The 3600mah Orbtronic 18650 is Back!

Just got 4 of them yesterday. I emailed them trying to find out if these are the same NCR18650G 3600mah cells they had 2 years ago or a new variant as this new Orbtronic 3600mah is also rated at 10 amps and 13 watt hours. I will post up whatever Orbtronic emails me back. Pics as well. I STILL have 6 of the old Orbtronic NCR18650G cells that despite fading labels really have lost near nothing in capacity somehow.

So....3500mah Orbtronic NCR18650GA 10 amp or new mystery Panasonic core Orbtronic 3600mah 10 amp cell? Hmmm...

Wow! Orbtronic owner Sal gets back to emails FAST! According to Sal these are the SAME NCR18650G cells. I am kind of confused here though. The Orbtronic site says the 3600mah NCR18650G is rated up to 10amps with that 10amps being its overdraw protection shut off. Does the GA cell not do the same thing? Kinda lost here...

It is still very good to see the 3600mah G cell back though.

CelticCross74 said:

Wow! Orbtronic owner Sal gets back to emails FAST! According to Sal these are the SAME NCR18650G cells. I am kind of confused here though. The Orbtronic site says the 3600mah NCR18650G is rated up to 10amps with that 10amps being its overdraw protection shut off. Does the GA cell not do the same thing? Kinda lost here...

It is still very good to see the 3600mah G cell back though.

Click to expand...

I think that the 10A claim is for the Seiko PCB circuit, which is what we're seeing on truly rated 10A cells like the NCR-GA. The NCR-G isn't a high drain cell.

https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Panasonic NCR18650G 3600mAh (Green) UK.html

Chris

I've noticed that illumn is also selling the NCR18650G. It looks like theirs are unprotected if (like me) that is your preference. The price is not too bad. But I'm not sure what the advantage of these cells is compared to other offerings (like the NCR18650GA, which actually has a slighly higher real capacity).

I have 6 more of the Orbtronic 3600mah G's on the way. These cells are beyond perfect for a lot of my 800+ lumen old XML2's. Perfect for my v2.5 Armytek Pred Pro's XPG2. Sal once told me must have been 3 years ago now that Panasonic actually had a 4000mah 18650 run made. All of them were suddenly bought by Tesla Motors. Anything left over went into high dollar packs.

Isnt Tesla using 26650 now ?

I thought Tesla was using the 21700's now.

Anyway I bought one to see how well it works. I'll probably buy more later on. I have one Nitecore wrapped 18650 that I've been using for the last two years. So probably time for a new one, never be too careful.

Tesla uses 18650 in the Model S and X from Panasonic in Japan, and 21700 also from Panasonic but made in Nevada for their new Model 3.

Something interesting I've noticed with the Orbtronic, when I recharge the cell on my Nitecore D2 it doesn't charge at 500 mA like my 3500 mah Nitecore wrapped battery. The Orbtronic starts at about 350 mA and winds down from there. That's understandable when I'm topping off, but it did the same thing when I first got it in the mail and took 6 hours and 36 minutes to charge. When I top off the Nitecore battery it starts at 500 mA and goes down from there. The Orbtronic appears to have better overcharge protection circuits in the battery. This is the type of information I want to see in battery reviews if it's not already there.