Need help with matching flashlight and 18650 batteries

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hi. New here (obviously). I'm looking to buy the following AA LED flashlight. It seems to be the best rated one when it comes to brightness, compactness, etc.:

http://www.dinodirect.com/led-flashlight-super-bright-1000lm-5mode-cree-t6.html

It's the Ultrafire ('Uniquefire'??) UF-2100 5-mode flashlight. I'd like to get an 18650 battery for it. I'm currently getting the following charger:

http://www.tomtop.com/ultrafire-3-7v-battery-charger-for-18650-14500-17500-18500-17670.html

I'm assuming it's a good charger. What's confusing is that there are a couple different versions of 18650 batteries. Like the following two:

http://www.tomtop.com/2x-ultrafire-18650-3000mah-protected-li-ion-battery-3-7v.html

http://www.dinodirect.com/rechargeable-battery-3600mah-pcb-ultrafire-protected.html

They're both 18650 batteries, but I'm not sure which one will work better in the flashlight. Safety is also an issue. Are these pretty safe batteries? Or are they prone to go BOOM?

Any help for a newbie would be appreciated!

2

Welcome to BLF.. Nice UF-2100 i need one of those

The charger is fine the batteries .. no those arent worth $2 dollars.

Keep in mind most budget batteries are always over state their true capacity. id suggest looking at the Trustfire flames 2400mha

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/protected-trustfire-18650-37v-2400mah-rechargeable-batteries-flame-2pcsset-p-5560

and check out these threads

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/5826 Battery test/review

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/6990 What batteries should i get?

batteries go boom? Im not a battery nancy just pull the batteries out when they are finished. and never run below 3 volts thinks most say below 2.5 throw it away. I charge mine around 3.5 volts. Protected cells helps prevent high current draw, low voltage drain and over charge.

http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/battery%20protection%20UK.html explains in detail the 18650 battery.

moT

3

http://www.dinodirect.com/trustfire-lithium-battery-18650-2400mah.html

The others you posted have higher numbers but they are just lying if you tested them they would prove to you time and time again that they are junk .. they may say 3600 but really only do 1500mah .. there are lots of junk batteries out there .. Usually if it's a combo deal ... it's trash . the tom top site is pretty much all junk too ..My rule of thumb is this .. anyone who sells BTY batteries is looking for a sucker ... don't be it .

MoT offeres some good advice above where he says look at some of the battery threads on BLF ..

I know it's a terrible mean thing to say to a noobie on BLF ... but use the search in the upper left hand part of the page and all the battery questions have been answered 1000 times . spend some time doing searches on batteries because good ones rule and bad ones REALLY stink ...welcome to blf :P

http://www.dinodirect.com/trustfire-tr-001-charger-multifunctional-ac100-240v.html

4

Hi flamanar, welcome to BLF. I'm still a noob too, and this is my take on the battery question, based on hours of searching and studying what far more knowledgable members have written.

Basically, batteries are one area where I honestly wouldn't bother trying to save a couple of dollars. Yes, there seem to be periodic bargains out there, but with cheaper batteries (like with cheaper flashlights) the whole thing becomes more of a lottery. QC goes down, along with reliability and, usually, performance. I've seen many 'deal alert' battery threads here at BLF which suddenly get updated to become 'warning' threads when someone gets a bad batch of the - up till that point - recommended batteries that started the thread.

I guess for flashaholic experts who know what they're doing and need to buy, say, two dozen batteries at a time, then a saving of 2 or 3 dollars per battery is a worthwhile venture, but until I reach that point (probably never) I'll continue to spend a little more and play as safe as possible.

Li-ion chemistry, which applies to 18650/14500/10440 etc batteries, seems in any case to be something of a questionable issue. Here at BLF there are members who won't use these batteries on safety grounds, and there are others who regard the potential risk as being so low as to be not worth worrying about. Personally, I use li-ion batteries but with caution.

And it's not just about safety. Budget batteries usually don't last as long and often won't perform as well as better quality ones. It reminds me of running a high performance sports car on cheap motor oil. Why? Just my 2 cents, of course.

FWIW, I use this charger, reviewed here (and by others at BLF): https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/4442 which I bought from here: http://www.hkequipment.net/index.php?sp=&p=6&cat2=150&cat1=59&cat0=2&id=1045&cat1=59&cat0=2&new=&more=&s=c98de9a8dc28171caf15ce26d10c5c9a&lang=en
It has inbuilt protection against overcharging batteries, which alone was worth a few extra bucks to me. And I use these batteries: http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/2pcs-xtar-18700-2400mah-rechargeable-protected-batteries-p-1929.html

But, as I said, I'm still new to all this and I based my choices on reviews and help from here at BLF. Boaz above gives good advice re using the search facility; there's a wealth of info within in these archives.