Efest 18650 2000MAH. Is it time to retire?

[frosting]

The first set of 18650s are a bit over 6 months old now. My mod read a battery as 3.1 upon discharge. I've always gone by the rules "4.2 charged, 3.2 done but better to discharge around 3.6" If it has under-powered to 3.1 is it time to retire the battery? Sorry if this is a repeat question, used search function, found weak results at best.

 

[Ryedan]

3.1 is still quite safe to discharge to. The point of no return is at around 2.5 volts. I started using mechanical mods this year and during the learning phase I discharged 18650's a couple of times to around 2.7. They are still going strong. I also aim to swap batteries at around 3.6 to 3.7 volts.

6 months is also not old. Yes, they will not perform as well as when new, but the degradation should be very minimal. Most data I've seen is that if charged to 4.2 and discharged to around 3.0 they will be good for around 300 cycles. If you discharge to 3.6 - 3.7 they should last much longer.

 

[Switched]

I have come to the same conclusion wrt the Efest cell. Yes they are comparable to AW and other premium cells out of the gate, but fail in the stretch. This is also noticeable on an analyzer. I thought it was just my perception but it is/was not, where AW cells start to wane after 1 year in service, Efest starts at 6 months. My belief is that internal resistance in the cell is the culprit by the use of sub-quality materials (unproven) I will not be purchasing Efests again

 

[BiggestPapi]

Almost a 1/2 one; 1/2 the other. I can sometimes find the Efest available at about 50% of the price of the AW. Taking that into consideration, I find them 'equal' from a cost/life perspective, but tend to believe the AW is probably a much better quality construction & materials.

 

[evan le'garde]

I found plenty of very cheap batteries of various brands on ebay. Personally though i wouldn't buy any of them. I've been tempted but i think you get what you pay for and i'd rather be safe than sorry. I'd rather pay the £12 for the imr 2000 mah andrew wang batteries and know for certain i'm getting a good quality product. I won't even buy the efest batteries for £3 less.

 

[frosting]

I have come to the same conclusion wrt the Efest cell. Yes they are comparable to AW and other premium cells out of the gate, but fail in the stretch. This is also noticeable on an analyzer. I thought it was just my perception but it is/was not, where AW cells start to wane after 1 year in service, Efest starts at 6 months. My belief is that internal resistance in the cell is the culprit by the use of sub-quality materials (unproven) I will not be purchasing Efests again

Some links to higher quality AW you use would be appreciated.

So what's your verdict? Would you keep using them when it's discharged below 3.2?