times they get worse. But it's only $8...