Ahh, okay. Thanks.
I’ll have to check them out then.
Edit: MOLICEL/NPE INR-21700-P42A 45A 4200MAH - 18650canada
…$10 plus $15 shipping.
I just cant justify paying the price of a flashlight for just a cell.
Especially when I can buy so many flashlights with a cell included.
This is quite a bit frustrating.
Wow! That is quite an increase in shipping since I last used them. Oh well.
Not that bad . You can ship all those 18 cells left with the same $15 . You can fall in love with fireflies, they ship good 21700’s .
Maybe that’s why I thought the shipping was okay, I’d bought a dozen 18650’s. $15 would be a fair deal for that, not so much for a single cell.
Yeah, unfortunately im just looking for one.
I went as far as buying a L18 in order to get a 26800 and a way to charge it . For canadian, since aliya’s battery store and lucky store are no longer shipping to canada, it’s more expensive .
Capital “C” with cells stands for capacity (I think….heck, y’know I’m not positive about that, but it’s effectively the same). What that means is that 1C = 1 x stated battery capacity. So 1C with a 3000mAh cell is 3000mA….and 3000mA is just 3 Amps. 3C with that cell would be 9 Amps.
I think we talk about it more with charging, but it’s just a reference.
With the various manufacturer cell datasheets, they will specify with C when they are talking about continuous or max charge and discharge rates, and usually will tell you which discharge rate (and temperature) was used during testing to determine the total stated capacity of the cell. It’s universally a pretty low discharge rate, like 0.2C or 0.25C, because that’s easier on the cell and limits heat or internal resistance. Of course in real use, most of us ask a lot more from the cells, so that excellent 3000mAh cell might only give you 2800 or even less when worked hard under a higher current load.
So our 3000 cell is discharged from full 4.2v down to whatever they say in the datasheet (usually like 2.5v) at 0.2C….then after a period of rest they charge it back up at a similarly low current and the measured energy that goes in during recharging back to 4.2v is the stated capacity. The “C” for that 3000mAh cell at a 0.2C rate would be 600mA current.
In manuals for chargers or just general cell info, you’ll often see that something like 0.25C is best for cell life (overall cycle life)….so a smidgen of quick math and you can select the charging rate you want. Many cells will handle a lot more than that and be just fine. So a 4000mAh cell that is charged at 2A (2000mA) would be getting 0.5C charging rate. No problem at all for most cells. If the datasheet says 1C or 2C is fine and you are more concerned about charging time than cell lifespan, you can up the current and enjoy a quick charge. Those high rates of charge are best for the high drain/low resistance types of cells, though. But most smart chargers will take care of business nicely even if you tell them to do something dumb…so if you try to feed 2C into a cell that doesn’t like it much, various electrical aspects will be sensed by the charger and it’ll likely reduce the current on its own in favor of not harming the cell, despite what you told it to do. It may give it 2C for a few minutes or a half hour and then dumb it down some…or if the cell is happy it’ll sing 2C all the way until near the end of the charging cycle.
Hmm…
Thanks for the explanation.
But I dont understand any of that really…
Im starting to feel like im too dumb to be messing around with this stuff again.
Ive just been throwing all my cells on the XTAR VC4L and they charge at whatever they charge at…
If its just a single cell, it charges at 1amp (I think because all the wall warts I have only go that high,) and with two or more cells, it drops to .5amp charging.
I have no idea what im doing. I just really like flashlights. And sometimes do need and rely on them.
Thanks again though.
Hey, that works, no worries. Lots of chargers do that where they can give a higher current on one or two slots, but when more cells are added to the load they drop the current lower for all. That’s just the design (cheaper, mostly) and a way to mitigate heat buildup. Whoever programed the chips for the electrical sequences already did all the “C” stuff so customers don’t have to. 
Sometimes it might pay off to force a smart charger into using a lower current than the default selection……like when charging smaller 18350 or 14500 cells that have lower capacities and a default 1A might be less preferable than a lower .5A or a tad less (it’s not critical, just a best-practice thing to maximize cell life).
Ideally, if you want absolute maximum output for this light, Samsung 30Ts or their equivalent should be best
Hey man I was the same way when i first got into flashlights, all this stuff sounded like greek. I got frustrated at all the acronyms and lingo the people ‘in the know’ used. Just keep asking questions, reading and it will start to sink in. Sounds like you already have a basic unserstanding of how stuff works.
So I checked out that vape shop.
This is all they had in the store.
Maybe even just these two cells.
Those are excellent batteries. They are pretty much the same as Aspire and Golisi according to the revered battery reviewer Mooch. I’m running the Golisi’s in all my 26650 lights.
Hmm, I wonder if I should just go grab them?
I think they want $12 plus tax each.
Probably still cheaper than ordering online anywhere after shipping.