Hi folks :),
may I introduce myself - I am “half of dampfakkus.de” so to speak, the other half is “sk4477”.
First of all, thank you all for your feedback! We’re glad that the information in our database seems to be helpful to you folks, too.
Now to some of your questions:
1.)
Yes, our project comes from the vaping community. However, we do like you flashlight guys and I think our motivation is the same - finding the best value for price in batteries…
2.)
For vapers, 2A is the usual minimum battery load. Reason is that the most simple replaceable battery vaping devices contain a 3.7V li-ion battery, a manual switch and a connector for a simple heating coil with a coil resistance of typically 1.5 to 2.0 ohm, depending on personal taste.
Then there is more advanced “adjustable voltage” devices that use “step-up” / “boosting” voltage regulation. These can fire the heating unit with as much as 6 or 7V, powered by a single 3.7V li-ion battery. So naturally, these devices would often drain 5A or even somewhat more from the single 3.7V li-ion battery.
So generally spoken, vapers are interested in battery performance at 2A to 5A load, depending on their device choice.
Thats why we chose to do 2A, 3A and 5A graphs for 18650 size and 2A / 3A or just 2A graphs for some smaller sizes.
3.)
Please consider, however, that vapers take draws of usually approx. 5 seconds from their devices, so all of this is not continuous load. It is almost “peak” load, not really but almost.
4.)
We do realize that 2A is a lot of current for 14500 or even 10440 or RCR123A / 16340 cells. That is also why in these sizes, we tend to recommend IMR batteries for vaping purposes, although 2A peak should be tolerable for most 14500 ICRs, for instance.
However, what we learned is that even for bigger sizes (18650), you can usually tell good from mediocre cells at approx. 3A load. At 1A, even some mediocre 18650 cells would show good performance. However, I do expect a 18650 ICR cell with a typical capacity of 2000mAh or above to perform well at 2A - 4A, as 2C load for ICR is industry standard. So I would never call a 18650 cell that shows good real capacity at 1A, but no longer at 2A or 3A any good.
That, and the fact that drain below 2A is practically irrelevant for vapers, is the reason why we also give the “real capacity” measured at 2A, 3.0V discharge cutoff.
Of course, this leads to some low measurements for the smaller sizes, but again, I’d say it helps you tell really excellent from mediocre or bad batteries. There is 16340, 14500 or even 10440 batteries, even ICRs, that perform well at 2A. If you go for these, you can be sure to get a good battery, can’t you?
5.)
Now please correct me if I am wrong, I am so new into the flashlight thing (just bought by first 1x Cree T6 1x 18650 Flashlight and love it ;)):
How relevant is 1A drain for say 18650 size for you flashlight guys, practically? Don’t most flashlights drain at least something like 1.75-2A, too, from an 18650 battery?
6.)
As for the German domain name:
Yeah, may sound stupid in English :). We are working on an English translation and there will be a more “international” domain that redirects to the English version of the site…
Again, thanks for all your feedback, folks! You’re awesome!