How trustworthy are Sofirn batteries?

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.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, Funtastic - especially on a weekend; I appreciate it!

For the lights I mentioned, would I be better off with the original Sofirn 21700 4000mAh then? Or, what about Sony VTC6 with a 21700 adapter sleeve as I have lots of VTC6s? Obviously, the capacity would be way down with the VTC6 but what about sheer lumen output with the Sonys :slight_smile:

Thanks again,

Moley

The 4800mah one is strange one. Some people measure 3700-3800mah, while others measure 4800-5000mah. You can read about it starting here.

BTW, you may not want to drive the C8F to the maximum simply because it builds heat quicker and gives you less turbo runtime. I think you’d be okay using a high capacity battery so as to limit turbo output. If you really want to max it out, try a high drain.

The cells under the wrapper are local chinese brands and usually kept secret.

Probably the highest quality, highest performing cells are the ones from LG, Panasonic/Sanyo, Sony/Murata, Samsung and Molicel.

You’d be better off with the Sofirn 4000mAh 21700 for the Sofirn lights.

The real lumen rating of the Sofirn’s are

C8G - 1700
C8F - 2850 to 2950

The C8F draws up to 10A on Turbo. The EC01 draws up to 15A so I have no idea what the Sofirn 21700 can achieve as no one has reported tests on more demanding lights.

I’d recommend something like the Samsung 40T for best performance of the EC01.

I'm getting an internal resistance reading of 75 mR on a Sofirn button top 18650. That seems pretty high. Is it because it's a button top or because of the cell itself? The cell came with a Sofirn SP31 V2. Thanks in advance.

What are you using for testing the resistance? Which Sofirn battery is it?

I’ve seen button tops in general really mess up charger measuring devices. The results would be all over the place even exceeding the max resistance of the display. I removed the button top and added a solder blob and that fixed it (30Q). Other button tops would be fine and show what they should. So it could be the button top. It depends on how it was attached, the amount of power used and the pulse time to weld it together.

Sorry, I don’t have any Sofirn 18650 button tops.

LittoKala LI 500 Engineer charger/tester. Black 18650 3000 mah button top rechargeable 3.7v that came with a sofirn SP31 V2.