Please help/18650 rechargeable batteries?

[sudsy9977]

ok so I know there are many flashlight forums, etc but I really have no desire to read eighteen pages about mah,charging rates, volts,meters and whatever ever else those guys talk about. first here is what I have....

nitecore mh20
Fenix pd35

xtarvc2 charger
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Eagletac...MIg_rAlrq74QIVQUOGCh3GGAxqEAQYASABEgLWYvD_BwE

and that is a link for the kind of battery I have, ok so a while ago my lights(both of them) started acting weird....I would have a charged battery and put it Inuit would work for a few minutes and then start flickering, etc, basically not working right.....I find it hard to believe both my lights are defective.....

when I plug the battery in just now it reads between 3.8 and 4.1 volts and I'm gonna charge it to full and see what happens now....my questions, hopefully someone can explain in English, are the following

1)do these types of batteries like to be charged often,should I be charging them every few days even if they still work or basically wait till they won't work and switch it out for a new battery

2)can you suggest a rechargeable 18650 battery to use(lost one and kinda want at least two or three so I can swap batteries out between the two lights

3)how would I even know if something is wrong with the light itself instead of the battery?....if the charger reads full and I use the battery and the light doesn't work-does that mean its definitely the light?.....or could the flashlight be daring the battery super quick for some reason?

thanks for any help guys' know a lot of you are into these kinds of things and need someone desperately to explain this to me in English.....ryan

 

[sudsy9977]

https://www.batteryjunction.com/nitecore-nl189.html

this was the battery I was looking at, seems to have good reviews and I've ordered from them in the past and haven't had any problems.....also some other thoughts on these batteries.....do they last longer if you charge them in different ways.....for example...if I had to batteries and I charged one after every use and charged the other one after it went dead from use in the light....ryan

 

[GorillaGrunt]

Check out some vape forums maybe, those guys are really into those batteries. I use Sony VTC5/6 but I don’t have much to compare to.

 

[Michi]

Samsung INR21700-40T (4000 mAh), Samsung INR 18650-30Q (3000 mAh), and LG 18650 HE2/HE4 (2500 mAh) are all popular with vapers. eBay is probably your best bet for getting a good price.

 

[Cashn]

Sony VTC6 and LG HG2 are the two I’ve used for my vapes. There are charts you can find that vape forums have done that will show you how many charges you get and how they drop off in efficiency after a certain amount of cycles (charges). I don’t have evidence myself but from reading they have a break in period, then peak and slowly drop off in efficiency. From experience this seems correct. One big thing you will read on vape forums is to make sure you are buying legit Samsung/Sony/LG. Apparently some of the less known company’s will inflate their numbers. Found this trying to find some tests/tables.

Edit: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/blogs/mooch.256958/

Has more info than you need but the categories are fairly straight forward. Specifically check out the 18650 battery ratings, both current and out of date.

Not sure what requirements you have for a torch but vapers take into consideration the battery blowing up in their hand/face so they might be a bit conservative.

 

[gstriftos]

Vapers use unprotected battery cells, whilst in flashlights the norm is to use protected battery cells (basically cells with a fuse to prevent accidents) so vaping forums will not be of a major help (stick to flashlight forums).

Nitecore is not a manufacturer of cells as many others aren't too. They just buy cells from the big-4 ( *Panasonic, Sony, LG and Samsung are the lead players in 18650 league) and rewrap them.
What I like about Nitecore is their quality control and testing in the cells they receive. The one you showed seems to be a good option.

*Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh 3.7V Li-ion is the cell used in 99% of other branded 3400mAh battery cells. If you can find the protected version you will get the same battery but less cheaper.

when I plug the battery in just now it reads between 3.8 and 4.1 volts and I'm gonna charge it to full and see what happens now....my questions, hopefully someone can explain in English, are the following

If they cannot reach 4.2V full charged they need replacement. If remember correctly your XTAR has indication that shows the mAh of the cell when charged. If it is less than 90% of the manufacturer stated mAh then replace. Typicall life cycle of cells is around 300 cycles (=full charge/discarge 300 times).

3)how would I even know if something is wrong with the light itself instead of the battery?....if the charger reads full and I use the battery and the light doesn't work-does that mean its definitely the light?.....or could the flashlight be daring the battery super quick for some reason?

Most probably the flashlight false. Battery is just an energy reservoir. Usually when a car runs on higher consumption the last thing that is faulty is the gas tank.
But only if the cell shows full.

Disclaimer: I am a vaper and no pro/expert in flashlights. I have just done a little more reading regarding cells due to some mechanical mods I had in the past so all the above may be worthless. For example I don't know if the lights you have have a cut off cirquit for the battery or if you change them when luminance is not efficient (if they do not cut off at around 3.0V then most probably the cells had too many over discharges and XTAR cannot restore them any more).

 

[M1k3]

If you are looking for just the 18650 cells, I'd definitely check out imrbatteries and liionwholesale. I'm no expert but I do know Sony and LG batteries come highly recommend. Granted what little I know pertains to vaping.

 

[sudsy9977]

Wow a lot of people vape I guess. I don’t know anyone who does Thanks for all the help guys. Ryan

 

[chinacats]

I use eneloop(?) batteries (AA & AAA) and charger. Not sure this is the right way but i like to run the batteries almost dead and then do a full charge. They tend to run strong and then die rather suddenly vs regular batts. Lifespan has been excellent.

 

[inferno]

ok so I know there are many flashlight forums, etc but I really have no desire to read eighteen pages about mah,charging rates, volts,meters and whatever ever else those guys talk about. first here is what I have....

nitecore mh20
Fenix pd35

xtarvc2 charger
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Eagletac...MIg_rAlrq74QIVQUOGCh3GGAxqEAQYASABEgLWYvD_BwE

and that is a link for the kind of battery I have, ok so a while ago my lights(both of them) started acting weird....I would have a charged battery and put it Inuit would work for a few minutes and then start flickering, etc, basically not working right.....I find it hard to believe both my lights are defective.....

when I plug the battery in just now it reads between 3.8 and 4.1 volts and I'm gonna charge it to full and see what happens now....my questions, hopefully someone can explain in English, are the following

1)do these types of batteries like to be charged often,should I be charging them every few days even if they still work or basically wait till they won't work and switch it out for a new battery

2)can you suggest a rechargeable 18650 battery to use(lost one and kinda want at least two or three so I can swap batteries out between the two lights

3)how would I even know if something is wrong with the light itself instead of the battery?....if the charger reads full and I use the battery and the light doesn't work-does that mean its definitely the light?.....or could the flashlight be daring the battery super quick for some reason?

thanks for any help guys' know a lot of you are into these kinds of things and need someone desperately to explain this to me in English.....ryan

1 no they degrade with every charge as all batteries do. you should theoretically charge when at 50% up to 80-85% or so. still they will lose 5-10% capacity every year.

2 get panasonics. the best sh1t there is. not much more expesiva than sanyo/sony/lg and so on.

3 its not very likely its the battery. its more likely its the conections inside the light thats the problem. fix that and then try again. then its the batteries.

I have had chinese made bike lights (gemini and gloworm), quality controlled in the us/canada but still these are **** compared to german made lupine lights. lupine cost at least twice as much but they dont break after 1,5 years.
so its a win win with lupine imo. I'm feeling these will last 10-100 years. but the chinese sh1t don't even last 1,5. and this is their best sh1t.... you do the math.

buy from this place https://eu.nkon.nl/