Batteries and protection

[Secret_77]

So I have searched and have not been able to find anything that really answers this question in a laymans terms.

How can you tell if a battery you have is protected?

There are so many videos and statements about batteries, counterfeits, and mis-represented items. Yes, there is the 2 cent vape safe fuse but is there another way? I would like to hear users experience and opinions.

With all due respect, please refrain from going over everyone's head with your explanations.

Thanks,
Secret_77

 

[scalewiz]

Besides the product descriptions, which you should always read, you can tell simply by looking at the battery. If you look at the shrink wrap near the negative end, you should see the outline of a small board that has been added to the battery. It kinda looks like someone put a washer on the bottom end under the shrink wrap. That would be the protection board. Carefully looking at the wrap along the side of the battery, you will probably see a small, flat conductor running from the top to the bottom. This is the conductor that connects the positive end of the battery down to the board. Third way is to measure the battery (don't short it out while doing it!) and you will find that the batteries with protection boards usually measure a couple of millimeters longer than the stated battery length. In other words, if the battery is an 18650, that means 65 millimeters long; with a protection board in place the battery will usually measure out to be about 67 millimeters in length, due to the thickness of the board. As a reference, take a known protected battery and compare it to an AW IMR; you should be able to readily see the difference.

If the above three things are found in your battery, it is a protected battery. Can't speak for the quality or level of protection though, but a good brand should be OK. Just remember: most protected batteries are NOT high current output batteries, and they are NOT considered a safe chemistry battery.

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

Here is a photo showing the physical difference between the protected battery (left) and the IMR (right) in reference to the above post about the protection board at the bottom. The red battery is an 18490 and the black battery is an 18500. They are both made by the same manufacture.

 

[rondasherrill]

Just to ad to what the others have said... IMR's are not considered to be "unprotected". An unprotected battery would be a normal lithium ion, like the black one in the picture above, that does NOT have the safety chip built in... They look the same, but are the same length as the AW IMR's... IMR's, like the AW IMR, have no need for the protection, because they use a "safe battery chemistry" that can handle high output.

Personally I use ONLY AW IMR's, simply because of their safe battery chemistry, and high drain capability.

 

[Secret_77]

Thanks to all for the great explanations and visual examples! I totally appreciate this and hope others do too. It is very easy to get lost in some threads.

Cheers!