Need Batteries for a NITECORE TM26 Flashlight

Hey Guys, I just purchased a NITECORE TM26 Flashlight and now I need to buy some batteries. I'm new here so don't know much. What I've gathered is I need 4 18650's with nipple tops. I'm not looking best of the best rather I'm looking for the best bang for the buck, not looking for highest mah batteries I can get / just looking for some good budget friendly batteries. Suggestions? THANKS

More info can be found here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?9-Flashlight-Electronics-Batteries-Included
And I recommend Eagletac branded 18650"s.

Almost all flashlight makers have their own battery lines. You may check their individual websites to check the availability of the 18650s that you need. To name a few, Nitecore, EagleTac, FourSevens, Xtar, Efest, etc. I always use the Panasonic 18650s in any torch that I have using this kind of battery. HTH

Go ahead and get your first set of batteries from Nitcore. They may not be the best bang for the buck, but they are reasonable, and you know they will work in your light. Amazon has a deal for a Nitecore IA4 V2 charger and four 2900 mah 18650s for around $50 USD. Their charger is one of the better ones, and once you get more experience with 18650s and look around some more, you can pick out the cells that you think suit you best.

Illumination Supply has Soshine 3400mAh cells for $10 each. They are some of the shortest (around 68mm), and have good button tops. Their size means they will be more compatible with a variety of lights, you never know when you might want to swap cells from one light to another.

You could save a couple dollars more per cell, if you shop around and/or accept a lower rating. But for the price and performance, the SoShines are hard to beat. And Illumination Supply has a presence here on CPF, and excellent customer service should you have any questions or issues.

Timothybil said:

Go ahead and get your first set of batteries from Nitecore.

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I have to agree for a couple of reasons:

• The NiteCore batteries are protected and first-rate quality.
• There are minor but possibly critical variations in battery geometry that can affect their suitability for a given light.
• If you have any kind of melt-down, you could reasonably expect NiteCore to cover the light.

The NiteCore batteries are available from many sources other than NiteCore. They come in a range of capacity (mAH) ratings.
I chose the NiteCore 2600 mAH batteries for my TM15, and they have worked just great for many charge cycles.
Nonetheless, protected Panasonics would almost certainly be good alternate. Okee-Doke!

CaptainBrock said:

I have to agree for a couple of reasons:

• The NiteCore batteries are protected and first-rate quality.
• There are minor but possibly critical variations in battery geometry that can affect their suitability for a given light.
• If you have any kind of melt-down, you could reasonably expect NiteCore to cover the light.

The NiteCore batteries are available from many sources other than NiteCore. They come in a range of capacity (mAH) ratings.
I chose the NiteCore 2600 mAH batteries for my TM15, and they have worked just great for many charge cycles.
Nonetheless, protected Panasonics would almost certainly be good alternate. Okee-Doke!

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And i would have to disagree as well.Nothing at all wrong with your suggestion and it makes common sense but the whole idea of asking a question to in most cases very experienced users you get all there wealth of experience in one hit,just a few replies i see the word Eagletac been bounced around on more than one occasion so that sends a signal to me to have a deeper look.

The nitecore will have panasonic inside,except wrapped,pcb fitted and a premium added,i have some of their cells,no issue but i would agree on looking further into.

I use sanyo protected,cheaper too,also panasonic(green) fit fine along with xtar cells,all cheaper than the nitecore cells.

I would look into higher mah if possible being a tm26 unless uses are short and you top off the cells.

KeepPower brand offer good value(again Panasonic inside)from searching and buying..........

As said make sure button tops

edit-just read(should read and take in ) your not bothered about mah,good happy medium is the sanyo 2800 protected button tops.

SKU: 2xSKU105913 banggood

Just some of mine,iirc have around 16



pcb


button top

I've ran Nitecore 3400's in my TM26 before I got the extended battery for it. I run these batteries in most of my other 18650 throwers and love them. Great quality and super customer service. I know they may be more $$$ than you want to spend but I feel they are worth it, to me anyways. Good luck and enjoy your TM26. http://www.orbtronic.com/protected-3400mah-18650-li-ion-battery-panasonic-ncr18650B-orbtronic

Anybody tried the Nitecore Advanced Li-ion rechargeable battery pack (NBP52) to the Nitecore TM26.
It is a battery pack of equilvent to 8 x 2300mAh. It is a bit heavy, but is it worth getting instead of the 18650s?

royjohnson77 said:

Anybody tried the Nitecore Advanced Li-ion rechargeable battery pack (NBP52) to the Nitecore TM26.
It is a battery pack of equilvent to 8 x 2300mAh. It is a bit heavy, but is it worth getting instead of the 18650s?

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I looked at it some months ago...if it had a much lower cost, it would have been somewhat tempting. But for well over $100, no freakin' way is it worth it. You could get eight quality protected 3400 mAh cells and still pay significantly less, and that would greatly increase runtime too (just swap the original four with fresh cells, 15 seconds work). It also makes the light a lot larger...I don't care so much about weight, but the size is an issue. I can and do actually carry the TM26...with the extender, I'd be much less likely to do so. And as we all know, the best light is the one you have with you when you need it.

royjohnson77 said:

Anybody tried the Nitecore Advanced Li-ion rechargeable battery pack (NBP52) to the Nitecore TM26.
It is a battery pack of equilvent to 8 x 2300mAh. It is a bit heavy, but is it worth getting instead of the 18650s?

Click to expand...

I recently bought a TM26 with four of the Nitecore 3400 18650's and a NBP52.

I have two issues with the NBP52:-

Firstly when I charge it directly with my TM2 PSU it never completes the charge (blue LED goes from flashing to constant on) even with a 4.2V battery voltage reading.

Secondly now that I have it charged up I need a cover to protect the contacts when it is not attached to the TM26. As I use both the standard 4x 18650's as normal with the NBP52 as the spare.


Any suggestions would be most appreciated.


Thanks

Bruce

thedoc007 has it on this one, my opinion. Illumination Supply wouldn't be selling Soshine if it was not decent. If you find yourself wanting another set of 18650's, then you can get EagTac or whatever, but I would stick with 3400 mah batteries.

I have KeepPower 3400's in my TM26. They are good.

If you could find the extended battery pack barely used at an incredible price or on Serious closeout, otherwise... Don't lock yourself into a battery set for one flashlight only, with your batteries.

I'm a big fan of Orbtronics myself. 3400 mAh. They are panasonic cells from what I understand.

I made some input power measurements running the TM26 off my bench PSU (TTi QPX1200SP) and found the following:-

3 Lumens = 4.2V at 10mA (42mW)
150 Lumens = 4.2V at 0.27A (1.1W)
600 Lumens = 4.2V at 1.23A (5.2W)
1850 Lumens = 4.2V at 4.32A (18W)
and
3800 Lumens = 4.2V at 12.77A (53W)

So at max output it is pulling over 3 amps from each battery. It sounds like a lot , but when you compare the numbers to a powerful laptop , the laptops can actually pull more than 4 amps out of each cell.

Bruce

Sparkybruce said:

I made some input power measurements running the TM26 off my bench PSU (TTi QPX1200SP) and found the following:-

3 Lumens = 4.2V at 10mA (42mW)
150 Lumens = 4.2V at 0.27A (1.1W)
600 Lumens = 4.2V at 1.23A (5.2W)
1850 Lumens = 4.2V at 4.32A (18W)
and
3800 Lumens = 4.2V at 12.77A (53W)

Click to expand...

Thanks for the measurements. There is definitely one issue with your calculations, though. The cells will NOT be at 4.2 volts when you are running it on turbo. Use the OLED, and depending on the cells you are using, you might find a drop of a half-volt immediately when you start using turbo. This changes the wattage significantly - 47 watts on turbo would probably be more accurate. On lower modes, the voltage will hardly sag at all, but it must be accounted for when you are driving the cells hard.

Edit: That is a fail for me. I see you weren't driving the cells at all. Presumably your PSU can handle the load. Still, in the real world, my point stands. The cells will not act like your PSU does under load, and that will change the calculation.

Hi, The Switching power supply in the nitecore I had expected to compensate for the lower input voltage by pulling more current.

However...

At 3800 lumens

4.2V = 12.63A (different temp from previous readings)
4.1V = 12.67A
4.0V = 12.01A
3.9V = 11.36A
3.8V = 10.25A
3.7V = 9.12A
3.6V = 8.04A
3.5V = 6.93A

So I am now not sure what their drive circuit actually is. They mention Linear Technology everywhere so I had expected some clever buck / boost sort of thing , but no.

Now given the fact that you can run it off pairs of CR123's it must be capable of running with higher that 4.2V battery input.

Has any body got any pictures of the control board inside a TM26?

My Bench PSU can drive up to 50 Amps at up to 20V , and it will still do 20 Amps at 60V. All with 1mV / 10mA control.(But then it is a £1500 psu....)

Thanks

Bruce

Ah I sent my reply too soon.

Running at 1850 Lumens I get:-

4.2V =4.28A (18W)
4.1V =4.39A (18W)
4.0V =4.50A (18W)
3.9V =4.61A (18W)
3.8V =4.73A (18W)
3.7V =4.85A (18W)
3.6V =5.00A (18W)
3.5V =5.12A (18W)
3.4V =5.21A (17.4W)
3.3V =5.00A (16.5W)
3.2V =4.13A (13.2W)
3.1V =3.28A (10.2W)
3.0V =2.48A (7.4W)

The 18W figures are all within 100mW of 18W. So it keeps regulation down to 3.5 / 3.4V which is good.

So it is only the Turbo mode where it doesn't regulate as well , which might be down to the current capabilities of the switching FET's they have used.

Thanks

Bruce