Test/review of Vapcell ICR14500 1000mAh (Gold) 2018

Nice. Are you willing to briefly share how do you attain those graphs toobadorz? Tools and etc. Thanks.

Shame on you Soshine and Vapcell, yet again rating inflation.

Source: https://gfycat.com/simpledarlingbrant

18650 cylinder volume (cm³) is πr² × h = π(0.81) × 6.5 = ≈16.5405cm³

14500 cylinder volume (cm³) is πr² × h = π(0.49) × 5.0 = ≈7.6969cm³

This means 14500 is 100 × (7.6969/16.5405) = 46.5337% the volume of 18650.

3500 × ≈0.465337 = ≈1628.68

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

:-)

OOPS, I forgot to do the whole math. You’re right. So, it’s even worse than I said.

That’s a little higher than what actually can be achieved.
Consider that the anode and cathode take up a percentage of the cell, the smaller the cell the higher the percentage of volume the anode and cathode take up.
If we say in a 18650 the anode and cathode take up 6.5mm (makes the math easier) that’s 10 % of the total volume, 90% left for electrolyte.
For a 18350 cell the anode and cathode is the same 6.5mm and that’s 20% of the total volume, that just leaves 80% of the cell volume left for electrolyte.
If you made a cell 18065 with the same 6.5mm anode and cathode there would be no space left for electrolyte, yet the cell still has volume.

Can understand moderator007, I could also consider the cell can thickness and bla bla bla. To me, and you know, these are just excuses. Everything can be properly scaled up or down and counter volume losses.

I used to test the batteries I bought with EBD-A20H (an electronic load for up to 20A discharge) and a 30A version BF-2A (a 4-wire battery fixture).

I purchased 4 of these from Vapcell direct off aliexpress (in their 11.11 sale) and after receiving them last week one died on the first use!
They all came at ~3.62v and took an initial charge but then the first cycle in a light I got a low voltage warning abnormally soon and saw it was at 3v after just a day of lite usage so I took it out and it’s self discharged to 90mv in just 3 days time.
The other 3 seem to be maintaining their voltage and the 2 others I’ve tried so far seem to work fine.

Should I chalk it up to cheap China sourced cells or ask for a replacement? The other pair of them I’ve been running are from liionwholesale and they’re button tops (these aliexpress ones are flat top) so I was a little concerned from the get-go…

You should pm Vapcell_Dennis here. He is always very helpful. Always report problems to the manufacturers to help them fix problems and improve otherwise they would not be aware of it.

I need replacing battery 14500 for sonicare.
What to use
Vapcell ICR14500 1000mAh - 3A
or
Sanyo UR14500P 800mAh - 5A

What you sugest me?

svicar1, the Vapcell ICR14500 1000mAh (950mAh manufacturer rating) is overall better than the Sanyo UR14500P without a doubt. The UR14500P isn't a 5 A cell, but more like 3C or ≈2.4 A tops.

The choice is clear, imho.

And Shockli is even marginally better.

I don't think there really is any actual difference (besides cell grade or batch and etc.), both Shockli and Vapcell buy their 14500 “1000 mAh” cells from the same OEM as far as I understand (Heter cell; the manufacturer rating is 950 mAh, btw).

I’ve seen it a few times that Shockli cell measured by HKJ performs slightly better than Vapcell one.
I used to assume that they try to get better grades…but now that you made me think about it I wonder whether they just send cherry-picked cells to HKJ. Or whether it’s just a random effect caused by small sample size.

As to this cell - I tried to find some more information on Heter 14500. It is not present on hetercell.com. Could you please share some more pointers?

I doubt they are the same cell. The Vapcell measures higher capacity but noticeably less output in FET lights. So if you are using FET lights, then the Shockli 14500 is better for max output. But for most 14500 lights, there will not be any difference in output and Vapcell has the advantage of more capacity. Both are the best 14500 you can get.

I do not think battery OEMs may be willing to share their latest product advancements to the general public in their websites, that may require some digging. But maybe I could gather some info from a known source… ;-)

Despite certain manufacturers of li-ion cells may share one of the most characteristic “OEM traits” of cylindrical cells, the top pole shape or geometry, among big OEMs this is pretty uncommon. In some cases a closer look reveals subtle differences, this is what happens with the newer triple leg top of LG Chem which is very close to that of Samsung SDI, but not quite the same. Heter also uses a triple leg/lobe top, but with a quite wide leg. I've seen it on many other non-usual cell formats, like 16340s and 16500s.

Agreed. Comparing the discharge curves of the shockli and vapcell they are obviously different cells; different shapes and IRs.

I just received a shockli 1000mah 14500 ordered from their AliExpress store to upgrade my edc light capacity. However, the windyfire 600mah 14500 is still the highest performance 14500 as far as I know (lowest IR).

I didn't take a look at this until now, and indeed they're different. The Shockli seems to be very overrated, I say this because good battery OEMs do rate their cells consistently and usually stick to the common 0.2C rating standard (Power Long Battery, using a 1C rating standard, is an exception). According to HKJ's test, the newer 14500 Shockli cell is probably a 900 mAh OEM rated cell (versus a 950 mAh OEM rating for the Vapcell).

Looking at HKJ's energy output report charts, the Vapcell 1000mAh is best suited for light loads, up to ≈2 A or so. From there on the Shockli 1000mAh overtakes. For those of you who don't drain your cells much, the load drain rate “turnaround point” could be lower (≈1 A).

Thanks
I will buy Vapcell ICR14500 1000mAh from nkon.nl

Good call.
Good battery
Good seller.

Good battery but for some reason the official aliexpress vapcell store they can’t send it to Greece

Get it from nkon instead then.