Change to AWT 18350 high drain (yellow)

[enemax]

I recently purchased some AWT 10.5A 800mAh 18350 batteries from Ecolux in the UK. I expected to receive the yellow ones mentioned by @Mooch in his thorough and amazingly and comprehensive safety testing (thanks Mooch); they rated second in his recommended 18350's. What I received were a red variant (attached). These are apparently (according to the guy at Ecolux) the new version of the same batteries and are effectively the same as the yellow wrap. What I was wondering was whether anyone has any experience with these batteries or if testing has been performed?

If not I think I'd rather return them and work with a known quantity. Thanks in advance and hello to everyone.

Me

 

[djsvapour]

Curious. Ecolux is up there with Torchy as reliable battery vendors in the UK.

If you don't trust their judgment (I've met him by the way) then you must do what you've got to do.

It does look as if AWT are switching to red wraps. I personally think you should just use them. I would be really pleased to get newer ones t.b.h.

 

[petrotech]

what are you gonna be using them in?

I personally don't like pulling more than 5 amps out of my 18350s, just to be on the safe side. as long as you keep your amp draw low, you should be good!

 

[enemax]

Update:
So I charged one of them to test it under load. It reached 4.2 volts in the expected time. I'm actually using it regulated (dicodes v3) and I'm pretty fuzzy on the calculations involved. I threw it in there anyway and took a hit at 24w (leftover from using my Samsung 25r).

Resting voltage: 4.2v
Voltage under load: 3.1v

Which immediately tripped my low voltage warning. I'm putting it through an SS 1.3Ω coil (resistance needs to be high to compensate for the low coefficient of SS when running in TC mode).

I stuck it down to 14w and now it's at:

Resting voltage: 4.0v (yep, it's drained that far after 3 fires)
Voltage under load: 3.3v

At that wattage it feels like sucking on a straw, there's just nothing there and given another 3 or 4 fires it'll be tripping my low voltage warning again.

Am I doing something wrong or is this battery garbage?

 

[enemax]

Double update:

As expected, another 3 fires and the load voltage hit 3.0v and tripped my low voltage warning. Worth mentioning that at no point did the battery or any part of the mod get hot. No shorts, no unusual resistance fluctuation in the coil.

 

[petrotech]

interesting...do you have a another battery to test out? I don't do regulated mods very often...mainly because I don't know how they work. lol. did you verify battery voltage with a DMM?

14 watts with a 3 volt cut off is only 4.5ish amps. shouldn't be draining that fast. hopefully another member will be by to help us out

 

[enemax]

I don't have a multimeter at work but my mod has an integrated voltage tester. I don't know much about it but I can only assume it's a similar technology.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I have a pair of those also, and I'm suspicious of the 800mah rating. I use them for vaping my Vamo's in shorty/stealth mode and I'm lucky to get through a 2.5ml tank at 15w (Vamo max output).

Got mine from IMRBatteries.com, which is one of the best battery joints in the US. They have a QR code on them, and they checked out as genuine, FWIW.

 

[enemax]

Another update:

So I decided to give Ecolux the benefit of the doubt as I've been told they are a reliable vendor and the guy I spoke to via email about the poor performance of the batteries was really nice about it.

I charged all of them. They all have the same max resting voltage (4.2) and as they are drained they all have the same voltage drop profile.

at 24w:
4.2 -> 3.1
4.1 -> 3.0
4.0 -> 3.0
3.9 -> 3.0
3.8 -> 3.0
3.7 -> 3.0
3.6 -> 3.0
3.5 -> 2.9

The voltage drop at 14w is similar but the initial 'gap' is only ~.65v

In the mean time I've gone back to my 25r; same build, same settings, consistent .2v drop.

Conclusion:
There's something very, very wrong with these batteries.

 

[ppeeble]

I run my 18350 Trustfire batteries at 18w with a 1.6 resistance (3.4 amps) and get 2.5 hours vaping before hitting low voltage cut off at 3.2v.
Ok, just tried the same battery at 4v no load in my Provari mini with a 1.1 ohm coil at 4v (14.5 watts) and under load it's showing 3.6v.
Not replicating your wattage/resistance but it shows that the voltage drop on a Trustfire battery appears to be less than on yours...........