Best 18650 battery for Fenix PD35

Dear CPF'ers,

First, thank you for all the great information on this page. I have recently purchased the PD35, which is fantastic. I plan to use it over the next year while travelling around Asia and the Middle East.

I like that the light takes the CR123s, as I have a SteriPen for water purification that also uses these batteries. However, it seems that 18650 are the better battery.

I bought this cheap combo on Amazon as I wanted to have a charger that is as portable as possible. The Nitecore charger is nice, but just too big for me. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A34SANW/?tag=cpf0b6-20


I realize that a protected battery is the better route, so I was going to keep the included ultrafire battery as a backup and also purchase a protected EagleTac 3400. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AYLA5UU/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Is it okay for me to charge the EagleTac in this cheapo charger? Will it harm the light? Is this the best battery available? I don't want to sacrifice any lumens.


thank you

I have never seen a review of this charger but when it comes batteries, it's usually best to stay away from all "whatever"fire brands.

If you want something portable, check out reviews for the Xtar SP1 or MC1 charger. Xtar seem to be making good chargers at affordable prices.

The Eagletac 18650 3400 is by all accounts a good battery. I own two and the only problem I had is that the wrapping is coming off. Not sure if a coincidence or just something that happened to me - haven't seen other people reporting the same issue.

Panasonic 3400 cell.

If I was travelling and taking an 18650 light with me, I'd take the AW IMR 2200's with me. You have a charger with you so I'd choose safety over capacity.

I have a Eagletac 3100mAh. Panasonic re-wrapped I guess.

They have 3400 cells, but I don't know if they are as proven as the 3100's. Most likely they are though so get either the 3100 or 3400 cells.

+1 on the Panasonic 3400's. Not cheap, but best batteries to date that I own.

roadkill1109 said:

Panasonic 3400 cell.

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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHXY72O/?tag=cpf0b6-20

these? Does it matter that they aren't protected? If, in reality, there won't be any problems with a good quality un-protected battery I guess that's fine, right?

Hi Jash,

thanks for the input. You are saying b/c I have a garbage charger I should get a protected battery?


thanks,

P

Jash said:

If I was travelling and taking an 18650 light with me, I'd take the AW IMR 2200's with me. You have a charger with so I'd choose safety over capacity.

Click to expand...

Hi Jash,

thanks for the input. You are saying b/c I have a garbage charger I should get a protected battery?


thanks,

Labrador72 said:

I have never seen a review of this charger but when it comes batteries, it's usually best to stay away from all "whatever"fire brands.

If you want something portable, check out reviews for the Xtar SP1 or MC1 charger. Xtar seem to be making good chargers at affordable prices.

The Eagletac 18650 3400 is by all accounts a good battery. I own two and the only problem I had is that the wrapping is coming off. Not sure if a coincidence or just something that happened to me - haven't seen other people reporting the same issue.

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Hi Labrador,

Thank for the advice. The Xtar SP1 charger looks perfect, especially being able to back-feed the phone if neccessary. However, I can't seem to find a place to buy it. Any clues?


thanks,

P

Any time. Are you located in the US? Xtar seem to have a manufacturer section on CPF Market{lace: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/forumdisplay.php?155-XTAR
Try asking them where to buy their products in the US. CPF MarketPlace is a separate website so you'll need to subscribe there as well before being able to post.

LG D1 runs brighter. stays in regulation longer. maintains higher brightness throughout the entire run

Panasonic NCR18650B isn't a very good choice for single-cell lights. However the D1 requires a 4.35v charger but i think we'll see more of these chargers this year.

Labrador72 said:

Any time. Are you located in the US? Xtar seem to have a manufacturer section on CPF Market{lace: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/forumdisplay.php?155-XTAR
Try asking them where to buy their products in the US. CPF MarketPlace is a separate website so you'll need to subscribe there as well before being able to post.

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So it turns out the SP1 isn't going to be available for a few weeks in the US. I bought a few of the Panasonic 3400 batteries... if I use that cheap charger in the meantime(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A34SANW/?tag=cpf0b6-20 ), am I likely to destroy these good batteries?

pschach said:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHXY72O/?tag=cpf0b6-20

these? Does it matter that they aren't protected? If, in reality, there won't be any problems with a good quality un-protected battery I guess that's fine, right?

Click to expand...

I have a bunch of Panasonic NCR18650B and I really like them, I've been reading great things about those AW batteries too tho, just can't seem to find them anywhere. Depends on how fancy your flashlight is, I mean if it has its OWN protection or not. Some lights will shut off when the battery gets down to the scary voltages.

You'll want a battery that matches the low voltage cutoff of the PD35. No point in buying capacity that you will never use.

I run keeppower batteries. They seem to be well reviewed/liked.
And I end up paying under $11 a cell delivered...

Kueh said:

You'll want a battery that matches the low voltage cutoff of the PD35. No point in buying capacity that you will never use.

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I know this is old post, but would you please elaborate?

I'm a complete noob when it comes to decent flashlights but I recently purchased a Fenix PD35 and got two Fenix ARB-L2S 3400 mAh 18650 Batteries along with their ARE-C1 Fenix Smart Battery charger. I have no idea how they compare to the competition.... that's why I've been learning here at CPF.

Phoenixkh said:

I'm a complete noob when it comes to decent flashlights but I recently purchased a Fenix PD35 and got two Fenix ARB-L2S 3400 mAh 18650 Batteries along with their ARE-C1 Fenix Smart Battery charger. I have no idea how they compare to the competition.... that's why I've been learning here at CPF.

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Same here. I received my Fenix PD35, two Fenix ARB-L2S 3400 mAh 18650 Batteries and their ARE-C1 Fenix Smart Battery charger yesterday. From what I've read on the forums here the Fenix ARB-L2S batteries are a good choice.

Labrador72 said:

I have never seen a review of this charger but when it comes batteries, it's usually best to stay away from all "whatever"fire brands.

If you want something portable, check out reviews for the Xtar SP1 or MC1 charger. Xtar seem to be making good chargers at affordable prices.

The Eagletac 18650 3400 is by all accounts a good battery. I own two and the only problem I had is that the wrapping is coming off. Not sure if a coincidence or just something that happened to me - haven't seen other people reporting the same issue.

Click to expand...

Don't forget the Xtar MC2.... a USB 2 port charger. If you pair it up with a portable battery like an Anker 9000mah battery pack or a solar charger with USB output, you have a off grid charging option for hiking and such....

I've had good luck with Orbtronics and Eagletac 3400's. I've seen Panasonics get great reviews as well, although I haven't tried them.