Best 18650 money can buy

[Kreeps]

I'm still a noob when it comes to electricity, so i was hoping maybe i can get some suggestions on what battery i should get.

I'm looking for the best and safest 18650 money can buy. I've seen so many suggestions on different types of batteries that i just don't know which to pick.

I bought a Pila ibc charger not too long ago, so something compatible with that charger would be nice. I've seen some say it's a lithium battery charger, but i've also seen it specified elsewhere where it says it's a lithium-ion battery charger, so i don't really know if it works with li-mn.

I was looking at the panasonics but in the orbitronic website, it says the protected batteries aren't meant for ecigs... When i first started on this forum i think i remember someone telling me otherwise.

Anyways, help regarding this subject would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dr g]

Generally for ecig use you will want an unprotected, high-drain battery with some type of 'safe' chemistry and/or design.

"The best" depends on several factors including but not limited to your operational parameters, your concept of safety and your ranking of various performance aspects of the battery.

Generally though certain cells come up in the "best" discussion regularly, AW 1600 and 2000, Panasonic CGR18650CH and NCR18650PD, Samsung INR batteries, come to mind.

 

[Fury83]

Your Pila is fine with li-mn.

I generally use the panasonic batteries listed above but I've also used the AW's and MNKE's.

If you go the panasonic route, pay attention to the model number, it's important.

 

[rogergendron1]

mnke 18650

They hold there voltage for a longer time and then drop off sharply . This alows you to vape at a more constant voltage untill it drops off. Pluss they have like a 20c rating

 

[Baditude]

I agree with what dr g and Fury suggested above. The major name-brand battery makers that are most recommended: AW, Panasonic, MNKE, and Samsung as the safest and most consistant. Let me go into a little more detail:

"Protected" ICR Li-ION batteries. These are volatile chemistry batteries, meaning when they become stressed under load they can get hot and become unstable, therefore they require protective circuits built into the battery. These batteries, if they were unprotected, could explode if hard-shorted or stressed beyond their tolerance. This chemistry has a larger capacity than IMR for longer battery time.

IMR, or high drain, or safe-chemistry Li-MN batteries. Being safer chemistry means they are not as volatile or as unstable as the Li-ION batteries when stressed, and do not require built-in protection. They will not react violently, but can still over heat if stressed beyond their tolerance or experience a hard short, and vent hot gasses in an event called thermal runaway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_circuit

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-information/190146-pictures-serious-battery-failure-imr-18650-a.html#post3265928

IMR batteries generally have a lower mAh rating (battery capacity) than protected batteries, but are capable of high drain bursts of energy required by boost circuits in regulated mods.
______

Mechanical mods have little or no protection against a hard-shorted battery, so the protected Li-ION batteries are often used with them. Using a Vape Safe Mod Fuse offers an additional layer of security against a hard-short.

E- | Cigs | Mods | Batteries | Safety | Vaping | Vape | Safe | TheVapeSafe.com

Regulated mods like the Provari have boost circuits in the microprocessor which allow higher voltage to be produced. To be able to do this, it requires a high drain type of battery, which the Li-MN or high drain IMRs are. Also, the microprocessor has built-in protection against atomizer and battery shorts - it will either refuse to fire the atty and give an error message on the LED display, or shut itself down completely to protect the atty, the mod, or the user from harm.

Therefore, protected batteries are not suggested for regulated mods.


Reference material:

PBusardo's Guide to Batteries: Copy & paste " taste your juice.com/wordpress/battery-information/ " into your browser's address window and eliminate the spaces. (ECF won't allow a direct link to the site.)

Basic to Advanced Battery Information from Battery University

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/254690-protected-batteries-vs-imr-safety-5.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/129569-rechargeable-batteries.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/announcements-news/129007-warning-rechargeable-batteries-apvs.html

Mechanical Mod Proper Usage Guide

 

[Kreeps]

I feel super noob asking this... Would anyone know if the k100+ is a mechanical mod?

EDIT: If it is a mechanical and not regulated, would this panasonic battery be a good fit for my mod?

http://www.orbtronic.com/protected-3400mah-18650-li-ion-battery-panasonic-ncr18650B-orbtronic

 

[Raynman]

Yes it is. As said above your battery should match your mod it would be helpful to know what mod you're planning on using.

 

[Baditude]

I feel super noob asking this... Would anyone know if the k100+ is a mechanical mod?

EDIT: If it is a mechanical and not regulated, would this panasonic battery be a good fit for my mod?

3400mAh Protected Panasonic 18650 battery cell by Orbtronic

The K 100 is a telescoping mechanical mod. The above Panasonic protected Li-Ion is an excellent choice for it under normal operating circumstances.

May I ask what juice delivery attachments you plan to use on the K 100?

 

[damthisisfun]

Generally for ecig use you will want an unprotected, high-drain battery with some type of 'safe' chemistry and/or design.

"The best" depends on several factors including but not limited to your operational parameters, your concept of safety and your ranking of various performance aspects of the battery.

Generally though certain cells come up in the "best" discussion regularly, AW 1600 and 2000, Panasonic CGR18650CH and NCR18650PD, Samsung INR batteries, come to mind.

Dr G - i am confused - why unprotected? I dont know what that means. To me it would seem a "protected" battery would be safer? Is there no such thing as a protected battery? Bad attitude talks about protected Li-ION batteries - are those too expensive? I am so confused...

Edit - i see the link for the protected LI-ION - now have to figure out what kind i have and if they are safe and or protected.....OMG

 

[damthisisfun]

Ps - i dont use mech mods - yet - have a Vamo V2 and a SVD. And yes the batteries I currently have are from Fasttech,.....

 

[Baditude]

Ps - i dont use mech mods - yet - have a Vamo V2 and a SVD. And yes the batteries I currently have are from Fasttech,.....

Since your Vamo and SVD are regulated / variable power mods (use boost circuits to increase power), they require the "high drain" IMR batteries, also called safe chemistry and unprotected. This is explained more or less in the references that I linked to.

You "could" use a protected Li-Ion battery in your regulated mods if you were only using lower power settings. However, once you attempt to use higher power by adjusting the power settings, you can put stress on those batteries, as they are not designed to have burst energy release like IMR batteries are. Some regulated mods recognize the protective circuits in protected batteries as a short and may not fire, from what I've been told.

You also can use IMR batteries in a mechanical mod. Arguably as safe or safer than a protected battery, but they would not have the extended battery capacity for long battery time like a protected battery generally has. See, there are tradeoffs with both types of chemistry.

We're basically talking about two different battery chemistries here. Li-Ion chemistry must have protective circuitry because their chemicals are volatile when overly stressed; the protected circuit built into them are an attempt to make them safer.

Li-Mn chemistry does not require protective circuits because the chemicals used in these are not as volatile when they become overly stressed. Also, these batteries are usually used in regulated mods with their own built-in circuitry, another reason they don't need protective circuits in them.

Safer chemistry comes with its shortcomings, as they don't have as much mAh capacity as the protected batteries do. This is why you see protected batteries have much higher mAh than the equivalent IMR batteries.

Having said that, don't always judge the quality of a battery solely by it's higher mAh rating. There are no standards by which manufacturers use to list their batteries' mAhs. Many of the "lesser" brand battery manufacturers inflate their mAh rating to make their batteries appear superior, when in fact it is an inflated estimate that does not prove accurate when in real use.

Case in point, a Trustfire or Ultrafire will probably have a much higher mAh rating than an equivalent AW battery of same type, but I guarantee that the AW will out-perform the Trustfire in every way possible.

 

[Kreeps]

Yes it is. As said above your battery should match your mod it would be helpful to know what mod you're planning on using.

The K 100 is a telescoping mechanical mod. The above Panasonic protected Li-Ion is an excellent choice for it under normal operating circumstances.

May I ask what juice delivery attachments you plan to use on the K 100?

I'm using one of those nimbus clones right now, but i bought me a trident coz it was on sale.

I used to do dual coil with sub ohm before i joined this forums but now i do a microcoil with 30g kanthall a1 using a toothpick 9-10 wraps using up about 2.5-3 inches of the wire.

What does telescoping mean on a mechanical mod?

 

[Baditude]

What does telescoping mean on a mechanical mod?

Telescoping mean the battery tube can be adjusted to accomodate different lengths of batteries. This gives you the option to use shorter 18350 batteries to keep the mod short, or longer 18650 batteries for longer battery duration, for example.

 

[damthisisfun]

Since your Vamo and SVD are regulated / variable power mods (use boost circuits to increase power), they require the "high drain" IMR batteries, also called safe chemistry and unprotected. This is explained more or less in the references that I linked to.

Firstly - Baditude = sorry for calling you Bad Attitude - my bad. Thanks for the great info. I have to following 2 batteries - yes from fasttech - can you give me you opinion on them? Would u consider these safe enough to use in the V2 and SVD?

ICR18350 18350 3.7V "900mAh" Rechargeable Lithium Battery

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1271001

Panasonic CGR18650CH Rechargeable 2250mAh 3.7V 18650 Lithium Batteries

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1141101

Thank you for your help

 

[Kreeps]

You've all been SO helpful especially Baditude with his thoroughness. Just one last question, i don't have an ohm meter yet, so any guesses to how many ohms my coil is?

 

[Aaron1100us]

I have some high drain flashlights that use 18650's. The best 18650's that I've come across are the Eagletach 3400 mah. Not cheap @$20 a battery but worth it.

Sent from my SCH-R760 using Tapatalk 2

 

[kimbo55]

some higher mah batteries are larger in diameter so they fit in some PV's

 

[Fury83]

I have some high drain flashlights that use 18650's. The best 18650's that I've come across are the Eagletach 3400 mah. Not cheap @$20 a battery but worth it.

Sent from my SCH-R760 using Tapatalk 2

Those are protected Panasonic NCR's (not of the high drain variety). Rebranded and all that.

Honestly, most everyone that I know with mechs don't use protected batteries, they all use either AW IMR's, Panasonic CGR18650CH, Panasonic NCR18650PD's or MNKE IMR's. A few use efest IMR's.

 

[schweater]

this is a damn good thread...thanks to the op and the vets that answered...You hear all these "unprotected", "protected" "high drain" "IMR" terms thrown around but it's definitely hard for a noob, like myself, to figure out the difference, especially with all the different vendors using different terminology. Sure, i probably could have read through one of the many stickies about batteries, but this thread had 2 pages, and all the info i needed on the first page...thanks guys!!!

 

[dr g]

Firstly - Baditude = sorry for calling you Bad Attitude - my bad. Thanks for the great info. I have to following 2 batteries - yes from fasttech - can you give me you opinion on them? Would u consider these safe enough to use in the V2 and SVD?

ICR18350 18350 3.7V "900mAh" Rechargeable Lithium Battery

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1271001

Panasonic CGR18650CH Rechargeable 2250mAh 3.7V 18650 Lithium Batteries

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1141101

Thank you for your help

I would not recommend that 18350 in any ecig. I would recommend the AW 18350 or efest 18350.

Dr G - i am confused - why unprotected? I dont know what that means. To me it would seem a "protected" battery would be safer? Is there no such thing as a protected battery? Bad attitude talks about protected Li-ION batteries - are those too expensive? I am so confused...

Edit - i see the link for the protected LI-ION - now have to figure out what kind i have and if they are safe and or protected.....OMG

Protected batteries generally suffer performancewise from having the protection board on the cell. They are also usually not high-drain type batteries which itself can be a safety feature. To me, a high drain unprotected is safer than a plain jane ICR with a protection board.

I feel super noob asking this... Would anyone know if the k100+ is a mechanical mod?

EDIT: If it is a mechanical and not regulated, would this panasonic battery be a good fit for my mod?

3400mAh Protected Panasonic 18650 battery cell by Orbtronic

I would recommend the NCR18650PD unprotected over that battery. It will outperform it in a mech.

That said, that Panasonic is one of the better such batteries and the NCR battery family is designed for safety. If I had to use a protected that one would be on my list.