What is this 18650 holder used for?

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
1

I noticed this item was sold 814 times, I wonder what people are using these for? Is this all 4 batteries in series for 14.8v? good deal for 1.68, I just bought a single 18650 holder for $1 for use with my hobby charger for capacity measurements.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plastic-Battery-Storage-Case-Box-Holder-for-4-x-18650-Black-with-6-Wire-Leads-/350500212869?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519b70d085#ht_3504wt_1048

2

Some hobby chargers are not able to charge only one li-ion battery. You have only plugs for 7,4V, 11,1V or 14,8V. Then you need something like this.

3

One use of these is for bicycle lights with a remote battery pack.

This looks like one at DX http://www.dealextreme.com/p/14-8v-4-x-18650-battery-holder-case-box-with-leads-103855

I've got that one's little brother (1x holder) http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3-7v-1-x-18650-battery-holder-case-box-with-leads-100999 and it's total cr@p. The leads are really thin. It doesn't make + contact with flat top batteries like the AW (unless you pinch it, end to end). An Xtar 2600 (the 18700) doesn't seem to want to go in without damaging the wrap.

You can find high quality 18650 holders on digikey.com. Even they are a teensy bit tight with the Xtars, but not impossible. If you're anywhere but conus, digikey charges way too much for shipping.

4

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plastic-Battery-Storage-Case-Box-Holder-for-1-x-18650-Black-with-6-Wire-Leads-/350500209147?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519b70c1fb#ht_3625wt_1402

yea I just ordered this one. still cant believe it is only a dollar shipped. How the heck do they make money. The shipping must be that alone...I mean come on, its from half way around the world!

5

One of the Chinese sellers on ebay told me that they only pay the equivalent of around $0.7 for unregistered shipping. Some bigtime sellers might even have arrangement to get lower rates. If you want registered shipping, they will ask you to send $2.5 to their paypal.

Considering they buy these holders at wholesale rates straight from the factory, they probably still end up with around 10 cents of profit. Its not a lot but most of these sellers rely on huge turnover rather than making a killing off individual sales. Many sellers don’t even make any profit off these $1 items but still sell them to build up their ebay feedback scores as they sell like hot cakes.

6

get this and take apart 4 holders :bigsmile:

1.68/4 = 0.42$

7

Thanks for the info, very informative!