So - I have been reading through these forums, all of which imply that I have to be careful with Li On battery.
And I bought some batteries, then realised I had bought the wrong ones and bought some more. I did not buy cheap and nasty ones - and all from UK stores (allegedly)
I have:
2 * ICR18650-26F, Samsung SDI, 2E23 - these should be unprotected. Unfortunately - they are unprotected - my bad
2 * Sanyo SBPI14L6, 020121- these should be protected but the printing on the case is almost unreadable and I cannot tell the difference between these and the Samsung other than colour. Theses also have SSB0W2 written on the bottom
You should be able to feel the edge of the PCB under the wrapper. Sometimes you can see it.
Those don’t look protected to me. Seems to be just the standard sanyo color shrink wrap. Protection PCB would be added to the bottom with another layer of shrinkwrap over the battery to hold the PCB secure. Anatomy of a Protected LiIon Battery
Where did you buy them?
Can’t feel a thing and the end is sealed. Given the use I am going to put these batteries to - I think protected is compulsory and I don’t trust these. Damnit - will have to buy some more
If you have a calliper, you can measure the length of the battery (Remember a piece of paper/plastic as isolation). Unprotected flat top are 65 mm long within 0.5mm, protected are at least 67 mm long.
2 * Sanyo SBPI14L6, 020121- these should be protected but the printing on the case is almost unreadable and I cannot tell the difference between these and the Samsung other than colour. http://www.ebatterys.co.uk/
Is where I bought them from. The Samsung feel right, the Sanyo’s don’t - based more on guesswork than anything else
Both batteries, Sanyo and Samsung are exactly the same length. No way is there 2mm difference
I think I have been sold a pup (the Sanyo’s). The Samsungs came with a bit of paper from ecolux with safety instructions, replacement if they don’t fit details etc - so they feel genuine. The Sanyo’s turned up in an almost unmarked bag
I would recommend Evva protected batteries from http://mtnelectronics.com/ or keeppower protected 18650s. Both use quality seiko protection chips. Mtnelectronics is usa based though so once you factor in shipping it might cost less if you can find keeppower from a UK source. They are panasonic or sanyo cells if it says “Cell & IC made in Japan”. Those labeled only “IC made in Japan” use a chinese cell.
If you want to see photos of protected and unprotected batteries, just check my website: http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650IndividualTest%20UK.html
Any battery that has NA in "PCB protection trip..." is unprotected, all other are protected.
I’d say from the seller’s I’ve dealt with buying stuff here in the UK
That the Samsung’s are most likely genuine, but the Sanyo are, well who knows, Old laptop batteries possibly(best case scenario is they are old Sanyo laptop batteries, may be knackered but should be relatively safe) ,re-wrapped something fires or some even worst horror
If it was me I would probably bin the Sanyo or only use them in something low powered and keep a close watch on them
