Efest 18650 or AW IMR 18650?

[Jim Diamond]

I've used Efests for over a year with no issues.

 

[fabricator4]

Hi all! I bought a Vamo (v2 though). I have yet to use this thing because I am skeptical on the batteries that I purchased. The vendor sold me 2 ICR 18350's and said that these were recommended by the manufacturer. My understanding so far is that you are supposed to use IMR's in ALL APV's. Could have been an error or mistake, on the vendors part. These batteries are grey in color and 'Special Lithium Battery' is printed on them (Made by D.K.L. Battery). He also said you can stack these batteries in which... again, I thought that it wasn't safe to stack. You can use one 18650 in stealth mode, but I haven't bought the 18650 battery yet. My question is... are the icr's safe to use in the VAMO? (yes, this battery thing is a headache!)

Some info here: Exploding Battery

I believe the batteries are not fully protected, only short circuit protected. It's just an example of how to take short cuts for the sake of cost.

Stacking batteries is fine... until something goes wrong...

For safety:
1) Use a quality charger that maintains the battery correctly
2) Use IMR (lithium manganese) safer chemistry batteries
3) Use the largest real capacity IMR you can afford (higher maximum current ratings = greater safety)
4) Don't stack batteries.


Failing to observe any one of these will not instantly result in an exploding battery. As you get more of them wrong however, and over time, your likelihood of having an incident with batteries increases.

The charger is probably the most important thing in avoiding problems and keeping the batteries in good condition. The chemistry of the battery is the thing that will minimise the dangers if something does happen to go wrong. That is why IMR batteries are recommended.

You can check the charger and batteries with a multimeter, and this can tell you if the charger is tending to overcharge. If you stack, check the batteries frequently with a multimeter. If everything is OK, then you are safe, for now.

If batteries run warm, go flat quicker than they should, or don't seem charge in the correct time, then consider if there's something wrong and take the battery out of service.

 

[vidoq]

i prefer to use grey panasonic CGR18650CH with little magnet for Provari and without for GGTS

 

[IMRs]

Thanks for the input Fabricator! It's nice to be skeptical sometimes. I will take all of my research and the 99% of the people that told me not to use ICR's and run with it. I'm going to order a couple right now. I won't feel safe with these with all of the negative feedback about them . As far as stacking, I don't really have to do that anyhow because if you want it in stealth mode, you can just throw an 18650 in it with the screw on attachment it comes with. Thanks again!

 

[Muido]

Sorry, just have to correct that last post. The Vamo in "stealth" mode would involve using a single 18350. Using an 18650 with said attachment would make the Vamo longer, actually decreasing any stealthiness it may have had.

Anyway, quick question. A few months back, I purchased some stuff from a company called Vaporbreak. Not knowing very much about batteries, I saw how cheap they were selling them and bought a few. The 18350s I got are Trustfire garbage. The 18650s seem to work better, but I've no idea what they are! After checking the site, it doesn't say what they are or where they come from other than that they're 18650 batteries (duh) and the wrapper the batteries are in provide no information either other than HBK18650SR 1550 mah. I googled that and came up with nothing. Anyone have a clue what these things are? Buying new ones soon anyway but I'd still like to know what I've been using and how close I've been to a mishap

 

[sawtoothscream]

Have them all ... MNKEs, AWs and Panny 2200s.

I run mechanicals on Gennys around 1.2 ohms using 28ga Kanthal. The Orby 2900s kick up way faster and produce far more power and for much longer. For what I'm using the MNKEs and AW perform about the same, but not as well as the Orbies. I don't consider the Pannys in the same league as they take too long to get going and don't produce as much power although they last a bit longer than either the MNKEs or the AWs. Further, they seem to have a continual drop-off of power. I can't comment if any of this makes any difference on most electronic mods since many regulate it.

The Orby's been out now I think for 3 months ... possibly even longer. Many extremely low-ohm vapors prefer them, but they also render much better performance in the mid-ranges. My second choice would be the AWs, but their power doesn't match the Orbys and only have about half the capacity. And still, the Orbys have no loss of performance for well over two 3.2ml tanks.

My biggest gripe about batteries has been slow speeds coming up to full power. I don't want to wait 2 - 5 seconds before the coils start to sizzle ... the Orbys are up nearly instantly ... no waiting, fast draw-vaping. On their account I had to modify my DIY flavoring to better accommodate their performance characteristics.

I use panasonic ncr18650pd in my mech and it fires up my coils fast. im running a .7ohm micro coil and ran a .4 dual coil set up with them. Seem to work great. going to grab some aw imr 18650 1600mah soon and see how they stack up

 

[Baditude]

i prefer to use grey panasonic CGR18650CH with little magnet for Provari and without for GGTS

I assume you know that is considered to be dangerous and an unsafe battery practice. AND that it VOIDS THE WARRANTY with Provape.

"We recommend only using AW IMR high drain batteries in your ProVari.

You must use batteries that have a positive button on the top. Flat top batteries will not work. Installing magnet(s) on top of your battery is very dangrous and will void the warranty."

 

[IMRs]

Oh, I thought stealth meant longer. Sorry about that, Muido. Thanks.

 

[evan le'garde]

I don't know what kind of a mod you use. I HIGHLY recommend these. MNKE IMR18650 3.7v Li-MN Rechargable Battery - Avid Vaper

Aw's are best !. I've seen the efest and aw batteries on the same site and went for the aw's even though they are about £5 more each. I figured they'd be better.

Ps
That's one hell of a moustache you've got there jimi D.

..

 

[Jimi D.]

Aw's are best !. I've seen the efest and aw batteries on the same site and went for the aw's even though they are about £5 more each. I figured they'd be better.

Ps
That's one hell of a moustache you've got there jimi D.

View attachment 253914 ..

You are correct. At the time I had the 2000 mah Aw's. I had no idea that the AW 1600 mah are rated like 20 amps. I bought a couple of them a few weeks ago. One hell of a battery ! Better than the MNKE's imo.

Thanks ! I do need to get "Just For Men" to remove this dang grey though

 

[Baditude]

You are correct. At the time I had the 2000 mah Aw's. I had no idea that the AW 1600 mah are rated like 20 amps. I bought a couple of them a few weeks ago. One hell of a battery ! Better than the MNKE's imo.

The 1600 mAh AWs are rated at 24 amp. The MNKE are rated 20 am. AW 2000 mAH rated at 10 amp.

AW IMR
18650 2000mah 10A
18650 1600mah 24A

Panasonic ​or Orbtronic hybrid
CGR18650CH (IMR/Li Ion hybrid) 2250mAh 10A
NCR18650PD (high drain-high capacity) 2900mAh 10A

Samsung hybrid (LiNiCoMnP)
INR18650-20R 2000mah 20A

MNKE IMR
IMR18650 1500mah 20A

Sony IMR
us18650v3 IMR 2250mAh 10A

EFEST IMR
18650 2000mah 10A​

 

[chrisk213]

AW Batteries ...!!!

 

[Plumes.91]

Efests are good, but they aren't as good as AW and I say that 100% sure of myself. They don't hold a charge as long in my experience and they just cannot handle the same things AW can handle. I believe Efest batteries are the 2nd best batteries available, but they are 2nd for a reason. If I remember correctly, they actually outperform AW batteries in some areas, but they are not areas that I use batteries for. I completely forget what it is they outperform AWs in so I can't say what it is. But they are genuinely good batteries and there isn't a huge difference, but the difference can be noticed.

 

[Jimi D.]

The 1600 mAh AWs are rated at 24 amp. The MNKE are rated 20 am. AW 2000 mAH rated at 10 amp.

AW IMR
18650 2000mah 10A
18650 1600mah 24A

Panasonic ​or Orbtronic hybrid
CGR18650CH (IMR/Li Ion hybrid) 2250mAh 10A
NCR18650PD (high drain-high capacity) 2900mAh 10A

Samsung hybrid (LiNiCoMnP)
INR18650-20R 2000mah 20A

MNKE IMR
IMR18650 1500mah 20A

Sony IMR
us18650v3 IMR 2250mAh 10A

EFEST IMR
18650 2000mah 10A​

Yeah I own them all.

 

[Gr8MonkE]

I personally prefer AW batteries over Efest. The AW batteries hold a charge longer for me. I use 18350, 18500, and 18650.

 

[JX3P]

Samsung hybrid (LiNiCoMnP)
INR18650-24R 2400mah 25A

 

[Dr Shakamoto]

Neither of the above imo, though they're very similar. I use eFest 18350s personally and have had no problems.

Panasonic CGR18650CH 2250mAh Hybrid Batteries are what I swear by for long-mode. Be sure to get flat tops as the button tops wont fit in most mods except maybe the Vamo/Similar. None of the Panasonics will fit in a Provari.

Button tops deffo fit the Vamo V5

 

[mackman]

Quote"For some reason my aw imr 18650 2000 mah I get 50 hrs between chargers and I vape 6ml a day compared to my evic stock Samsung 18650 2600 mah I get may 30 hrs."


3 ohm coil @ 3.7v or 4.6 watts consumes 1233 milliamps with a 2000mah battery the charge life would be around 1.4 hours of continuous use charge

 

[Eziush]

I've used efest for 5 months and it's discharging so fast right now. I'm going to test an AW IMR right now. Used them in my S.I.D and now in Nem clone, got some netbook batteries for the first one now so I left my high-voltage ones for mechs.

 

[emus]

I prefer flat top 18350 for nemesis.
Seat of the pants my AW and efest 18350 perform the same.