AW IMR 14500 High Drain Observation/Question

[Robotfactory]

I use the 14500 batteries in a few cheap mods around the house (DIY box mods and an Old Goat bottom feeder) and I had noticed a big drop off in the performance of the Ultra Fire 14500's that I had been using. I decided to order a couple of AW IMR 14500s. Great decision, the hype regarding these batteries is not hype at all, they are great.

My question/observation is this. I notice that even once the AW's voltage drops pretty low (lets say 3.6 and less) it still performs quite well, even down into the 3.5V range. This was never the case with the Ultra Fire batteries. Is this a characteristic of the "high drain" feature/chemistry? I am guessing so, but since I am not a chemist nor an electrical engineer, I really have no clue.

Just curious.

 

[six]

You might be interested in this thread.

 

[Dudeman]

The short answer is that the AW IMR's don't have the protection circuit to cut them off when they reach a specific voltage. I try to change mine out when they get down to about 3.5v but I have run them much lower on occasion.

 

[tearose50]

I'm no pro on this but I think what you are experiencing is why AW's are liked so much! My limited experience is that the AW's are consistent in their discharging patterns. The other cheaper brand I had was not -- it almost seemed to roller coaster, even made me think my PV had misfired.

I tried to find a chart I recently saw to post here. It showed the drain curve difference between IMR (high drain) and IC (protected) AW batteries (not 14500, but it should apply the same).

The high drains stay higher a bit longer and then drop off fairly quickly. The protected are more like a slow downward line.

It seems to me the difference you are seeing is not the AMR -- but the AW brand.