I need 2 good quality button top 26650”s for a Thorfire S70 light (draws 5.5amps at the tail cap I think).
I also need another pair but flat tops for the CPF Italia/BLF Cometa (guessing it draws no more than 3 amps?).
I do not have either light yet so don”t mind waiting a few weeks for shipping if the deal is good for good quality cells.
As both lights have low voltage warning & low voltage cut off they can be unprotected.
I am in the UK & the cells from reputable sellers in this country seem to be around £8-£10 or about 14-18 dollars a cell !
The CPFi Cometa uses a FET driver and it draws 5.5-6A.
For this current draw rate I recommend 5,200mAh EVVA 26650 from mtnelectronics. I use them in a JAX x6 hunter with XHP50 at 5A and get close to 1 hour runtime… After two years they are still going strong. These are flat tops but can work in series http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=304&search=26650
I haven’t tried this, but good review:
Thanks for the info on the Cometa, I didn”t realize it drew that much so about the same as the S70 so the same cells, 2 button top & 2 flat top would be ideal.
Around 5000mah was the capacity I was thinking of to get better run time than my most powerful 18650”s which are 3000mah.
Unfortunately shipping from the USA to the UK is deal breaker.
Unfortunately they are around $18 dollars each in the UK which is more than I would like to spend really as 2 cells will be virtually the same price as the Cometa.
You know the Cometa is single-cell, right? That’s why it will work with either flat or button
Yes one cell in the light & one spare.
Just seems that 26650”s are very expensive here & I won”t order from GB, BG, AliExpress etc unless someone can verify the cells are legit.
I have had good luck with these three:
keepower
foxnovo from Amazon (panasonic cell)
and xtar 4000 Mah.
all will be fine for your amp draw.
although I haven’t bought them for in 26650, I have had great luck with orbtronic which use Pan cells and they are very good about shipping quickly.
how do i buy one of these cpf Italia lights?
do they sell purple efest 26650’s where ur at? Those are the best cells I have among keep power, evva, and mnke.
I can only get purple efest 26650”s in 3500mah at the moment & as I already have 3000mah efest 18650”s there is no point.
Put your name down with tint preference on the group buy thread here WARNING: Cometa – read/fix BEFORE inserting battery
Hell of a light for $40 or £28 & pre orders are up to nearly 400 now I think.
Right little re-think on the cells that I need.
I am waiting for a Thorfire S70 to arrive (2-4 weeks from now according to shipping) for which I want 2 button top 26650”s & the CPF Italia Cometa which requires 1 x 26650, either flat top or button top.
Both lights apparently pull around 5.5 amps at the tail cap & both have low voltage warning & cut offs.
My thoughts now are that I will just get 2 button top 26650 cells.
As both lights have low voltage warning & cut offs do I need to get protected cells ?
Shipping from the states to the UK is expensive & the cells are also dear from UK sellers (from what I can see) so they will probably need to come from one of the Chinese/Hong Kong sellers ?
These are cells that I am considering from where I get my 18650”s http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-KEEPPOWER-26650-IMR-5200mAh-PROTECTED-RECHARGEABLE-BATTERIES-UK-FREE-CASE-/361237208818?hash=item541b6a5ef2 but as you can see they are $30 dollars a pair.
I have seen these Thorfire branded 26650 protected 5000mah cells from the same seller that I got my pair of Thorfire C8s” from for a very reasonable (to me) price & it states that they are “premium” Samsung cells http://www.amazon.co.uk/ThorFire-5000mAh-Rechargeable-Batteries-Flashlights/dp/B01ASYZMB4/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1455996882&sr=8-24&keywords=26650+battery
They are roughly half the price the 2 main UK sellers I use for 18650”s are charging for similar mah 26650cells.
Does anybody have any experience of these cells ?
Will the pcb be a problem ?
Any other recommendations for suitable cells at a reasonable cost to the uk ?
Thanks
EDIT: These cells do not appear on the Thorfire site & I have found a review stating that when tested they are only about 2500mah so possibly yet another over rated “fire” brand ?
If you saw that review on Amazon USA, it might have been mine. That was for their 18650 3000Mah Battery. I saw on this forum a review by I believe Flashpilot, that showed a magnified picture of the battery. You could clearly see it was a Samsung 30B through the Thorfire wrapper. 30B’s are 4.35v batteries. I couldn’t see that on mine, so I never tried charging beyond 4.2v. With the protection circuit it would likely trip charging higher anyway. I thought it was a little misleading, claiming 3000Mah, but only charging to between 2500 and 2600. In reality, it likely is a 30B not being charged to full capacity.
I did see a review with a picture of their 26650 on an Opus charger that showed the full 5000Mah. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them, I do believe they are using quality Samsung cells.
Hi Dusty, are you saying that you would recommend the Thorfire 18650 or 26650 cell ?
I normally would steer clear of a “fire” cell it was just because I have Thorfire lights & know that they are good quality.
On the actual Thorfire site they only list a 3000mah 18650 cell, there is no mention of them selling 26650”s ?
This is the review I have found that is listed as a review of the 26650 cell but reading it again it is obviously a review of an 18650.
ByBrennbon November 18, 2015
Design: 18650 3000 mAh pack of 1Verified Purchase
I am satisfied with this battery. I purchased this together with a Thorfire C8s flashlight. I am fairly new to the Li-on batteries, but have used a similar unprotected style 18650. The charger I use would overcharge the unprotected battery, however this one charges to exactly 4.2V. Just as a test I ran a full charge, High Beam, for 1hr 43 min, before the low charge level strobe kicked in. Completely acceptable for my use. as long as I get an acceptable life out of this battery, I will continue to use this brand. I should have bought the 2 pack. Better deal, and I believe you get a storage case with it.
Brian
Edit: 12/02/2015
In the few weeks since I’ve purchased this Battery, I decided to get a better charger (Opus bt-c3100v2.2), one that would handle all my different charging needs. This particular model is also an analyser. I have run 2 tests on this and have come up with 2560mAh both times, in different slots. That coincides with a 5 hour discharge at 500mAh. Not really complaining, because I do still think its a good battery. Still a good deal if you buy 2.
Yes, that was my review. I probably should have worded my recommendation a little different. I have not used their 26650’s. I do have, and use their 14500’s (which are true rated), and 18650’s which I explained above. I think they may have just added 26650’s on Amazon, because I don’t recall them being there, before. It has just been my experience that they are using quality cells, and I’m getting good service out of them. I don’t know enough about their protection circuits, to know if that would effect higher amp lights, though.
Thanks for that, I trust the Thorfire brand, having several of their lights, but as the 26650 cells are not listed on their site am just a little concerned whether they are “Thorfire” or some cheap re-wrapped Chinese “fire” brand.
The Amazon UK ad states they they have been available from 19/1/2016 so possibly that is why they are not yet on the Thorfire site ?
Having said the above the only cells on their official site are 3000mah 18650”s there is no mention of 14500”s either so maybe the 26650”s are genuine.
If I read correctly you’re planning on using 2x 26650 in the S70, and one of those same cells to power the cometa? Don’t do that.
Get 3 cells and keep the two cells for the S70 matched together and marked so they aren’t accidentally used separately.
I know what you are saying but surely if I buy 2 cells, mark them & make sure that I alternate which one gets used in the Cometa then wear on both cells should be similar shouldn”t it ?
I am quite careful with my cells & do check them regularly with a DMM & have an analysing charger.
No. There are far more variables to consider than just usage time or remaining voltage. The more the cells are used apart from each other the closer to a potential failure you come. And a failure with a Liion cell can cost a heck of a lot more than the $10-15 saved by not buying an extra 26650 cell.