18650 Battery/charger FYI

[JKBonin]

Just found this out & wanted to share.

Moderator, if you feel this fits better elsewhere, feel free to move it right the hell on outta here!

I ordered this - KIT: TL-100 Universal Li-Ion 18650 Battery Charger + 2 18650 Batteries! from batteryjunction. I chose the 3000mah version. Well lemme just tell ya'!...

The TL-100 is a complete POS. A - either it or the batts were junk. To be fair, I'm not positive which, but that doesn't change B - what a cheap ... piece of crap it is. It charges 2 batts, when all is working anyway, but god forbid you only want to charge 1. With just one in there, it sorta 'kicks' the button end of the batt off to 1 side. VERY poor connection with just 1 batt in there.

'Course now, it could have been the 3000mah batts too. When I called to complain about them, I was told by the rep... "Yeah.. well we've been having alot of problems with the 3000mah for some reason". Would've been nice to know that when I ordered!!!

I solved the problem tho'. Ordered Altsmokes charger and their 2400mah 18650. I'll look into the 3000mah versions in 6mo's or so. Maybe they will have worked the bugs out by then.

 

[Big Hit]

'Course now, it could have been the 3000mah batts too. When I called to complain about them, I was told by the rep... "Yeah.. well we've been having alot of problems with the 3000mah for some reason". Would've been nice to know that when I ordered!!!

The 3000 MAH batteries have never been very good.
The 2400 & 2600 MAH batteries are a better choice.

 

[Jules22871]

I have some of the 18650 2400mAh protected batteries for our Chucks that last about 2 days. I bought a couple of 2600mAh batts from Ebay and they are awesome. We wasily get 4 days out of one and we are pretty heavy vapers. I keep one in my purse because I never know when I'm going to end up in the hospital. My son and I have made a game of seeing who can get the "red" battery before the other one does.

Red 18650 2600mAh protected batteries

I use Focalprice.com offers Multifunctional Battery Charger for 16340/CR123/14500/17670/18500/18650 ,discount Multifunctional Battery Charger for 16340/CR123/14500/17670/18500/18650,Multifunctional Battery Charger for 16340/CR123/14500/17670/18500/18650 pr this charger. The price is right and the shipping is free but it takes forever to get it. Plan on at least a month.

I ordered a couple of 2800mAh 18650's and can't wait to see how long those last!

 

[hecknaw]

Yep! the 18650's 2400mah ,wf-139 charger,both from battery junction have give'n me no problems what soever!!

 

[JKBonin]

Yep! the 18650's 2400mah ,wf-139 charger,both from battery junction have give'n me no problems what soever!!

I have the same thing on the way, except I ordered them from Rob. Wasted a week with the other crap. Oh well. I am sure when the batts get here from Rob, they'll work & charge just fine.

 

[5cardstud]

Well thats not good I got 3000mah batteries sitting here I just bought. I charged one with no problems. What do they just not last very long? I ordered them from Mad Vapes

 

[ComaKid]

This is an insane coincidence!

Just earlier today my T-100 charger and two 18650 3000mah batteries arrived at my house from battery junction. Over my lunch break I opened up everything and started to charge. My impression of the T-100 charger is that its a piece of junk, but after puting one battery in, it seemed to start charging and the battery was slightly warm before I left, leaving me concluding that its at least working.

At first I was having a terrible time getting the batteries out of the charger, but one way that seemed to work ok was to hold it upside-down and slam the batteries out into your hand.

Before I call up battery junction and ....., Im going to use it for awhile and see how it holds up over a couple of days. Does anyone know of any specific flaws with the 3000mah batteries? I thought I was ordering the best of the best!

Thanks for reading

 

[ComaKid]

Ok guys ive been doing some research on these 18650 Ultrafire 3000mah protected batteries and here are some findings.

First take a look at this: (OK I CANNOT POST A LINK BUT GOOGLE "li-ion 18650 shootout" AND IT WILL BE THE FIRST LINK)

Take a look at the graph on the top of the page. It clearly shows these batteries are at least decent and seem to have the most docile and consistant drop after heavy usage. This test was using a flaslight, so i dont know how that would effect the result. The auther of the test says this about the battery:

"Regulation is maintained until 02:24, and 03:54 to 50%.
Output then drops in a gradual convex curve.
Over-discharge protection circuit doesn't seem to trigger."

Also some people are saying the 3000mah rating is bogus, but this is to be expected with a larger capicity battery.

discuss.

 

[hecknaw]

Ok guys ive been doing some research on these 18650 Ultrafire 3000mah protected batteries and here are some findings.

First take a look at this: (OK I CANNOT POST A LINK BUT GOOGLE "li-ion 18650 shootout" AND IT WILL BE THE FIRST LINK)

Take a look at the graph on the top of the page. It clearly shows these batteries are at least decent and seem to have the most docile and consistant drop after heavy usage. This test was using a flaslight, so i dont know how that would effect the result. The auther of the test says this about the battery:

"Regulation is maintained until 02:24, and 03:54 to 50%.
Output then drops in a gradual convex curve.
Over-discharge protection circuit doesn't seem to trigger."

Also some people are saying the 3000mah rating is bogus, but this is to be expected with a larger capicity battery.

discuss.

Yep! i also have the 18650's 3000mah batteries from battery juction they charge well & keep a charge with no problems using the wf-139 charger, until i started reading this post, i can't say that i have heard anything negitive about these batteries!!

 

[ComaKid]

Yep! i also have the 18650's 3000mah batteries from battery juction they charge well & keep a charge with no problems using the wf-139 charger, until i started reading this post, i can't say that i have heard anything negitive about these batteries!!

Ug, If only I could go back and spend the extra cash for the WF-139, it looks to be a much superior unit compared to the TL-100.

 

[hecknaw]

Ug, If only I could go back and spend the extra cash for the WF-139, it looks to be a much superior unit compared to the TL-100.

YEP! don't be to hard on erself!! when i order mine, I really didn't know what i wasa buy'n, i just went with the one that cost the most,and hoped fer da best!!You'll gets what ya need din you'll be goodago!!!

 

[JKBonin]

Yep! i also have the 18650's 3000mah batteries from battery junction they charge well & keep a charge with no problems using the wf-139 charger, until i started reading this post, i can't say that i have heard anything negative about these batteries!!

Bear in mind, I was talking to an $8/hr customer service rep. His comment may well have been just a guess. I am MUCH more likely to believe the problem was that POS charger TL-100. I had no way of knowing either way, so I wanted to be fair in my op.

The reps comment was something like what I wrote, and he added they were having trouble taking a charge. I can't help but wonder if the 'problem' with the 3000mah batts are really a problem with that POS TL-100. (Did I mention what a POS the TL-100 charger is?)

 

[jgrubb]

I just ordered my BsB. Super excited to see how the 6v vaping experience is.. My question is i ordered the 18650 SB battery without a charger. I got my RcR123's from batteryjunction. I own the BB and it came with a trust-fire charger that says it can charge 18650 batteries.. I'm assuming the SB battery is an ultra-fire. Can I charge the ultra-fire battery in a trust-fire charger?? Thanks for the help in advance

 

[JKBonin]

I just ordered my BsB. Super excited to see how the 6v vaping experience is.. My question is i ordered the 18650 SB battery without a charger. I got my RcR123's from batteryjunction. I own the BB and it came with a trust-fire charger that says it can charge 18650 batteries.. I'm assuming the SB battery is an ultra-fire. Can I charge the ultra-fire battery in a trust-fire charger?? Thanks for the help in advance

This is from the batteryjunction site for the cr123 batts -

Warnings:

• You must use the 3.0V RCR123A battery charger included to charge these 900mah RCR123A 3.0V batteries, please do not use other charger nor charge other batteries with this charger.
• This Charger can not be used to charge any other 3.0 or 3.6V RCR123A cells or they may explode!

So I'm gonna say... no.

The WF-139 is the charger to use on the 18650s. I'm pretty sure anyway.

 

[jgrubb]

Thanks Jk for helping. Let me clarify my previous post. I use a 14500 battery for my BB. I purchaced from Rob the Trustfire multifunctional charger from Altsmoke's site. While ordering the BsB last night the only 18650 batteries I saw on his site was ultra-fire. Since this charger says it can charge 10403/10440/14500/16340/17670/18650, i just wanted to know if I could do that since they are made by different companies. Yeah, my Tenergy RCR's have their own charger just for them. Thanks again. Obviously i am trying to be as safe as possible, otherwise I would be using my BB at 6v instead of buying a BsB to try 6v.. But if I don't like 6v, I wanted the 18650 as a back up. Thanks again

 

[ComaKid]

Just as an update with my TL-100 purchase.

Although this unit is hard to use, ugly, and has bad connections, it seemed to charge my batteries. Yesterday I got home at 3:45 and my green light was on, indicating a full charge. Then I removed the battery, slid it in my silver bullet, grabbed a 10ml bottle of 18mg juice and headed to the ski slopes. I vaped every time I rode the lift to the top of the hill, all night, and this morning with good (typical 3.7volt) performance.

Its nice to have the option of the 3.7 volt battery for the long life and now when my friends want to try my silver bullet I dont have to worry about them popping an atty or getting a burnt flavor when using 6 volts. (us silver bullet owners know 6 volts is an art).

Thanks for reading.

 

[JKBonin]

Just as an update with my TL-100 purchase.

Although this unit is hard to use, ugly, and has bad connections, it seemed to charge my batteries. Yesterday I got home at 3:45 and my green light was on, indicating a full charge. Then I removed the battery, slid it in my silver bullet, grabbed a 10ml bottle of 18mg juice and headed to the ski slopes. I vaped every time I rode the lift to the top of the hill, all night, and this morning with good (typical 3.7volt) performance.

Its nice to have the option of the 3.7 volt battery for the long life and now when my friends want to try my silver bullet I dont have to worry about them popping an atty or getting a burnt flavor when using 6 volts. (us silver bullet owners know 6 volts is an art).

Thanks for reading.

I'd be interested to know how well it charges a single batt. Kinda sad that your set-up worked and your description is still 'hard to use, ugly and has bad connections'. Makes it really hard to understand why any company would even carry this.

Glad you got a working one tho'!

 

[Wolf]

I use the Trust Fire Multi Functional Charger. I did not buy it from Rob. I use it to charge my 18650 batteries for my SB. It also works on the 14500 batteries for my BB and my 10440 batteries that go in my Janty Stick. Be careful when removing you batteries or they can shoot out of the charger. Especially the larger ones that push the spring loaded mechanism farther back. All of my batteries are Ultra Fire protected.

ETA: I was under the impression that Trust Fire and Ultra Fire were made by the same company. They have the same logo on the word Fire.