Test / Review: (OLD) Panasonic NCR 18650A 3100mAh batteries $11.96 Protected and $9.97 Unprotected (OLD)

My curves looks good:

The protection current test for the second cell is not finished yet.

If you have protections that trips below 2 ampere, it does spoil the usefulness of the battery.

They do look good till you get above 2 amps.

Yes you can use a battery that trips at 2 amps no problem, if you don't want to use it with a Xm-l on medium or high, some Xm-l's will use 2 amp on medium.

They will trip on a good TR-1200 on high on start up but if you have it start in medium or low with the mode memory it's fine as long as you don't switch it to high.

You can use them on a TR-3T6 on low mode but they trip on medium and high.

You can get away with them on a BC40 some times.

They trip on some Xm-l P60 drop in's on high but you still can use them on low and some mid modes.

You can run them on high in xr-e lights like Q5 and R2 emmiters on high as mine draw around 1 amp.

This is my experience

You can use them no worries on low current draw lights. But why spend dood money on Panisonic cells that are capible of high discharge rates, when you could of brought 4 good trustfire flames for the same price they give you more run time combined and betters protection and can handle more then 2 amp discharges and in my opinion have more usible voltage.

The problem I've found was when trying to run these protected cells in lights that draw more then your recommended max is if you acidently hit medium or high mode the protection trips so you have to put them back on the charger to reset the protection, this is painful and even more painful when you out and about.

Now your tests are great but you have shown the protection is bad and not that was claimed, I fear alot of people brought these to draw more then 2 Amps myself included.

You can always get cheaper capacity from Chinese cells, than from Panasonic cells. What is interesting about these cells is that they are the cheapest protected Panasonic 3100 cells you can get. What you get with these Panasonic cells is some of the safest cells and the highest capacity. They will probably also outlast any Flame cells.

The low trip point on the protection is a problem for many people and I do also expect that most people bought these cells for use in a XM-L light. For this the battery is just about useless, but if you move it to a less current hungry light it is a good battery.

I was charged double shipping for my protected panisonic cells since i only brought two im not sure if this is normal or not.

If thats the case i was much more impressed with the protected redilast 2600 mAh batteries, since the cut off is 2.75 volt i feel they have slightly more usible voltage to me.

They still give over 2400 mAh discharged at 5.2 amps to 2.75 volt and 2500 mAh discharged to 3 volt at 0.5 amps.

Im still yet to do more discharge test's to 2.75 volt, but they have great protection but cost around $3 usd more cause of the international shipping to Australia.

The way i see it there protected panisonic cells cost me $31 usd shipped for 2 (and they failed in my opinion)

The redilast protected 2600 cost me $34 usd with international shipping for 2 (they are cheap shipped inside the usa)

The good protected trustfire flames cost $33 usd shipped for 6.

The unprotected panisonic cells are great just not the protected cells, but will they last 3 times longer then a protected trustfire flames cell to reflect the price, im not sure as even your self your still testing flames that are 12 months old.

So will 1 protected panisonic cell last 3 times longer then one flame, maybe if the panisonic,s pcb does not fail and the other way around, but i think 3 flames for the same price as 1 protected panisonic, will last just as long or longer and will give more run time combined and 3 cells would not be worked as hard as one.

Even the cheap trustfire flames i tested give 2500 mAh when discharged to 3 volt at 0.5 amps, but they do not rate as good as the panisonic,s at higher discharge test, but since im talking about the protected versions that will not do high discharging that does not matter.

The trustfire flames do actualy give more mAh and do not trip at 3 amps then the protected panisonic,s i tested, but they might not last as long but you can buy 6 for the price of 2 protected panisonics pritty much, 6 batteries would not be worked as hard as two batteries one would think.

Now like i said the unprotected panisonic cells are good, Hank from int-outdoor is good, but i can not recomend these in protected form as there is a good chance people want more then 2 amps from them, but they dont sell the protected form any more, im sure the new ones they will sell in the future will be better but will most likely cost more.

Im just trying to add some prospective and not let my full refund so basicly fee cells sway my opinion on the cells.

Unfortunaly we know why one cheap mosfet thats not capible of high discharge rates.

Considering that a website is your shop window, nothing should be put up for sale that is not performance tested IMHO......Unless you have more front than Woolworths.

Guys,

How about these NCR18650A 3100mAh with welded top button, but without protection add-on PCB ?

Size would be just about right for any flashlight, and you can use them connected in series.

Thank you for your opinion

AW takes a cell and add some protection, this is the same as intl-outdoor, RediLast and lot of other does and all uses the Panasonic cell (inclusive AW) for the 3100mAh battery, i.e. they are just about the same in capacity. Actual performance at high currents will vary with protection PCB.

I have done test of both AW and intl-outdoor and also some other batteries, you can find these test here and on my website. I will also post comparisons charts between these batteries, making it easier to see the differences.

I ordered 3 of these cells and received them last week. I have tested them in a Fenix TK30 and TK35 on high / turbo mode and they perform satisfactorily; no protection cut off.

Whether the original PCB is going to be an issue or not is all going to come down to what the current draw actually is in that particular light - it's going to be fine for some lights, but not for others. I could happily use these in any of my single XR-E or XP-G lights for instance. A moderately driven single XM-L is also no problem. When you start looking at things like fully driven MC-Es, P7s,SST-50s, XM-Ls etc. then you are likely to find that the current draw will be too high for the protection circuit.

Keep the current draw to around 2 amps max, they should not trip and you should not loose to much run time.

I do find this funny "2 amp maxium current draw from panisonics" or is it just me.

Im waiting for the new version to come out and be well tested before I jump in again, but then xtar are releasing cheap protected 3100,s

Panasonic bare cells NCR18650A will run up to 6A w/o problem.

Yes the unprotected ones will, I've tested them on this thread to 6.2 amps, but the protected version we are talking about here will struggle at 2 amps

That's what happens when manufacturer (seller) cut the corners on PCB design to save some $$.

Bare NCR 18650A cells are the best 18650 cells on the market (so far) - no doubt about that.

Yes great cells, even better if you can use them down to 2.5 volt.

Hello everyone, im new here. Very nice forum. Great review.

Im new to all this - and I have ordered 4 x NCR1850A batteries. I was planning on using them in a dereelight dbs-t aspheric with the 1.5a EZ900 pill - but now I have some questions/concerns.(using 2 x panasonic unprotected 18650's)

Basically I ordered these batteries because I had read they were very good batteries.(same reason I ordered the torch)

Problem is, the more reading I do, the more worried I get that I cannot use 2 x NCR18650A unprotected cells together in my new Dereelight.

I must have read dozens of pages on the subject already but cant really find a solid answer. I have learnt that over charging and over discharding are the main safety concerns with unprotected cells. I have also learnt that panasonic cells are very safe/reliable even if unprotected.

So my basic question is, can i use two of these togerher in my new dereelight? Assuming I measure voltage while charging etc, and dont let them get too low on power? Almost eveything i have read suggests almost all problems/fires etc happen while charging..so i cant really see the problem.

Comments?

thanks very much

Hello,

I think it will be the easiest way to ask user 2100 - he has the light (and a lot others, too) and I think, he has some unprotecetd batteries, too. Maybe he could answer your question well.

When will the protected Version be available?

You can already get the Panasonic NCR18650A in protected versions, but not from Panasonic.

All the 3100mAh batteries listed in my comparison uses the above cell (And I will be adding more).

I din't have time to post them, yet.

Panasonic NCR18650A bare cell 3100mAh

Panasonic NCR18650A with Button top - without protection (wrapped in black PVC)

Panasonic NCR18650A Protected Cut off at 7A (with 2 types of full button tops), cut off at 2.5V

High drain Panasonic CGR18650CH 10A continuous discharge with button top

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HKJ - you will get some new "players" in your testing collection.

Learned from AW, and Redilast , and made even better 18650 battery.

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Unfortunately protection circuit on cells that you have is with only one FET, and it will trip on about 3A always.

I also understand that seller had very good intentions , but lower price, and manuf. promises made his project not so good on test bench.

THe new protected batteries are available.. from IOS.

please read my opening post