Full of Sanyo and Panasonic cells that have transparent PVC on Ebay or Taobao. Eliminates branding and concentrates on the cell inside. But MarsFire branded them :)
In certain high-current lights, you will get BOTH with these cells.
These are IMO the best unprotected cells on the market, at any price.
Troop, good pickup! I think that is great bang for the buck. Now that you've got your cells, I hope you don't mind if I go OT a little...
To further Chi-X's statement in high draw applications, here's the runtime I wrapped up on a forthcoming review:
This was on a light drawing 6A at the tail (and prolly 9A actual). The CK IMR's bested a generic MOLI 26650 and even the vaunted King Kong's (at least initially) before finally succumbing to the laws of phyics and limitations of its inherent size.
'nuff said!
It's very interesting to see the generic cell's efficiency and output increase along with temperature.
Thanks for the excellent graph.
I felt the same way and would happily have paid that price for them. However I tried to save a couple bucks by submitting a best offer and they never replied to it. If they turned it down I’d pay full price, but you have to wonder about the CS if they can’t respond in 2 days. Instead I bought one Eagletac 3100 and 4 xtar 2600 for about the same price. Serena contacted me almost immediately. I figure it’s worth an extra $.50 for a sure thing.
Those Panasonic however are now at the top of my list of things that I want to buy that I don’t need. My X9 keeps whispering to me that it needs one…
sorry for the question but when would i need to care about protected vs unprotected cells? only when charging? i own two ultrafire 18650s and they seem to do ok in my fenix pd31 and the new budget fandyfire c8 cree xm-lt6 that came in last week
but i wanted some backup batteries and ordered the Panonsoic ones listed in this thread
i'm only using a cheap charger now
Thanks
You are not by yourself in trying to save a couple bucks. 
On the "make offer" I noticed you can't go too low, or they will decline. On $27.99 with $10 shipping, I offered $26.00, I got success..
I paid $26 plus $10 for shipping for 6 Hi Max 2600 cells. Not only that shipping was right around 2 weeks or less.
Declining would’ve been cool. Leaving me hanging for two days wasn’t. I’m happy with my xtars and my ET resides in my Zebralight. I think I’ll cycle the xtars once then save them back for a skyray king or dry. I may try himax again sometime, maybe the guy was just busy after CNY.
I do not have any li-on batteries, but have the impression that unprotected batteries are OK in single cell lights, but protected cells should be used in 2 or more battery lights.
Is that correct? Thanks,
Jerry
No.
The problem is that LiIon batteries must never be discharger below about 2.5 volt. Some single cell lights does shut off before that happens, but there are also many that does not.
So would you recommend that one only use protected cells? This is new to me, and I am concerned about the safety issues, but do not want to pay $10 -$15 per battery. I have a couple of single cell cheapie lights that use 18650s or 3 AAAs.
I ordered a couple of TrustFire protected batteries from Manafont.
Thanks,
Jerry
If you know the light shuts down, before the battery is below 2.5 volt, you can use unprotected batteries.
Here is a simple guide:
The safe type of lights are lights with direct drive or 7135 driver (Typical lights that can only work with a single LiIon cell).
Lights with buck converter are frequently safe (This is typically 2xCR123 or 1x18650 light).
Lights with boost converter are NOT safe (This is lights that can work with one cell of either Alkaline, NiMH or LiIon).
There are two reasons:
- Safety, when the battery is discharged to much the risk of explosion increases for all future use.
- Capacity, when discharged to much it looses lots of capacity, i.e. it can easily drop to 50% of capacity.
HJK, I am very appreciative of your help. I ordered an Ultrafire 501B out of curiosity, and the package included 2 Ultrafire batteries. After reading some, I have about to decide to throw away the batteries, and I have a couple of Trustfire protected that I will use. I also recently got a Huxby P2 that will use a 14500. I am using both a CR 123 and an eneloop AA in it.I have a couple of Trustfire 14500 protected batteries on order.To my eye the brightness of the AA is as good as the CR 123. I am surprised at that. I guess there will be a difference in the runtime, however.
I did not want to get this involved in all this, but here I am, and ignorant as a tree stump.
Of course my main concern is the safety factor.
Regards, Jerry
This depends on the driver in the light, a good driver can easily stabilize the brightness for both AA and CR123, but most drivers will increase brightness significantly with a LiIon.
Runtime depends on the number of watt hours in the battery (Wh) and the efficiency of the driver. AA and CR123 are not that different in Wh (CR123 is slightly better), and the efficiency will usual be better with CR123. I.e. CR123 will usual give longer runtime.
Jerry, just because that say Ultrafire doesn't mean they are complete crap. I have several of these, some work just fine, some not so much. I won't be purchasing any more of them (Too many counterfeits), but I will still use them in single cell lights. I careful to check voltage prior to and after charging and I watch them like a hawk while they are on the charger.
Conversely, while some Trustfires have been tested as pretty good, there are a lot of fakes out there for these as well. Me? I no longer buy either.
Thanks BR,
I will give them a try. I will keep up with the voltage. I assume the TrustFire Multifuctional Charger I have on order will cut off when the battery is fully charged. Otherwise I would have to remove the battery to check the voltage. I wonder if the charger works on a timed charge or completely on the voltage of the battery?
I can see that it is easy to "work your way up" to a higher quality/cost battery. I am half determined not to do that. Now about the half that wants to.:)
Thanks, again.
Jerry
With the utlrafires, I know they are not going to give me a lot of runtime. I usually used the ultrafires during the daytime when I got my lights on blinky. Also, if I am doing a short run in the dark, I might used the ultrafires, but I will have some quality spares with me at all time. I caught on quick when I got my first light combo, charger and cells. They came with ultrafires.. After 20 or 30 minutes they are done, if that long. However, now I know. They work just fine on blinky doing the daytime..
Don't ever buy any cells from buyincoins! It's almost guaranteed that you'll get something with ridiculous capacity.
Could you please elaborate on the last two points.
I think I get the last one: since the driver must provide power using NIMH (1.2 Volts) it can keep draining a LiIon cell way below the recommended voltage, right??
As far a buck converters being frequently safe, hmm I believe buck converters are used mostly on flashlights with multiple LiIon cells. I was under the understanding that usually, budget lights are direct driven on high, so why would a 1x18650 light need a buck converter??
Please enlighten me.
Thanks