16340 v 18650

[gar113]

im about to buy the thor m2 and it comes with 2 16340 batters so I was wondering if I can put a 18650 in it and if I can is it better to do so or is it better to use the 16340's it comes with in terms of batter life, power out put and so on. maybe some pros v cons on each one if you even can use either one. also what batter would you recommend as a back up batter to switch between charges

 

[Immo1282]

The issue you'll see here is to do with voltage - 2 16340's will produce double the output voltage of a 18650 - so as long as the driver in the laser is a boost type, this should work. I am however unfamiliar with the Thor M2 so it'd be worth checking. An 18650 cell will have a larger capacity than 2 16340s, but the driver may not be able to cope with the lower input voltage for the set current output (i.e. power output).

If you want higher capacity and an 18650 will fit in the host, try using 2 18350 cells of high quality instead - as the 18350 and 16340 cells are of similar size and the former has generally a higher capacity.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi,
Most likely its built for 2X16340's a 1X18650 won't work and the diode if its a 2+ w needs 2 cells . Like Immo said if it has a boost drive then a single cell will work. But the 16340's are smaller in diameter than a 18650 so they will not fit . Buy a good set of 16340's like AW or Efest it will be fine.

Rich

 

[paul1598419]

I have yet to see a boost driver that takes more than one battery, so it is likely not that. You will need two Li-ion batteries and space is your enemy here. Some hosts that will take two 16340s will also take 18350s. Others, not so much. Your best bet is to buy two of the best 16340s you can find. They are not high capacity batteries, so get some good ones. I buy my batteries from www.liionwholesale.com.

 

[gar113]

thanks for all the help on what batteries to use I decided to go with EFEST IMR 16340 700mAh only 11$ for 2 on ebay I have a 18650 for my 301 laser I have if it can fit in the thor m2 with out getting stuck il look into getting some 18350 for a little better mAh

 

[Benm]

700 mAh for a 16340 sized cell is not that bad i think. I'm sure there are vendors that claim much higher numbers, but it's not that realistic.

The actual size for the cell in a 16340 cell is about 1/3rd of that in a 18650 (if you account for room taken up by the cell wall, spacers/isolators/contacts etc).

And surely you have 18650 cells with more that 3x700=2100 mAh capacities, but sometimes that comes with a trade-off: the capacity is larger, but the maximum discharge rate is lower. Usually the capacity of a battery is specified at 1C discharge rate, i.e. the amount of power in can supply when discharged in 1 hour.

This isn't always realistic though: in things like laptop computers and smartphones the discharge rate is much lower as those typically last several hours to a day or two on a fully charged battery. For such applications higher capacity but lower current handing cells are preferable.

 

[gar113]

I was looking around on wish and I found 12 ultra fire batteries that said they have 1200mAh and the highest I could find on amazon/ebay was 900mAh and that was for flat top and they were 17$ for 1 compared to they 18$ wish wanted for 12 so that seem kind of unrealistic

 

[Immo1282]

I was looking around on wish and I found 12 ultra fire batteries that said they have 1200mAh and the highest I could find on amazon/ebay was 900mAh and that was for flat top and they were 17$ for 1 compared to they 18$ wish wanted for 12 so that seem kind of unrealistic

UltraFire really isn't a reliable brand - they generally mark up their capacity figures a lot. 1200mAh for a 16340 is nonsense.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi,
Please don't buy any batteries with the word fire in it . Ultrafire cells are cheap and not really reliable. Stay with a good and trusted brand like Efest or AW ..

Rich

 

[paul1598419]

Be careful buying on eBay too. There are a lot of counterfeits on there. They look like the manufacturer's battery, but they aren't. If you have an intelligent charger, you can measure the capacity and internal resistance to be certain they are what they are claimed to be.

 

[CurtisOliver]

Hi,
Please don't buy any batteries with the word fire in it .

I second that. Also anyone who attaches the word 'fire' to a volatile lithium based battery should be avoided.

 

[Benm]

The choice of putting 'fire' was unfortunate indeed, but ultrafire cells were a pretty good deal in the past.

While it's not a household brand like panasonic, there are plenty of -fake- ultrafire cells on the market, even 18650 size tubes with only a tiny little cell in the middle and filled with sand/flour/gypsum for the rest to make the weight somewhat realistic (you can find videos of people taking these apart on youtube).

I'm still working on my Wilketsonfire brand of batteries that are not just likely to catch fire, but guaratee to it somewhere within the first 100 charge cycles. Modding the protection chip on the board to actually short circuit it reliably proves difficult though

 

[gar113]

wow ok so don't buy ultrafire and get a charger that can show the capacity thanks for all the advice and help

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi G,
AW or Efest for your 16340's

Rich