18650 Battery Recommendations

V

vetman1

Member
What is a good brand and source for rechargeable 18650 batteries? I use them in my headlights, but it seems hard to find a good brand.

I use the button top batteries in my headlights.
 
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I use protected Panasonic and Orbtronic.
I have used Ultra Fire but they did not last as long, some did not make it through one season.
I have a few Elusive Wildlife branded batteries (not sure who the manufacturer was) that are probably 5 years old and still work well.
 
Like others have mentioned brand names are the way to go. I currently have Keepower and Sanyo. Don't buy anything more than 3000-3500mAh, higher claims are false.
 
I’ve had good luck with the EBLs from amazon. Between me and my hunting partner we have over 10 and only 2 have went bad in 3-4 years.
 
I recently did a bunch of research and bought these Panasonic Sanyo 18650 3500ah batteries and they work great. 2 for $15. Panasonic Sanyo NCR18650GA High Drain Li-ion 3.7V 3500mAh 10A Rechargeable Flat Top Battery. Button tops are similarly priced.

I have 8 of the green Elusive Wildlife Technologies 2600ah batteries that all still work after 7 or 8 years. I keep them for spares, just wanted longer run times and figured they must be ready to die at some point.

Worst batteries are my 2 black Fenix brand 2600ah, they die a lot faster than the others.
 
While we can thank the e-cig market for increasing supply/variety of the 18650 type,
the instantaneous high discharge value ( like 10A or 15A) is meaningless to our LED flashlight applications.
Its a true marketing value alright for e-cigs, just meaningless to our low current long drain LED power that we need from these cells.
 
the e-cig/vape market is taking advantage of the battery advancements the same as folks are for flashlights, headlamps, etc... i dont really feel that they driving innovation or availability that much.... vaping just isnt THAT big of a thing - once you're older than like 23 anyway lol



the innovation is primarily coming out of the electric car market.

18650 arrays are what power cars like the Chevy Volt.

they are also what basically every laptop in america has in them as well.


those are the areas that are driving lithium cell technology, not the hipster vaping crowd.. but its still enjoyable to make fun of them!
lol.gif


l-31904-when-you-beat-all-the-vape-kids-in-the-bathroom-this-is-the-final-boss.jpg
 
Thank you, Plant.One! Love making fun of hipsters! Also concur with ya what drives battery tech...and LEDs for that matter. It ain't the predator hunting market that drove colored LED development.
 


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