Test / Review: Panasonic NCR18650B Protected 3400mAh (Green)

The protected versions fit my M20 Warrior Premium R2.

thank you sir. and what runtime do you get out of your M20 R2? i have the M20 Warrior Premium R5 model

Sorry, I dont use them in this light so Im not sure. I would guess around 1.25 hours in high and double in med.

They are sold out now for quite a while. Does anybody know how long Fasttech usually takes to restock such items? It’s the first time I see them sold out on that site.

If FT is out of Panasonic 3400’s, BG still has them. Couple of bucks dearer though. Look exactly the same, brown stripe for the protection strip. Black bottom, silver plates at the ends, white ring around + end.

See this post for a discount on the Panasonics, they drop to the same price as FT at $17.xx for 2.

Hope this is cool sirius9? I assume so, you posted it openly.

Yes, of course, let’s spread the love :smiley: just joking :stuck_out_tongue:
$17.69 is OK-ish price, they were cheaper not so long ago but now, a lot of suppliers are out of stock or sold out on this particular cell, not sure whats the story with that, anyways, if for some reason you need this particular cell $17.69 is lowest price for now, otherwise I would go with much cheaper NCR18650A from DX.

So the Fasttech sold out status is nothing permanent as far as you guys know? I don’t need them fast. Just for the good price.

No idea how long it will last. It might be permanent, might be temporary. There was chit chat regarding these not being available from Panasonic anymore. But that seems unlikely. Its hard to say if tye would get them back or not, but likely they will sooner or later. Most of these guys seem to show stuff they havent stocked in quite awhile, Im not sure they ever delete any line from the website lol.

But the Banggood deal is as good. Just PM sirius up a couple of posts above, and ask him for the discount code. Enter it at BG when you add to cart, and you will get them for under $18, which AFAIK, was much the same as the FT price.

Unfortunately, it seems this deal for NCRB’s is over -> This coupon has expired :~

Oh…. any similar deals for these?

NCR18650A over at DX, for $12.50/pair, not a bad deal imo…

These look like the same

http://dx.com/p/panasonic-rechargeable-18650-3400mah-li-ion-batteries-yellowish-green-black-4-pcs-291759#.UylD_4V7WM8

Can anybody confirm if they are protected?

They are protected.

Thank you, Sirius9!!! I’m ordering them!

Will the specific PCB that is used have a dramatic affect on the performance at higher current draw?

I notice that this particular battery that HKJ tested performs significantly worse than the stock NCR18650B. I have NCR18650Bs that use Seiki PCBs and they look different from the ones HKJ tested here. I wonder if my NCR18650B would perform closer to the stock NCR18650B at 5A.

The PCB controls two parts:

1) The control IC

2) The switch transistors.

The control IC has a threshold for maximum current, this depends on the actual IC model, but can be 0.1 volt (It has nothing to do with Japanese/Chinese IC). This threshold defines the maximum voltage drop, just before the over current protection trips. I.e. with a 0.1 volt IC, the output voltage will be 0.1 volt lower than a unprotected battery, just before over current trips.

The switch transistors is used to disconnect the cell, but does also define the over current limit, i.e. when there is "threshold" voltage across the transistors, the over current will trip. A high current transistor or many transistors in parallel will give a higher current before the over current trips. This will also mean a lower voltage drop at lower currents. This means that a battery with higher over current value will have better performance, than one with lower over current protection, if the same IC is used.

What is the current preferred vendor in getting these and shipped internationally? :slight_smile:

When you are inside EU I would check these:

Thanks! :slight_smile:

I got my order of LiitoKala protected NCR18650B from this seller:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5PCS-2015-New-Original-18650-3400mAh-battery-3-7V-Li-ion-Rechargebale-battery-PCB-Protected-For/217753_32585730747.html

Since these are my first and only protected 18650s, how do I know that they are indeed protected — they look like protected batteries, as per the description from this thread by HKJ: How to see if a battery is protected - they are much longer than ordinary 18650s.

How do I check that the protection will work (aside from shorting them, which I don’t want to try doing at the moment)?

I’d like to ask also what does “protection” really do? — does it protect from draining to too low voltage? from overcharging to too high voltage? from drawing too much current?

If draining to too low voltage, what might the the low voltage threshold — is it 2.50v? How about high voltage threshold — is it over 4.20v — will charging to 4.21v trigger the ‘protection’ or maybe over 4.25v?

I’ve tried draining the battery down to 2.50v momentarily (@ 1A drain rate), but I didn’t notice anything happen (no shutdown, after the load was removed, voltage recovered quickly).