Published on 03-25-2012 03:13 PM
Number of Views: 263
This information is from this website http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/batteries_21.html He desrevs all the credit and a Thank you for taking the time to do the testing and posting the results. 18650 Batteries / ChargersThere are hundreds of 18650 batteries out there, different brands and various capacities, but how do you know if they are any good? Most seem to be well short of the claimed capacity. The problem seems to be that most manufacturers will test at a current of 0.2 x Capacity, whereas in normal use the current will be more like 1 - 2A. So, just as Top Gear has the Stig, I have enlisted the help of Sparky to guide us through the jungle of Lithium 18650 batteries. Sparkys Magic Box
Designed to discharge at a constant 1A or 2A, batteries are tested under realistic loads and tables of how they performed are shown below (click on images to enlarge).
A number of batteries actually exceeded their claimed capacity from SenyBor, Panasonic, Torchy, LG, and Xtar. Most notable were the Torchy 2400mAh and SenyBor 2400mAh 2C protected, exceeding the stated capacity by over 5%. The Senybor 2200mAh, and anything better, had a higher actual capacity than any of the Ultrafire.
Ultrafire proved to be pretty dire as expected. The 2400mAh protected and 2600mAh performed reasonably well, coming out well ahead of the supposedly higher capacity offerings.
What wasn't expected was under the wrapper of Ultrafire 3000mAh, 3600mAh and 4000mAH a shiny new cap has been fitted. When this is removed, it is clear that they are reclaimed laptop batteries. The spot welds of the tabs can be seen on the base and positive terminal. In the example below, they haven't even bothered to remove all of the tab:
Not surprisingly, these were pretty awful quality wise. How each battery performed: The tests were conducted at room temperature(~20c) from 4.2v to 2.75v. This resulted in lower capacity results for some, like Sanyo 2800mAh and 3000mAh, Samsung 2800 and 3000mAh and Panasonic 3100mAh, which are designed to be charged to 4.3 or 4.35v and discharge down to 2.5v. SenyBor 2800mAh protected 1C
Xtar, Ultrafire and Trustfire chargers have been found to be better quality than others on the market so far. Internal fusing, good separation between 240v and DC sides, 3 pin plug and CE marked. Xtar even sent copies of their CE certification.However, just because a charger has a CE mark and a 3 pin plug is no guarantee of quality, or safety. I suspect that Chinese manufacturers will apply the CE mark to their product whether they have achieved the standard or not. When one charger exploded, internal inspection suggests the CE mark on the back is totally meaningless:
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