Canadian Looking for best 18650 Bang for my Buck (for my ZenFlare)

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

Hi Guys, new to the forums & to the world of CREE / 18650 flashlights.

I bought the ZenFlare From Gearbest and thought everything was simple. Boy was I wrong, I got a stern talking to regarding CREEs and Battery Safety etc lol.

But I am very open minded and ready to learn. I already read DB’s full review on the ZenFlare but now I have the task that is compatible with my flashlight and is safe enough for me to use/operate

I bought the following as I have Amazon Prime plus the reviews look decent. I am well aware that there can be fake capacities, and fake reviews etc, BUT looking at the review there’s quite a few positive Verified Buyer reviews, so I am a little more confident in the product, plus these ones are Protected which someone told me would be more suitable for a noobie such as myself:

Canwelum Protected 18650 Lithium Ion Battery, Powerful 18650 Rechargeable Battery 3.7V, 18650 Li-ion Battery with Bigger Power Capacity (Amazon.ca)

So my question is…. will this be good enough to achieve the 1240lumens (30 second before step down) or does anyone have any suggestions of other batteries I should consider / look at? I do prefer buying from Amazon b/c as I mentioned I have Prime, but I can buy anywhere really.

I have been told to “Find a battery that gives best run time and minimum voltage sag for maximum brightness”

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences with me.
Cheers

2

Samsung 30Q. Easy.

3

Thanks. That site OOS at the moment though. Anywhere else know to sell legit ones?

4

Couldn’t tell you sorry. They are brilliant cells, but there are many more 18650 options ATM if you can’t wait.

Sanyo
LG
Panasonic

Pretty much any good brand 18650 will do the job

5

That zanflare has lvp and charging (you should check if it does not overcharge as some first gen Nitenumens were confirmed on doing) if it does you need a 4,35V cell
Dang $19,99 looks expensive but could be difference between US and CA $
Just use it to test how well your zanflare does.

6

4.35V cells are not build for higher currents
They fall on load to a level where 30Qs have more voltage

7

yes true but in case of an overcharging light i think a little less max lumens is better then a hot rod cell being overcharged :wink:

8

I suggest NCR18650GA batteries, though i don’t know where delivers to Canada (does Fasttech still do so)?

9

+1. Unless a light has a driver that takes advantage of higher drain cells (such as a FET driver) then you might as well go for a NCR18650GA for max runtime.

10

shipping to Canada on lithium cells is pricey, if available at all right now. Admittedly, i haven’t searched all that hard lately since I’ve got a decent stockpile of 18650s from various laptop pulls, and when it was still easy to get free shipping on loose cells.