What is currently the best value in 18650 batteries

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
38

Surely is offtopic, but whats a cheap way to test the capacity of a battery?

39

HKJ has a roundup of 18650 batteries at CPF with a lot of good data. He's not finished yet, but there is a lot of good info there.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?330236

Cheap way to measure capacity? You can get a rough estimate by measuring current draw in milliamps on a flashlight at a regular intervals like 10 minutes until you get down to whatever cutoff voltage you want. 10 minutes is 1/6th of an hour, so you total all of the current readings and divide by 6 to get mAh. You will have to average the initial and final reading or you will have one reading too many.

If you get a hobby charger you can do it, but mine will only do a maximum discharge rate of 1000 mA.

40

If I needed more 18650 = Sanyo

I know there not protected , but Im ok with that ..

There were some really nice prices a little while ago on the 2600 ..

http://www.intl-outdoor.com/sanyo-18650-2600mah-liion-battery-p-135.html

41

You can also find the same roundup here on BLF.

42

I have some of the Trustfire 3000 that I bought a few months ago. They seem to be good and hold more capacity than my other less expensive batteries. I just ordered 8 more from MF the other day. I hadn't heard that some are having problems with newer batches. Hope mine will be ok.

43

I recently bought some 2900mah unprotected panasonic NCRs from focalprice. I think they are ~$7.50 shipped. If you buy more than 3, then it starts getting cheaper. I just received it the other day... running some tests on them and will start another thread and report back when done. But here are a few quick figures for you:

-arrive at ~3.64V

-charged up to ~4.16V

-Discharged at 200ma, until it reaches 3.0V (low cut off for my acucell 6). Gave 2749mah. Resting voltage after test 3.19V (this means there's still juice left in the battery, as the ncr18650 can be discharged to 2.5/2.75V).

My only concern with these batteries are the middle of the battery bulges out very slightly. Probably not a good sign?

44

Could you take some photos?

45

I don't think it will show up very well on photos.. it's hard to see, more a tactile thing for me. I'll try post some photos when I get a chance anyway

46

Try using a caliper to measure the difference , diameter towards the ends and diameter on the bump. Also you can check later if the "bump" diameter has increase with use or not.

47

Has anyone dealt with these MarsFire branded "Sanyo" 18650's from manafont? I am tempted to order one as they are so cheap for protected sanyo's.

Protected:http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/sanyo-protected-18650-high-capacity-rechargeable-battery-1pcset-p-9322

Reg Sanyo:http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/sanyo-unprotected-18650-flat-conduction-design-rechargeable-battery-1pcset-p-9321

48

Might have to get some ....

49

Can anyone ascertain beyond the printing that those are indeed Sanyo cells?

50

Not sure about MarsFire ones, but intl-outdoor carries unprotected 2600mAh Sanyo's for $1.5 less: http://www.intl-outdoor.com/sanyo-18650-2600mah-liion-battery-p-135.html

51

So is there any good but cheap protected 18650 out there, except for (maybe) trustfire?

52

Yes, XTAR 2600.

53

Again: Solarforce 2400mAh cells are great for the price.

54

I'm considering these (note prices at 3 or more)

http://www.focalprice.com/EB0040S/Panasonic_2900mAh_18650_Battery_Grey.html

http://www.focalprice.com/EB0049G/Panasonic_36_V_3100_mAh_18650_Battery_Green.html

55

+1

56

Please note that these are unprotected.

You have to charge these in a really reliable charger and use them in a flashlight with low voltage cutoff.

57

Yes, those are unprotected.

I just placed on order for 4 of these...

I'm a Noob, but the picture looks like they are protected.

http://www.focalprice.com/EB0048G/18650_Panasonic_Liion_Battery_Green.html