Hi everyone! I am looking for ideas on how to organize my battery collection, I have about 30 18650's, 20AA's, 20 CR123's that I would like to organize so they don't look messy (Wife started to nag about it) how do you keep your -sh..- organized? Tried to look for ideas here but photofucket and their idiotic move to block images has made it very difficult. I am looking for something in plastic or a wooden box that looks good enough to be next to my flashlight collection which sits on an Ikea table exactly like this one.
I am trying to post a picture that will make this clear. I have a plastic Outdoor Research case that is about 6” x 7” and 3 1/2” tall that is filled with different sized pill bottles and tubes. The different bottles/tubes hold 3 or 4 18650’s, three 14500’s, four 10440’s, four 18350’s, two 16340’s or one 26650. I store charged cells vertically, positive side up. I always have batteries in my flashlights also. When I need fresh cells in a light I go to my box, remove the cells I need, take the depleted cells out of the light and put them in the box positive end DOWN to show they need to charged, put the fresh cells in the light and I am off.
I have other charged cells in plastic cases in my light bag ready to grab and go. I can also close the lid on my battery box and the cells are all held tight for travel if I need to. This system keeps me organized and I always know which cells need to charged. I can easily change the configuration of tubes in my box as my needs change.
I posted a picture on the show off thread on the Sky Lumen Lounge.
Depending on which “large” case they’re selling they hold 6 or 8 18650 cells nice and snug.
Sean
PS - no affiliation with the ebay seller above, I just did a search for “similar” and this was the best deal for them on page 1 of my search. $2 for these is pretty good, I think a paid $5 for a 3 cell holder by efest with the same set up (hard sides, zipper open etc.).
As someone else mentioned, that is a lot of energy to store in a small space, and if your storage method is plastic, and it is on top of wood, it is a potential disaster waiting to happen. It only takes one bad cell failure to overheat the cells surrounding it to dangerous levels, from that point on you should not be relying on luck for it to not become a disaster. Even if this were to happen while you are at home, fumes could incapacitate you while asleep without waking you up.
I think it may be discontinued but there may be other brands similar.
If you have TJ Maxx or Marshall’s stores nearby they should have a large selection, that’s where I got mine, I think I paid about $6 for the one above.
This next one (15 compartment) has 2 different size compartments and holds 10) 26650’s plus 5) 18650’s (and/or various flashlights)
Edit: I see now each 26650 size compartment can hold 4 AA/14500, eneloop etc. (not 3 like I thought…see photos below) for a total of 48 14500/AA!
As a side note, i put my discharged cells upside down in their boxes, so i always know which are charged and which are discharged (without having to get my DMM out).
While I personally would not use these for long term storage or hauling batteries around in the truck. I can definitely see where I will be getting some for around the house & camper use. For both light and batteries.
