New Streamlight lantern came with Chinese 18650 battery - safe to use?

bkpdle · Aug 21, 2019

I have heard a lot of bad things about Li-ion batteries made in China. As a result, I have always avoided them.

A new lantern I picked up made by Streamlight came with a Chinese made 18650 rechargeable battery. What I like about this battery is that it has a charging port built into the battery itself (micro USB plugin). So no charging cradle is needed.

The lantern also accepts two CR123 batteries and I was planning on that use when I bought it. But it would be nice to be able to use the 18650 but I don't want to if there are any safety issues that may exist on account of it being made in China. Would you agree that the safer move is to not use it? Does anyone know of an American made rechargeable 18650 that has a charging port on the battery itself via micro USB port?

parametrek · Aug 21, 2019

The vast majority of Chinese li-ion is perfectly fine. They make lots of respectable batteries. There will always be scumbags at the bottom trying to make a quick buck and selling junk. These are the batteries that make the news. But Streamlight will have done their due diligence and will have made sure you are getting a decent quality cell.

For context as to how decent Chinese li-ion is: they have more than 400,000 fully electric battery powered buses operating in the country. To give you an idea of scale that is almost half of all the buses registered in the United States. Each of their buses has around 252 kWh of energy. Compared to the 12 Wh of your 18650. Pretend now that 1 chinese bus caught fire every day. If your 18650 was just as dangerous then it might catch fire after 57 years. But their buses are not catching on fire every day. (At least I haven't heard. Not that they would let that sort of news become public.)

Surefire has a similar micro-usb 18650 battery and claims it is made in the US. However I do not see how it could be made from US components. As far as I know the only 18650 made in the US are at the Tesla factory. All of those go to their cars and powerwalls. Even NASA uses Japanese cells.

bkpdle · Aug 21, 2019

parametrek said:
The vast majority of Chinese li-ion is perfectly fine. They make lots of respectable batteries. There will always be scumbags at the bottom trying to make a quick buck and selling junk. These are the batteries that make the news. But Streamlight will have done their due diligence and will have made sure you are getting a decent quality cell.

For context as to how decent Chinese li-ion is: they have more than 400,000 fully electric battery powered buses operating in the country. To give you an idea of scale that is almost half of all the buses registered in the United States. Each of their buses has around 252 kWh of energy. Compared to the 12 Wh of your 18650. Pretend now that 1 chinese bus caught fire every day. If your 18650 was just as dangerous then it might catch fire after 57 years. But their buses are not catching on fire every day. (At least I haven't heard. Not that they would let that sort of news become public.)

Surefire has a similar micro-usb 18650 battery and claims it is made in the US. However I do not see how it could be made from US components. As far as I know the only 18650 made in the US are at the Tesla factory. All of those go to their cars and powerwalls. Even NASA uses Japanese cells.

Thanks!

Guitar Guy · Aug 23, 2019

I'd suggest that more important than the country of manufacture would be to make sure it is a fully protected cell, with overcharge protection, over discharge protection, short circuit protection, overheat protection and pressure relief vents. As mentioned above, Streamlight is likely supplying a quality cell, but it may be worth getting a brand name unit, if for nothing else, to have a spare.

Fenix makes some of my favorite cells, as well as lights, in China, with the full protection circuits. An 18650 cell with the usb port you mention is available for around $11.95. If you have your own charger, you can get the higher 3500 mAh cell for around $21.95. I believe cpf members get 20% discount through Fenix-store, as well as free shipping. They also have a new cold resistant 18650 that I just got 2 of for this winter.

I like to buy high quality cells to start with. Considering that you can charge them up to 500 times, a few extra bucks up front is well worth it, and the modern protection circuits are essential in my opinion.

https://www.fenix-store.com/batteries-chargers/

usdiver · Aug 23, 2019

If you got your light new and from a authorized dealer then I wouldn't question it. I often say about my reluctance to buy from China but it's more of a support folks at home thing for me. As mentioned most batteries come from China, Japan, that region but it was also noted that there are some who replicate, rewrap, among other things and sell junk for cheap money. Stick with a known authorized distributor or dealer and you would be hard pressed to have an issue. Even Apple chargers and phone chargers I've seen and purchased thinking it was the real deal actually was a copy and I found the problem before I had a problem. They were not bought from a dealer and were a bit too good to be true in the pricing dept.

New Streamlight lantern came with Chinese 18650 battery - safe to use?

bkpdle

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