This is a link to the Saik Sa9- my first Torch and first 18650 device. I did not buy the light at this store- it was from Ebay- it has a nice wide flood that tailstands to light up a 12 X 12 room like a small fluorescent lamp would- only prettier light.
It also has a Laser like penny sized beam on full Zoom mode that projects a clear image of the LED easily a few hundred yards and with a little humidity the beam is visible kind of Laser like.
Has nice medium mode, solidly made, turns from flood to Zoom in about 90 degree turn of the greenish metallic ring.
I only got two batteries with it and a travel charger on Ebay for $16.50 - one battery the Blue Ultafires works great one is a dud.
I want to see what a really good battery will do so I ordered a Redilast 2900 after reading that they really test out above 2900 mah.
They have a 3100mah but most chargers I've read will not be able to take advantage of the extra capacity anyway.
I am a novice but will report on the Redilast when I get it- my guess is that this light is NOT regulated 'cause it was so cheap but it's solid and I love the color and brilliance of the Cree Q5 and the glass sphere lens really focuses well.
I have a few Ultrafires 3600 ( fake ) which are from a nearby dealer coming tomorrow which will probably be bad............we'll see.
In the future the worst batteries I'll bother with will be Trustfires.
I think these 18650s are great if they standardize them and make honestly and safely- they could be used in Radios and other devices in USA- little powerhouses IMO.
im in the same boat, i would like to try the opisite end of the scale. Your Q5 torch sounds awsome i have a couple of Q5 lights and realy like them and my TR-1200 has to be on of my fav,s 5 X Q5,s
The only different thing for a charger is that it will have to charger for 30-40 minutes more. Both batteries are fully charged @ 4.2V, (2900mAh & 3100mAh). So any charger that chargers 18650 will do it. There isn't something special that a charger has to do for that 3100 battery.
Hikelight- maybe I misunderstood then- I thought that most of the small chargers only go to 4.2v and that to take full advantage and get fully charged you had to go to 4.35.
Or to put it more simply- with my little travel charger- a 2900mah Redilast and a 3100mah would only get charged to 2950mah- the same anyway.
ILIKEFLashlights-on a practical basis I agree with you, the difference in performance does NOT warrant the cost- I just want to try one of these.
The whole thing on 18650s is so odd anyway- there's fake ones, they are almost ALL relabeled, very few companies make consumer versions, the average person does not even know about these batteries( like me one month ago) but they are in almost every laptop, and they are very powerful and eco friendly in many ways- compared to throwaways especially.
The cells that reach full capacity @ 4.35V and are 3000mAh like the Samsung ICR18650-30A when are charged to 4.2V, they will only have a capacity of about 2800mah or maybe even less. They have a nominal voltage of 3.78V, unlike Panasonic which have a nominal voltage of 3.6V
Thanks Hike- got it, I either read something that was wrong or maybe misunderstood.
Will be interesting to have a good battery, then if I get a Solarforce or an XM-L of some kind - I'll get some solid 2600mah ones, but it is cool to have a few of the premium ones- , like Seny Bor etc.
Also if my little torch is unregulated it may pull more current from a lower resistance, high current capable battery, so I may get more brightness from a Rediast or Seny Bor compared to the Blue Ultrafire that came with the torch- correct ?
As Hikelite stated, it is some Sanyo cells that require charging beyond 4.2v to achieve full capacity (there is also a 16650 cell rated to 2200mAh Max/2100mAh Min that requires charging to 4.30v).
The higher capacity Panasonic cells only require charging to 4.2v, but if memory serves, their capacity is calculated with a discharge down to 2.5v rather than stopping at 3.0v, so you could still observe lower capacities if you stop at 3.0v.
This is certainly the case with the 3100mAh cells - can't remember off the top of my head if the 2900mAh cells are rated down to 3.0v or 2.5v.
I'll stand by what I said about rather buying 2 Xtar 18700 2600MAH batteries from Serena for $13.50. I'd almost bet money they will last as long and perform about as well as the Redilast 2900MAH. And you can buy 3 for what you pay for one of these. No matter how you figure the math, the Xtar is the better buy.
in your opinion and maybe most others aswell and maybe not every one.
i say you send me one of your xtar,s ill pay the shipping ill buy a redlist 2900 and ill stress test, test mah, maxium current draws and voltage sag and internal resistance and see witch perform,s better and if your right then people can make up there mind witch is better and witch they find better value for the $$$ they will mostlike pick the xtar simple for price.
or if people want to donate some coin to my paypal i will buy a hi-max, a TFF, a xtar and a redlist and compair them all with some pritty pictures.
I would like to see how those two perform on a 2.5A discharge until 3V.
Xtars 2600 are Sanyo UR18650F, rated min. capacity 2500mAh
Old's tests show:
Xtar 2600 = 2448mAh @ 0.5A to 3v
Sanyo 2600 = 2433mAh @ 0.5A to 3v
Some have reported that they don't get 2600 mAh from these cells.
They are rated 2600mah only when a 0.2C discharged is performed. But if you look closely on the discharge curve, that is not totally reached. Probably 2580mAh, but that is what is called 2600mAh, no problem.
At 0.5C they are rated 2500Mah
At 1C they are rated 2400Mah
At 2C they are rated approx. 2350 mAh
That is to down to 2.75V and 20 degrease Celsius.
Looking forward to see someone reproduce the tests Sanyo has done on their cells.
tuesday ill buy some redilast and maybe the next tuesday ill get some xtars and play around more with data logging as im intrested, but the 0.5 volt diffrence with the cut off might make a diffrence from what im seeing with the trustfire flames charging with 0.7 volt diffrence from start to finish, they might come close, might have to step up the discharge rates.