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What batteries should I get for this laser

EfoDom10

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I have this pretty cheap 1W laser for about 2 months now. I've read that the batteries it comes with are dangerous - those cheap blue 16340 ultrafire ones. I wanted to buy some higher quality 16340 batteries but I couldn't find many and most of them had only 880 mAh. The batteries I have say 1300 mAh and 3.7V. I found more 18650 batteries but I'm pretty sure they won't fit because they're 2mm wider. What brand would you recommend? Also protected or unprotected? I really don't know what batteries to get.
 





GSS

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The ultrafires will get you by till you get better cells just don't keep them on the cheap charger long over never overnight I assume it came with.
True they aren't anywhere near 1300mah and the best 16340's will get you about 600mah.
Besides the 18650 being to wide it's also to long. just about double the length and you will need 2 3.7V to 4.2V batterys for that 1W.
Efest's are cheapest of the best and AW are great. I would go with "button top" unprotected as the protected cells can have fitting issues being that they are a tiny bit longer.
Being that you are in Slovakia what are your battery company sources?
 

EfoDom10

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The ultrafires will get you by till you get better cells just don't keep them on the cheap charger long over never overnight I assume it came with.
True they aren't anywhere near 1300mah and the best 16340's will get you about 600mah.
Besides the 18650 being to wide it's also to long. just about double the length and you will need 2 3.7V to 4.2V batterys for that 1W.
Efest's are cheapest of the best and AW are great. I would go with "button top" unprotected as the protected cells can have fitting issues being that they are a tiny bit longer.
Being that you are in Slovakia what are your battery company sources?

Thanks for your reply.
There are AW, Efest, Fenix, Keeppower, Klarus, Nitecore and Olight all under 10 euros, but only AW and Efest unprotected.
AW IMR16340 550 mAh (11.29 €)
Efest IMR16340 700 mAh (6.49 €)
Efest 16340 850 mAh (8.39 €)
I think I'll get these Efest 850 mAh https://svetelnaposta.sk/akumulator...utton-top-3.7v-bez-ochrany-0.5a/p994891c38867
And for the charger would this one do the job? http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Efest Soda 2014 UK.html
Also the batteries I would buy have a maximum charging current of 0.5 A while the other 2 have 1.5 A. Would that be a problem when charging?
 

GSS

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Both the battery's and that charger will be fine. No charging issue's..:)
Even the lower Efest IMR 700mAh are good if money is an issue. Don't let the battery's get below 3V at any point. They say 2.75V I believe but just to be safe..

I want to add, be very aware to how long you run your laser and follow a duty cycle. I wouldn't run it more than 60 seconds on and let it cool 60 seconds on and off. Feel for excess heat towards the front of the body and still that doesn't mean it's not getting to hot inside.
I'm hoping it came with some type of safety glasses to burn with and you should upgrade to better ones when you can..
 
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The Efest are the batteries I would choose. They are likely to be close to that capacity and if they are not counterfeit, they should last you a good long time. You might want to look at the Opus BT-C3100 charger, though. It is a bit more pricey, but is capable of charging four different batteries at the same time or testing the capacity of one while testing the dynamic internal resistance of another while discharging another and charging, yet, another. All at the same time. You can find them on Liionwholesale.com or GearBest. I have one plus Nitecore chargers and many others, but use the Opus to the exclusion of all the others.
 

EfoDom10

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I've just noticed that the person reviewing the charger http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Efest Soda 2014 UK.html wrote this:
Because the 0.5A current is more like 0.6A, the charger is not that good for 16340 batteries (except IMR). Note: Using to high charge current will not make the batteries explode, but will reduce lifetime of the batteries.
Since the batteries I wanted to buy aren't IMR should I buy the IMR 700mAh ones? Will there be a noticable difference when using my laser between 700mAh and 850mAh? The other charger option is this one but I'm not sure it's better https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger EFest Xsmart UK.html Those 2 chargers are probably the only ones in my budget.
And how do I find out when the batteries get below 3V? Will the laser beam be less bright?
 
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Those chargers look a bit limiting to be honest - I've got a relatively old Nitecore i4 smart charger that works pretty well - Basically any charger that actually analyses the battery a bit before starting will work alright. The Opus Charger that Paul mentioned looks pretty neat.
And how do I find out when the batteries get below 3V? Will the laser beam be less bright?
Honestly there's not a really good way other than pulling the batteries out and testing them with a voltmeter. You can get an inexpensive multimeter (if you don't already have one) for probably <20 euros for basic stuff. A fantastic tool for all sorts of thigns though - so it's often worth getting a slightly better one.
 

GSS

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Maby putting a little to much stock in 2 batterys for a Gattling gun laser..
If money is an issue than go with 2 bay Nitecore i2 as it will read the voltage. You can probably find it for $10 to $12 and then get the IMR 700mAh Efest's.. You will be fine but I do admire your research:)

If your sources are limited in your area to those 2 Efest chargers then just get the first one you posted that takes the 2 battery's and the IMR700's Efests.
Guy's he lives in Slovakia so I don't know what available..Efo, you still should be able to find a DMM "Voltage Meter" for $5 that will fine.
If you laser starts to dim then yes it's definitely time for a charge.
 
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If you end up with unprotected cells, it is still possible to over discharge your batteries before you become aware of it. You would do better with protected cells as they will shut off before they become over discharged. I suspect you can get items from GearBest where you are and they have some good chargers on their site.
 

LaserRanger

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I mentioned this in a different thread but I've been harvesting 18650 cells from laptop & power tool batteries and I use a charger that can run charge and discharge tests and also give you internal resistance for 4 cells individually. It's the liitokala engineer Lii-500, you can also adjust the charge rate from 300mAh, 500mAh, 700mAh or 1000mAh for each individual cell. I use it a lot more than my nitecore charger
 
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Have you checked out the Opus BT-C3100 intelligent charger? It can do all of those same things too and charge two cells at 2 amps each if you care to set it there. I use that one to the exclusion of my Nitecores and other chargers too.
 

LaserRanger

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I have not but I will do. The only reason why I don't buy another charger is because this one cost me $16 shipped from aliexpress and I have close to 60 18650 cells that I've collected, either bought or harvested so I don't have a need to fast charge, and the slow charge let's them live out a bit longer. I am reusing some abused cells, being that they were pretty much free, if I can prolong the lifetime/cycles with a lower charge rate then less money spent on batteries and more spent on lasers. It's a double win for me 😁
 
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I'll check out that charger you got at Aliexpress. I think the Opus does more, but you can't complain about $16.00 shipped.
 

LaserRanger

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I forgot to mention that I got it when it was on a deal via the app so prices might be a little different but you still can't go wrong with it in my opinion. I've haven't had any issues with it so far and I do run tests to check batteries ever 4 or 5 months

Edit:Just checked the price and it's around the same. 17.99 plus or minus
 




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