As a general discriminatory move, that will keep you in the good stuff for years, you should not go wrong with that method. I have had good luck with the stuff HKJ reviews like these 18350’s and 14500 windyfire batteries that RMM sells. They have all tested better on my Liitokala 500 than the labels say, and I have expanded my very pessimistic view onto some other specific batteries.
As always, to each their own, but I was just posting an option here for others that may want to explore the “off” brands…
Always read all the way to the bottom of HKJ’s reviews. He says that’s an “average” cell and they’re not consistent (so don’t use 2 in series).
It’s the inconsistency that’s always the problem — if the few he got varied by that much, how much variation will there be in a dozen or a hundred?
Question is always “what’s the worst that could happen.”
(Of course, that’s always the question for any supposedly interchangeable part cough threads cough.
First off Hank, I do read all the way to the bottom of HKJ’s review, always. I am resenting that you seem to think I do not, but perhaps it is just your self absorption. If that ivory tower in Berkeley you live in ever comes down, the irony will be that it was caused by something unforeseeable at the time. Later, of course, your successor will be cautioning others about what is now a foreseeable event, so we cannot live in ivory towers now…
Emphasis added is mine, they are high current cells, we can both agree that the BLF A6 will be brighter with high current cells, yes? Even if only “average”?
Part of quality systems is improvement, we can agree that identifying good (or better, or in this case only average) items is an adjunct to improvement, yes?
Without identification of improvement (in this case a fire battery that is average, an actual improvement for**fire), the market for these cheaper batteries will flail about and crap ones will be sold at a rate of the good ones due to random selection. Therefore without being able to identify the good (in this case good being simply average, for less price than other “better” ones).
When the market is able to identify good from bad, the bad ones will not sell and therefore not be in any way profitable. This should help the demise of a bad product, over the long term.
I thank HKJ for some very thorough and objective testing so I can identify good from bad where the appearance means little.
This light takes one cell, so the warning on variability is moot to me, you have latched on to one thing to bring up other doubts. Is there an international standard for LiIon Battery specs? i.e. variability within certain levels? Not that I can tell, so I interpret information like HKJ provides with my own experience and decide what risk to take…
Theory and reality being what they are, both have their own variances. I think it laughable that you are still complaining about the thread issues. We all got hit by that, to continue to bring it up gets old.
Did you even purchase any BLF A6’s? If so, besides the threads and other issues, did you keep them? Any joy out of them?
Have you actually ever threaded anything on a lathe? Have you done it 200 times in a day, day in, day out, weather, in-laws, crappy ride to work or any of the other myriad of things on a persons mind that actually manufactures stuff and rarely has time to sit and ponder beyond the end of shift.
Then lost your job due to something management changed, other than your work, and had to find another position. This time doing a new item on a similar (not the same) machine. Now you have to do it 250 times a day, you were doing great, up until they changed tooling, or said you were using too much time on set up, or too much lubricant.
You just moved in with your in-laws because your lost your last job and this one pays less while requiring more work and a longer ride to get back and forth…
Then some halo wearing angel of quality descends from the front office in clean clothes and gives you, not kudos for working as good as you can in the situation, but some procedure to follow to make your part better. If you wonder why quality management doesn’t work, I will give you a hint, life…
Stuff happens, get on with it… I will take your laughing at the lack of compatibility between threads when you have lived and worked for ten years as a production worker… up until then, just stop…. Life is variable, get over it…
I think that you meant to say “relegated to”, rather than “regulated to”. Took me a few seconds to figure out, given where we are (in BLF, I mean) :)!).
What’s up ReManG? I don’t get your need for a harsh reply to hank?
I’m thinking about if I should order a couple of those batteries from ft now and hope that I get the same performance that hkj, but there’s also that I prefer batteries from good manufacturers nowaday.
I feel that Hank has been taking swipes at the situation, he is obviously a fellow of quality, but constant reminders of what we all know and “hope” for a better outcome next time simply reeks of passive aggression. He also sounds a bit condescending, but that could also just be my interpretation.
I simply felt like listing my point of view on the situation, if it comes across as harsh, then perhaps it will sink in. Most of the time in interpersonal communications, non verbal communication transfers most of the message. Here we do not have that luxury as we are all simply words on a webpage.
Take my harshness as a non verbal eye roll here, or other non-verbal, non-confrontational expression of exasperation with someone who is always, apparently, heckling the situation.
I have various experience with a few different quality systems in my work and personal experiences. I take what I can from them and apply them where they can be applied. I do not use them to beat dead horses however.
If you are still making swipes at how bad the threading was on THE SINGLE MOST POPULAR GROUP BUY IN BLF HISTORY, you are in effect denigrating the continuing work of this group buy and all the effort that has gone into it. Well that is my view on this situation, but I have been wrong before as well.
When Hank steps up and sponsors a group buy, then I will support him in that. Until then, I will express my opinion in response to his. I dislike condescension and passive aggressive types of posts, so I have said my peace on this.
The batteries can be a risk, no matter what kind you buy. I know that while I have the option for buying $7 batteries, some do not. I want to give options for those that want that option, but as in everything, you have to do what makes you comfortable.
When I write something obvious, that’s been said before, I’m thinking about new readers who come along later, not about y’all who are regulars.
I know that gets tiresome and I try to moderate myself. Nudge appreciated, I’ll try harder.
This place is among my blessings and I’m grateful for all of your contributions.
Almost walked away without saying a thing but for the new people…
These FET based lights run 100% of what a battery can give. Choosing a lesser quality cell is probably not the best idea. If you can’t afford a top cell to run in these dragsters, it’s probably prudent that you don’t buy one. The very fact that the driver exploits a high discharge rate is the same reason a TrustFire cell is a bad idea.
When I first got into lights, I got a few of a lot of different things. Some of my lights were small and the TrustFire was one of few available cells to fit them. But I learned pretty quickly they weren’t up to the task. A cell would very quickly top off at a lower level. A pair of cells I’d bought together would very quickly separate in their capacities. Soon enough, several would barely charge at all.
Through personal experience, I strongly advise to avoid TrustFire cells and their counterparts.
LG, Panasonic, Samsung and some but not all Efest cells are where I go with my cell selection (Efest Purple or the IMR10440 are good). Having nearly 300 cells, this has worked well for me.
Please don’t cop out on the fuel supply when powering these high output lights. At the very least, you will be disappointed in how your new hot rod light performs. Fuel it with a top cell, and be amazed…
I'm listed for three 18350 tubes and am very aware of the influence on the performance of using 18350 cells. But the flashlight being 3cm shorter is very important: it implies that I will wear it in my pocket as my EDC, instead of in my bag. The light will loose 40% of its output, and 70% of the runtime, but it has become a different type of light, and in the new category it will be a top performer.
Apart from that, a 18350 will enable using a Nichia 219C in it with the stock BLF-A6 driver. And the third tube will be for a light with a 700mA UV-led, so I'm fine with a 18350 battery for that one as well.
