18650 Panasonic NCR 18650A 3100mAh protected battery Test from intl-outdoor.com
Cost $29.92 USD delivered to Australia, shipping took 21 days, first impressions i only brought two but was charged $3 usd each for shipping website said only $3 USD, no big deal the cost of a can of coke down under at a service station, they came loose no wrapping at all just rolling around loose in a padded letter ?
Out of the bag
Cell A 3.61 volt internal resistance 127 milliohms (bit high for a panisonic cell)
Cell B 3.61 volt internal resistance 129 milliohms (bit high for a panisonic cell)
Due to the internal resistance being higher then my solarforce and redilast cells these give slightly lower tail cap current readings.
mAh test
Cell A dishcarged @ 0.5 amps to 3 volt and recharged to 4.2 volt @ 0.5 amp
Cell A discharged from 4.2 volt to 3 volt @ 3 amps
They did not perform well at all, for example my trustfire flames give between 1950 to 2150 mAh with a 3 amp discharge test to 3 volt and cost 1/3 the price, these panisonic cells should be able to give 3.1 amps for 1 hour on a perfect world, but this cell only managed under 25 mins i was expecting it to last 50 mins and give around 2500 mAh atlest after my first results.
Cell B dishcarged @ 0.5 amps to 3 volt and recharged to 4.2 volt @ 0.5 amp
Cell B discharged from 4.2 volt to 3 volt @ 3 amps
Ok the battery protection kicked in early on this battery @ 3.194 volt as you can see, but i honestly feel it would not of given any more then another 400 mAh if it was to fully discharge to 3 volt, so this cell also performed poorly in my book,s, these panisonic cells should be able to give 3.1 amps for 1 hour in a perfect world, but this cell only managed under 25 mins i was expecting it to last 50 mins and give around 2500 mAh after my first tests.
The cell,s i got will not handle 6 amp discharges as you can see as the PCB,s trip and i think the cells would fall flat (will test this) and they do not handle fast charges either, panisonic say these can handle 1C (3.1 amps) charge rates but i can not even push the charge past 2.4 amps from a resting voltage of 3.54 volt as they jump straight to 4.19 volt and the charge winds down as its pritty much at termination voltage they dont stay on charge long enough to take any real mAh and yes i have checked the calibration of my icharger.
I have emailed Hank from intl-outdoor.com
Now i thought panisonic 3100 cells where made in Japan, Hank asked me to perform some test take some pictures and he will reward me, but while making this post i recived an email from Hank at intl-outdoor.com saying they need proof, photo,s they can not go to the factory with txt and then i got a full refund for the total amount, um not sure if Hank read post number 66 on this thread or not for the change of mind ?
Hank as also asked me to write my name on the cells and ship them back using the fastest method i can and they will send me the money, i know it would cost more then double what i payed for the batteries to send back so i most likely will not bother.
Some will say good service or some might say post # 66 was a gentle persuasion as his tune changed pritty quick, but either way the batteries i recived are not upto scratch in my opinion and the 2400 mAh trustfire flames test better under load sofar, i know i have just got my full refund but i will continue the testing for the benifit of our forum members as i feel as fellow torch freaks you all should know as these are not $6 usd a pair to take a gamble on.
Cell B charged @ 1 amp from the 3 amp discharge test (after resting over night) then discharged @ 3 amps.
As you can see the battery protection kicked in 0.175 volt to early but the battery would not of taken much more the 350 mAh if it discharged the extra 0.175 volt. I took some pictures but it was hard with the ichager flashing connection break down, but you can see the mAh and the dishcarge time match my logveiw data table from above.
Cell A charged @ 1 amp from the 3 amp discharge test (after resting over night) then discharged @ 3 amps.
This cell has picked up and the resting voltage on the charger was 3.61 volt as the battery had been sitting on the charger a while with the voltage climbing back up (this is normal) before i took the picture, but still under performing i think for a 3100 mAh cell, we will see how they go after more testing.
A quick description of the above tables
Zenit [s] is time of the charge, it is updated every 2 seconds.
Input [V] is how much volts my power supply is giving my Ichager 106B+
Voltage accu [V] is battery voltage
Current [A] is how many amps the charger is charging or discharging the battery or batteries.
Capacity [mAh] is how long the battery will last under load. A 2900 mAh battery should be able to give 2.9 amps for one hour till empty.
I will do more 3 amp discharge test with the wrappers and IC,s (PCB) removed and will post a data table and a pictures of both cells.