Cold weather 18650 battery test

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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I run an Anker 6700 on my Thermion with a mag connector and can get all night in the PA winter, a couple nights in fall/early winter.
 
I've had several discussions with the guys at Nvision about batteries. They've done a lot of testing and they only recommend KeepPower. Ive ran them in -20 in the Rockies all night with zero issues. In the midwest on typical nights I can hunt till daylight and only change batteries once.
 
Thought I would update on the molicel P30b batteries that I previously mentioned in this thread. We’ve had a brutal winter here in NY with below average temps. As such, I’ve had a pretty lame season as far as calling and killing coyotes. Well things have turned around weatherwise and I’m getting after them hard for the remainder of our season. During hunts in brutally cold weather, the Molicel P30b batteries performed great in my opinion. HOWEVER…there’s an issue that has risen with my RIX Leap series optic. When I shoot with the Molicel installed, my scope powers off! It Powers right back up without issue. I saw this with other unprotected cells in the past. I do not see this with protected button top cells. I concluded that it’s the extra length of the button top batteries, that under recoil maintain good contact within the battery compartment. I think the contact springs in the RIX are breaking contact under recoil.

I did not see this issue when I ran the RIX on my 204 Ruger, but it’s happening with my 243 which has more recoil by a good margin. Just food for thought folks. Your mileage may vary. But it’s the small stuff that will cost you coyotes in the field! Might be something to test in your optics?
 
What you experienced is quite common among scopes that are powered by 18650 batteries. You hit the nail on the head in that it comes down to length of the battery and the ability to maintain proper contact under recoil. Some scope manufactures will include two different battery caps for this reason. One for shorter 18650’s and one for longer.
 
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hunt0168 said:
Thought I would update on the molicel P30b batteries that I previously mentioned in this thread. We’ve had a brutal winter here in NY with below average temps. As such, I’ve had a pretty lame season as far as calling and killing coyotes. Well things have turned around weatherwise and I’m getting after them hard for the remainder of our season. During hunts in brutally cold weather, the Molicel P30b batteries performed great in my opinion. HOWEVER…there’s an issue that has risen with my RIX Leap series optic. When I shoot with the Molicel installed, my scope powers off! It Powers right back up without issue. I saw this with other unprotected cells in the past. I do not see this with protected button top cells. I concluded that it’s the extra length of the button top batteries, that under recoil maintain good contact within the battery compartment. I think the contact springs in the RIX are breaking contact under recoil.

I did not see this issue when I ran the RIX on my 204 Ruger, but it’s happening with my 243 which has more recoil by a good margin. Just food for thought folks. Your mileage may vary. But it’s the small stuff that will cost you coyotes in the field! Might be something to test in your optics?
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That sucks. My Nocpix binos seem to be made for the longer 18650s too. I had to (carefully) stretch out the contact spring so it would retain good contact with the Molicel batteries. To be fair to Molicel, their battery is actually the length an 18650 is supposed to be (65mm). It's not that they're too short, it's that the others are too long.
 
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