KeepPower 18650 3200mah (new Panasonic NCR18650BE cell) quick review

KeepPower 18650 3200mah (NCR18650BE cell) Quick Review, Unwrapping Video

I couldn't find any solid info on this somewhat new 3200mah Panasonic cell the NCR18650BE (take note of the "E"!) so I decided to do some quick-and-dirty testing pitting it against the venerable NCR18650B 3400mah. The "BE" is in protected form manufactured by KeepPower, while the "B" is protected as well and was made by Efest.



Let's start w/ some dimensions:









Then I did 1.0A discharge tests using the Imax B6 (sorry 1.0A is as high as it would go) down to 3.0V. Remember that these cells are rated down to 2.5V therefore these tests won't reveal their full capacities...





Results:

The 3200mah "BE" got 2845mah.

The 3400mah "B" got 2968mah.

Conclusion:

About 4% less capacity than the "B". Pretty good value considering that it costs about 20% LESS than the "B".



UNWRAPPING VIDEO:














Additional info. NCR18650B vs NCR18650BE vs LG MH1:











At higher currents the "BE" performs much better than the "B".

Thanks for the test. Unfortunately, until pcb trip protection is tested, we can't know how good they are (or voltage sag)

The E-cig guys over on the FastTech forums were talking about this new cell last week. It's the NCR18650BD, which is a hybrid and an extension of Panasonic's NCR18650PD and NCR18650PF cells. I couldn't find any mention on Panasonic's data sheet PDF and it looks like these are sourced from China, so who know's what's inside the grey wrapped 'BD.'

The first mention of them seems to be in January 2014 and then some samples were used by the vapers in early April, so just a month, or two, back. There's a photo of one hot rodder who torched a couple in his ultra sub-ohm E-cigs, which was interesting to see.

I think that they actually do well, but the VTC-5 seems to be the current (pun intended) 'king' for those guys.

Google Panasonic NCR18650BD. They're billing it as a 3200mAh cell, so I bet this is what we're talking about.

Ehhh...here you go:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...48-panasonic-ncr18650bd-3-7v-3200mah-10a.html

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1674900

You can read about the vapers in 'Discussion Section' in that last link.

I have my doubts about fake batteries and cells, but there you go!

Chris

Its BE. Not BD

Yeah, interesting.

No mention of either over on Panasonic's Industrial Li-Ion site here:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/batteries-oem/oem/lithium-ion.aspx

Chris

The pcb Trip protection has nothing to do with whether it'sa good cell or not besides to tell you if the protection is good or not. Discharging to the 2.5v cutoff at .2C would tell us the true capacity better but his tests do give us a good idea. Doesn't tell voltage under load but he's just testing capacity and did a good job with the equipment he has. Nice hobby charger by the way. I like mine

dazed1 said:

Thanks for the test. Unfortunately, until pcb trip protection is tested, we can't know how good they are (or voltage sag)

Click to expand...

The specifications of the NCR18650BE which I copied on seller's web page.

My worst result was very slightly higher, but one test produced over 3000 mAh. One 0.2A discharge to 2.8V was near the typical capacity volume listed on the datasheet.

ChrisGarrett said:

The E-cig guys over on the FastTech forums were talking about this new cell last week. It's the NCR18650BD, which is a hybrid and an extension of Panasonic's NCR18650PD and NCR18650PF cells. I couldn't find any mention on Panasonic's data sheet PDF and it looks like these are sourced from China, so who know's what's inside the grey wrapped 'BD.':candle:

Click to expand...

These cells (NCR18650BD) are actually labelled as 'Made in Japan'. So unless Panasonic is doing something shady here, I don't think they are sourced from China.

So anyone has some graphs BD vs PF vs VTC5 etc?

I'm in the early stages of creating a database of all my batteries, but I'm pretty sure I don't have any of those cells at this time, sorry. It doesn't look like HKJ has graphs of those either, and his battery testing queue is months long, so hopefully it's already lined up if we're waiting on him.

leaftye said:

I'm in the early stages of creating a database of all my batteries, but I'm pretty sure I don't have any of those cells at this time, sorry. It doesn't look like HKJ has graphs of those either, and his battery testing queue is months long, so hopefully it's already lined up if we're waiting on him.

Click to expand...

I finished testing it yesterday, I do not know exactly when I am going to publish the result, there are a couple of other test I expect to publish first.

HKJ said:

I finished testing it yesterday, I do not know exactly when I am going to publish the result, there are a couple of other test I expect to publish first.

Click to expand...

Great news, you talk about the BD right?

dazed1 said:

Great news, you talk about the BD right?

Click to expand...

Keeppower fake label? or its pulsing 20A current?

HKJ said:

Click to expand...

What? Did I sleep for three years? What happened here?

dazed1 said:

Keeppower fake label? or its pulsing 20A current?

Click to expand...

According to an eBay product page, it's 30A pulse, 20A continuous. Can this be real?

oKtosiTe said:

According to an eBay product page, it's 30A pulse, 20A continuous. Can this be real?

Click to expand...

I guess, if the cell is not BD, BD is 10A max AFAIK?

It looks like Keeppower has been to optimistic with current capability: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ew-of-Keeppower-IMR18650-3200mAh-(Black)-2014

UNWRAPPING VIDEO:

Thanks OC, for the sacrifice.

Chris