Recently my older Thrunite TC20 (version 1) 26650 battery failed - this original Thrunite 26650 battery will not accept a charge (blinking purple light when try to charge via micro-usb cable indicates original Thrunite 26650 battery is now totally done). For the purpose of confirming that the TC20's issue is indeed the bad original Thrunite 26650 battery, i swapped out that original bad battery with a newer Thrunite 26650 battery from my Catapult v6 ...and then the TC20 (version 1) works just fine using that newer Catapult v6 26650 battery.
My question is, since i currently need the newer Thrunite 26650 battery for a different Thrunite Flashlight (in my Catapult v6), is there possibly a good 3rd party battery replacement > like a good 3.7v Button Top 5000mAh 26650 battery that will work well and will fit in my older Thrunite TC20 (version 1) ??
I realize that I could try to just order a new original Thurnite 26650 battery, but this exact original Thrunite 26650 Button Top battery is currently Out of Stock at Thrunite.com, and everywhere else it seems, Out of Stock at all the online battery sellers i checked. any advice or info that anyone can offer on a good 3rd Party replacement 26650 battery would be very truly appreciated, thanks very much all !
There’s a few options, but good 26650s are getting scarce since 21700 is taking over.
The PLB 5000 mAh and 4500 maAh. It’s rewrapped by Littokala, Shockli, Astrolux, Sofirn/Wurkkos and I think Keeppower so you can get it from them. This is a good one. They more or less meet their capacity rating (I have some Wurkkos ones) and are good to 15 amps easily.
The Thrunite 5000 mAh attery is a really good one. I have a couple and they easily meet their capacity rating and were good to 20 A.
The other is VapCell like K63, but they’re way too expensive a d I don’t trust their reliability for what you pay. I dont know of they’re even for sale anymore.
hey there ~ sincere thanks to you both for that very helpful information, i think i will try to go with one of those options & brands that Sirstinky mentioned ...now i just have to hunt down a place to purchase ...either online or in person. please let me know if you might be able to recommend a good supplier or online seller that would carry any of those 26650 battery brands that you mentioned so i can purchase. i just spent the past couple of hours searching online and on ebay, and i could not find any 26650 3.7v rechargeable batteries that are button top. i did run across these batteries (links below), seem promising but would they work ?
You can get the Sofirn batteries from Sofirn, same with Wurkkos. Keeppower can be found on AE (I wouldn’t get one with onboard charging), and so can the Littokala and Shocklis. The Astrolux batteries are over on Banggood.
If you really need button tops, you can solder blob them or get an adapter, but most 26650 are flat tops and you pay a premium for button tops.
thanks very much for that Sirstinky, i will try to pick up one of those 26650 batteries from one of those sources you mentioned Question; since i am replacing a Thrunite 3.7v 26650 5000mAh button top battery, i am assuming that i need to replace it with a comparable 26650 ...but must it be a button top 26650 battery ? will a flat top 26650 fit / work in my Thrunite TC20, or is it something of a crap-shoot ? from what i have gathered reading about 26650 batteries, they can vary in size, even with or without a button top, correct ? thanks again !
and also if i may ask you Sirstinky if you don't mind, since i happen to already be set up to purchase on ebay (i am not set up to purchase on Ali or Banggood, or other china sites etc), would any of these 26650 batteries brands available on ebay seem like a good decent choice, or are these all quite sub-par ? ebay 26650 batteries
thank you Texas. much appreciated ! noticed that those batteries on illumn.com are all flat tops, will a flat top work / fit in a Thrunite TC20 ? do i need a magnet to mimic a button top ?? wow i didn't realize that getting a 26650 replacement battery would not be as easy as one would have thunk, what a rabbit hole !
btw, if that is indeed the case. that one can conceivably replace this dead Thrunite 26650 battery with a flat top (like the flat top batteries on illumn.com & the other 26650 batteries mentioned by Sirstinky), then i guess it would be a good investment to purchase these magnets ? Magnets
thanks sp5it ~ that is super helpful info, now i just need to find a dealer OR online seller here in the USA so that i can finally purchase ! thanks so much, i sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond !!
just a quick follow-up on my hunt for a replacement 26650 battery for my Thrunite TC20 Flashlight, hopefully possibly this may be helpful for someone else in the same situation in the future. I ended up purchasing this KeepPower Battery ( KeepPower ) , which works really great ..the top (+) slightly protrudes so there is no need to use a magnet (to simulate a button-top). by the way. the seller is Matt (from Adventure Sport Flashlights) who many may know from these forums and his excellent YouTube Channel ( Matt's YT ). thanks again to those who took the time to read my post, respond & offer advice, very much appreciated !