What brands of 18650(and other such batteries) are good?

OpTic Emu · Oct 30, 2016

I'm relatively new to lasers and I'm in need of 18650 batteries because the ones that came with my first laser seem pretty bad. They're UltraFire 18650 5000mAh and 3.7V.

What brands make the best batteries and where can I buy them?

Thanks.

Sta · Oct 30, 2016

Welcome to the forum!

My favored 18650 type is the Sanyo NCR18650GA. You can find them on liionwholesale.com for about $6 apiece. They have true 3500mAh capacity (which is huge) and can handle 10A easily. Really great batteries. :beer:

I also use LG E1 batteries for some purposes (typically lasers that are high drain, or require high driver voltage.) But you probably won't need those until you get further into the hobby.

tomfire1735 · Oct 30, 2016

avoid fire brand battery as they like to catch fire...

OpTic Emu · Oct 30, 2016

Thanks! I'll look into them. Also what does unprotected or protected mean and which are better?

dden4012 · Oct 30, 2016

I do not use protected batteries. They are usually button top and slightly larger causing fit issues.
Try to stay away from rewrapped low bin batteries. Only exception would be AW brand.
I have LG 3500mah's and sony 3000mahs. Flat top vs button top depends on the host requirements. You can always make flat tops work with a small round magnet.
18650 Sony US18650VTC6 3000mAh High Discharge Flat Top - Batteries, Chargers, and PowerPax Carriers
18650 LG INR18650MJ1 3500mAh High Discharge - Batteries, Chargers, and PowerPax Carriers

grainde · Oct 30, 2016

Usually go for either AWs or Panasonics :beer:

Euphonious Nonsense · Oct 30, 2016

I highly prefer MXJO batteries for all my high drain 18650 applications, namely the IMR18650 3000mah, however it is noteworthy that this opinion was come to by way of vape culture experience and not from lasers.

tomfire1735 · Oct 31, 2016

i would highly recommend AW and Sanyo/panasonic.

Sanyo NCR18650GA as it is 3500mah( highest capacity ) and can provide current up to 10Amp ( no laser diode need that much current anyway).

AW for 14500 and 10440.

Jhop · Oct 31, 2016

Hello welcome to LPF!

All mentioned above are great batteries, also: efest

I have a couple efest 10440's(for my sanwu pocket) and efest 16340's(for my scifi). Work great. nice long run times.

I also have a pair of the 18650's panasonic which I also purchased from liionwholesale, I havnt tested them yet, but I charged them and they took about 7 hours to charge fully, and are nice and heavy. I ordered them for the Sanwu Spiker Saber, which is in the mail still to me.

\

*Edit: Oh and get a decent battery charger if you havn't already, I recommend Nitecore, nice solid brand and they have chargers that detect when the battery is fully charged and cut off juice, and have nice LED diplays showing each battery's status of charge.

AaronT · Nov 1, 2016

I like MNKE IMR 18650 25As

Crazlaser · Nov 1, 2016

All my batteries are Efest and work great. But they're a true 2000 mah. I haven't been able to find legit 18650's above that, because I use a multichem charger and it tells me how much it puts in it.

Emialias · Nov 1, 2016

i happen to use this brand called "Nuon"
got the batteries at batteries plus bulbs store
theyre protected batteries, and they sit at a true 2600mah
costed me a decent $10

i like them

What brands of 18650(and other such batteries) are good?

OpTic Emu

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Sta

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tomfire1735

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OpTic Emu

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dden4012

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grainde

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Euphonious Nonsense

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tomfire1735

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Jhop

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AaronT

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Crazlaser

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Emialias

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