Efest 18650 3100mAh Test + Blazar 3100 Test

The eBay seller that the Blazar branded batteries come from has been selling genuine Panasonic NCR18650A cells for over a year, without a single bad piece of feedback. Not even a neutral. And given that they are quality cells, at the expected price point for such, there’s a good chance that a significant portion of his customers know the difference. I do, as do some other Aussie members around here who use the same cells. I think it’s ridiculously unlikely that he’s trying to scam anyone by repackaging shitty cells. That sort of thing would get noticed pretty quicky by the sort of customer base he would have.

These are the Blazar branded cells in question: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-BLAZAR-PROTECTED-Panasonic-NCR-18650-3100mAh-Lithium-Li-ion-battery-BUTTON-/280769021348?pt=AU_Electronics_Batteries_Chargers&hash=item415f2345a4

EDIT: Tested a third Blazar, purchased recently (7th Oct). This time, 4.11v down to 2.7 @ 3.0A resulted in 2723 mAh.

Note: I’m not convinced that my discharge setup is low resistance enough either. I’m using cheap single bay chargers with the guts ripped out of them, which are perfectly fine for charging batteries, but weren’t modded with high discharge in mind. I guess that means I have a new project :slight_smile:

doesn’t give me hope for the efest 2600’s on manafont…(claimed sanyo cell)…

edit:

old…your test of the solarforce v3 at 3a showed similar results…i’ve seen other solarforce v3 tests that contradict your findings (link after paragraph) on those cells…these blazar and efests cells are showing the same low capacity at 3a on your tests like the solarforces did…what equipment are you using? is there a way to know for sure that it isn’t malfunctioning? not being disrespectful or rude here just trying to get to the bottom of the difference in the tests…what do your genuine unprotected panasonic 2900 and 3100 show for capacity at 3a?

+1,I also was lead to beleive these tobe Panasonic cells.Infact the supplier[Bestvapping] posted the info on another thread.May do a check myself over the weekend.

DON…

Well , its not capacity in direct relation to energy stored :

Its voltage sag : @ 3amp discharge , the voltage sag is severe , [ on my charger ] Turnigy Accucell –8150

The other charger is a Imax B6 , so only discharges to 1A

I did voltage calibrate the Turnigy when I got it …

Might recheck it right now …

Hmmmm, been thinking of getting another charger !

As for the battery ? Not sure the re-seller has much choice as to what goes into the components …
But these batteries were only just sourced this month …
So ??

I have no direct experience with Blazar, but they look to be keeppower OEM. Efest make top quality batteries too afaik so I personally would not question either of these cells being genuine. Maybe something to do with the testing set-up?

I would 2nd a 3 amp test on some unprotected and clearly genuine Panasonic cells to verify this if possible.

Actually its the charger !

Looks like the higher the discharge rate - the higher the discrepancy on calibration …

So at 3 Amp the actual true cut of voltage was = 3v and not 2.7v

So at 3Amp its 3 tenths out , so charger is reading 3 tenths less than actual true MM read voltage …

So let me adjust that a little : Termination voltage would be 3v @ 3amp current draw …

Update : 3A = 3 tenths out , 2A = 2 tenths out , 1A = one tenth out … Wow !

Hmmm , Turnigy looks to bite some what …

Hmmm , even the Imax B6 is one tenth out @ 1A discharge …

Charger sais 3.8v and MM sais 3.9v so , is this normal behavior ?
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You guys want to check ?
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Charger sais Voltage = ? @ Discharge rate - Multi Meter sais Battery is ? @ Discharge rate
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Let it discharge for a few minutes to stabilize , since both my charger behave this way , I can only assume its normal …
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And the issue may indeed be the batteries themselves ,

Your Blazars are protected and put out over 5 amps?

Have you considered the possibility that there may be a significant degree of resistance in your discharge setup? For example, I use cheap single bay chargers with the circuitry removed, hooked up to my Hyperion EOS1210i. One of them is unsuitable for high current discharge tests because when using it, the voltage almost immediately sags to around 3.4 when doing a 3A discharge on a fresh cell. Using the same cell in a different bay that applies significantly more contact pressure on the battery terminals (and probably has lower resistance internally as well) results in a voltage reading slightly above 3.7 at a 3A discharge, which is right where it should be for a freshly charged cell.

Discharging at 5A drives the point home. All my Blazars will fail dismally in the high resistance bay, with the setup sagging to 2.7v within seconds. In the better one, they’ll stay at just over 3.5v initially, and discharge in a much more respectable manner from there.

Even my good charging bay needs improvement I think. I’m going to get stuck into fixing them both up soon.

Sure. That’s not uncommon for a good low resistance protection circuit. The Blazars are certainly not the only cells that can do it.

I have some protected Eagletac 3100mah 18650’s that struggle to put out 3 amps. Fairly new also. It is why I use unprotected IMR’s mostly.

And you’re certain that it’s not your DMM that is doing the struggling? High resistance leads, and cheap inaccurate DMMs, are probably the true source of much of the woe regarding lower than expected current readings.

EDIT: Nevermind. If you can actually measure the superior performance of your IMR’s, I guess the variance is indeed in your cells.

I took tailcap readings on a C8 and got 2.9 amps with the Eagletac 3100’s. With the IMR’s I get 4.5 amps.

Curious. You can find your cells reviewed on HKJ’s site (in his battery comparator too) and his sample was certainly capable of putting out 5A.

It seems like the protection circuit kicks in too soon on my Eagletac 3100’s. I use them in my flashlights that draw lower amps.

Thanks for the info.


Generated by HKJ’s Battery Comparator

He obviously observed lower than expected performance as well it seems.

I guess I need to get me some Blazars.

MM is measuring Voltage - Measuring voltage is not an issue …

I may need to look at the battery carriers - I did buy some new ones …

Take a look at HKJ:s solution for his discharge tests, that clamp solution seems to work real good for him.

http://lygte-info.dk/info/Batteries2012Info%20UK.html

That looks interesting …

I made up a new heavy duty battery carrier , and the situation remains the same , very slightly lower resistance , maybe 0.03

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Variance between charger reported voltage and actual battery voltage remains almost 0.3v at 3A discharge …

So would be nice if some of you guys could check what your getting …

This is interesting , but I just dont have the time , exams next week , and I just did 11 hours of home work yesterday …

Time is precious ATM

But I just may need to set up a way to monitor Battery voltage during discharge so as to terminate at actual battery voltage rather than the voltage reported by the charger …

So after my exams , I may run a whole bunch of 3A discharges …

Ok here is a video …