Cold weather 18650 battery test

S

SupressYourself

Well-known member
Those that rely on 18650s for their thermal scope or scanner or headlamp may find this interesting.
I ran a test using 3 different battery brands to see how long they'd last out in 0 degrees (F) in my Nocpix Ace thermal rifle scope.



Long story short: the Molicel P30B batteries consistently performed the best, and are not at all expensive.
I'd love to test them against some Nitecore "cold weather" batteries, but I'm not paying $30 apiece for an 18650 battery.


Edited to add my data. As sort of a side-test, I tested different color pallets as well. Interestingly, all three battery types did better on black hot.
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Funny, I just ran the molicel P30b last night in my RIX Leap and it did great. I do have a nitecore cold weather and it performs well also, but at 6 times the cost of the Molicel I won’t be buying more!

It was the first charge cycle on the Molicel too, so better test will be after a few charge cycles. The nitecore cold weather improved after a couple cycles. I assume most batteries will. I bought the Molicels from LIIONWHOLESALE.COM
 
SupressYourself said:
Those that rely on 18650s for their thermal scope or scanner or headlamp may find this interesting.
I ran a test using 3 different battery brands to see how long they'd last out in 0 degrees (F) in my Nocpix Ace thermal rifle scope.



Long story short: the Molicel P30B batteries consistently performed the best, and are not at all expensive.
I'd love to test them against some Nitecore "cold weather" batteries, but I'm not paying $30 apiece for an 18650 battery.
Click to expand...

I'll save you the money and say that the nitecores in my experience, are worse than my nocpix batteries. Significantly worse.
 
hunt0168 said:
Funny, I just ran the molicel P30b last night in my RIX Leap and it did great. I do have a nitecore cold weather and it performs well also, but at 6 times the cost of the Molicel I won’t be buying more!

It was the first charge cycle on the Molicel too, so better test will be after a few charge cycles. The nitecore cold weather improved after a couple cycles. I assume most batteries will. I bought the Molicels from LIIONWHOLESALE.COM
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That's where I got them too.
 
bohunr said:
if your unit is capable, just use an Anker battery. they are good for HOURS

thermal optics sells them and the mount for your rail
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Yeah, I tried the whole USB battery pack thing when I first got into thermal. The cord routing issues and worrying about damaging the usb port on the scope was just not worth it. I tried the magnetic attachments too. I was always bumping it off.
The best of my 18650s last about an hour with everything running at 0 degrees. Substantially longer the warmer it is. It takes only a few seconds to pop a new one in, and both my binos and scope have an additional internal battery, so I never worry about the 18650 going dead on stand. It's just a better solution for me, personally.
 
SupressYourself said:
Those that rely on 18650s for their thermal scope or scanner or headlamp may find this interesting.
I ran a test using 3 different battery brands to see how long they'd last out in 0 degrees (F) in my Nocpix Ace thermal rifle scope.



Long story short: the Molicel P30B batteries consistently performed the best, and are not at all expensive.
I'd love to test them against some Nitecore "cold weather" batteries, but I'm not paying $30 apiece for an 18650 battery.
Click to expand...

Nice report. I have a Nitecore cold weather 18650 that you are talking about. I’m in Michigan so it can be cold. The other night I got 3 sets with the Nitecore, 40 minutes each set. Temperature was -2 to 2. I’m running a Bolt TH50 v2. I was not running the video because the first 3 stands were blanks. The Nitecore I’m running is NL1835LTHP
 
gooseisland said:
I'll save you the money and say that the nitecores in my experience, are worse than my nocpix batteries. Significantly worse.
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Nitecore makes a few different models. Are yours specifically the "Cold Weather" ones? Nitecore NL1835LTHP Cold Weather Low Temperature High Performance 1865

My Nocpix batteries were all over the board. I have 4 of them and 1 of them posted the second longest run time while 2 others posted the 2 shortest run times.
The Molicel not only consistently performed the best in each run, but were also much more consistent across all 4 batteries.
 
I get significantly more than an hour even in subzero temps. But I only run my optic with the bare minimum. No wifi on. No video rolling. It sets in standby mode until I see something I want to kill. Even then I rely on shot activated video. I was out last night for over 3 hours and the battery meter in the scope dropped 1 bar with the first run with the Molicel which is better than some I’ve tried.
SupressYourself said:
That's where I got them too.
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I can tell you not to waste your money on the “Cold Weather” battery that LIION warehouse sells. Junk. I had great luck with the Nitecore cold weather but the price is insane!
 
Erie660 said:
Nice report. I have a Nitecore cold weather 18650 that you are talking about. I’m in Michigan so it can be cold. The other night I got 3 sets with the Nitecore, 40 minutes each set. Temperature was -2 to 2. I’m running a Bolt TH50 v2. I was not running the video because the first 3 stands were blanks. The Nitecore I’m running is NL1835LTHP
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That's pretty good. Hard to know if the Molicel would match that, but considering they're less than $5 each, even without testing the Nitecores, I think I can confidently say they win in the "bang for the buck" category.
 
Thanks for sharing your test results.
Usually the batteries that come with optics are mediocre at best and I leave them in the box.
I've tested a lot of 18650 batteries over the years and stick to using 3500mah 10Amp button top protected batteries in my optics because I'm not putting my expensive optics at risk using unprotected batteries.
Especially after having one cheaply made flat top explode while trickle charging a few years ago.
The only flat top battery I'll use is a certified Molicell 096.
The best cold weather rated battery I've tested and use is the Liion cold weather battery. ( Liion Cold 18650 )
They're cheaper than the nitecore by a lot, but for the price both cold weather batteries didn't show a considerable difference in longevity compared to other similarly rated and less expensive batteries with good cores.
My S60R eats batteries on a fair temp day and I haven't had any battery last more than three hours on a cold day, especially when using the LRF.

SJC
 
hunt0168 said:
I can tell you not to waste your money on the “Cold Weather” battery that LIION warehouse sells. Junk. I had great luck with the Nitecore cold weather but the price is insane!
Click to expand...
During my tests the Liion cold batteries were better than the Nitecore, but not significantly better than similarly rated batteries with good cores.
Not a waste of money, but not worth what they're charging for a cool looking wrapper.
SJC
 
hunt0168 said:
Crazy how people have such different results, Shoots. I tried that battery and it flat out sucked! Gotta wonder if they use the same cells consistently.
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From my testing, I found there can be a large disparity between individual batteries of the same type. Also, I think the quality of the charger can come into play. I charged all batteries in my test with the same charger (the Nocpix branded cheapy that came with the scope), and had very different results testing the same individual Nocpix and Jesspow battery two days in a row. At the same time, I charged all 4 Molicel batteries with that same charger, and they were pretty consistent, so that part is a bit inconclusive.

One thing I learned for sure: You want to keep those batteries warm until you have to use them. If your spares sitting in your truck or in your pack at 0 degrees, they'll have significantly lower capacity right off the bat. -- It's not that using them in cold weather drains them faster, it's that the usable capacity gets reduced. When the scope says a battery is dead at 0 degrees, if I let it warm up to 70 and pop it back in, it will show half or more charge.
 
Yeah, the cheapy chargers are very inconsistent and probably more the cause for LI batteries burning down houses than anything else. I run a couple intellichargers, I’ve used them for years and no complaints. Very consistent voltages across multiple brands.

Definitely know the deal about keeping them warm until use. I carry some in my chest pack, but there are always at least 2 fresh ones riding in inside coat pocket.
 
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