Hey, guys and gals. I have a specific question. I need to know which batteries I need to buy that will be best suited for these two lights. Basically I want them to be safe and be able to provide ample power to get the most light out of these lights in stock form. I have read battery reviews for hours but still cant figure out what battery to buy. I want amps high as safely possible without damaging these lights and I want protected cells only, thanks.
Stick with major brand names and major vendors ONLY. Following those two rules allows you to easily return defective batteries should a warranty issue arise. I can’t speak to all the major players in the premium lithium battery market but for the last 6 years and over 100 batteries, I have used Panasonic and AW Li-Ion/IMR protected batteries with great success. 1 failed Panasonic battery was replaced at no cost to me from Light Hound. The Panasonic batteries are gone now as they went with a light I sold to a friend. All the rest are AW’s in every size and type offered. Not one of them has failed yet and they get used a lot (daily). The AW Black (protected) and Red (IMR) batteries are outstanding and I recommend them to everybody. Yes, they are a little expensive but worth every penny. I understand the safety concerns you have and I agree that it’s important. Very important.
I too have read most of the reviews and see that most every time one buys a ‘no name’ battery in an attempt to save a couple of dollars they (batteries) turn out to either be crap or outright dangerous. I put a value on my time and don’t want to be wasting it chasing down overseas vendors to get some $7 ‘special’ that went bad replaced. I don’t buy cheap ‘no name’ batteries for the same reason I never buy cheap ‘no name’ tires for my car. In the long run, it isn’t worth it. So again, stick with the major players for a hassle free experience. There is a guy here named HKJ that is very knowledgeable and has done many battery reviews. He has a lot of decent equipment on his bench, seems to be unbiased and I trust his assessment of the items he tests. Check his reviews out and make an informed choice. I’m sticking with what I mentioned earlier - AW.
Make sure you have a decent charger too. I have been using a pair of Pila chargers for years for basic charging and they have worked flawlessly. For larger batteries (ones that won’t fit in the Pila) I currently use an iCharger 3010B 1000W 30A 10S Balance Charger. Using this allows me to not only periodically cycle (drain/charge) all my batteries to see how they are holding up but allows me to keep a record/log of all the batteries (all have unique numbers written on them) on my computer. The 3010B comes with software to make this very easy. This all may seem a little anal retentive but I never have to ‘guess’ the condition of any of my batteries. It’s a piece of mind thing. HKJ has done reviews on chargers too and they are worth looking at before buying anything. Some of them are actually inexpensive AND worth buying.
Is there a battery similar to this (panasonic protected) that is better bang for the buck, such as Protected LG or a protected Sanyo, Protected Samsung, with decent shipping time?
These are my next choice if pannies are out of the equation. I get about 8-12% lower current readings using UR18650FM’s compared to panasonic 3400 protected. Batteries from FT will probably ship extremely slowly especially when compared to a US store.
I would go with MTN personally. I don’t believe any other US based store comes near that price on high quality protected Pannys.
Thanks for the help guys. I’m actually happy with my Protected Trustfire Flames in most lights but I figure I minuse well get some great quality high current cells for the lights that will benefit from it. I appreciate all the input.
Are the Panasonic 3400mah high drain just like the 2900mah it doesnt actually state that it is, and what is the difference in the “B” on the end versus the “PF”?
Whoops, missed the part about wanting protected + high amp draw.
The 3400mAh panasonic NCR18650B aren’t high drain, just good cells with great capacity.
The 2900mAh panasonic NCR18650PF are high drain, but I’m not sure how they perform protected. I would assume they would give a bit higher (.2A - .4A more?) compared to a 3400mAh panasonic NCR18650B in the same light.
Thats what keeps confusing me, which is why I listed the lights I want them for. The specs say the protected panny 2900 will send / drain up to 6 amps. But when I read battery threads about this subject the opinions are all over the place about which to buy. I just want good protected batteries pushing high current to these lights so I get all the lumen benefits from them without destroying the leds and reflectors. I prefer protected because adventually I will get other lights I imagine that will be using batteries in series so I figure I should be buying things that are best for future purchases. Blah blah blah, I dont know what to buy. I have good chargers, they always cut off when the batteries reach 4.2 volts.
Well I was charging cells for an upcoming review, and I just got my i4 to accompany my i2 so I figured I would top everything off and get some data from every unique cell I have.
The Nitecore and Sanyo URFM surprised me a bit. In series my Protected NCR18650B beat out both Nitecore and Sanyo by a small margin.
Note that the Nitecore are 2 years+ old iirc. Everything else was purchased/acquired in the last 6 months.
The Sanyo SE are laptop pulls that were manufactured about 5-7 years ago.
Also note that the protected Panasonic batteries tested here use a cheaper protection circuit than the protection found in KP cells, and the protected NCR18650B/NCR18650PF offered at MTN. I imagine those better quality protection circuits would have less resistance and thus more current.
Thanks for sharing this! Rick wrote me back from MTN and says that the panny 2900mah(PF) does give more current than the 3400mah(b) which seems to go along with your numbers here, although your example is unprotected I think it should be similar results, think I will go with the Protected Panny 2900mah PF. My Trustfire Flames are doing about 2.8 amp from the tail, hopefully the Panny’s will do at least 4 or so.
