Reference: mitro's pile of battery graphs

Ok but if you blow it up i'm not sending a replacement LOL

Wow, that's a crazy discharge graph. Maybe the battery got a second wind. So at 10A, the test lasts about 12 minutes or so? (for the CK's, looks like the AW's won't make a minute).

Here you go Ted (the graph shows voltage/minutes):

Jordon: If I blow myself up and I'm NOT dead... my wife would most likely kill me for being stupid. If I did manage to survive both, then I'd happily buy a couple. LOL

For kicks, you should try the BIO IMR 18350 for "comparison". Like i said, i think they might be better than AW IMR. IMR 18350 gets around 900mAh, how about 2700mA (3C) and 3600mA (4C) Be careful. Coz i am going to see if 3 x 18350 works in DD in my SR3800, but will be very careful about the cells temperature. So far the 18500s work with nearly 4 amps and cell temperature is quite ok. The 18500 have only about 100mAh more capacity than the 18350.

I’ll test the BIO @ 4A and maybe carefully try 5A as well (3A is already done above). I still have to put the spring back on my Skyray or I’d just try it myself (I have 4 BIO IMR 18350s now).

I have 6 BIO 18350s. hehe... oh ok no worries bro, so 3A (3C) is done and all looks well. Seriously 3 x 18350 in the DD SkyRay SR3800 triple XM-L is just for fun, i don't suggest the guys try it (at your own risk obviously)

wouldn't be surprised if the BIO cells come from the same factory.

To end the saga of the AW IMR vs. CK High Discharge 18650 I wanted to how a new AW IMR performs compared to my older ones and the CK cell. Jordon was nice enough to actually buy me an AW to test (thank you again) which shipped directly from Oveready to me.

Here's the best of my old AWs vs the new AW vs. the CK HD cell:

3 Amps

5 Amps

10 Amps

So the AW IMR does have a clear advantage in the voltage department when we start drawing 10 Amps from the cells, but how many applications do we need 10A+ and only with 1500mAh to use? Then again, if I only need 5A I could go with a Sanyo 2600 and even get a bit more capacity. Its all a trade-off.

I'm just disappointed that the cells I bought a little over a year ago are basically useless.

Thanks!

I'm pretty suprised on the 3A and the 5A tests The 10A test is about what I expected. Like you said its all a trade off. IMO for Flashlight users I think it will work out great.

Currently my highest power flashlight is the KD C8 XML T6 3-mode the tailcap readings are as follows.

TF Flame 2.82A
X-tar 2600 3.03A
CK 2250 3.7A

mitro's King Kong 26650 #1, #2, #3 (INR26650E)


Number of cells: 3
Purchased: 11/2011

Condition: New


3.0 Amps with comparison to MKNE 26650

Cell #1: 4191 mAh

Cell #2: 4087 mAh

Cell #3: 4233 mAh

Best MKNE 26650 (from TacticalHID) first test @ 3 Amps : 3989 mAh

5.0 Amps

Cell #1: 4130 mAh

Cell #2: 4073 mAh

Cell #3: 4238 mAh

Taking the weakest one (#2) and punishing it with 10 amps:


Uhh...

result: 4156 mAh

unreal.

Comments:

I will likely do further testing, but its clear already that these cells are the real deal... as in really good. :) EDIT: I don't think I need much more testing after that 10A blast. I'll probably do a 1A discharge on my hobby charger, just to confirm 2100's findings. (edit: see below)

Discharging the #1 cell on my hobby charger using the NiMH setting and discharging @ 1A to 2.6v, I got a result of 4339mAh. So a little lower than 2100, but still very good.

Wow, 10A and 4156mAh, even though there some sag.

Would you please test the strongest one @ 10A too

BTW: the 5A photos are CK not KK.

Thanks for the results Mitro.

I fixed the graph. :slight_smile:

At 10A the cell is only getting warm, and the graph looks fairly normal, so I'll happily test #3 @ 10A. I'm guessing we might see 4300 mAh. I don't know about 20A, but @ 10A these are hardly breaking a sweat.

Here you go Hikelite. :)

#2 and #3 @ 10A:

#2: 4156 mAh

#3: 4317 mAh

Yup... #3 did what was expected. :)

(I almost always forget to put the temp probe on the cells at the start so that's why you see a lot of the graphs start out with no temp change. In the case of #3, it looks like I might not have had the cell clamped down sufficiently and when I put the temp probe on, I must have jiggled the cell and made a slightly worse connection. The results shouldn't be significantly affected.)

Thanks Mitro.

It seems it's just as you expected.

What do you sue for such a high discharge? A hobby charger with some external resistor?

I wonder how the MNKE from Intl-outdoor would do under the same currents, since they seem to have the capacity actually printed on them unlike other MNKE 26650 out there.

I use a West Mountain Radio CBA II (link to newer CBA III) with the “pro” software that lets me calibrate the CBA based upon my own measurements. Its not perfect, but with the right tuning it can be accurate enough for our uses.

The MKNE cells might be just as good for all I know. I'm not about to buy more 26650s since I have 2 single cell 26650 lights and 8 cells. :) I'd be more than happy to test some if anyone wanted to loan them to me.

Have all of these interesting data been collected somewhere?

If you want some battery data, start at my website or check the "Rechargeable Battery Reviews and Tests" section here.

Thanks, I'm really curios to find data about these "incredible" batteres (4300 cycles??)

http://www.electriccarpartscompany.com/Bestgo-Pouch-Cell-Overview_p_265.html

2000 cycles at 1C rather than C/3???

http://www.electriccarinternational.com/Lithium-Pouch-Batteries.php

I have only been checking round cells and never cycle life (It takes way to much time to check cycle life).

I know, but vendors like selling "1000 cycles" batteries without specifying it's true only at C/2, C/3 or C/5, so it's actually not enough just to know discharge curves of brand new cells.

Look at A123: they look amazing, they have same capacity at C/2, C or C20 and quite a flat discharge curve at every C rate... but they last 8000 cycles at C/2 and 42 (fortytwo) cycles at 20C!!

By the way, you may be interested on this couple of pages:

NASA tests on lithium battery from 2007 to today: https://batteryworkshop.msfc.nasa.gov/