LiIon 18650 battery comparison

[SIZE=+3]LiIon 18650 battery comparison[/SIZE]

I have made a new battery test: 18650 battery test 2011, it is also on cpf
A 2012 test can be found here

The name 18650 means that the battery has a diameter of 18mm and is 65mm long, but when a protection circuit is added the battery will be a few mm longer. How much longer will depend on the actual protection circuit and how it is mounted.



These graphs show the size of the batteries. The length is from top of battery to bottom of battery, measured on the most protruding parts. With the diameter I have tried finding the largest diameter (The batteries are not completly circular).
Some of the batteries are flat top, what this means is explained here: Battery, button or flat top

For more information about how a protected battery is build see The Anatomy of a Protected Battery.



This graph shows the measured capacity for each battery with different loads. One thing to note is that many manufactures overstates their capacity.
Note: I have used multiple batteries from each manufacturer and multiple chargers, i.e. the different runs for the same type battery might not be directly comparable (As in same battery and exactly same charge condition).
Note: TrustFire TR2400 (gray) is very variable in capacity.

On the graph, the black trace is 0.3A, red is 1A and green is 3A discharge current.



[SIZE=+2]AW 2200 (Black)[/SIZE]





This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.4mm, length: 67.4mm
The minus pole has a metal protection.
Source: AW, Sep 2009


[SIZE=+2]AW 2600 (Black)[/SIZE]





This battery has protection.
This battery is a flat top battery and will only work in equipment with a raised plus pole. Two batteries placed in series will connect (Not all flat tops will do this).
Size: diameter: 18.6mm, length: 67.7mm
The minus pole has a metal protection.
Source: AW, Nov 2009



[SIZE=+2]AW IMR1600 (Red)[/SIZE]





This battery uses IMR (LiMn) chemistry and does not have or need a protection circuit.
Size: diameter: 18.3mm, length: 65mm
The minus pole has a metal protection.
Source: AW, 2009

[SIZE=+2]SolarForce 2400 (White)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.7mm (Mostly 18.4, but it has a bump), length: 68.3mm
Source: SBFL, Feb 2010


[SIZE=+2]Soshine 2800 (Black)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.4mm, length: 68.8mm
The minus pole is the copper on the protection pcb.
Source: DX:28678, Jan 2010



[SIZE=+2]Tenergy 2600 (Cyan)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
This battery is a flat top battery and will only work in equipment with a raised plus pole.
Size: diameter: 18.4mm, length: 66.7mm
The minus pole is the copper on the protection pcb.
Source: BJ, Jan 2010



[SIZE=+2]TrustFire TF2400 (black/red)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.3mm, length: 68mm
The minus pole is the copper on the protection pcb.
Source: DX:20392, Jan 2010



[SIZE=+2]TrustFire TR2400 (Gray)[/SIZE]







This battery is either one of the good or one of the worst batteries, depending on how lucky you are. The blue trace is a 1 amp trace of a bad battery.

This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.5mm, length: 67.6mm
Source: DX:5776, Jan 2010



[SIZE=+2]TrustFire TR2500 (Blue)[/SIZE]






This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.6mm, length: 68.9mm
The minus pole has a metal protection.
Source: DX:5790, Dec 2009



[SIZE=+2]UltraFire BRC3000 (gray/red)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.6mm, length: 68.0mm
The minus pole is the copper on the protection pcb.
Source: DX:21474, mar 2010



[SIZE=+2]UltraFire LC2400 (Gray)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.5mm, length: 68.9mm
The minus pole is the copper on the protection pcb.
Source: DX:19624, Jan 2010



[SIZE=+2]UltraFire XSL2600 (Red)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.6mm, length: 69.1mm
The minus pole is the copper on the protection pcb.
Source: DX:28677, Dec 2009



[SIZE=+2]UniqueFire LC2400 (Blue)[/SIZE]







This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.5mm, length: 68.8mm
The minus pole has a metal protection.
Source: DX:29031, Dec 2009



[SIZE=+2]Xtar 2200 (Blue/green)[/SIZE]







Note: These batteries are named 18700, not 18650.
This battery has protection.
Size: diameter: 18.5mm, length: 69.5mm
The minus pole has a metal protection.
Source: Xtar, Dec 2009

[SIZE=+3]Notes[/SIZE]
Source:
DX: Dealextreme
BJ: BatteryJunction
AW: AW on cpf
SBFL: SBFlashlights

Nice work HKJ :thumbsup:

Hello HKJ,

Excellent work.

It looks like the UltraFire XSL2600 cells reach their "nominal" voltage under a 0.3 amp load where the AW 2600 cells are able to handle a 1 amp load and maintain "nominal" voltage.

It looks like all the cells are struggling at loads a little over 1C, however with the IMR1600 cells the load was closer to 2C and they look pretty good.

Tom

Thankyou, very interesting!!:twothumbs

Very nice of you HKJ

Its good to have both dimensions and capacity in the same thread.

Thanks//Anders

:thumbsup: Good job .

Awesome post HKJ and timely too as I'm on the hunt for some new 18650's.

Might you be doing one on 123-sized batteries in the future?

Cheers!,
Tim

turboBB said:

Might you be doing one on 123-sized batteries in the future?

Click to expand...

I have not decided that yet. But I will be extending this test here with some more 18650 batteries.

Thanks for yor work HKJ.

DX sells two different versions of the UltraFire XSL 2600mAh batteries.
I'm quite sure you tested the cheaper and longer version (sku.28677).
sku.26247 is shorter, has a higher capacity and a higher voltage under load.
I posted results for both versions here in the German Messerforum.net. (Ultrafire 2600mAh = sku.26247, UF 2600mAh lang = sku.28677).

Uniquefire ? Lol.

That's quite the oxymoron, no ?

Tohuwabohu said:

Thanks for yor work HKJ.

DX sells two different versions of the UltraFire XSL 2600mAh batteries.
I'm quite sure you tested the cheaper and longer version (sku.28677).
sku.26247 is shorter, has a higher capacity and a higher voltage under load.
I posted results for both versions here in the German Messerforum.net. (Ultrafire 2600mAh = sku.26247, UF 2600mAh lang = sku.28677).

Click to expand...

Interesting, two different batteries with exactly the same wrapping but different specifications.
As you "guessed" it is sku 28678 that I have tested.

Anyone know anything about these?
http://www.batteryjunction.com/ultrafire-brc-18650.html

George

I'd be interested in seeing what you find for DX SKU 20392; I've got a couple that seem to do pretty well but am not sure how they compare.

guiri said:

Anyone know anything about these?
http://www.batteryjunction.com/ultrafire-brc-18650.html

Click to expand...

I am going to test the DX model of the same type, if DX decides to ship it (I ordered it last year).

bandersnatch said:

I'd be interested in seeing what you find for DX SKU 20392; I've got a couple that seem to do pretty well but am not sure how they compare.

Click to expand...

I also have this battery on my list to test.

Not to steal the thread but i tested some of the DX ones here:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/235472

Black Rose said:

Nice work HKJ :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

+1:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Hello Flashlight gurus,

Sorry if I'm off topic a little here, but a quick question. I am having trouble grasping the concept of these 18650's, but I have extracted some out of a laptop battery pack and 1 of these is a red Sony(I think.) It is showing 3.88 volts and since I don't have a charger yet, is it possible to try this battery out in one of many flashlights that I have? I know the voltage is supposed to be between 3.6 and 4.2. As always, I respect the opinion and advice of CPF members and was wondering your thoughts on this. Thank you for your time and feedback.

The Dane said:

Not to steal the thread but i tested some of the DX ones here:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/235472

Click to expand...

I can see that you also uses the CBA analyzer, it is going to be interesting to compare your measurements with mine and see what batteries has changed capacity.

Looks like the only one we have in common as of now is the TrustFire TR2500 (blue), where you get close to 2400 mAh and I get 2150 mAh (at 1 A).

Interesting,very Interesting.

Hello Rebelbayou,

There should be no problems putting a cell into a light and trying it out. Just don't run it for any length of time or the cell will become over discharged.

A problem may be that the cell, since it is not fully charged, may not have enough capacity left to power your application.

Tom