Well if you are talking about real-world usage, the discharge plateau matters a lot more most of the time then. (yes i do charge up early as well, so the 2100/2900/3100mAh talk about NCR18650CH, NCR18650 and NCR18650A is pretty academic) Unless if you are talking about 2 x 18650 current regulated lights. The Sanyo 2600s has one of the flattest curves around for lower mid-end voltage in the curve upwards, a lot of area, sharp knee. For single 18650 lights, all of them kick out of regulation somewhat early due to insufficient juice. (even the low LED Vf of a XM-L doesn't help, think it's a combination of the cell plus driver or something).....eg my Jetbeam RRT-2 XM-L.
But you are welcomed to contribute the 3000mAh Trustfire flames. For all we know, it could be pretty good, as long as you win in the battery lottery. (we need a larger sample base).
For the 2400mAh flames, they have a slightly higher internal resistance than the others, like NCR18650/NCR18650A/Solarforce 2400/XTAR 2400. In current regulated lights, they always give you a slightly higher current reading than the others of course we try to do the same open circuit voltage for the cell. Sag is more under load. But nothing too serious of course. I consistently get 43-45 min runtime for the Trustfire Flames 2400 on a Sky Ray SR3800 which takes 2 x 18650, compared to Solarforce 2400 it is 50 mins, XTAR is 53min and Sanyo NCR18650 2900 is 60 mins. (tests actually repeated 2-3X and underwater so that the temp is constant). I get 2300mAh @ 1A discharge thereabouts (to 2.7V) for the TF Flames.
I can not show any graphs of discharge or any comparing results, I just wanted to share my result I got playing with my new charger in terms suitable to my purposes (I guess they are not that uncommon).
Discharging below 3,0V shortens the lifespan of batteries as far as I know, no matter what, in real life I will not get this far.
All I wanted to show is these batteries are not that bad.
I have some 2400 flames too, they will go thru the same test.
Hi Joerch, could you please put them to a discharge test of 1A? There are a lot of tests on 1A and I think this is the best way to compare them to the others. Thanks :)
Just finished and got 2494mAh @1A when discharging down to 3,0V, would have been more when discharging to lower voltage but I do not like that. This cell has been charged and discharged about 5 or 6 times before.
Posted in the sticky on the 2400 mah TF Flames above before seeing this thread. Thanks for the tests. Seems to agree with the tests others have run on these. I don't see it as a negative that they have a higher percentage less capacity as indicated, than the "2400 mah" Flames, as long as they have a higher capacity than "2400 mah" Flames. If these results are typical, then I believe that despite their being $1/pair more they are a good buy. So far (1 week) I am happy with mine, but I have no way of testing them to see what their capacities are.