Test/review of Molicel INR21700-P42A 4200mAh (Gray)

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
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Molicel INR21700-P42A 4200mAh (Gray)







Official specifications:

  • Rated typical capacity: 4200mAh

  • Rated minimum capacity: 4000mAh

  • Nominal voltage: 3.6V

  • Standard charge current: 4.2A

  • Maximum charge current: 8.4A

  • End of charge voltage: 4.20V +/-0.05V

  • Continuous discharge current: 45A (Cycle life is reduced at high rates)

  • End of discharge voltage: 2.5V

  • Typical impedance: <15mOhm AC 1kHz

  • Cycle life: 500 cycles at 4.2A charge and 10A discharge for 80%

  • Operating temperature: Charging: –20°C ~ 60°C, Discharging: –40°C ~ 60°C

  • Storage temperature: <35°C, recommended <35°C for long term.



This is a 21700 high current cell with good capacity.










The two cells match just about perfect and capacity do not really change with load.





I forgot the temperature sensor with the first battery.















Conclusion

This is good high current cells.



Notes and links

The batteries was supplied by N-Power Energy for review.

How is the test done and how to read the charts
How is a protected LiIon battery constructed
More about button top and flat top batteries
Graphical comparison to 18650 and other batteries
Graphical comparison to 26650 and other batteries
Table with all tested LiIon batteries
2

Beats 40T except for the very first moment. Really, really good cell. :slight_smile:

BTW, you have a typo in a link, 16650 instead of 26650.

3

Thanks, it is fixed now.

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I’ve been using your reviews for a long time. Thank you for all your work. Great test and very helpful.

5

I hope a lot of people can get something useful out of my reviews.

1 Thank
6

Yeah, I just looked at the Comparator. The 40T is the only one that comes close, and it is very close, but this Molicel beats it except right at the beginning, like you said.

Li-Ion Wholesale has these Molicel’s and they claim to be the “Exclusive Distributor” in the USA. Their price is $12.99 Volume discounts are available if buying more than 4 cells.

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Yes,my hometown dealer is the ONLY authorized USA Distributor of this cell and the other Two[20700/18650-P26A] Molicel flavors that it sells! :+1:
I have the 18650P26A cells in my TN42vn 90,they are also GREAT cells!

8

Wow these Molicels are real impressive. Beats the 40T especially in the lower currents below 7A, which is the majority of the use cases. 21700 performance is really progressing fast.

9

Never heard of Molicel before. Wonder if they go through the rigorous testing of samsung batteries before coming on the market. They also cost a few dollars more and since Liion sells them, not worth their shipping cost to Canada.

10

Thanks for the review HKJ. The name of the company makes me LOL.

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Great molicel P42A ，Thanks HKJ :+1:

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Hey @HKJ，are you not doing constant current discharge tests for more than 30A now because the battery holder burned down?

Some high drain batteries, such as 30T, 20s, we would like to see 35A or even 40A tests.

If this is the reason, I think it can be solved… :blush:

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There are two reasons for the 30A limit:

  1. My clamps has a tendency to melt.
  2. More work, my standard automatic test station only goes to 30A, for higher current I have to move to my main work/test station that has 4 30A load I can use in parallel (My software support this and I have used it for some tests).

It is very few batteries that really need to be tested above 30A.

14

Thank you very much for your reply.

It’s just my personal need. Maybe the same fans want to get more current data.

Take the molicel P42A specification as an example. The maximum discharge here is 45A. I hope to see the discharge data of 45A. Their batteries are also used in many high-end areas and are trustworthy.

Some batteries are overloaded and still discharge to a good capacity, but some batteries have a rapid voltage drop, such as the 14500, 18350, 16340 batteries you tested, which is very common.

It’s just my personal advice. I’m very supportive of your work.

Thank you again for your hard work :slight_smile:

15

You may have never met them, but we have known them for years.
The E-One Moli is one of the leading companies in the Li-Ion battery.
I once read somewhere that it is one of N.A.S.A’s suppliers.
In general, the quality of Moli is equivalent to well-known companies
Panasonic (Sanyo)
Murata (Sony Energy)
Samsung SDI (SDIEM)
LG Chem.

If I remember well those who built the MNKE, they were E-One Moli employees and their batteries wanted to be of comparable performance and quality.
Now MNKE belongs to IMREN …… and of course …… was lost ….

So do not worry about Moli …
They are similar to the batteries of major manufacturers.

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Now MNKE belongs to IMREN …… and of course …… was lost ….

Where did you get the information? I’m curious :open_mouth:

17

The truth is that I do not remember where I read it ……
Unfortunately ……
I think I had read it here, but I’m not sure.

On a personal level, I would like it to be untrue … and MNKE will continue to be on the market ……

18

Ok， Thanks。 I have news here that mnke batteries are made in Jiangsu, not in Guangdong.

Sales are now falling sharply because technology hasn’t been updated for many years.

We have vapcell 26650 4200 MAH 32A and mnke 3500 mah.

19

I’m glad I learned this, Dennis .
It was the only company that had good batteries in the market a few years ago in size 26650.

One of the good companies in my opinion and it would be bad to withdraw from the market.

The last battery I had from this company was 4000mAh.
Many years before ……

I personally do not deal with this size, but it is good to have good choices in the market.
The latest 26650 batteries I came into contact with were the YDL 4200mAh (Aspire / Ijoy), the Basen 4500mAh (I do not know the manufacturer) and the PLB 5000 (Liitokala 5000A).

I can say it was good as a performance, but for the size of these batteries I personally think it’s still far behind the 18650 …… and of course well below the 21700 …

Today I think this size does not have a future, because of 21700.
We already have 5000mAh with 10 - 15A and size 21700 is …. baby …

- The 21700 will surely surpass 26650 if the 26650 build continues with today’s data ….

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You are right，21700 battery is amzing. we also have those 26650 batteries except 26650 4500mah