EBL 18650 review

Don’t most batteries vent and overheat when shorted?

No and Yes. As Lexel stated, these cheap cells are almost always missing the physical protections PTC and CID. Explanation here . Where a good cell overheats, a lesser cell vents, and a crap cell experiences “rapid disassembly” and fire. People aren’t telling you that the cells are crap to be snobs or to rain on your parade. EBL cells are not good. There is a reason they are not used in tool packs, laptop batteries, electric cars, etc.

The word review is in the topic title, however you said you think that they are ok and around 2000mah. Have you tested this in any way? Do you know their continuous discharge rate? Chemistry type? Internal resistance? How does the capacity hold up under load? All of these things matter if it is to be used for anything worthwhile, and I bet that the company publishes no data. I can’t even find a website for them.

People say they are rebranded ultrafire because the wrapper is a direct rip off of this known low quality brand. To me that says a lot right there. These cells of unknown provenance are sold cheaply and manufactured even more cheaply with inflated claims on the wrapper, designed for folks who don’t know any better.

Here is their website EBL Battery Charger

I don’t know anything about these 18650’s but the 26650 seemed ok.

capacity is one thing but can the cell deliver 10 or 15A and is it safe for the case it gets shorted

Ultrafire 3000mAh

for example Ultrafire cell 2.75Ah at 0.2A discharge at 5A between 700 and 900mAh and no useful as the voltage sags like crazy after 20 seconds to 3.2V

I am hoping someone with proper equipment can test these eventually as I’m really curious to see how they perform. My personal favourite is the Samsung 30Q and the LG HG2, those are all I use in my flashlights but for cheap battery packs to charge my phone I don’t care so much.

you could send 2 cells to HKJ he will make a proper test

But my guess is that they are exactly the same I linked, at 500mAh discharge test 2Ah sounds like them

The EBL 18650s have around 2000mAh. There are some YouTube “reviews” that show analyzing charger results. I think I have measured them at around 2000 also. The IR is not that low. I have a couple of them that I will measure later.

A capacity test isn’t really a good test to check batteries unless you can load them with a load that is close to what they will be used for as seen in Lexel’s pic above. Under a .2amp load they’d be fine but under 5amp load they fall flat on their face. I have tested batteries with my hobby charger that would not even make 3amps load test. The voltage sag was so bad that by the time the charger reached the load of (it ramps up) 3amps the voltage was already below the cut off voltage and the test stopped. That’s one difference between cheap cells and quality cells. There is also differences in the way its made for safety. Cheap cells may or may not have ever been tested for safety. Quality cells are made to be safe and are tested (not saying things can’t happen). After all these quality cells we are using were meant to be in your home in a laptop or a car. I don’t really Know what the cheap cells were made for, a cheaper less performing alternative or just profit. I have seen a few cells that were very good cells from china (Aspire 18350). So I guess they can make good cells they just don’t unless the money is there. :question:

I agree an actual discharge test with the load that is expected in use is the best test, but a (low load) capacity test in combination with an accurate IR measurement will usually tell you what you need to know. My turnigy reaktor hobby charger has a good IR test function that I will use with the EBL cells tonight.

I gain from anyone who has knowledge or more knowledge than me which seems to be all of you. Are their forums or links on basics for meters to test batteries etc. I have confidence of my electrical abilities for home, car, flashlight builds, soldering, p60’s, etc. I have basic home GreenLee multimeters along with tools and a soldering iron.
I have a couple laptops with fried mother boards that still have good battery packs that I have confidence and no problem in safely pulling those.
What capacities etc would I be looking for?
My thoughts would be to pull the cells check the voltage, put in my Nitecore I2 charger and charger them. If it recognizes one as no good then that rules that one out.
I’m I missing any basics?
Thanks.

Lots of good reading here. BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University
If you look around that place there’s about as much info on battery’s there that I know of.
More here. Battery test-review 18650 comparator

I have salvaged cells. I read up on it before and the experienced people seem to say the following. Measure voltage of cells after taking them from battery pack, if any is below about 2.5v discard. Charge the remaining while watching to see if they become too hot. After charging let them sit for a week or two and see if any have dropped voltage significantly and if they have discard those. This guy is extremly knowledgable about batteries, he has made his own electric car and runs his house of home made solar panels. He seems to prefer used name brand batteries for his projects then new no name like EBL lol. sorting used cells

That’s what I was always told to, until about 4 years ago, a few of us tested a few off ebay. You’ll be surprised at the results.

Thanks for the Battery U. link, definitely lots of info there.

These EBL’S were that newbie sucker buy that I got fooled into. And than came BLF. Bought it on an Amazon flash sale for around $16 for a set of six. Seemed like a pretty good deal with fast shipping. Oh well, should have probably returned them.

They may be OK for low drain devices. Can someone advise about that. Would it be OK to use in the S2+ ?

These EBL’S were that newbie sucker buy that I got fooled into when I started out. And than came BLF. Bought it on an Amazon flash sale for around $16 for a set of six. Seemed like a pretty good deal with fast shipping. Oh well, should have probably returned them.

They may be OK for low drain devices. Can someone advise about that. Would it be OK to use in the S2+ ?

Measured a couple EBL 18650s I have and they were 75 to 85 mOhms. For comparison an old 30Q measured 31mOhms and a new VTC5A measured 19 mOhms.

Ha story of my life. Now I don’t really know what to do with them… I mean I don’t even have button tops anymore. Just got some panasonic 18650BD cells for $1/piece from an ebay mistake auction. Lol.

How do you guys load test and capacity test cells? I’ve got a cc cv buck converter at my disposal…wondering if I can use that to load the cells to something higher than 1 amp that my iMax b6 can handle…with the constant current I could just calculate the time and eventual mah…

Since I posted last I have had 3 of my EBL’s leak fluid. It came out the positive end. I am in the works of replacing all of mine.

I am swapping my 18650’s with Samsung 25r and 30r. Also for button tops I am going with Nitecore’s.
For my 16340’s I’m swapping over to Nitecore protected.

For all my 26650’s I am now using all Keeppowers’s.

I had also contacted EBL and I received no reply about the issue. I learned my lesson on the EBL’s.