Panasonic NCR18650b cells, best options for charging etc

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

Hi all, newbie here, sorry to be a pain!

I have three sets of 4 Panasonic NCR18650b 3400mah cells, two button top sets and one flat top purchased from Gearbest and also dealextreme.com so I’m pretty sure they are genuine. Also I’ve purchased an XTAR VC4 charger and a 2amp USB charger for it. I know that the VC4 charges at 1.0a if two cells are charged in slots 1 and 4 and at 0.5a if all four slots are used, I just want to know what’s the best option for longevity of the cells, 0.5a or 1a charging, or more? (I know the VC4 can’t do more.) Is it best to run them right down by leaving them in a turned on torch til the LEDs go out, or to charge them as soon as the brightness dims, is the VC4 a good enough charger or is it worth going for something with more options, recommendations? I’m using them to power two Skyray Kings, one with three LEDs and one with six, and also another single cell torch labelled as Ultrafire. Any help or advice would be most appreciated!

Cheers!! :slight_smile:

2

I always "fast" charge at 1A for over 3000mAh batteries. NCR18650B is so much cheaper now, I am not afraid to make them work a bit harder. LoL.

VC4 has a good design but reliability sux.

3

Your Xtar chargers are more than suitable for charging. 0.5 and 1A are both safe charging rates, don’t need to worry about it. There is little effect in performance if you dishcarge them to 3.0V and charge again, just don’t go below that. These batteries have over 300 cycles and each cycle counts as one full charge, if you charge from half full it doesn’t count as a cycle.

4

Thanks for the replies. How would I tell when they’ve discharged to 3.0V? Or would that roughly be when the lights dim?

5

I have three for my k40vn. When the light blink to notify me about low battery I checked the voltage and all the 3 battery are at 2.3volt. I have at least 80 cycles on these battery. Exclusively for the k40.
And my xtar vc2 continu to display 3402mah for one and approx 3400 for the two other.

6

OK, none of my torches have a signal to indicate low battery, I guess I’ll have to go on the dimming. I’ll get a tester on them when they do to check the voltage :slight_smile:

7

Impatient to read your result. your torch as a setting for the low voltage. Like 3.3 3.2 2.8. It’s a manufacturer setting.

8

OK, I’ll hit Google up later, see what I can find, although I just found this thread

9

I have the same Xtar VC4 charger and the some flat top panasonic cells, I nearly always charge them in bay’s 1 and 4, the 1 amp charge rate isn’t high, the cell’s don’t even get warm no matter how long they’ve been on charge.

I had a slight problem with a flat top panasonic, I dropped the light on the ground and the cell pushing up against the driver spring pushed in the top of cell. So when I wanted to charge the cell the +ve end wouldn’t make contact in the charger, I used a small steel nut to bridge.

But I read on here about adding some solder to the pushed in flat top which fixed the problem great.