Best 18650 batteries on DealExtreme?

[borgqueenx]

There are like 20 different batteries...
wich one are the best?

 

[WLHostage]

There are several good brands, though i believe the AW are generally considered the best...

1. AW
2. Tenergy
3. Ultrafire

Any one of the above brands should work fine.

 

[borgqueenx]

ultrafire batterys are the only batterys for sale on dealextreme...
but there are like 10 different ultrafire batteries xD.

someone help?

 

[WLHostage]

Well... there shouldn't be that many options for the 18650 batteries.

1. Protected
2. Unprotected

You usually want to get the protected batteries.

1. 2600mha
2. 3000mha

The mha rating simply determines how long the battery will last. Generally speaking the higher the mha the longer it will last. However, these rating's aren't exact and you may notice very little difference between two closely rated batteries.

Also just as a side note, there was a report on the 3000mha Ultrafire batteries exploding, though it was unclear as to the cause and if the battery its self could have possibly been damaged. So just something to keep in mind. Most people are probably currently using the Protected 2600mha batteries.

Having a hard time finding the stats on the batteries on that website. Not sure which ones are rechargeable or not as it isn't very clearly identified. I would suggest looking at http://www.lighthound.com instead unless there is some reason you're stuck on dealextreme.

These are the batteries I picked up...
http://www.lighthound.com/AW-18650-Protected-2900-mAh-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery_p_3671.html

 

[borgqueenx]

wow for only 1 battery 18 dollars is to expensive for me. for a two pack i could accept it. and it probaly has shipping costs to...

 

[MojoLA]

This hobby does have some extra costs, ya know.... batteries, eye protection, matches, balloons, etc

If you've spent the money on 8 lasers, you should have a battery budget too!

Before I buy any laser I do some research into what it takes to power it. Sometimes similar lasers from different manufacturers use different batteries, so if at all possible I buy lasers that use batteries I already have.

But overall it *IS* a pain in the ass that there are a LOT of different batteries used in these things... I got my first pointer that used CR2s and I had to hunt around to find a place that sold them.

And now I realize that if I want to use the pointer with any regularity, I should invest in rechargable CR2s... which means the batteries AND charger.

And, of course, the next pointer I get will probably use CR123A, which means ANOTHER charger....

Anyway, the point is if your're going to get into this hobby, an investment in batteries & chargers is just par for the course.

 

[WLHostage]

wow for only 1 battery 18 dollars is to expensive for me. for a two pack i could accept it. and it probaly has shipping costs to...

There's a short term cost or a long term cost. You can reduce the short term cost by buying cheaper non-rechargeable batteries, but ultimately it has a higher long term cost.

Figure a normal 18650 non-rechargeable lasts you about 2.5 hours but only costs you say $6. In less than half a day you've already eaten up the costs of some quality rechargeables. You can also go with cheap rechargeables, but you run into the same issue where they don't last as long and don't hold a charge as well.

So it's up to you when and how you want to spend the money, I've determined getting good quality batteries was a good buy for me, but you may decide to go a different route.

Also keep in mind those were basically the best 18650's I could find, AW still has a lower mha version at 2600mha that sells for about $15 as well, or a 2200mha for about $13.

Also note that they offer the Ultrafire 3000mha for a mere $12...
Ultrafire 18650 Protected 3000mAh Rechargeable Lithium Battery

So there are a lot of options depending on what exactly you want and how much you want to spend. The AW are generally more expensive because they are usually considered the best battery period, but the Ultrafire should do well for you as well, nothing wrong with going that route for the cheaper price.

 

[Blord]

I bought the duopack Ultrafire LC18650 2400mAh 3.7V from dealextreme and soon after one battery won't recharge. I remove the pcb and the unprotected 18650 still work after recharging but you have to manually overlook the charging process.
Then I bought other pair Trustfire TR18650 2400mAh 3.7V and both are still working fine.

What charger do you have ? Or do you even have one ?

 

[borgqueenx]

yeah i have a charger. no idea wich one, but it was a cheap one. did got some overcharge protection.
And never got problems with it...already charged like 20~30 times batteries with it.