Are AW's and a Pilla IBC the "go to" charger/battery set?

After having some trustfire batteries for over a year and never using them (out of fear) I've decided to invest in a good charger and 18650 batteries.

From my reading, the pilla ibc and some aw's are a great (the best?) combination. Are there any others to consider? how about redilast or solarforce?

thanks a lot!

I have had the Pila and AW, no issues. I also charge my UF 18650 with it, definatly more consistent than the no-name wall charger I got with the UF's. I won't use the UF in multiple battery lights, they are ok in single cell applications.

I would say the "go to" batteries are AW, Redilast, Callie's Kustoms, and the "go to" chargers are Pila, 4sevens, Cottonpickers

llmercll said:

After having some trustfire batteries for over a year and never using them (out of fear) I've decided to invest in a good charger and 18650 batteries.

From my reading, the pilla ibc and some aw's are a great (the best?) combination. Are there any others to consider? how about redilast or solarforce?

thanks a lot!

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I've been reading here for a good two weeks. Picked up a LC BC-700 and MaHa C9000 10 days back. Now I'm mulling over getting a Pila IBC and the AW 18650s and not ****ing with the CR-123s, as I now have to 'sport' for my own replacement 123s in my ADT system and I use 10, even though they last long. I might try and save on the light batteries, by doing rechargeables. I don't use my lights much, so that's the flip side of the coin, but it's more of a longer term investment, I'd imagine, for me.

It does seem that the Pila is the Rolls-Royce of the 18650 type chargers in that 'under $50' category. It also appears from my research, that the protected AW 18650s are also the way to go.

I'm no expert by any means, but I read pretty well and I've done a lot of reading on this board, in particular and that's the route I'm going to go if I proceed down that path.

There's a saying...'buy right, buy once, cry once'.

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

I've been reading here for a good two weeks. Picked up a LC BC-700 and MaHa C9000 10 days back. Now I'm mulling over getting a Pila IBC and the AW 18650s and not ****ing with the CR-123s, as I now have to 'sport' for my own replacement 123s in my ADT system and I use 10, even though they last long. I might try and save on the light batteries, by doing rechargeables. I don't use my lights much, so that's the flip side of the coin, but it's more of a longer term investment, I'd imagine, for me.

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Hmmm, my ADT system takes a single CR123 at each sensor, so an 18650 won't fit. A 16340 *will* fit, but I doubt very much those sensors can take 4.2V, and I'd rather not fry them. So far, the CR123s are lasting soooooo insanely long in each sensor, that I'm not sweating it at all -- in fact, I'm pretty sure it's *much* cheaper to run CR123s than 16340s (not to mention zillions of times easier, given no battery changes in something like 8 years), since I might go through multiple 16340s just based on time-based degradation alone.

Joe Talmadge said:

Hmmm, my ADT system takes a single CR123 at each sensor, so an 18650 won't fit. A 16340 *will* fit, but I doubt very much those sensors can take 4.2V, and I'd rather not fry them. So far, the CR123s are lasting soooooo insanely long in each sensor, that I'm not sweating it at all -- in fact, I'm pretty sure it's *much* cheaper to run CR123s than 16340s (not to mention zillions of times easier, given no battery changes in something like 8 years), since I might go through multiple 16340s just based on time-based degradation alone.

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Yes, they're single cell in the 4 sensors, but I have a smoke alarm, flame alarm (kitchen) and a motion detector which all take 2 cells, I believe.

My point is is while the cells do last long, I've had sensors go bad eating 2-3 in 3 months, before I figured out what was up and called the guy. Also, they need to be a solid ~3.2v otherwise they'll fault, or even false alarm. 3.0v is a knock on the door by the Po-Po, if you're away.

I know an 18650 won't fit and I would never try the rechargeable 123s in them. I was commenting on whether I should be using the 18650s in the 2 lights I currently have and saving the primaries for the alarm system and my P1D. I'm not made of money and I try and be frugal and look at things pragmatically.

Plus, if you think about it, there are a lot of batteries we need to keep on hand and I don't mean at 'hoarding' levels either. Things add up and I'd love to be able to go out and drop some coin on a 'gross' of Duracell Ultra 123s, but I can't afford to do that.

I haven't priced out a pair of AW 18650s yet, but I can get a Pila IBC for $57 shipped. Basically, that's 28 nice 123s and that's where the 'cost/benefit analysis' somes into play for me. I doubt I'll be cycling the AWs all that often, so lifespan shouldn't be a major concern, I wouldn't think?

I know it's somewhat 'anal', but hey...it's an anal hobby!

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

I know an 18650 won't fit and I would never try the rechargeable 123s in them. I was commenting on whether I should be using the 18650s in the 2 lights I currently have and saving the primaries for the alarm system and my P1D. I'm not made of money and I try and be frugal and look at things pragmatically.

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Ah, I totally misread your post, my bad. That makes sense, if the lights you have will run on 18650s.

I doubt I'll be cycling the AWs all that often, so lifespan shouldn't be a major concern, I wouldn't think?

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Li Ion batteries aren't like, say, LSD NiMh batteries, which can last for many years if cared for correctly. Li Ion batteries degrade over time, even if they're not cycled much. They'll have degraded performance in a few years even if you haven't cycled them much and otherwise handled & stored them perfectly.

Chris - I am not a mod, but could you please watch your language on this forum as it is designed to be a family friendly forum. It would be appropriate to modify the language you use in Post 4.

Oh - and in regards to your query on CR123s I would suggest you check out some of the quality online stores like lighthound.com or batteryjunction.com. You will find that you can get CR123 batteries for under $20 a dozen. I would recommend you look at the Rayovacs as they have a great price point. I have been using them in medium powered flashlights for over a year now and they are no better or worse than Surefire, Energizer or Duracell which you will pay out the nose for.

Joe Talmadge said:

Ah, I totally misread your post, my bad. That makes sense, if the lights you have will run on 18650s.



Li Ion batteries aren't like, say, LSD NiMh batteries, which can last for many years if cared for correctly. Li Ion batteries degrade over time, even if they're not cycled much. They'll have degraded performance in a few years even if you haven't cycled them much and otherwise handled & stored them perfectly.

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Thanks Joe,

As far as the Li Ion batteries still degrading over time, then these aren't really for me. I'm better off just buying the primaries and using them, as my lights sit mostly. I wouldn't be using them any more, not substantially at least, with an 18650 in each, so back to the cost/benefit analysis and whether it makes sense for me, which is now seeming less likely.

I've got a JetBeam BA20 coming this week and that uses AAs, so with all of these Eneloops, Sanyo 2700s, Accupower 2900s I recently got, I'll play with that light more often, lol.

Thanks for that tidbit on the Li Ion not holding up as long as something like an Eneloop. I guess I was thinking one could go 1000-1500 cycles on them as well.

Chris

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond said:

Oh - and in regards to your query on CR123s I would suggest you check out some of the quality online stores like lighthound.com or batteryjunction.com. You will find that you can get CR123 batteries for under $20 a dozen. I would recommend you look at the Rayovacs as they have a great price point. I have been using them in medium powered flashlights for over a year now and they are no better or worse than Surefire, Energizer or Duracell which you will pay out the nose for.

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I edited my post for you and I guess I'll watch my Ps and Qs more closely going forward.

I've been looking at a lot of online vendors and picked up 10 Pannie (2021) from a vendor on Ebay for $18.45 shipped and they're all are in the ~3.217v range, so I can't complain. I've read the shootouts and tried to make sense of what to get. There is a top tier, but there is no consensus on a #1, as things vary depending on load, from what I can tell.

Going back before this buying binge, I've had some Sanyos, some Duracell Ultras and some Surefires, which are made by either Pannie, or Duracell, I believe, so I'm not totally ignorant on what's what. ADT mostly uses the Chinese TekCels, so I even have some of these, still.

When the ADT guy came out last week and cut me off free 'free batteries' (they'd always leave me a few to do it myself) I started thinking about the Li Ion as a way to save going forward, but the charger and a couple of AWs are going to be close to $90-$100 and well...that buys a lot of pimpy primaries with their ~10 year shelf life.

I'll look into the Rayovacs, so thanks for the tip.

Later, Chris

I've also been reading about the Xtar WP2 II. Would you guys consider that a strong contender with the pilla? Worth the price difference for a casual user?

Pila chargers. Redilast, AW, and Callie's Kustom 18650s. You can't go wrong there.

Should I go with IMR or NNP AW's? Or maybe callies kustoms, their prices are great...

I'm seriously considering the XTAR charger, being that it's less than half the price of the pilla. Does the pilla offer any real advantage?

llmercll said:

Should I go with IMR or NNP AW's? Or maybe callies kustoms, their prices are great...

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Regarding battery chemistries, my algorithm is:

Always go with protected LiCo, unless:
1. the current draw of the light is too much for LiCo, then go with IMR (e.g., some of the 400+ lumen single-RCR lights). *or*
2. the light itself has overdischarge protection

Thanks for the help everyone. I've decided to go with the Xtar WP2 II charger and some Protected LiCo AW's. I don't think the pilla is worth paying 3x as much for an occasional user like myself =p