Test/review of Vapcell INR21700 5000mAh (Purple) 2018

Vapcell INR21700 5000mAh (Purple) 2018







Official specifications:

  • Model: INR21700

  • Size: 21.1*70.1mm

  • Nominal voltage: 3.60V

  • End-of-charge voltage: 4.20V

  • End-of-discharge Voltage: 2.50V

  • Typical Capacity: 5000mAh (0.2C discharge)

  • Min capacity: 4900mAh (0.2C discharge)

  • Weight Max: 72g

  • Internal resistance: Max:14mOhm AC 1kHz

  • Standard Charge:1500mA,CCCV 100mA cut-off

  • Charging Time: 5 hours(standard charge)

  • Quick Charge Current: 4000mA

  • Max Continuous Discharge Current: 15000mA

  • Operating Temperature: Charging: 0°C ~ 45°C, Discharging: –20°C~70°C

  • Storage Temperature: –5°C~35°C

  • Storage Humidity: <75 %RH

  • Standard environmental condition: Temperature: 23±5°C, Humidity: 45-75%RH, Atmospheric Pressure: 86-106KPA



This is a very high capacity 21700 cell, it can deliver a some current, but is not a high current cell.





Notice the top, it is very recessed.







The cells tracks very nicely and can deliver the rated 15A. I do not get 5000mAh, but I only discharge to 2.8V, the last discharge down ti 2.5V will probably give very close to 5000mAh






















Conclusion

This cell is a good cell for large capacity and can deliver a fair amount of current without being a high current cell.



Notes and links

The batteries was supplied by Vapcell for review.

How is the test done and how to read the charts
How is a protected LiIon battery constructed
More about button top and flat top batteries
Compare to 18650 and other batteries

Thanks HKJ. I was waiting to see this one in your comparator! Now just waiting for you to add the Samsung, LG, Sony 5000mah 21700 cells :laughing:

This is one I was really curious about. Thanks HKJ!!!

They will be added when I can get them or when somebody give me a pair (Somebody has promised my a pair from LG).

Thanks for the review. The comparator shows exactly what you described this cell as,good capacity and fair current.

As expected my Samsung 40T has MUCH less voltage sag. Especially at 10/15 and 20amps.,and less capacity.

The 40T is much better for my application.,modded T27 :smiley:

That’s a cool story

SKV89 …….

…… but it would be quite interesting to see a comparison between Vapcell 21700 5000 …… and …… Panasonic NCR 21700 A 5000 ……

I’m right Vapcell Dennis ?

8) 8) :sunglasses:
:smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

Thanks HKJ! This cell is a strange one - it does under perform, as expected, compared to the high amp cells. But I'm seeing some odd behavior in the charger. I set my SkyRC MC3000 to charge to 4.22V, so when I take the cells off, usually they read at 4.21 or 4.20V. For this VapCell 5000, it takes a long time to get to the 4.22V level, longer than any other new 18650 or 21700 cell I have, but some old cells behave this way. Then once fully charged, it drops fast - luckily if I can get it off the charger above 4.18V. In fact the first time, I pulled it off, measured at 4.18V, then the next day just sitting on the bench, it measured 4.13V. I have to see if this droppage is consistent - maybe it's a first time issue.

It's weird you measured such a low resistance - usually low resistance and high amps go together. Also capacity is lower than the rating even at a 0.2 amp draw.

So far to me, mine has characteristics of an old cell - hope I didn't get a bad one. I only bought one as well so can't compare it.

There is a chance you got a low binned old cell that sat in a warehouse perhaps fully charge for a long time.

While the internal resistance of a cell during discharge does not go up much with age with modern chemistries, acceptability of charge during the CV phase is affected by cycle life/age.

There is a possibility your cell was not 100% fully charge in the CV phase, so, when left to rest, the resting voltage goes down to around 4,10V-4,15V.

However, when tested, almost all the capacity is retained, so it’s only a problem with max SOC.

Great review as usual. Only your numbers I use as official specs when buying!

Good to see more 21700’s are tested. I hope you will make a special 21700 section in your comparator.

Now all I need is a good 21700 light :slight_smile:

For now they are included both in the 18650 and 26650 comparator. The 26650 do not have as many cells as the 18650, this makes it easier to find the 21700 cells.

Also in the 26650 list… that’s good.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with the wealth of test results in your comparator; but if you decide on a redesign…
It may be nice to have all tests of all sizes in one huge comparator.
Then the user can filter of type, drain and capacity.

For my use that would be great. For example I use the highest capacity 18650 found in your tests. The only 21700’s I’m interested are the ones above that capacity. I don’t need very high drain cells so I would for example filter 21700, 4200 mAh @5A
People that love extreme lights likely will use a far higher drain setting.

Maybe I’m asking/suggesting way too much, but I think it would a very useful upgrade of your site for many.

It may be, but it is not easy for me to do.
One reason for multiple comparators is that they use different scales.
To really make searching flexible I would have to use a data base and do some programming in PHP or JavaScript, this would be a lot of serious work/learning, because I am not very good at these programming languages.

I may add a text based filter function, that could filter on the battery title, i.e. brand, capacity and size. But this is not something I will be doing just now.

Maybe a webdesign ace on this forum is willing to help you.

Another nice thing, without graphs, would be a huge downloadable spreadsheet.
Add a few filters.
The user can then filter, sort, delete, add personal notes, etc

What I might be able to do is a online table (Like my chargers and multimeter tables), but with filters instead of sorting, but what to include in this type of table?
Battery name, battery size, date tested, button top, capacity at 0.2A, capacity at 3A, capacity at 10A, capacity at 20A

Yeah that would be sweet.
I’m sure you can easily embed a google spreadsheet or something like that with little effort, and people could download the whole sheet if they wanted.

If you also make the spreadsheet downloadble the possibilities are only limited by the users Excel skills.

I think most people are after: Size and capacity at a certain drain.

Personally I have zero interest in:

- 18650’s below 3200 mAh regardless of the max drain.

  • 21700’s below 4500 mAh regardless of the max drain.

Likewise high-drain fanatics filter away everything below 30A.

So a fully set filter could look like:
Flat top, 21700, >4500mAh @5A

Using filters that way would greatly reduce the list the user has to research by reading the reviews.

Very often you give cells some sort of rating in your reviews. You could add a score field. But perhaps that’s not needed because junk cells won’t pass a filter anyway.

What I am talking about is something like this: Index of reviewed multimeters technical list
That table is not official and will not be update (it will probably be removed soon).

It is easy enough to mark the table and copy it to a local spreadsheet.

Something like that would be a huge step forward!

I know Dennis.
That’s why I wrote it this way.
It is very good for a company to tell the truth.

It is not a bad idea for the company to say which battery it uses under its cover.
On the contrary.
This makes consumers show confidence in this company.

Bravo Vapcell Dennis and thank you.
Go on like this …

For those who do not know, Panasonic and Sanyo are the same company.
Panasonic bought Sanyo a few years ago.

I wrote this so as not to confuse someone watching me I was going to mention it
Panasonic NCR21700A
and Dennis to write about
Sanyo NCR21700A

It’s the same battery.