Test/Review of Sony US18650VTC6 3000mAh (Green)

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

Sony US18650VTC6 3000mAh (Green)







Official specifications:

  • Typical capacity: 3120mAh

  • Minimum capacity: 3000mAh

  • Nominal voltage: 3.6V

  • Standard charge: CC/CV, 0.2C, 4.2V

  • Standard discharge: CC, 0.2C, 2.5V

  • End-of-charge voltage: 4.2V +/-0.05V

  • End-of-charge current: 0.02C (About 62mA)

  • End-of-discharge voltage: 2.00V

  • Continuous maximum discharge: 5C/10C (15A/30A) with temp cutoff at 80°C

  • Max. discharge current vs. time: 30A-40A > 44s, 55A > 19s, 80A > 6s (Never discharge above 80°C)

  • Cycle life: 300 cycles @ 0.5C to 80%

  • Initial impedance: 8mOhm - 18mOhm

  • Weight: 46.4g +/- 1.5g

  • Operating temperature: Charging 0°C 45°C, discharging: –20°C 60°C

  • Storage temperature: –5°C ~ 35°C




The latest and probably last high current battery from Sony and it was a very high capacity together with the high current.











There is no doubt this is a quality battery, the curves track perfectly and capacity is nearly constant with current.
At high current the battery gets hot and I stopped the 20A and 30A test due to that.




At 15A or greater Sony species that there must be a temperature cut-out at 80°C, I could just stay below that at 15A





But at 20A and 30A I hit 80°C or rather went above. Here I was up to 91°C.















Conclusion

Very few batteries can handle high current as well as Sony VTC batteries and this cell also high capacity.
But this cell is not “draw all the current you want and stay safe” (That type of battery do not exist), to stay safe some requirements must be fulfilled!

I will rate it a very good battery.



Notes and links

The batteries was supplied by ENERDan for review.
Sony are in the process of selling their battery division (Except alkaline) to Murata.

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
Compare to 18650 and other batteries
2

Nice, thanks. These discharge curves look very similar to the Samsung 30Q.

3

Actually, this is clearly superior to the 30Q.

Has HKJ reviewed the HG2 yet?

4

Similar, but a bit better.

5

thank you, i did not even know vtc6 even exist. does enerdan have a website so i can purchase these cells?

6

Thanks for the review HKJ, it’s on my wishlist now

7

Yes, but by a very small amount. I was mostly noting their similar shaped curves and IR. Comparing the curves, the IR of the 30Q is only about 2% higher than the Sony’s. The Sony does hold a 0.02-0.03V higher voltage throughout the discharge. This is not negligible, but it is a small difference. It equates to approximately 0.2A higher current in a direct drive XPL setup (or even a triple XPL setup).

8

They do have a website, but they can only sell these cells to companies. Sony do not want these cells in the hand of vapers! Sony probably believe it is bad publicity if a vaper gets the mouth blown away by a Sony branded cell.
Lookout of rewrapped cells without Sony on them.

Note: Enerdan is a German company, i.e. they uses .de, not .com, it is probably also fairly expensive to ship outside Europe.

9

Wow, very nice… Hope to see them on sale soon. Thanks again HKJ for the review!

Here’s a comparison with the Samsung 30Qs and to what I strongly believe to be rewrapped LG HG2s:

10

Excellent review, once again! Interesting about the availability, but hopefully it's just a matter of time.

11

+1

HKJ provides a valuable resource in this ‘Battery Comparator’ link.

12

Thanks for adding this one to your excellent library of battery reviews.

13

Sony makes it very clear they don’t want individual cells in the hands of consumers no matter what they use them for. They even say on their spec sheets “these cells are designed to be used in packs. Not for individual use”

14

Hello!

Do these batteries purport to be any better than LG HG2s a year later? }P

I'd take VTC5s any day.

Cheers ^:)

15

But HG2 and 30Q are already better than the VTC5…

The reason you see still see so much praise for the VTC5 is because of the vaping community, but their need for very high pulsing current are vastly different to ours…

16

Of course a matter of opinions. Vaping is not the only high current application, there are others yet, of course, for each battery a freak like me may decide to use to hack/overhaul/repair a tool's pack, more than a thousand may go to vapers' hands.

By the way, I'd love to see a well done review of the A123 systems ANR26650M1A (and or the newer ANR26650M1B) batteries, and see if those can really deliver what they claim to. :???:

Cheers ^:)

17

I'm not sure, but HKJ's calculated internal resistance of 0.03 for this VTC6 is, I think, the best we've seen? The other top cells, I think, are all 0.04 ohms.

I don't think it's the only important spec, but I find HKJ's internal resistance # the most important spec for DD FET based drivers.

18

Let’s hope Murata will continue with the Sony quality.

Thanks as always, HKJ.

19

Thanks for that great review m8, we have a new BLF fed dd king i presume

20

Yea, might be, but hope we can get them though.