Discharge Capacity Tests on Soshine 18650 2900mAh Protected, cells courtesy of Louis Huang of T-mart. NCR-PF/Soshine graph added

Hello Guys,

This all started when T-mart advertised an Ultrafire 4000mAh 18650 cell. I dared Louis Huang of Tmart if indeed there is one, telling him I’d like to test one in my iCharger to find out once and for all if indeed there is a 4000mAh cell. Instead, he offered to me to try this:

http://www.tmart.com/2pcs-Soshine-18650-2900mAh-3.7V-4.2V-PCB-Protective-Li-ion-Rechargeable-Batteries-Black_p161833.html

Well, I accepted his offer and he sent me a pair to try a “discharge-capacity” test.

To say the least, I’m very much surprised and impressed with the results, thinking and believing that the name Soshine is not quite yet at par as those with the major Japanese and Korean cells. You be the judge with the results, fellow BLFers.

Nothing is mentioned about the PCB’s maker nor of the cell used, except the marking ‘Made in China’ printed in the label.

The cells came in at about 3.587V out of the box. Both cells overnight-rested voltage before tests had rested voltage at 4.14./4.15 volts.

Both cells were charged at 1A charging rate on every occasion.

All cells were discharged to 2.50V during the tests.

I have also tested the over-discharge protection. It kicked in at about 2.47V.

I have not tested the over charge protection voltage ceiling.

Please take note that the voltage read-out at the upper right-most in the display AFTER “DONE” is displayed is not the cut-off voltage but the voltage of the cell after it has slowly ‘bounced’ back to its normal voltage when the charger terminates the discharging process.

Nevertheless, below are some pictorial results of the discharge capacity tests I performed in my hobby charger:

Photo below shows a discharge capacity of 2871mah @1A discharge rate

Below is at 3A discharge rate at about 39min elapsed time

Below, DONE at 3A rate with 2915mah!

Below, surprise! My brand-new, unused Panasonic NCR18650PF 2900mAh came out slightly lower at 2882mAh @3A discharge

Logview result of the test on the Panasonic NCR-PF below:

Logview result of the 2nd test of the Soshine 2900 @3A, getting 2889mAh in the the pic below:

Pic below on the 2nd discharge test of the Soshine at DONE with 2889mAh

Below is at 5A discharge rate at about 24 min from start

Below, DONE at 5A discharge with 2907mah still!

Below is Cell # 2, DONE with 2870mah @ 1A rate. (Note: it is slightly shorter by about 1mm compared to the Panasonic protected)

Below is Cell #2 at about 26min from start, 3A rate

And finally below, DONE with 2883mah, @3A rate,

Seems like good quality cells. T-Mart price for pair is just a tad higher than other sellers for same or greater capacity cells.

You can probably haggle for a lower price with Louis Huang for a lower price through PM here in the forum, though I have not tried it yet. It has worked for me for, 100% of the time with the other vendors.

There’s Panasonic NCR18650 cell inside. No wonder it does well.

And, at $17/pair, you can get protected 3400mAh Panasonic NCR18650B’s from e.g. Fasttech… $8 cheaper, and with much higher capacity, too.

Soshine must be using a different make of PCB, as it is shorter by about 1mm+ compared to FT’s Panasonic protected NCR’s.

It must be a top button protection variant.

Still a nice test! Thanks

Nice tatasal…thanks for posting the results.

So…when is he gonna send you the HouseFire 4000mAh batts to test? Seems like Louis was employing a little mis-direction there…

thank you for the test results! i would expect such results from a panasonic cell - but it is nice to see concrete evidence that they are indeed great cells

i just grabbed 2 pair of 3400 soshine cells from illumination supply

looks like the soshines are a nice alternative to the fasttech/wallbuys “green” protected 3400s as they are a hair shorter and might fit easier into a few lights! :slight_smile:

thx again

I will be testing my FT’s Panasonic NCR18650A 3100 protected down to 2.5V @ 3A and see how it will compare to the Soshine, and see if it can exceed its declared capacity.

I will post the result when available.

I kind of think these maybe a Panasonic PD or the newer PF cell. I noticed from your discharge test at 5 amps it actually gained capacity over the 1 amp discharge. Also looking at HKJ’s discharge test may show signs as well.
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Orbtronic%2018650PD%202900mAh%20(Black)%20UK.html

Maybe you could unwrap one of the cells and then they’ll be no more mystery. :bigsmile:

I also have Panasonic PF cells. I’ll give it a try in the coming days and show the results. Nice to try this model because it’s also a 2900mah cell.

Before this Soshine cell, I have never tried to test anything at this amperage.

Maybe I will have to fasten the crocodile clips with sturdy tape (aside from the 2 magnets/side) since I think 5 amps is the highest rate the ‘magnet only’ can handle. The crocodile clips got considerably hot. I even planned of doing a 7A discharge rate (the highest my iCharger 106 can handle) as the Soshine, according to its label, is rated up to 7.2A I think.

Very informative test…thanks for sharing. Gonna pick up a pair!

You might try one of these for adding more pressure.
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-46805.html
I have been going to make one like HKJ’s forever and just haven’t got around to it. Its near the bottom of this page.
http://lygte-info.dk/info/HobbyChargers%20UK.html

OP has been edited showing the pictorial and Logview result of the discharge capacity test of my Panasonic NCR18650PF 2900mAh, measuring out slightly lower at 2882mAh than the subject Soshine’s 2915mAh, both discharged @3A.

Most probably Soshine uses Panasonic cell inside I must say. (and as Shadowww and Moderator007 says so too)

You can get Two[2] of them for $17.99 from Illumination supply and they ARE 3400 mAh.

They are on sale. Normal price is $19.99 a pair which is .24 cents cheaper and 500 mAh more capacity!!

I’m sure T-mart is already aware of your concerns regarding its price. Let’s hope they do something about it.

If you have the logview graph for the soshine could you post it below the PF graph. If the voltage curve under the load resembles the PF, my guess would be that it is a PF.

Other than the test last night on the PF, I have not used the Logview in my tests for a long time. I’ll try to see if it’s still in the iCharger’s memory. If no longer there, I might as well do the same 3A discharge test on the Soshine cell, this time with the Logview result.

I have added a new Logview graph and photo on my 2nd discharge test on the Soshine 2900mAh protected cell in the OP.

The discharge capacities are virtually identical with just over a 1% difference after 3 tests. (Soshine and Panasonic NCR-PF)

To sum it up:
First test on the Soshine: 2915mAh
Test on the Panansonic PF: 2882mAh
Second test, Soshine: 2889mAh

My observation: the differences are so negligible as to make me conclude that the Soshine cell has a Panasonic NCR-PD or PF cell inside.