New to 18650- recommedations?

New to the site, new to 18650.

I’ve been browsing/reading up on 18650 batteries for the past couple days, and my head is starting to spin with voltages and amps.

I immediately bought a BLF A6 upon discovering it, but I need a battery. I already bought an Xtar VC2 Plus charrger after reading some reviews, but the variety of 18650 cells is hard to wrap my head around.

I understand (I think) that the A6 can get better performance from unprotected cells, but that some other lights (yet to be purchased, may get a Convoy soon) may recommend protected cells.

I have been looking at LG (HE2, HG2) and Samsung cells (25R, 30Q), but I’m not quite sure where to start.

Your help is greatly appreciated :slight_smile:

Get the 30Q’s for high drain applications and never look back

BLF A6 - Nice!
I agree with the INR 30Q recommendation. You can spend a lot of time looking at discharge curves, then trying to find the best deal to save a buck or two on the best price, but at the high end capacity quality cells I’m not sure you’ll notice a big difference between them. In my experience laptop pulls haven’t been very useful, YMMV. You got a good light, get a couple of good cells. INR is ‘safer’ (disclaimers apply!) and you probably don’t need protected.

I just received 4 30Qs from fasttech, ordered Dec 9 arrived Jan 6 (BC Canada). The cost was a couple more CDN pesos higher than GB, but worth it. Nicely packaged, authentic, and brand spankin’ new!

I ordered the same from gearbest on Nov 9 and I’m still waiting.

Most of the issues with venting, fires, explosions of li-ion cells have to do with:

  1. Low quality cells.
  2. Low quality chargers.
  3. Multiple cell configurations, generally in series (but not necessarily so).

You’re taking care to purchase high quality products, so that takes care of items 1 and 2. As to number 3, you can ask questions about what precautions to take before you start buying multiple cell flashlights.

For single cell applications, there is some risk of discharging your battery too low and from physical abuse. As far as physical abuse is concerned, what is there to say? Don’t stick them in a microwave, don’t submerge them in water, don’t puncture them with ice picks, don’t use them as door stops, don’t use them as dog chews. :evil:

As to running them down too low, it’s hard NOT to notice your battery drain when you’re actually using the flashlight. By the time your battery drops down to 3.4V, you’ll notice a significant drop off in brightness. (At the medium and high levels, anyway. On moonlight, you might not notice.)

You want to stay above 3.0V to prolong your battery life. And 2.7V is the threshhold for safety concerns. Anything below 2.7V incurs a (small) risk of internal chemistry changes that theoretically could lead to a situation where it would be unsafe to recharge the battery.

For your BLF A6, its driver has a built in low voltage protection that will cutoff the batteries when it drops somewhere between 2.8V and 2.7V. So, draining your batteries beyond that isn’t an issue.

So, your only concern in using unprotected batteries would be (1) in letting others use your flashlights, in which case you’ll have to evaluate the risk of what they are doing, and (2) in situations where you are not actively using your flashlight.

For me, this latter situation arises in two cases. First, there are flashlights that have what is known as parasitic drain. Due to the electronics within the flashlight - whether that be from battery monitoring circuits, mode memory, or tailcap lights - the flashlight continues to use current, even when it is turned off. Fortunately, many of these flashlights have built-in low voltage cutoffs. Unfortunately, the parasitic drain may be so small that it doesn’t begin to trigger the cutoffs. :ghost: The second case is when I intentionally or unintentionally leave my flashlight on, say I leave my flashlight on when working on my car in the garage or I accidentally click the switch when fumbling through my duffel bag.

Last word of caution. You should never charge your batteries unattended. While the risk is minute of anything happening, it is an unnecessary risk. Be attentive when you’re charging your batteries. :exmark:


BTW, I have 30Q flattops in all three of my BLF A6’s. :wink:

“may get a Convoy soon) may recommend protected cells.”

.

There are Convoys where ‘Protected’ cells will not fit.

Like the man above said… get down to around 3.4v and you will know.

I think that the 30Q is an excellent choice, though I own none of them - I’m a LG man myself, and have no good explanation for it, except that I have had good results. - Oh sure; I also have some other Samsung’s, and some Panasonic’s, but mostly LG’s.

The competition for the Sammy 30Q is the LG HG2, and I don’t have any of them either:-)

I have mostly LG HE2- LG MH1, and LG MJ1.

Have Fun!

-Chuck

Thanks for the advice and explanations- Samsung 30Qs are on the way.

This is going to be a downward spiral, I just know it….

Get out now while you still... Hey that BLF Special Edition SS/Cu X6 & Cu X5 is absolutely breathtaking... And running out of spots. :P