Replacement 14500 battery for Olight S15R

Hi everyone, :smiley:

3 years before I was asking you advices to choose my EDC light. 3 years after I’m still using my Olight S15R and I’m not looking to replace it!
Over thoses years I decided to stop using the provided charging dock to charge the light. As I am travelling, I use the Xtar XP1 to charge this 14500 battery and few Ni-MH.

Now I’m facing quite low or irregular battery life. I saw the test of the Olight 14500 750mAh battery and it seems like it’s not the best anyway, so I would like to replace it.
The thing is that I don’t know what to look for to get a good battery fot this light.
I’m able to understand some differences between the Efest IMR14500 650mAh and the Nicjoy 14500 850mAh but I don’t know if they are major differences for my usage.

Can you help me to choose a replacement option regarding to the light I’m using and the charger I will use?

Thank you in advance for your expert answers! :wink:

Look on HKJs battery test

Efest 14500 are some good
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Efest%20IMR14500%20650mAh%20(Purple)%202017%20UK.html

http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Windyfire%20IMR14500%20600mAh%20(Red)%20UK.html
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Enercig%20EC-14500HP%20650mA%20(Gray)%20UK.html

http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/CommonSmallcomparator.php

Sanyo UR14500P, either protected or unprotected, depending on what the length requirements are in that flashlight.

This cell cant handle modern fet drivers well

OP’s question was in context of Olight s15r which has max output of 280 lumen. I cant imagine this light wanting to draw more current than the UR14500P can provide - probably no more than about 1A. The OEM olight cell provided with this light is not a high drain cell either, looking at HKJ’s test results.

Orbtronic, period.

Thanks a lot for your answers! :-)

And yes as you say Pete7874, my idea is to know what type of performance I need. If my S15R use 1A maximum there is no point to choose a new battery based on they capacity to handle a 2A drain.

So you think the S15R should not drain more than 1A?

The Efest and the Sanyo will always be quite a nice improvement compared to the Olight battery.

About protection, the Olight 14500 is 52.4mm long so I must be able to fit a battery with protection.

@JohnnyBravo, what is this battery? It says "Sanyo" but the Sanyo is 800mAh, not 840mAh.

In mine I use UR14500P without PCB or NI14500A
No problem

The original charger died one year ago
Now I charge the batteries in an external charger, Opus 3100

It is both

https://files.dcpower.eu/datasheets/panasonic/UR14500P.pdf

Sanyo/Panasonic is the same

Thank you for the information g_sintornillos. My misunderstanding was not between Sanyo and Panasonic because I know they are the same, but about the value. And yes 840mAh is the typical capacity while 800mAh is the minimal capacity, that makes sense.

Regarding to the tests I will go for a Sanyo or Sanyo based (with protection). I just need to find a place to buy a good genuine one.
Do you know a good sell for a delivery in the UK (whithin 1 month) or in France?

The last ones I received are from FT, my only provider of 14500, more than two years (may be three)

I made subsequent purchases but none delivered, they have been returned from intermediate scale (SG, PH, UK, SE or NL) or have not left China

PS. UR14500P from FT, now discontinued

I don’t use 14500 in mine anymore, there is little extra brightness to be had, the moon mode becomes too bright for my taste and duration is lost, but most importantly there is no energy density benefit compared with a good NiMH cell, at a fraction of the price.

I have several Efest 14500 700 mAh, bought in enthusiasm for a BLF/Kronos X5, that is the only torch I use them in now (and the only cell that works in it), and I rather think the form factor is not very useful, compared with e.g. 18350 or 16340 of similar or even higher capacity. It seems to be a dormant product, and also rather a dangerous one, if mixed up with AAs and put into something that cannot cope with 4.2V per cell (i.e. almost everything).

Also there is no low voltage cutoff in the S15 when using 14500, the torch seems really designed for NiMh, I have now spoilt two 14500 by letting them run down until quite dead. I would have been better using protected 14500 if such a thing exists with any decent capacity. Even if it did, it would not suit my X5.

I love my S15, but it runs exclusively on NiMH or even alkalines when travelling. It is an AA torch and maybe still the best one.

It is partnered these days with an On The Road M3 (16340 cell) which is much smaller, far far brighter with a nicer tint, but this doesn’t have the very low moonlight that I find so useful in the S15.

Actually the 16340 is becoming a staple for me, it also fits the 18350 torches and even my 18650 ones that have drivers that can cope with 1S or 2S, as well as being interchangeable with CR123A primary lithiums, for situations when disposables are still the best choice.

Ok thank you g_sintornillos.

Your opinion is interesting Tom Tom.
When I was looking for a flashlight I wanted to get a light able to run on a AA battery in case the Li-ion was dead. So I’m happy with the 14500 form factor, I know it’s far from being the most efficient batteries for a small flashlight but life is about making choices, isn’t it?
I’ve checked again the test (here) of the S15R and a comparison is made with the S15 that you have. And indeed the S15 does quite well on AA while the S15R is far from reaching the maximum brightness on a AA.

So I think I will stick with a 14500 battery. In my backpack the laptop mouse uses 2 AA Ni-MH so I can still grab one of these to run the S15R.
In addition to that, my tiny charger, the Xtar XP1 is not so good to charge Ni-MH. :frowning:

I can buy a pair of NICJOY ICR14500 cells for just $4.55 (shipping and BLF discount included). Hard to beat, I believe.

Cheers :-)

I don’t think there is really any difference between S15, and S15R, but I can’t prove that, I only have S15. Maybe there is some difference.

280 lumens (AA) vs. 350 (14500) is indistinguishable.

Whereas I get probably 800 from my OTR M3, in a nicer tint and much smaller.

We must make the best of what we have, you have one of the best ever, whether you feed it with LiIon, NiMH or AA. I think it is a classic, and so versatile. I would be devastated if I lost mine (they are not easily replaceable at sensible cost).

Oh yeah that’s really cheap Barkuti, almost free! Are these any good? The test is ok but there is not so much feedback about the Nicjoy. I prefer to spend a bit more if there is a risk to set fire with these. :smiley:

I totally agree with you Tom Tom.
The things is that I want to be able to make this little S15R shine as much as possible as it is the only flash light in my backpack.

Do you really need any further feedback than that of Henrik, Mollyman? C'mon!

Expensive price is no guarantee of a high quality product. The best products, in fact, rarely are expensive at all, just fairly priced. You do not generally pay a high price to fund intrinsic quality, but rather some additional service(s).

I'd grab the NICJOYs without hesitation but, of course, that's me.

Cheers :-)

Henrik test are great but they are tests on brand new units, there is no feedback over the battery life.
My next travel destination is Australia and all my stuff will probably stay few times at 50°C in a car. I just want to make sure I’m buying a good battery.

What do you think about this KeepPower ? The capacity is lower but there is a protection.

Do you require a protected cell, Mollyman? Protection circuits make cells bulkier and lower their performance.

A good case is all you may need for your cells to live happy in a glove box or trunk inside a hot car; avoid storing them fully charged.

With regards to quality, Keeppower is just a rewrapper (luckily a decent to good one). This protected ICR14500 800mAh is based on a cell manufactured by chinese OEM DLG. Coincidentally, the NICJOY cells were known as DLG in the aforementioned FastTech product page I submitted before, peek here: DLG? Nicjoy? … WTF?

Cheers ^:)

check out the pkcell sold by durnergey/fuspower on ebay.
rated 750mah test closer to 840.
good bang for the buck.

The PKCELL ICR14500 was already pinppointed just here, snakebite. ;-)

Cheers