18650 battery at 13 watts

[Ryedan]

Thanks! Sorry for the rant. I hardly ever post here, but I do read a lot and had noticed almost all battery questions were directed to you. I was just
looking for end user opinions as another source of information.

The problem with end user opinions is they are subjective. End users don't have the experience of using many different batteries, only the few they have used. And they almost never have the ability to analyze how the performance of the batteries they have used compare in an objective (a quantifiable, or a measured) way.

If you want to get the absolute best performance out of a vape battery, down to the last few puffs, you are going to need to get a very good understanding of how these batteries work and how you are going to use them. A resource like Mooch is going to be a huge help for this. If you want to get a reasonably good battery for your style of vaping then I think you've already got a bunch of good advice in this thread.

The difference between a good battery for you and the 'best' battery, is also IMO not going to add up to a lot of difference to your vape experience. Cost is a factor as well, as the 'best' battery might cost significantly more than the third or fourth best and it may well only be a few percent better in performance.

Vape on bgoracy

 

[dripster]

I would recommend the Samsung 30q.

It’s only 3000mah, but you get that little bit of extra headroom for safety.

Stay away from the protected batteries.

There's two boatloads of headroom for safety vaping at 13 watts with the NCR18650GA. This is because, even if discharging this battery continuously at 5A (about 15 watts), Mooch's test results revealed that it attains only 41 degrees Celsius. And, also according to Mooch, batteries don't start aging faster than normal until you go above 45 degrees Celsius. If safety headroom is so important to you, then you should be using the Samsung 20S, not the Samsung 30Q, anyway in the first place.

 

[Mooch]

There's two boatloads of headroom for safety vaping at 13 watts with the NCR18650GA. This is because, even if discharging this battery continuously at 5A (about 15 watts), Mooch's test results revealed that it attains only 41 degrees Celsius. And, also according to Mooch, batteries don't start aging faster than normal until you go above 45 degrees Celsius. If safety headroom is so important to you, then you should be using the Samsung 20S, not the Samsung 30Q, anyway in the first place.

Just a pedantic expansion on that...
Batteries age faster for every tiny increase in temperature over any other lower temperature. At around 45°C or so though for most li-ion cells you can really start to see the overall cycle life drop versus cells that never or barely get above room temperature. This goes for storage too...heat is the enemy.

 

[dripster]

Just a pedantic expansion on that...
Batteries age faster for every tiny increase in temperature over any other lower temperature. At around 45°C or so though for most li-ion cells you can really start to see the overall cycle life drop versus cells that never or barely get above room temperature. This goes for storage too...heat is the enemy.

I don't think it is pedantic. The "than normal" in my post was actually referring to this, but I left out the crunchy little details because 41°C was the temperature attained in your testing, which was discharging the red Sanyo NCR18650GA continuously at a constant current of 5A. When we vape we don't discharge the battery continuously so, because the OP is vaping at only 13 watts, I wouldn't worry too much about heat being generated inside the NCR18650GA. You gave this cell a CDR rating of 10A. The OP is vaping at less than half that so, maybe a Minding Your mAhs Episode dedicated to tootle puffers could help to keep the 3000mAh apostles finally at bay.

 

[Mooch]

The OP is vaping at less than half that so, maybe a Minding Your mAhs Episode dedicated to tootle puffers could help to keep the 3000mAh apostles finally at bay.

Minding Your mAhs Ep31, my “best” battery choices video, covers a large range of power levels when choosing batteries...including tootle puffers.

 

[dripster]

Minding Your mAhs Ep31, my “best” battery choices video, covers a large range of power levels when choosing batteries...including tootle puffers.

I already know that it's at 3:39 in your video that you mention. However, the explanation you gave was comparing the Sanyo NCR18650GA to the Molicel P26A and then also comparing the Samsung 30Q to the Molicel P26A so... not even a single word about directly comparing the Sanyo NCR18650GA to the Samsung 30Q in there.

 

[DaveP]

Looks like the OP has left the thread, but he received good info before he floated away. I'm hoping that he will go on and read Mooch's data on lithium cells. There's an education waiting at Mooch's ECF page.

@https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/members/bgoracy.89422/

Mooch's blog | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[PeterKay]

I know you don’t want to hear from me but this video might not be too technical:



My Recommended Batteries tables are pretty straightforward. Choose the one for regulated devices: Mooch's Recommended Batteries | E-Cigarette Forum

My testing is actual use. Batteries don’t know if they are in a mod or in a battery analyzer. There’s almost no difference in the vaping time you would get when measuring your own use and the results of my tests. When I test ultra high capacity 18650’s at 15W the ones that run the longest for me will most likely run the longest for you too. That’s why I do the testing.

When you ask for “real world use” you’re asking for a huge number of new variables to be added (some we may not even be aware of) and all of our personal biases tossed in too. It makes comparing battery performance that way very difficult unless there are a huge number of responses. I’m not saying don’t ask. It’s just that we have to be aware that it can be tough to go by just that.

Whatever source you use, I hope you find some great batteries to choose from!

Thanks for that video of yours, I've also read an article on Baltitude's blog which I believe was based on your blog and recommendations. I followed your advice a week ago and bought the Molicel P26A that you rated as best 18650 to try it out as I noticed that the batteries I initially purchased before doing any research at all (twin battery mod): the brown LG HG2, didn't perform too well at 50-60 Watts. I started vaping yesterday after I woke up and 28h afterwards they are still over a 1/3 charged, while LG HG2 wouldn't last me a full day. I bought them with the intention of increasing the wattage I'm vaping at in the future. I'm really happy as the price difference wasn't substantial, so I might even go for another set soon and keep the LG for MTL tanks. Thanks again