Been looking for a charger that will work with 18650 and 16340 batteries. Found this one on Dinodirect. It comes with 2 3000mah 18650 batteries for under 12 bucks. Looks like it might be a good deal but I don't know if it will work with 16340 batteries. btw, 16340 is the same as an RCR123a right?
The label doesn't list 16340 batteries but aren't they the same voltage as the others listed on there?
And the batteries it comes with....
Will that charger work with these?
Why not a TR001? Many users here have the TR001 charger and they are pretty happy. It will charge without doubt 18650 and 16340.
The wf - 139 could charge the 16340 if side contact are enable (soldered to mian board). Unfortunately they are not connected and you should do it by yourself (at your own risk). Otherwise you can use spacer.
The "3000 mah" battery are not good cell (not 3000 mah and low current output). Expecially if you use them for XML...
crap...looks like I'm gonna need more help than I thought!! lol
I figured the higher mah rating the better. So, what are some good and very inexpensive protected 18650s for use with XML lights? That's what I will be using them for. Also would like the cheapest charger that will charge 18650 and 16430 batteries. I guess the TR001 is the recommended one? Sounds good. Looks like it's about 11 bucks. Not bad.
Is the 16430 battery I listed considered a good one?
Just remember that because a cell has an mah rating stating there capacity might not be there rated capacity, the only way to know is if you do some tests. I have no rig setup to check for capacity but i am sure that if you do a search here you will be bound to find it. I use that charger and just use a spacer to charge 16340's, been using it now for 3 years with no problems.
I can tell you firsthand that the red Ultrafire batteries are a big hit and miss. And some will work, but some will not even if they are said to be new. They are from what I have been told used pack cells I'm guessing for laptops and have been reshrunk and sold to appear like new. I have some and I still use them. But again do so with care. Some of the red Ultrafires are called hand grenades and may possibly explode while being used. I had a guy tell me if I want to use what I have up if they will in fact work and if I don't have the equipment to check them which I don't is to run them in your higher lumen lights for 5 min and then take them out of the flashlight and see if they are hot. If they are, discard those batteries for they won't keep up with the current being drawed from the led and can be unsafe to use. The best 2 brands of batteries I have been told here by the guys that know are the Xtar 18700 2600MAH and the HI-MAX 18650 2600MAH sold on ebay by only 1 seller. You can get them here. He will take a $5.00 offer per battery plus $3 shipping for each pair for a total of $13.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/320619164465?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648
You can email Serena on the Xtar batteries and I believe if you tell her you would like in on the group buy deal at Budget Light Forum for a pair of Xtar 18700 2600MAH for $13.50 she will let you have them at that price. But you will need to ask her first to see and how many you want. I'm at work so I don't have that info with me. But someone may help you or I will later tonite. If she does, you can just put $13.50 for each set in her paypal account. I bought 2 pair at that price.
I also have some pretty decent grey Ultrafire 2400MAH protected batteries that are pretty good in my opinion. But I have been told by some that these batteries can be hit and miss also. So you might want to just stick with the other ones I mentioned to be sure you get the better cells. They are said to be the best batteries for the price and as good as cells costing more.
In general you're right. More mah=better battery. This is true when the mah are real. You can be pretty sure of the mah with quality battery like sanyo, panasonic, AW, XTAR. If you need budget protected 18650, Trustfire "flames" (here) can be a good choice (also id recently someone reported bad batch of these batteries). If you want highest quality AW seems to be a good choice. Take a look here:
http://old4570.com/battery.html
For the charger you can use wf-139 with spacer or the tr-001 without spacer. This are cheap and pretty reliable. If you want a better charger you can take a look to XTAR charger (WP2 or WP2 II).
I'm not an expert on 16340 so i let that part of the answer to someone that has more experience than me with 16340
Most chargers will need a spacer with the 16340 ...
The TR001 - some love it , some hate it [ I love it ] , still my main go to charger ...
Remember some charger need monitoring , the TR-001 falls into this area ...
Xtar WP2 , is a good charger , WP2 -Mark2 is also a good charger ..
TR003 also , still need the spacer ..
Or buy a dedicated 16340 charger ...
This is an area being cheap is borderline stupid IMHO. there is so much junk out there . buy decent japanese batteries and at least a halfway decent charger and monitor them when charging ,I don't torture test my batteries ,i don't abuse my toys or push my luck .What's the point ? Buy the best battery you can afford and give them the respect they deserve .
I'd never buy a battery in a deal ,I'd never buy the ones you're talking about ,batteries are foundational .you don't need to go crazy but I'd buy trustfire flames minimum , maybe hi max , or rev jims unprotected panasonics,bestinone lmr 18650's , sanyos or samsung from a real vendor ...not some yoyo on ebay . read some reviews first ..i think the 139 charger isn't that bad..but I have no experiance with it personally ..First 18650's..?? I'd say Hi max .
the tr001 i've seen cheaper .. like 8$ in other stores
I have the WF-139 and I love it. The side slots for 16340 are not active for some reason but everything is on the board to make it work if you have soldering tools and a couple pieces of wire. I modded mine and all the slots work perfectly. Dual channel charging to a perfect 4.20v every time with auto cutoff. Very trust worthy charger from my experience.
Well, when you are writing something like this, you dont know that using Lio Batteries is way more "dangerous" than using/handling some nimh batteries. Do yourself a favour in buying not the absolute crap. There are many budget tips which were tested. A absolute must have imho is a DMM.. Never trust only the Circuit Protection or the Charger Protection... Its always daunting how silly some people go around with their own health.. In worst case you have pipe bomb, and what can happen then some older threads can show..
About the charger, I have this http://www.dealextreme.com/p/trustfire-tr-001-multi-purpose-lithium-battery-charger-12594?r=43033281 and many other users. Good charger, it seems to stop at 4,20 volts...
In fact, I have 2 units, and I use one with 220volts and the other with 12volts when no 220v is available (i.e. solar panel, 12volt SLA, etc...)
It accepts, without adapters, 10440, 14500, 16340, 18650 and others...
I also use the Trustfire TR-001 and don't have any issues with it. Mine terminates at 4.17v, however these chargers will trickle charge indefinitely. It will keep charging (at a very small rate) after the charging is technically finished. So make sure you pull the cells out of the charger as soon as they're finished.
Ok, couple more questions. What is the advantage of higher mah? Does a higher mah mean the light will be brighter or does it mean a longer run time, or both?
Also, someone mentioned contacting Serena about Xtar batteries. I'm new here so I have no idea who that is or how to contact her. Is there a website?
Someone mentioned AW batteries. Where would I buy these?
miamilight, it's real easy. Email serena at szws@szwholesale.com and she'll give you a PP address. Send the money over, she'll use your PP mailing address probably but that should not be an issue. Add $2 for registered air mail but that is usually not necessary. You'll not get a shipping notification, but before you know it the batteries are in your letterbox. Shipping from them is pretty fast, definitely not dealextreme or kaidomain type.
The real Ultrafire 3000 mAh cell was actually tested at over 2900 mAh, real beeing not some cheap fake shit from ebay. Of course that was on low current draw, so others are still better buys.
Higher mah will mean longer runtimes.......
My vote goes for the WP2 ll charger, arguably the best budget charger. For 18650 ,try the xtar 2600mah 18700 cells they are re-labled sanyo cells and are great quality. As you can read i really like xtar products. I have been very satisfied with there quality. If you're looking for something a bit more frugal try the TF TR001 charger and some 18650 TF 2400mah the ones with flames make sure to get the protected ones. Good luck!
My experiences with the WP2 II charger show it to be fundamentally a safer charger, and I would really recommend it for a budget level system.
As boaz said, batteries and chargers are something I would spend a little more on, and have a significantly better and SAFER setup. its a false economy to buy cheap cells because they dont give you the capacity (runtime), can't deliver the power (shorter runtime on high), won't last as long (dies in half the time), and can be a little more dangerous (burn down house!)
The variation were talking about here isn't a small percentage, were talking HUGEEE variations in real performance, and if you took a look at the battery database by Old, you will see what appears to be a $2 saving per cell, could buy you a cell that only gives you 5% of the total performance, so the real cost is infact 10 times MORE expensive for the same output, not to mention all the other problems.
Even the trust fire flames are now showing up as not so great cells, and I would recommend you get yourself some XTAR 2600mA 18650s, or the Callies cells, and at least a safer charger such as the WP2 II.
Where can I get one of those WP2 chargers?
Knowing me, I should probably spend a couple extra $$$ and get a safe charger given that I have a propensity for setting things on fire and blowing things up. Yes, over the course of my life I've managed to set a tv set on fire, shorted out an entire house's breaker box, had two of my cars catch fire,and electrocuted myself with a water heater. So yeah, maybe I'd be better off with a safe charger instead of the cheapest one I can find. 
Does this one seem legit and a good price?