Well, apart from IMRs from AW and Efest. And protected ICRs from Enerpower, Keeppower, Intl-Outdoor, Nitecore… there isn’t much choice. 
Quite obviously the internet was broken when I was searching…
Is this light built for one cell, or are you running it on a 14500 and a dummy?
Nope not ordered yet. But was compiling a spreadsheet list of batteries to buy this pay day only a matter of hours ago.
I’m running 2x14500’s at present as the drop in performs so much better on higher voltage inputs. But have low confidence in the Trustfire flames I’ve got at present.
I was just checking, because I was running my Mini-Mags with an IMR14500 and a dummy, but switched to an IMR14650 and a smaller sized dummy for longer runtimes.
Hi,
Newbie here, and I don’t know what “IMR” is yet, but I bought some EagleTac 14500s (protected) recently from “ustcover” on Ebay. They were fairly inexpensive (I think), but they’re only 750 mAh. Shipping was pretty fast (for me, in VA). The listing shows as in VA, but the tracking shows it came from NC.
Jim
@vas: :D
@ohaya: Simply put: IMRs deliver more current to the LED but have less capacity. So the light will be brighter (sometimes a lot brighter) but only for a short time.
They are manganese-based instead of cobalt like "regular" LiIon (ICR) cells. Also called high power.. high discharge.. or whatever fancy name the manufacturer picks.
Nightcrawl,
I see, thanks.
Still educating myself, so I’m looking at:
http://www.oveready.com/battery-/batteries/aw-imr-14500-rechargeable-battery/prod_216.html
That’s an IMR, but how would you tell, other than they say it is, i.e., they don’t specify a maximum current, just the voltage and capacity?
Thanks again,
Jim
Yes, its an IMR. The shop says so as does the manufacturer. Both are trusted, so no worries. They should be fine for about 5A discharge. Efest might be cheaper and have more capacity.
Google “efest store” they have good prices on many cell sizes, ship worldwide with only a small fixed handling charge but are much slower than the stateside eBay seller of efest cells “rlsales” on eBay.
What is the difference between the IMR and ICR?
My experience and internet reading says that the best 14500 for now it the Nitecore NL147, not so expensive also. I’ve got two myself, they are behaving great.
IMR can provide much higher currents without a problem, but ICR has higher capacities (usually).
For example, IMR 14500 = ~600mAh and 5A max discharge, while ICR 14500 = ~800mAh and 2A max discharge.
So you should choose depending on what is more important to you.
Curious but where did you get an IMR 14650 from? My original plan was to run an AW 14670, but these seemed to become unavailable just as I went to order them. So I opted for 1x14500 and a spacer. But performance was very disappointing, so I switch to 2x14500. The Solarforce drop in certainly seems to regulate much better on higher voltage inputs.
One other thing to note is, on high draw setups, such as well driven XM-L emitters, you might actually get longer sustained output from a lower capacity (mAh) IMR than you would from an ICR.
Efest sells IMR 14650. For IMRs in all sizes except 18650 and 26650, I would use Efest cells. 18650: Samsung or Sanyo. 26650: MNKE.
For regular ICR cells, I tend to stay away from odd sizes and stick to those available from the big manufacturers.
That means no 10180, 10440, 16340, 18350, 17500, 17670, 22650 and 32650 for me.
Simply because I didnt know it existed. :P
But its a weird size. 14500 replaces AA cells, but 14650? I'd just use 18650 right away.^^
14650+spacer replaces 2xAA in cases where 2x14500 voltage is too high for the driver
I also use Sanyo ICR 14650s. I got my IMR 14650s here… http://www.efestbattery.com/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=14650&category_id=0&product_id=54
And to custom fit it into your flashlight…these are the cats ass.
ADJUSTABLE BLANKS (dummy spacers) - need a custom size blank...no problem!
Okay, good point. I only own one 2AA light and that runs on Eneloops for dummy-proofness. :D
My order for 2 lMR 14500s from bestvaping was turned down because it came to less than 30USD.
So I’ve just ordered 2 from efestbattery.com. PayPal payment has been accepted so hopefully I’ll see them in the next 2-3 weeks.