I just accidentally ordered 2 Samsung 50E 21700 5000mAh 9.8A unprotected Batteries. Should I cancel my order or will these work in the IR22A. I also got 2 unprotected 18350 for my IF19.
Should I cancel both and get protected batteries?
Sofirn claims that both the IF19 and the IF22A have low voltage protection built into them. So, if that is true, it won’t matter much that the batteries you ordered don’t have LVP circuits in them. Of course, if you think the LVP cutoff voltage in either light is too low compared to the cutoff voltage in a given battery with a LVP circuit, then you might prefer to use batteries with LVP circuits.
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Thanks, that makes me feel better. I couldn’t find the information that you gave me, so again thanks.
I have been looking all over for protected 18350 & 21700 batteries and they are hard to find in stock. The ones in stock are more than I want to spend. Looks like I will have to go the slow boat route and order them from sofirn.
I did some more looking and it looks like the sofirn batteries that come with the IF19 & IR22A are both unprotected. I could be wrong but I don’t think so. Someone please correct me if I am.
Yes, they are unprotected (both Sofirn and Wurkkos 21700s and 18650s).
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Thanks for the confirmation. I thought I had just bought 4 batteries that I might not be able to use.
I don’t know about you or anyone else but I like to have at least 1 backup battery for each one of my flashlights. Which means I have a lot of batteries.
If it makes you feel better, I have well over 100 lights and maybe 300 cells of different sizes. I have no protected cells other than a very small number that came with lights. I simply don’t use them. The big majority of cells that come with currently available lights are not protected.
Bottom line is that the cells you bought for the lights that you mention are just fine.
Any light with a decent BMS will not need protected cells. In fact, protected cells can be a problem in high powered lights as they limit the current being delivered.
So while protected cells will add a layer of safety, they are generally not required.
BTW, Orbtronic has a bunch of different protected cells built on quality components. But they are definitely not on the cheap end of the spectrum.
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You mean if22a. Those are better than the 21700 the if22a ships with, so ya they’re fine. Did you not order it with a battery included?
Preach. I’m getting that on a bumper sticker
I used to always get protected cells because they could be a bit safer, but since I only use flashlights that take one Li-Ion cell, now I only get unprotected cell. 
Generally speaking the batteries that come with a light as in Wurrkos, Sofirn, etc, suck.
You want to look at performance name brand cells like Samsung, LG, Molicel, etc.
Wut? The ones I got have all been pretty good, and all of 'em in-use even today.
What, precisely, “sucks” about them?
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I got batteries with the lights. I just wanted backup batteries.
That’s is good to know. That makes it easier to get good batteries at a reasonable price.
Are good cells. They should be fine for your application.
They precisely dont last like the better ones mentioned.
I mean Wurrkos charges two bucks for them, they cant be that great.
So how many charge cycles do the Sofirn and Wurrkos batteries have, as opposed to the “performance name brand cells like Samsung, LG, Molicel, etc”?
Unno, the 14500 in my TS10 was already through quite many cycles, and I haven’t noticed any degradation. I burn through a 14500 waaaaaaaaay faster than an 18650, so yeah, I racked up quite a few cycles on it.
I think The Barkuti dissected some S/W cells and found they were Lishen cells, which though cheap were pretty respectable.
And I think you’re referring to “bundling”, no? Ie, 2bux extra for the light+cell vs light-only.
Makes perfect sense. If the cells in bulk would be around 2bux, it doesn’t make sense to upsell it for 6bux extra, because people would just pass, and get their cells elsewhere, but getting the light with the cell “for only 2bux extra” is quite a bargain for most people.
Whenever I had the choice, I always got the bundle, because I knew they were decent cells.
And maybe it’s me, but I’d have to use the same cell in the same light for probably a decade or more before I’d put enough cycles on it to actually notice degradation. Like, if it’s “only” at 50% capacity with the cheapie, vs 80% with Name Brand Cell, I likely won’t even notice. So for 2bux? Who cares? Not like they burst into flames or anything.
And the only time I went out of my way to get hotrod cells was for hotrod lights that would really push the cells, like my Haikelite. Even my DC7 (Q8 workalike but with usb charging) still has same-generation cells, either Sofirn or Wurkkos, forgot, that I tossed in there, and I crank that to turbo pretty often.
Point being, not every car demands 93 octane. Most get by just fine on 87.
But hey, anyone wants to get special cells at full price with a certain minimum order plus shipping on top, have at it. Not saying it’s “wrong” in any way, just that I’m fine with bundled cells from places like Sofirn and/or Wurkkos.
I think at least some cells that come with a Wurrkos or Sofirn light are pretty good.
I don’t know about ALL cells that come with those lights, though.
I believe a good majority of their 21700s are lishen. I can confirm 100% at least one of their cells is. And I’ll get to that later. But it’s a mixed bag. You never really know. Especially because Lishen doesn’t put a lot of markings on their cells to begin with, and sofirn removes any of the original wrap these days, and then put the same couple varieties of sofirn wrap on everything. They’re usually all good cells, not saying they aren’t. Just saying it’s a mixed bag.
I’ve taken apart every single sofirn/wurkoss battery I’ve ever gotten, which is around 2 dozen or so. No two are ever exactly the same. With one exception -the 3 cells that came with my q8 plus. Identical. But on the flip side, the 3 cells that came with my sp36 were completely different.
Anyways, proof that they’re still using Lishen cells somewhere:
This:
5000mah wurkkos 21700 I can say with a pretty high degree of certainty is a Lishen. I believe most likely the 13.5A, 4500mah LR2170SF, but I can’t say for certain which Lishen it is. Just that it almost certainly is one of them. Im basing this off comparisons to Mooch’s battery photos, because he’s pretty much the only guy that takes lots of photos of unwrapped cells that he tests, and my own capacity tests.
Note the markings on the wurkkos cell, photos by me
Vs the markings on the lr2170sf, photos by mooch:
Different numbers, but the same placement and format. Close enough? At least to say it’s a Lishen cell? I think so.
I don’t believe this is the 5000mah lr2170sd, because that does not have ink on the battery case, and because I capacity tested this to approx 4500mah.
I have other 5000mah sofirn/wurkoss 21700s, even ones with the same bottom vent and positive terminal, none of them have the same markings as any other, or often any markings at all. But they’re all decent. Whatever they can get a good deal on that week most likely.
Bonus Jonas, the ts10 14500 unwrapped:
No markings whatsoever. Also a clear wrap underneath the wurkkos wrap, which is unique for them. (I removed the bit around the positive terminal just to get the insulator ring off, it doesn’t come half wrapped like that)
I agree with you. It’s a good selling technique to offer a battery at such a low price. Before I started really getting into the technical aspects of a flashlight and by way, the battery, the $2 battery would have sealed the deal for me.
However when I asked this question, I didn’t think it would morph into a larger discussion. Lol! It is great to see this much discussion from just a simple question.