I've cycled the first cell 3 1/2 times, once at 1A charge/discharge for ~860mah. I switched to 0.5A charge/discharge for 2nd and 3rd cycles. 4th charge I got ~1350mah in. Running discharge now.
Going to try the other two cells tomorrow and if they're all like that I might have to talk to the seller...
Thank you BetweenRides for starting this great thread. It's coming in very handy for me since I just started purchasing single 26650 lights.
I'm sure we all agree with you and suffer from the same frustration trying to find an honest 26650 battery, but I think it would be easier to put them out of business simply by listing the known good sellers that offer the best and safest 26650's on this thread. Bascially only the batteries WE as a club should purchase and not bother with the dangerous crap.
If it isn't on our list, don't buy them. Thanks again for organizing the OP, I know it's a lot of work.
3V seems very low for new/fresh cells. Hopefully they will be able to rebound. 1350mah is very low capacity for a cell thats 100% discharged. Hopefully (again) they will rebound for you. The 1350mah is more concerning between the two. I have never been able to resurrect used-tired-old cells that measure an unusually low capacity.
Thanks for the kind words, Richie. I've always been a better editor than an author - this is just collecting bits of info from a lot of contributors, especially HKJ and benckie. I agree with your sentiments on letting the market speak. I'm just really uncomfortable adding every ebay 'Fake'Fire battery out there. I have contacted a couple of ebay sellers to seek more information; Based on their clueless response, I'm not going to list them. For some of the others on the list, the ;) will have to serve in place of caveat emptor...
Guys, read the fine print. I'm not sure which cells that you are testing are, but some of the Moli cells on ebay are rated 3V with low capacity, that looked to me like a really old batch of cells that were never used (and can be sold as new). I think I've also read that somewhere.
I agree with you 100%, don't even waste your time listing those that clearly are lying about their cells.
We've all read the horror stories about these cheap cells exploding and the serious damage and injury they can cause. If the unscrupulous retailers don't care about burning our homes down or causing the consumer life-changing injury, lets not even list them here as a cheap alternative.
Once I feel confident on a good 26650, I want to move up from the 1 cell to a 2 or 3 cell light like a Trustfire TR-J12 or something similar.
Right... good point, I was assuming his 3V cells were old + tired 3.6V cells that were coming in at 3V and measured low capacity. You should never attempt to charge 3V cells on a 3.6V charger.
Check again, or give us a link to what you bought. Something's off here. Careful, man.
Viktor
P.S.
Again me playing the safety police. I mean no harm nor offense, just a fair warning for anyone not reading too carefully. I'm not saying that's you, either.
