I see some 18650s have a high discharge rate, and some a low rate. What does this mean for high and low powered lights?
Without knowing, I would guess high discharge rates would be good how high powered light, but would lose the charge faster. A low discharge battery would not give all the power a high powered light might need but would hold a charge longer.
So much I have to learn.
Yup, you’re mostly correct.
A couple of years ago only specific li-ion chemistry such as IMR could deliver high currents but nowadays high capacity Pannys have excellent discharge rates as well.
A low discharge battery, inside a current hungry light, would 1. sag a lot (significant voltage drop) and/or 2. create a dangerous environment for the cell due to overheating.
But we’re only talking about problems that arise when XXXFire cells are used in 3A+ draw scenarios.
Thanks for the info. The more I try to learn about lights and batteries the more questions I have, and sometimes can’t be answered with Google.