Li-ion Battery Safety and Shopping Guide

First of all, 99% of the graphs below are from HKJ. These were done by him, I am simply placing them in this thread for easy reference.

LiCo Cells

These batteries have the highest capacities of all Li-ion batteries. They generally are rated for up to 5 amp drain. Below I have covered the most popular cells, if there are any I should add just post below.

UR18650FM

The UR18650FM is a good battery with 2600 mah capacity. It is often found in laptop battery packs. It does a much better job of keeping a high voltage than NCR18650 series batteries. For this reason it will often give longer run times than a NCR18650A if used with a 7135 driver.

Review here.

Datasheet here.

NCR18650

This battery has a high capacity (2900 mah) but is no longer very popular as the NCR18650A/B cells have a higher capacity.

Full review here.

Datasheet here.

NCR18650A

The NCR18650A is one of the highest capacity 18650s on the market with a capacity of 3100 mah. They are discharged down to 2.5 volts, rather than the 3 volts of other cells. It is often used in lights that need the highest runtime possible.

Full review here.

Datasheet here.

NCR18650B

These are currently the highest capacity 18650s made. They are discharged down to 2.5 volts, rather than the 3 volts of other cells. If you see any cell claiming to have more than 3400 mah, they are lying. Do not buy that cell.

Full review here.

The datasheet has not been released yet.

IMR-LiMn Batteries

These batteries are great for high loads.

AW IMR 2000 mah cell

Good battery, and works fairly well up to 10 amps.

Full review here.

Unknown internal cell

AW IMR 1600 mah Cell

Extremely capable battery works for loads up to and above 20 amps, albeit at the sacrifice of run time.

Full review here.

Unknown internal cell.

CGR18650CH

A hybrid IMR cell that can go up to 10 amps, and still has a good capacity (2250 mah) for IMR batteries. This is not technically a LiMn battery, but has been placed here due to it's characteristics.

Full review here.

Internal cell is CGR18650CH datasheet is here.

UR18650W

Good cell, 1500 mah capacity does very well at high loads.

(Not HKJ)

Datasheet is here.

LiFePo4 Batteries

These batteries are much safer but at the expense of capacity and voltage. For this reason they are not very popular so no full reviews have been done.

APR18650M1

This is a LiFePo4 battery, but it can deliver very high currents. It is rated to deliver 30+ amps. Very low capacity (1100 mah) Also much safer, again due to different chemistry.

Datasheet here.

Tenergy 18650P LiFePo4

This battery is a slightly weaker version of the APR18650M1, it is only rated for 11 amps despite being the same capacity.

1200 mah LiFePo4 18650

These cells are some of the most common LiFePo4 cells, they do not have a brand name or anything of that sort. They are rated for 18 amp discharges.

Example.

1500 mah LiFePo4 18650

These are higher capacity then the previous ones, but are only rated for a 4.5 amp discharge.

Example.