My #1 would be my NCR18650A 3100mAh rewrapped by E’ tac.
They lasted 9 years! I just recycled them as I noticed one was like 400mAh lower in capacity than the other Two.
I must also mention that it was in a light that did not demand a lot of amps. It was a modified TN31. About 700 lumens and 470Kcd.
This was the last photo before they were Euthanized.
Would be my Aspire 18350 1300mAh 15Amp.
I receive them June 19th 2017. I put them in storage October 19th 2021. 4 years and 4 months old. After that long of use one of them had more capacity than brand new Vapcell M11.
Brand new.
Two years old against some KP we’re a little over a year old.
4 years 4 months….right before a long nap with a FEEBLE AW!
Two b4 their nap against Brand New M11’s. I didn’t have the Aspire who had 1020mAh capacity in that pic.
I took that one along with another one out of storage to use. And stored the M11’s
I can think of a few more batteries to serve me very well as I’m sure you can. But I’ll stick to my limit of two best overall capacity and longevity.
I have had Molicels in my wt90 serve me well. Other than that p26a button top and other p42s have degraded before 2 years losing 18 to 20% of their capacity. Not a fan of them.
My new 21700 is the Samsung 50s hopefully it will have longevity. I bought nine of them for the Black Friday sale from 18650 battery.
I have my original King Kong 4000mAh and Sanyo UR18650FM. Last time i tested them (likely last year) they had virtually the same capacity as new. Bought them about 10 years ago, but i treat my batteries well, storage in flashlight at 60-80% charge, don’t discharge them at very high currents (1C max typically) and so forth. Also not that many cycles on them, i probably recharge batteries every couple months.
Yeah they’re great batteries probably third place or tied for second .
My VTC5,VTC5A and VTC5D are up there for longevity and performance. I have three VTC 5A and 2 X VTC5D that are also 5 and 1/2 years old like my Aspire. They can sit for a month and their voltage is no worse than 4.16 usually 4.17. Never been fond of VTC6, they seem to degrade quicker for some reason. Not as good as 5/5A/5D.
Mine are in high powered lights, treated well but they take a little bit of abuse. So when they last as long as they have to me that’s amazing.
Yours are doing very well. Definitely a bit more coddled!
For my three and four battery lights they may sit in there 5 days at the most usually rotated after three or four days. And they’re at full power full voltage.
So those NCR18650A that lasted 9 years, they were treated the same way as far as being in the light for at least that amount of time. The last few years of their life I might not use that light for a week or two. Like I mentioned, that wasn’t one of my high-powered lights only seven or 800 lumens. That’s one of the reasons they lasted so long.
PLB55A - in my case as “Shockli 5500mAh” purchased in 2018, abused in a FET L6, and both are within 50mAh of each other and still over the rated 5500mAh
It’s hard to just mention Two There’s at least a half dozen really good batteries.
I have some unprotected MJ1’s. I bought 14 of them when they were on sale for $3 and change .
I got them in January 2020. Last January when I did the capacity test for 4 of them which were 2 years old and 135 Cycles they only lost 3.3% capacity.
Next month I’m going to do it for the third year and see where they stand.
Without a doubt the 700 mAh Efest 18350 IMR Li-Mn flat top cells’ I bought in Aug. 2015 from NKON. Most of the time they do their duties in lights like my S41, and they are not treated with silk gloves on.
But I’m also not complaining about any of my Samsung 30Q’s
Did you ever look at some of the data sheets? For instance a VTC6 has a standard charge of 3 amps. A maximum charge is 5 amps. On the other hand standard charge for a 30q is 1.5 amps and the maximum is 4 amps. In that respect, 4 amps should cause more stress on a 30q than a VTC6. Yet the 30Q fared better. :+1: So four amps isn’t that outrageous.
Of Course they’ll degrade under those conditions. The test determined which ones degraded quicker. That was the whole point of it.
Because in real life under gentler conditions, my experience is that they have proved to do the same thing.
With everyday use I experienced the degradation in the same order that he did.
His torture test was an even playing field.
I have had much better results with 30Q than HG2 or VTC6.
I have not purchased HG2 or VTC6 in 5 years Plus. And that will continue sir!
Longevity? Verdict is still out on my real world use. I had a Vapcell 15A 3000 man (probably rewrap vtc6) that didn’t last very long. Probably b grade cells. Sanyo 18650GA and VTC6 are my most used 18650 and Samsung 30T and P42A 21700. All have held up just fine. The best way to ensure batteries last a long time is not to exceed their design specs.
I am very satisfied with samsung 35E.
After about 100 discharging in zanflare F1 and convoyS2+ it lose about 300mah of capacity.
Measuring on Liitokala 500.
