How trustworthy are Sofirn batteries?

This thread is about Sofirn.

That’s real mature. Jason’s comment is 100% relevant to this thread

It was a joke for Jason, as he responded that way to my post suggesting exactly those batteries.

You suggested buying those batteries as if someone where asking what battery to buy. This thread is about Sofirn cells specifically.
I’m suggesting a comparison of the Sofirn cells to those other batteries. I want to have a frame of reference. See how they stack up against each other. This will reveal more info about the Sofirn cells.

I just took the wrapping off of 2 2800 MAH Sofirn 18650 batteries and what would lead you to believe is a protection circuit is just an extension. No circuitry at all. They did register 2637 and 2619 mah for the 2 cells. IR was pretty respectful at 23 and 25. Think it was in the 50’s or 60’s with the fake circuit added. Not sure if they are claimed to be that way or not (Protected). Got these out of the headlamp (D25S) I believe. They seem to be a good battery after all. I did leave the button on them. So the IR may actually be lower if it were removed. Not sure though. I wanted to keep it on.

Today I had a 2800 mah Sofirn18650 with protection circuit stop working. It was never used much, just stored in a locked out S2+ in the car. Waiting in the car, I tried to turn it on and nothing. Took it home and peeled off the protection circuit and seems to be fine. Mine did have a real protection circuit on the negative end. It looks very similar to a 30Q but has no markings and a larger positive terminal.

Mine just had a plastic spacer with a metal cap. The cap had a metal strip which leads to the positive end of the battery. Wish I had kept them to show pics. In the end after rewrapping it, seems to be a very good battery. Was it one of the blue and silver versions?

No, it was a black one. Mine just came off the charger and is ok. Did yours have a black plastic spacer then the metal cap on the negative end? The reason I ask is that inside that black plastic spacer was a circuit.

Earlier (as in maybe last year or a bit more than that), Sofirn sometimes bundled 2800mAh protected 18650s instead of their 3000mAh unprotected 18650s.

I have a couple of these Sofirn 2800mAh protected 18650s, and I did get around 2700-2800mAh capacity reading (using MC3000, discharge from 4.20v to 2.50v at 0.50A discharge current). The protection circuit appeared to trip at around 6 Amps. (testing this protected 2800mAh 18650 on the Astrolux S41 with quad-Nichia, will trip/shut-off when advancing the brightness to Turbo mode).

I’m not sure if they changed the 2800mAh since that time though. (I seem to recall they included the protected 2800mAh on the Sofirn SP32A v1, at least during the early batch…)

You can’t really go by looks. It will say on the wrapper if it’s got a protection circuit. If there is no mention, you have to assume it’s not protected.

I’m thinking the added button top on the 26650 HD cells are adding a lot of resistance. I wonder if Sofirn tested the cell before adding the BT.

I’ve just tested a different variant of the Sofirn 26650 and it beats the HD cell at 10A & 15A. I haven’t yet tested higher current

Is there really anything "legit" about a Trustfire battery? The only cells that I trust that aren't LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony, or Panasonic are AW IMR 18350 cells and, of course, those too have to be legit, because there are a lot of fakes floating around out there. As a matter of fact, there are more fakes than genuine AWs. My experience with Trustfire has been that they're all crap cells. With lithium cells, I truly believe that you get what you pay for applies...

I’ve had a few Trustfire 14500’s for about 3 years and they still have a genuine capacity of 800mAh. I wouldn’t trust them though

Any brand battery can be faked since it’s basically a wrapper that identifies it. More than just the brand of battery, you also have to buy from trusted sources. Shops that don’t buy fakes and verify that they receive the genuine article.

It’s unfortunate that the Big 5 you mention don’t make 18350, 14500, 26650, etc… This means your forced to buy from a smaller company, but there are still good quality cells out there.

If you look at some common USA battery stores like MTN, Illumn, IMR Battery, Liion Wholesale, you’ll see that none of them carry Trustfire (afaik). About the only exception I can think of is if a particular Trustfire cell is tested and it actually performs pretty good as in it has about the rated capacity, etc… Then that shop might carry it. It probably will never be the best choice in it’s size, though.

Sanyo do have a 14500 which is the UR14500P. I’ve seen a Sony 14500 but can’t recall the name

That is a good start.

You also have to watch out for fake versions. I think there was a Sony 26650 on the market a few years ago, but it was not actually from them.

What are some legit sites to get decent deals on AW IMR 18650 batteries?

This is a thread for Sofirn batteries.

Hi,

Does anyone have any comments regarding the Sofirn High Drain 21700 Battery 4800mah 48A cells? Do we know who makes the cell under the wrapper?

Thinking of picking up 6 tomorrow (11.11) if they are any good.

Want to use them in Astrolux EC01, Sofirn C8G and a C8F lights and wondered if they are up to the job of driving these lights to their maximum? If not, can anyone recommend which high-capacity 21700 cells to buy?

Many thanks,

Moley

I know that the 4000mAh 21700 cells are very decent but no idea about the 4800.

Generally high capacity cells can’t handle high current. There’s the Samsung INR21700-50E 5000mAh and it can only run continuous at 9.8A.

For the C8G you might be okay but not the C8F. You ideally need low resistance and the least amount of voltage sag on load for the most lumens.