Test / Review: Coolook, Powerlion and Soshine 14500 (AA) LiFePO4

Test / Review: Coolook, Powerlion and Soshine 14500 (AA) LiFePO4

Group photo:

Claimed capacity:
Coolook: min. 600mAh, typ. 700mAh
Powerlion: min. 600mAh, typ. 650mAh
Soshine: min. 550mAh, typ. 700mAh

I decided to test them all on 3 currents - 0.1A, 0.6A, and 1A - respectively, lowest rate of my charger, closest to 1C rate, and highest rate of my charger.

Here are the graphs:

Coolook:
0.1A: 607mAh

0.6A: 578mAh

1A: 553mAh

Powerlion:
0.1A: 560mAh

0.6A: 537mAh

1A: 528mAh

Soshine:
0.1A: 598mAh

0.6A: 587mAh

1A: 565mAh

0.1A graphs will be added soon™ (since they’ll take a while to make). All discharges were done after 300mA charge.

Thanks for that. I’ll have to do another subjective run test of my Soshine and see how they compare to the Coolook’s, looks like they are the winner here. And, BTW, I was wrong previously, my Soshine cells are the same ones are yours. Which charger do you use BTW?

A Turnigy Accucel-6 calibrated to match Fluke 87V

Just for others reading: these batteries are LiFePO4 chemistry (lower voltage) so they are not compatible with a 4.2V lithium charger.

Thanks for the test results.

Some lithium chargers will be OK - I have a 4Sevens single bay charger that can charge LiFePO4 cells (because it has a 3.6v/4.2V switch), but they must be removed once charged.

True, but very few chargers have the dual voltage feature. I just wanted to warn others in case they had the intention of purchasing these to recharge in their standard 4.2V lithium charger.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to be argumentative, and appreciate your concern. Better safe than sorry. The 4Sevens switch is a damned nuisance tbh - have to check it each time.

No worries Woody… I didnt take it that way. I hope it warms up in the UK soon. You’ve all had a rough winter across the pond.

Yep, coldest March for 50 years or so. Should get warmer next week, apparently, so presumably that means more rain.

I have a charger with a 3.6/4.2v switch. After forgetting to reset the switch and charging LiFePO4 cells to 4.2 once, I epoxied a LED display to it. However you don’t really notice it is too high until after it’s too late. Since installing that voltmeter to it I have accidentally overcharged LiFePO4 cells 4 times. Although a convenient solution for those pedantic enough to never make a mistake, I have come to the conclusion that for absent minded people such as myself, the chargers with switches are not such a good idea as I have to consider the possibility that the damage I have done to the cells is now more expensive than what buying a dedicated charger would have been.

Some time ago I was searching for AA LiFePO4s, and came across Coolooks on eBay. The price was good, and I got 4 Coolook LiFePO4, 4 Coolook dummies and a Coolook charger. I have been very happy with the purchase.

I charged up my Coolooks and the Soshine. For a test I placed one into my Spark SD52 with a dummy cell and ramped it to high then activated Turbo mode and started the stop watch. The Soshine ran for about 24 minutes. The Coolook’s ran for 30 minutes. I assume the draw was a bit more than 1A, so the results are probably similar to the discharge test, perhaps the the Coolook’s do a bit better than the Soshine at the higher discharge rates, or I may have received a few sub par Soshines. I still have one that I did not unwrap yet so will have to try it as well.

I get the impression there is not a huge amount of interest in LiFePO4 generally in BLF anyway, and I suppose the low capacity may be the main reason, talking run times of 25 minutes is probably not going to get people’s heart rates elevated.

I’ve added 0.1A graphs to the first post.

Although, for Coolook, I’ve used 2nd battery from a pair - first one has died after couple 1A discharges (lost massive amount of capacity) :confused:

I’ve discarded 2 Coolooks now, so it looks like a pattern is emerging. I’ve got quite a few of them, most still not unwrapped, so will keep an eye on them.

I have four Coolook dummies, and they’re just the same as the day I got them. :bigsmile:

This thread is timely, for me, because I’ve been considering getting some LifePO4 14500s to test (the same 3 Coolook, Soshine and Powerlion), so keep us posted on the Coolooks?

Also, BTW, TSellers, even if you keep your eye on the non unwrapped ones, I can guarantee that they’ll remain not unwrapped :)…

Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one :)…

Jim

Did you mean “how did you buY”? If so, they’re all on FastTech.

Jim

I see what you mean! The unwrapped one were ostensibly for others to use in their VHF radios, so the plan was to hand virginal items over to them, maybe I need to rethink that.

:slight_smile:

https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001850/1208603-coolook-14500-lifepo4-rechargeable-lithium-batteri
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001850/1134100-powerlion-aa14500-32v-650mah-rechargeable-lifepo4-
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001850/1157200-soshine-aa14500-32v-700mah-rechargeable-lifepo4-ba