Protected 14500 Recommendation

zoulas, thanks, and sorry to hear about AW.

But I’m interested in your recommendation of Sofirn 14500s as I’m a fan of Sofirn. But the only Sofirn 14500s I’m aware of are these: https://www.sofirnlight.com/4pcs-14500-batteries-900mah-p0032.html I emailed Sofirn about them a while back and they told me that they are unprotected. Can you point me to the protected Sofirn 14500s you’re referencing?

These are the only ones I know, I thought they were protected as its unusual to have a button top unprotected battery .

https://sofirnlight.com/4pcs-14500-batteries-900mah-p0032.html

Yep, I was likewise hoping they’re protected as I like Sofirn products and the price is certainly right. But when I emailed Sofirn about them last Novemember, Lan Lee replied and said they are unprotected.

Be careful with protected button top 14500s, as they can be quite long for the host, since AAs are more common.

For single cell lights, you might not need the protection circuit, but you may need a button top.

I’ve got some older EVVA Sanyo 840mAh and they have BTs and the PCBs.

They fit in my ZT SC52, but they don’t fit in my Icon Rogue 1, my Zeno EO3, or my L3 Illuminations L10, so be aware.

Chris

I guess it is better to start asking: in which light(s) do you want to use the 14500 batteries?
Are they flashlights that need high drain cells?

Most of the high drain cells are not protected. Ex: Vapcell H10, Shockli H10, Efest IMR, Windyfire, …

Many unprotected cells are not high drain. Ex: the black Shockli above, Vapcell 14500 gold, Sanyo UR14500P, …

Most protected cells are above 51mm. Ex: the Nitecores, the Skilhunts, the Keeppower, the Xtar, the Wuben, and so on

Some protected cells (that even have mini usb port) are below 50mm. Ex: Lumintop (blue and white), and eventually the orange and white too

So, I would ask: for which lights you want the high drain? If it is a light like a Lumintop tool AA, you won’t need a Vapcell H10. But if you will use it in a light modified with a direct driver in which you want full power, you will need one of those, because otherwise the light won’t put max output.

You have unprotected cells below the 50mm such as the black Sofirn, but it will depend on the light you will use them in.
EDIT, I guess you have this information already.

EDIT 2: Rechargeabe 26650, 21700, 18650, 14500, 10180 Li-ion Battery Lumintop
Search for : Lumintop 14500 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery with Micro USB charging port

MascaratumB, thanks for the information. As for which of my 1xAA lights I’d want to use the 14500s, I guess the answer is I’d like to try 14500s in all of those which can safely accept them, as per my list above. And I’m thinking from what you say that I don’t really need high drain cells on those?

As for the Lumintop cells, are those protected and what is their length? Can’t tell from the website.

Finally, what are opinions about these Xtar cells? Xtar 14500 800mAh 3.7V Protected Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Button Top Battery - Boxed They’re button top, protected, and the length is 50.5 mm (almost identical to eneloops). The price is good and shipping and tax are reasonable, and they ship from the U.S. (where I am). And the reviews are very favorable. On paper they seem to be pretty much what I’m looking for.

Sorry, I missed the list above :zipper_mouth_face:
No, for any of these light you won’t need high drain cells! They don’t use FET/direct drivers, so they won’t drain too much as if they were pockect rockets.

If you were willing to try unprotected cells, I would say check the Vapcell gold or the Shockli black. These are not long cells. I have the Vapcells and they are 51,12mm more or less (with the button top, the flat tops are shorter) . I bet they fit almost all the lights poste above. You must only pay attention to the driver, in this case if it accepts flat tops or only button tops (the Tool AA is one of the cases that uses button top, mostly).

If you wanna go protected cells, they will be longer and fatter (due to the wrapping) so I am not sure if you will be able to fit all of them in those lights. Currently, except for that blue and white Lumintop with mini USB port, which is inherently protected, all the 14500 protected cells I have are longer.

Those Lumintops are: 50.2mm*14.5mm. Being USB-rechargeable cells, they have a protection circuit.

Extra info from their website, that I linked:

Unfortunately I don’t have any info about those, but normally Xtar does decent batteries, so maybe you can try them.
They have less capacity than the Vapcell or the Shockli I linked above, but I am sure that in the lights you have, they will eventually perform well, as none is a high-drain flashlight.

MascaratumB, I really appreciate your detailed reply—-it is very helpful.

Thanks,

Andrew

You’re welcome :wink:
Glad it helped and let us know about your decision on “shopping” :+1:

Vapcell 14500 P1409A cells are protected, rechargeable (USB port, what a waste of space) and 50,3mm long:
https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Vapcell%20INR14500%20950mAh%20P1409A%20(Black-red)%202020%20UK.html

Unless a mfr uses a shorter 14430 instead of 14500, the cell with protection doodad will be fiendishly long.

My Wuben has the room for it (protected 14500) because it’s sold with it and can fit it, but that cell doesn’t fit any other AA/14500 lights I have.

Thanks, gents. Where do they sell the referenced Vapcells?

Nice one! Didn’t remember that!

Thanks for the vendor info. These Vapcells would be almost twice (with shipping & tax) what the Xtars would cost, and the Xtars would ship from the U.S., where I am. Would they be worth the big premium?

Prizes are in favour of the Xtar, of course.

The Vapcell:

- has USB-Charing (which can be good in case you don’t have a charger at hand and wanna travel, but can, eventually but only in rare cases, be bad in case there is some issue with the charging circuit).

- has more capacity (theoretical 950mAh, more real around 880mAh - 900mAh) than the Xtar (800mAh) - in can be relevant in case you are using the lowest modes, in which you will have more “juice” to feed the light.

- has maximum continuous discharge current is 2000mA against 1600mA of the Xtar (if I understand well, this means that if a flashlight pulls more Amps, the Vapcell will give a marginal superio limit, although not much higher )

- is 3.4Wh and Xtar is 2.96Wh

  • is 50.3mm*14.1mm and Xtar is 50.5mm*14.3mm

Also, the Vapcell has been tested by HKJ but no testing data from the Xtar… Decisions decisions. :money_mouth_face:

Excellent points. Thanks, MascaratumB. Yes, indeed, a lot to consider!

Andrew

The Keeppower 1000mah is excellent. I bought mine from Illumn and they preform amazingly, with some of the longest runtimes from any 14500. They make an 1100mah version, but for only 100mah more you sacrifice 2A of discharge.

Gentlemen, thanks for the recommendations but I think the problem is the length. I’m really trying to keep it under 51 mm and the Orbtronic is 55 mm and the Keeppowers are around 52 mm.

Regarding protected 14500 batteries — it’s usually difficult to find out at what discharge current, the protection circuit will trip. (unless it’s tested & reviewed by HKJ, which will then indicate the current when the battery gets cut off)…

I think many protected 14500 batteries trip at around somewhere 2.5-3 Amps. This may trip when used in certain 14500 flashlights that can draw around 4 Amps or a bit more (eg. Klarus XT1A, GT Micro or BLF X5).

I understand Vapcell allows option to add protection circuit to their 14500 batteries (some added cost), but I wonder what is the ‘trip’ overdischarge current for their protection circuit board…