Yesterday I received my two NC EA11 lights and prepared the 14500 cells I plan to use with them.
One is the Nitecore IMR 14500 6.5A High Drains and the other is the Sanyo UR14500P I got from FT last year. https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002603/1287511-authentic-sanyo-ur14500p-14500-840mah-li-ion
The charging/discharging sessions below: (discharge cap results of the 2 IMRs at 700ma rate was 660mah and 685mah, just above its rated capacity of 650mah)
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Now for the beamshots. The two cells were charged in my Opus at .3A, rested overnight, and tested at 4.17V before the photo session.
Take note that the EA11 beamshots on the left light are always powered by the Sanyo UR14500P, and of course the NC IMR 14500 on the right. I held the two lights together as my son took the photos.
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I was surprised by the result. To remove the possibility that the left EA11 is brighter, on the photos below, the two light’s position was switched, but the cell used on the left is still the Sanyo and NC IMR cell on the right.
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Well, judge for yourself! The Sanyo consistently beat the NC IMR, regardless which light it was used. Why?
My cellphone’s video rendition below, while does not show high accuracy as compared to the still photos above, nevertheless shows the highly-vaunted IMR versus the Sanyo. Click on the YouTube logo on the bottom right to watch via Youtube for maximized video.
Well, I guess there is just no beating those pink batteries! The UR14500p is all I use in my 14500 lights. And I have been VERY safisfied with them. The voltage curve of the UR14500p is a out as good as you are going to get from a 3.7V Li-Ion - alkost NiMH flat. Not only do they make your light brighter. But I’m SURE they also run a hell of alot longer than those Chinese IMR cells.As for protected cells, they probably wouldn’t run as bright. You typically lose a tenth or two of a volt through the protection circuit, which is why I don’t favor protected cells in lights that already have low voltage protection.
It would have been great if they added a low voltage protection to the EA11 but unfortunately there is none.
I drained my IMR down to 2,1V just to see if there is a protection.
So we have to check the voltage once in a while with the integrated voltmeter.
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