I’m planning to get 21700 and 26350 batteries.
Which 21700 should I get for max drain/performance?
Molicel P42A, Samsung 30T, Vapcell NCR20700 30A, Samsung 40T, Samsung 40T3, Sony / Murata US21700VTC6A 40A
I would like a max output on a multi cell flashlight.
From 26350 I found Vapcell A20. Is that sufficient to use it in short tube 21700 flashlight?
Molicell is an excellent alternative when Samsung is not available. Cheap also.
Well, the output is usually governed by the driver, so in many lights having a high drain battery won’t necessarily help anything when compared with a more standard cell. If the driver will open the nozzle and really let the water flow through the hose, then those high drain batteries can deliver the juice needed and not suffer the effects of internal resistance and excessive heat buildup.
Are there particular light models you’re going to want these for?
I have zero experience with the 26350 but it always pays to look at HKJ’s excellent tests/reviews to see if he’s done the one you’re looking at and then to compare with the others.
https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650comparator.php
You can pick the current(s) shown on the graph by using the checkboxes. On the 21700 you’ll see that the Moli and 40T are darn near the same performance up to around 10 amps….the Moli being slightly better at very low currents and the 40T edging ahead slightly above 10 amps. For the most part they’re the same. The Sony is very similar but just slightly more voltage sag than the other two throughout the current range. I have yet to see the Sony 21700 for sale anywhere but I wouldn’t mind picking up a few sometime. Actually I’d love to get the Samsung 50G instead if those ever appear. I’d say whichever you find that has the lower price should be fine unless you’re sure the light(s) are capable of asking for greater than 10 amps of current from the cells. The Lishen is also good, but I’d shy away from the LG models and if you were to pick one from Vapcell, do so very carefully after checking the tests (they had some excellent ones and some cruddy ones, plus several mediocre models).
Thank you for the extensive reply.
Yes, I plan to get some hot rods that depend on the batteries so I would like to get it right from the get go. I don’t want to have to buy batteries in near future because they’re mediocre.
I’m eyeballing the Astrolux EC06. I’ve read from other members that the performance can be +–10 000 lumens depending on the batteries. I believe the Vapcell got the highest output but I’m a novice so I’m not well informed and I take all the info with a grain of salt because I believe those DIY testing rigs are not 100% accurate. No offense to anyone.
Thank you for the link. I remember looking the reviews back on the day but I only found the old page without the drop down menus.
So your pick would be the Samsung 40T?
I’m still not sure what charger to get.
With regards to ‘short tube’ 21700 flashlights, eg. the Wurkkos TS21 or Wurkkos HD20, but using the “20350” tube.
Note: “20350” batteries, which are not the same as “26350” batteries.
“26350” is the shorter version of 26650 batteries.
“20350” is the fatter version of 18350 batteries, or can also be the “shorter” version of 21700 batteries (I’m not aware of “21350” batteries).
Unfortunately, I don’t think that at this time, there are Vapcell rewrap of 20350 batteries. The Vapcell A20 is a 26350 battery, not 20350 battery.
I’ve tried “Kfalo” brand 1400-1500mAh 20350 batteries from a local store here in our country, so far it’s the only 20350 I’ve found that can deliver to me economically (I suppose for other countries, there may be other 20350 brands). But as there are probably few original manufacturers of the 20350 battery type, they probably are not very high-drain type, but usable.
With regards to the EC06, I suppose a balance of power and capacity will be better.
The Samsung 30T will probably provide the highest output, but because it has smaller capacity, the higher output will last shorter.
I suppose the Samsung 40T or Molicell P42A would be a good balance. In particular, the P42A is usually cheaper than 40T.
Or can also try getting the Lishen LR2170LA, which based on reviews, seem to perform nearly similar to the 40T, and at less expensive price.
(I’m not very sure, but I think the Vapcell K40 21700, might be rewraps of the Lishen LR2170LA)
You can also check the Vapcell T50, these are high capacity with high power (may be a bit less than 40T, but has more capacity). The downside is the the T50 (rewrap of Samsung 50S) are rare and very expensive.
Another option may be Vapcell G50 (Samsung 50G), or possibly Tesla 4800mAh 21700 (but these seem to be from surplus, and quality can vary quite a bit, otherwise the Tesla 21700 batteries also perform quite well, maybe just slightly less than the G50 / 50G). Tesla 4800mAh 21700 tend to be inexpensive as they seem to be from “surplus”, but with a bit more varied quality.
You are right! I ordered a short tube from Wurkkos. I guess I made a mistake. I don’t know how I mixed it up. The problem is that I could get 26350 batteries but there’s no 20350 batteries in the shops I’m planning to buy from :weary:
I guess I’ll use 18350s but I don’t have an adapter tube.
Maybe I can use O-rings.
Do you have any recommendations for 18350 batteries?
Regarding 21700 batteries, since endurance isn’t an issue I would like to go with the 30T for max performance (the turbo is short anyways) but I’ve read that the light needs button top cells so I’ll probably go with Molicell since they seem to work.
Do you have a recommendation for a charger?
Sorry for the delay in replying. Looking around a bit I still don’t see any tests showing amp draw for that light, but in TomE’s teardown thread he’s estimating a brief 30A. Between draw and thermal regulation, though, the light probably won’t eat that much for very long at all. With those assumptions I think I’d just stick with the 40T if it were me, or the Molicel, and I would pick the 40T over the 30T as well. Looking at HKJ’s and Mooch’s tests the difference is so small between 40T and Moli but it looks like maybe the 40T could possibly deliver slightly more/less voltage sag during the brief maximum turbo period - but again, that’s so short and thermal regulation will keep it that way, so it may not be any appreciable/visual difference in actual use between the two. I don’t see any tests for that Vapcell T42 either, and honestly I’d take the graphs that they show on their home web page with a large grain of salt. Sounds like an excellent cell from user input here but a good run test/graph from independent testers would be nice to see.
Tom used one of Simon’s/Convoy button adapters in his test light with a little sanding/trimming of the outer circumference to make it fit….seems like a good idea, although I see that Nkon will do add-ons upon request (I’m in the US so not familiar with them but they look like a great supplier! Those “reclaimed” cells look attractive, too…maybe not for the EC06 where you might want fresh new grade A cells for such a powerhouse.)
I don’t know about the charger, either. I’ve been very pleased with my MiBoxer C4-12 but it looks like they’ve kind of disappeared. One nice thing about it is that it will hold any “long” 21700 cell and it can charge at full amperage (3A on this one) on all four slots. Most chargers will dumb it down to something like only two slots at max amperage, and when you use all four it may limit it further to like one half or just one full amp across the slots. Search BLF for charger reviews and definitely check HKJ’s as well. I think most of Xtar’s chargers are well received, seems like they sometimes die early but work very well, maybe some shortcomings on NiMH cells with some models. The Vapcell S4 got my attention but other than that I’d probably go for one of the analyzers like the Dragon or SkyRC (if either of those or a newcomer introduces all the features and cell size support that I want, I’d buy one right now, but until then my MiBoxer will keep on chuggin’…hopefully).
Here’s the link to HJK’s…you can sort columns like an Excel doc by clicking on the column headers. Maybe sort by number of slots and look for the most smiley faces and then check other details (in the chart as well as the individual review page). Round cell charger index
I will probably go with the Opus 3100 and Samsung T40 or Molicell. I need to se if I can get the battery adapter.
Thank you for your help!