26650 Batteries

You have a.. 10 years old cells that work great?

I've heard from some sources that Li-Ion's lose half of their capacity in just 3 years. So I guess this doesn't applies to LiMn kind, only the LiCo one then?

I thought about those emoli cells on ebay, then the other BLF'er PM'd me with that very useful information from emoli. I think 10 years is just too old for me to chance... maybe some day I might take a gamble. But not right now.

Funny you mentioned this because I am retiring some 26650 cells I bought in NOV 2009. They self discharge very fast, and are down to about 1/3 their original storage capacity. So I think these have seen their day. Looking back, they never really held a charge the way a healthy Lithium-based cell chemistry should at / above ~4.15V. (Panasonic CGR18650 cells are my baseline for comparison, and will remain pegged at ~4.15V for several months at least). So I think these 26650s had a high internal resistance from day-1, it was masked partially by my moderate current draw applications.

Looking back at my Battery space order history these old cells were described as:

LiMnNi Rechargeable 26650 Cell: 3.7V 4000 mAh, 10A rated 14.8Wh

Just ran a 1A discharge test 5 minutes ago.... barely 1300mah from 4.2-3.15V at 1A, so these are ready for the recycle bin.

I've got the same BatterySpace 4AH IMR 26650. I barely used it, never deep cycled it, and only charged it ~4 times. I can honestly say that in direct comparison to that cell, the 10 yr. old Moli cells outperform it, driving my single cell lights to a higher current when half spent than it can on a full charge. I think the saving grace of the Moli cells is that they are truly high quality cells, made by arguably the best (or one of the best two) power tool LiMn cell manufacturer( s ), were never used at all, and were stored properly. Cheap cells degrade on their own over time much faster than quality cells. In my mind, I'd rather have 10 yr old Molis in mint condition than brand new TrustFires any day. At $6 each, I think I gambled and one. I just hope the next six are the same as the first three.

Me too, although I topped them off much more than that. I used them very carefully knowing I paid $15 each. I was never really impressed with these 26650 cells. Capacity was originally in the ~3900mah ball park so they did OK in that regard... but that was the only thing they did well. Current delivery was so-so, and self-discharge characteristics were terrible. I hope these newer ones are better. We'll see. So I am looking forward to your impressions too on your latest moli batch. I haven't ruled them out completely yet either, and the lighthound cell is still on my radar.

Yeah I agree... an older high quality cell can easily out-perform a new low quality one. Thats why this thread is so important for those of us into the larger 26650 size. Theres just not much real data out there (as compared to 18650).

And thinking deeper about it, if 10 year old Moli cells perform that good, then how ones manufactured this year do?

I just ordered 3 of the moli from same seller. Almost did about 3 weeks ago when I had a chance to snipe them at like $15 but hadn't heard anything about them so I shied away.

I Have a MNKE 26650 400mah that I overdischarge up to 1.8v and wont charge in my other charger except on my ML-102 V2, After a few hours its now full charged to 4.2v.

Do I have to worry about anything that happened to this battery?

Thanks

Many charger cannot pick up a cell with a voltage lower than 2.2V, so I think it's normal that most chargers won't charge this cell.

What cause this over-dischage, was it a boost driver? Under load the voltage must have been lower than 1.8V.

Actually an error on my part, Used this to power my 2xD operated Fan and forgot to turn it off, The Fan stopped working and when I checked the voltage its at 1.8v. I used a stock driver from one of my lights thinking this could act as my over discharge protection circuit but I made a mistake almost causing killing a barely used battery. Currently using a protected 18650 batts in the Fan.

First post here guys. Newbie to this new world (but not to the interest :) ).

Just ordered the King Kong INR26650E. N.Shock or someone, any chance you can do a discharge test on these to compare to the ICR?

Bose301s, go Huskys :) 2002 Graduate

Don't be surprised when you actually get them, that it really is a King Kong ICR26650E

yeah, hoping not the case.. Ordered from the CN Quality Goods link at top of page.. but we'll see... 20-30 days out lol.

I don't want to wait anymore :( want king kongs and tr-j12 now.. please?

Agreed, but I did contact Ric @ CNQG and he assured me he has both and changed the website to reflect that. Let us know what you end up receiving.

And 01110111011001010110110001100011011011110110110101100101 to BLF, binaryman!

Thanks :) Here's to hoping..

Found some discharge graphs to compare to N.Shock's ICR.. no time on these graphs though, but if converting correctly looks like a bit more run time.. Either way looks good:

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/2325?page=1

Can anyone say what size magnets (or better yet link, or ebay link) I might need to get my kingkongs to work in my TrustFire tr-j12?

It's good to have you here, binaryman.

Did you know that there are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

The little rare earth magnets work perfectly. You can order from overseas or get them from Harbor Freight, 10 pack for $1.89:

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-rare-earth-magnets-67488.html

Ok. I wasn't sure, as I read neodymium doesn't conduct 'as well' as other metals/magnets, didn't want a current issue.

Also, better to get smaller diameter ones, or like 25mm so can tape in place easier? What's best way to keep them from moving around with a bump?

I don't own any INR26650E. So no comparison from my side. Sorry!

Sorry forgot it, but I won't use magnets between 26650s