Samsung 35E 3500mAh 18650 Bench Test Results...a so-so 8A battery

Hi Mooch,
So I bought two pairs of these to use in a regulated box mod (Wismec Predator 228). I'm a bit concerned about your 8A rating. Are these safe to use in regulated devices, and what would the limits be for wattage etc as a pair? Thank you for everything you do! We need to get you back on the Vaping Biker's channel for another interview! Thanks for any help you can provide.
P.s. I am considering purchasing my first mech tube, but cannot find VTC5A batteries in Stock at the moment. Would you recommend Samsung 25R or another cell as a compromise?

 

They would be a very poor choice for your power device, great flashlight cells.
Most would recommend at least 20a CDR cells for use in power devices like yours.

Plenty vtc5A's in stock, of course dependent on where in the world you are.

 

I'm in the USA, AZ to be exact. I usually purchase from illumn.com, but they're on backorder...

 

---> Sony, LG, Samsung, Panasonic
Shows 450+ in stock

 

So, at 65-80W am I just losing battery life, or is this dangerous?

 

Wismec recommends ( " discharge current should be above 25a " ) for the predator on their site & in instruction/user manual.

When quality cells with sufficient amp rate are so readily available & inexpensive why do you want to use cells that could be severely limiting or problematic.

 

I don't want to continue using them. I already placed an order for 4 VTC5A cells, but wanted to make sure my batteries weren't going to explode in the meantime. Also, I have a friend who bought some 35E's and he was worried too. I must sound like a complete idiot to you guys, but that's why I came here for advice. I have one pair of HE2's that weren't married (they were rotated in single 18650 mods) that I'm using since you scared me off of the 35E's. But that's my only other option until the VTC5A's arrive.

 

Thank you Mooch, like I said I am here to learn. I don't usually vape above 85W, and my usual is between 65-75. However, a friend of mine also has these batteries and he vapes over 100w regularly. Neither of us chain vape, but it's still scary to find out the batteries you're using aren't rated for that application. Thank you again for all the info, and helping me along.

 

I apologize if my responses seemed brusque.
Sound like an idiot?, No, quite the opposite.
You asked good questions about batteries, something too few beginning vapers with high power devices do.

Battery saftey is not something to take lightly, even using name brand quality cells sometimes a scenario presents itself just right for bad things to happen, sure it is rare, but can happen.
How often? how severe? impossible to quantify, if you go around pushing luck, sooner or later luck may push back.

 

Wisdom is the true essence of safety fellows.
Don't abuse your batteries and you'll always be fine.

More or less recently someone pulled a couple of cells out of laptop pack, inserted them in a regulated mod and dialed “120W” to briefly after complain about “low performance”. Can't really recall precisely what happened, just gave it a quick peek and intervention, and a mod closed the thread. However, please understand that, due to the extreme voltage sag (Vout = Vnoload - (I × Rbatt)), doing this can't be precisely considered “unsafe” because the cutoff bell of the mod will instantaneously ring (LoL!). Can't really say how your regulated mods work, but in BMS equipped batteries this means instant shutdown.

In terms of efficiency and lifespan, I like to divide the maximum continuous discharge current by √2. Considering the output power dissipated in a cell/battery is P = I² × Rcell, it is easy to understand we are dividing the “heating ratio” in half by doing this (half thermal stress). For a 20A cell, this means a tad above 14A. Another way: multiply by half of √2.

 

Hey Elvis, I just thought of another question about these cells. You mentioned great for a flashlight, but how about using them in a coil master 521 tab? I'm sure they would do fine for reading the ohms, but how about pulsing for glowing contact coils etc? Thanks again!

 

I wouldn't use them in a coil master / ohms checker box that is capable of firing the coil.
The amp draw on the battery is the same wether used in a power device to vape or in an ohms checker that fires the coil.

 

That's pretty much what I figured, just wanted to check. Thank you!