Battery Recommendation For ArmyTek Predator?

Howdy!

I just posted a similar request over in the Market Place but, like they say, it pays to advertise. So, here's my dilemma.

Yesterday I cancelled my 2 week old order with ZebraLight for a new SC600 Mk II (I already own the MK I) and opted instead for an ArmyTek Predator v.2 XP-G2. I am attempting to find out which 18650 battery would produce the optimum performance from that flashlight?

I have always used AW 18650's and had intended to do so with the new Predator. That is until I read a very good review that mentioned a compatibility issue between AW batteries and the tail-cap on the Predator. It seems that those 3 little bumps on the negative end of the AW's cause the tail-cap contact, which is attached to a spring, to do some ungodly mojo inside the of the tail-cap, thus causing damage to the battery.

Hence my dilemma! I would love to hear from someone who has had a personal experience with the Predator. But it's not a must. Anyone...Please! What is the best 18650 cell to use in this light? Protected or unprotected? 3100 mAh? 3400 mAh?

Cheers and thanks in advance!

Would always go for protected. And would recommend you the Eagletac 18650 battery.

kj2 said:

Would always go for protected. And would recommend you the Eagletac 18650 battery.

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Thanks for your recommendation, kj2! And thank you CPF for indulging yet another battery question from a confused and somewhat intimated newbie to the whole Li-ion science.

Last night and into the wee-small this morning I pored over tens of thousands of words which ultimately led to more confusion than ever. Upon awakening today I simply Googled "Best Panasonic Protected 18650 3100mAh Battery." This is what I ordered from an eBay seller with a 100% rep and literally 100's of these sold: TWO PROTECTED PANASONIC 18650 3100mAh Li-ion Battery Cells ORBTRONIC 3100 PCB

So now I'll relax and wait for the batteries and the new Armytek Predator to arrive. I think I should be in good shape with my choice of batteries? I'll keep y'all posted on how it all works out. I hope you old timers who have years of experience under your belts can appreciate what a daunting prospect it is to educate ones' self with the Li-ion chemistry. For me this came down to finding a good substitute for a known quantity, which was AW's 18650's. That's all I had ever used. So to discover that there would be a compatibility issue with my new light -- it threw me for a loop!


Thanks for indulging me, CPF!!!

Yeah the Panasonics should be fine. I suspect that most 3100mah Li-Ions are rebranded Panasonics anyway, but that's just my suspicion not confirmation. Also, be sure to check out the Battery sub-forum for lots of good Li-Ion info.

For instance, here's a good thread that you could use based on the electrical characteristics of your light to see how certain batteries do under different currents: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?330236-2012-Battery-test-review-summary

Had to google for a while to find that unfortunately.

sdr said:

Howdy!I just posted a similar request over in the Market Place but, like they say, it pays to advertise. So, here's my dilemma.

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Please see rule #9. Double and cross posting


DO NOT post the same thread more than once anywhere on the board. DO NOT post a thread whose sole purpose is to link to or refer to another thread on the board, whether it is yours or someone else's. You may look at this as just a few k's of text bandwidth but if everyone does it, we're back to total disorder as to where topics are. Not to mention completely skewing searches. And those "few k's of text" really do add up! Double and cross posting will be edited and/or deleted by the moderators and administrators.

Norm

Thanks for pointing this out to me, Norm. Since I have different post counts on these two forums I didn't realize that I was violating any rules. It won't happen again.