Aloha and welcome to BLF tolstick!
Welcome to BLF tolstick!
Welcome to BLF and I would never ever open a LiIon cell.. how/why did you do that? :D I wonder what other popular cells look like on the inside..
Is that cell fake or genuine?
Sad thing is a lot of people tried to buy quality batteries with the (fake) Ultrafires, and couldn’t win for losing.
Any reason the link gives a 404/not found? I imagine the deal ended, but… deleted?
I remember a guy who was “paid by a customer in batteries”, selling them here, but you had to buy a lot of them; I thought they were Sanyos–was that the deal above? Any hot deals in quality batteries right now?
You know I’ve noticed the price of high-end batteries (Panasonic and Sanyo brands, especially on Ebay) now not being much more than say Chinese 18650’s on DX. The cheapest new Panasonic 18650’s on Ebay start at $5/battery, shipped. That’s the same price as Ultrafire Flames on DX. Sanyos start around $6. New NCR’s are now at around $7.50 shipped each! If Protection circuit is not considered (I know it can be important, but for comparison purposes), is there any reason NOT to get these over the Trustfire Flames, other than protection circuit?
I just got a pair of Panasonic CGR18650CH (“Hybrid” chemistry) from a US seller on Ebay for $17.49 shipped ($8.75/batt), shipping only took a couple days. Almost double the price of protected Flames, but one of the lowest (‘the’ lowest?) internal resistance 18650’s out there, and while unprotected, not an “exploder”.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PANASONIC-CGR18650CH-HIGH-DRAIN-10A-Hybrid-IMR-Li-ion-18650-Battery-CGR18650-x-2-/230794118631
Ebay seller is “Titanium434”, but inside the listing has the logo “Orbtronic”, who is known for rebranding high-end batteries like Callie’s Kustoms and AW, some reviewed here. (If someone can confirm the seller, I’d appreciate it.) I don’t know how they’re making money off them, considering HKEquipment is selling them at the same price from Hong Kong, and Callie’s Kustoms (first to sell these to end users) used to (and still) sells them for so much more. Even CnQualityGoods or Intl-Outdoors (I get them confused) is selling those at at the same price per battery, but you can just buy a single.
The one thing I have noticed about the Panasonic/Sanyo’s is they’re most or all unprotected (made for the laptop market). Zebralight, who does not like rechargeable Lithiums due to safety concerns, especially for 14500’s, seems to think the quality of the cell itself is more important than whether it is protected or not. That’s something I don’t totally get. Because anyone can get stupid or make a mistake and end up with a short-circuited battery. My friend tried to get an amp reading from a protected Trustfire Flames from Manafont, and the short-circuit protection kicked in perfectly, denying him a reading. Some of these newer high-end unprotected cells will short-circuit, but supposedly not fail as dangerously (I imagine you could still get burned with one in your pocket). After witnessing my friend’s “test”, the protected one one seemed actually safer(?). Almost stupid-proof, within reason.
NightCrawl,
My first thought was that it's a protection board that is broken (cell is labeled as protected). So I removed label, no sign of protection whatsoever. Maybe it's a new design, protection inside?? :0
Then some work with pliers and voila, сhinese li-ion matrioshka is revealed.
If someone interested here is the link to the product :)
Batteries were included with a flashlight so one can expect to get the the cheapest species, but this one goes beyond all expectations :)
BTW it's the first time I met such a fake cell on DX in some 20+ cells purchased in last 3 years..
Might that have been Rev Jims deal he had on 18650s he was selling here?
I have seen some with a hologram sticker on them to show they are 100% Authentic ?
Even the "authentic" UF cells are no great shake.
Li-Ion cells are one area where one should not skimp too much, IMO. Quality cells are worth every penny.
Welcome aboard, tolstick!
(Awesome first post by the way.)
And another version with a small LiPo battery inside. And with white powder instead of the brown one 
Bought on ebay from seller toymodel55 on April 18th, 2012.
Welcome to BLF, mihu! So the little pill looking thing in front is the lipo pack? And that’s all there is to the battery? Amazing.
Thank you for the warm welcome, brted. No, the tiny LiPo pack ist not all that´s in the battery. There is white powder and red heat shrink, too
I contacted the seller, I´ll let you know when I receive a reply.
It's good to have you here, mihu!
Aloha and welcome to BLF mihu!
After the above, it is risky to buy cheap batteries.
For somebody who want to pay under 10 usd for a pair of 18650’s, which is the best option?
Those are unprotected, right?
For $13.50 you'll get a pair of known good protected XTAR 18700 2600mAh (the group buy is "over", but Serena still sells to that price. I just bought four more pairs - and received them in seven days!
I second that!
I actually think these are the best battery on the market right now! Yes I know Panasonic have a 3100 cell but they are double the price and not double the capacity. I have the same Sanyo’s bought from Kaidomain and they are brilliant. I quite like my Trustfire flames but where my TF flames will put out 2A the Sanyo’s give 2.5A. Makes a big difference.
One other thing I would not worry about them being unprotected they are a very good cell, very safe.
Marc.
Same old story..^^
Yeah, those are just the bare cell.