I started buying some flashlights recently and I want to buy some spare batteries for my flashlights.
I currently owm 4 flashlights.
Sofirn SC21 (16340).
Sofirn SP33S (26650).
Convoy M21E (21700).
Sofirn HS40 (18650).
For 26650, and 16340 I use their original batteries and bought 1 spare of their original battery.
For 18650 I use Samsung 30Q.
For 21700 I use the Convoy battery that came with it (Liitokala Lii-50E) - Which spare should I buy? My options are limited due to shipping restrictions to my country so I am bond to Sofirn.
I see they got rewarpped Lishen LR2170SD (5000mAh - 10A - 800 Cycles 80) and Lishen Lishen LR2170LA (4000mAh - 20-30A - 300 Cycles 60).
Which one is the better option of the two considering I am planning to extend my flashlights arsenal? Are there any high drain flashlights that really make use of high drain cells? Because their life is much shorter than regular cells.
High Drain only has a brief advantage on Turbo output.
I am not a Turbo user. It drains the battery faster, produces excess heat, steps down quickly, exposes my eyes to extra bright light, that constricts my pupils and makes me less adapted to lower output.
I am more interested in the 25% longer runtime at sustainable medium outputs from a High Capacity cell.
When I want brighter light on target, I move closer. This increases intensity without increasing battery drain and heat.
I don’t really notice much difference on turbo or even high between high drain or high capacity batteries unless I’m doing a side-by-side comparison. Even then I have to look hard to see any difference at all. Even laptop pulls give me enough brightness for my lights.
I always go with higher capacity given equal prices.
Hmm, such as?
If I will buy some high drain flashlight in the future I’ll get some batteries as well, but not sure if that’s what I need now for my M21E or any other average 21700 flashlight.
>Which spare should I buy?
Well, I’d say if you can order from the Convoy store, ask next time for the EVE 21700 over the Liitokala Lishen LR2170SD. It has slightly higher capacity at 0.2C, and quite a bit higher capacity at 5A-10A current draws due to its lower internal resistance and being able to keep its voltage higher. Overall, a better cell, especially if you use lights with boost drivers which require higher average voltages at higher power to function optimally.
>I see they got rewrapped Lishen LR2170SD and Lishen Lishen LR2170LA. Which one is the better option of the two considering I am planning to extend my flashlights arsenal? Are there any high drain flashlights that really make use of high drain cells?
For most lights that draw <=10A from a single cell and you don’t encounter many low temperatures, anything like the Samsung 50E(3), Molicel M50A, Bak N21700CG-50, EVE 21700-50E would be a great choice.
However, if you live in a cold area during winter time, I’d actually recommend against any of these high capacity cells, and instead opt for a lower capacity high power cell. You can extract far more capacity from a cold high power cell vs a cold high energy cell to a point that’s not even funny.
I prefer the high drain cells like the Samsung INR21700-40T, because i also use them in Dicodes vaping equipment.
When a cell “is done”, i can further use it in flashlights.
The differences in capacity between hig drain and not so high drain cells seem to be getting smaller.
As far as i know 5000mAh is the largest capacity for a 21700 cell, but the high drain cells are commonly 4000mAh.
The latest Molicell 45 Amp cells are even 4500mAh.
But they are expensive.
That Convoy has that Osram LED that can only handle 6 Amperes or so (it may handle higher currents but it won’t add much output, plus Convoy always uses current limited (constant current) drivers), so i’d go for a 10 Ampere max discharge current cell for that light.
Some high capacity (>4600mAh) 21700 cells are rated for 9+ Amperes, but that will suffice too.
The Samsung INR21700-50E 4900mAh - 9.8A is what i would look for.
Or the Samsung INR21700-50G 4850mAh - 9.7A
That’s about 13$ for 2-pack of LR2170SD (5000mAh) or 14$ for LR2170LA (4000mAh) 2-pack. And I really don’t need four 21700 spare batteries otherwise I would buy both
But yeah, it seems like I’ll go with the higher capacity.
Why choose when you can get everything from: Samsung INR 21700-50S Yes, it will not be mind-blowing 45A, but only 20, but with a margin it covers the need for most flashlights.
