UltraFire TR 18650 3200mAh question

[Ryan H]

Here in Korea it seems to be a bit of a chore locating an unprotected battery. I cannot order them because customs turns them back to the sender... problem is, I just ordered an iTaste SVD and it is in the mail as of 3 days ago.

I found some UltraFire 18650's advertised as 3000mAh and unprotected on gmarket.co.kr, however they sent me "UltraFire TR 3200mAh 3.7v" batteries instead. The heat shrink on these batteries states that there is indeed a protection PCB in them, however I have removed the shrink on one and found no evidence of such. I have included a picture, can someone please shed some light on this? I would really like to fire up the SVD as soon as I get it, but I don't want to use funky batteries in it. I have read here in the battery info sections that UltraFire is generally crap, but I was hoping they'd at least be good enough to get me started.

Thanks in advance!
-Ryan

 

[Switched]

Ryan,

Definitely not protected good buddy. What you want for your SVD is IMR batteries e.g Lithium Manganese. Most VV/VW device require IMR. Now I know why I see a lot of place state we do not ship to South Korea. Wish you all the best in your quest good buddy

 

[permafrying]

I wouldn't use em. I've heard the Panasonic 2900 mah batteries are good on the svd 's though if your looking for a long lasting battery. Again I've only read it never tried em

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ryedan]

Ryan, I Googled a bit and found these only on eBay here. Yours are unprotected as are these. They are ICR lithium ion. Unprotected ICR li-ion are the most dangerous type of battery for our e cigs. These are the ones that can explode during use. Don't use these even once!

UltraFire and any others names with 'fire' in the name are also the batteries most frequently counterfeited.

As the guys above have said, you need IMR lithium ion or hybrid li-ion. These batteries are also not protected because the chemistry is safer and they don't need protection circuits. AW IMR, Sony IMR, MNKE IMR and Efest IMR are great. Panasonic high drain hybrids like the CGR18650CH 2250 mAh and the NCR18650PF 2900 mAh are great and will last longer between charges.

 

[Ryan H]

Ryan, I Googled a bit and found these only on eBay here. Yours are unprotected as are these. They are ICR lithium ion. Unprotected ICR li-ion are the most dangerous type of battery for our e cigs. These are the ones that can explode during use. Don't use these even once!

UltraFire and any others names with 'fire' in the name are also the batteries most frequently counterfeited.

As the guys above have said, you need IMR lithium ion or hybrid li-ion. These batteries are also not protected because the chemistry is safer and they don't need protection circuits. AW IMR, Sony IMR, MNKE IMR and Efest IMR are great. Panasonic high drain hybrids like the CGR18650CH 2250 mAh and the NCR18650PF 2900 mAh are great and will last longer between charges.

I'm aware of the dangers however I cannot readily find IMR unprotected batteries here in Korea, and as the OP stated, I also cannot mail order them from overseas. Just needed to know if the ones I have will work until I can locate some non junk batteries.

Thanks everyone, I'll be sure to update where to get IMRs in Korea when I find them.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Battery Basics for Mods. IMR or Protected? By: Baditude

 

[Ryan H]

None of the batteries listed in that post are readily available here in Korea. I will be visiting a Samsung service center tomorrow, and again I will post my results here for obtaining "safe" Li-Ion batteries in Korea. I can pay over $100 USD for two PROTECTED Panasonic batteries, or I can pay $5 for an unprotected UltraFire. Honestly if I'd have known this would be such an issue I'd have gotten a different mod, but this is where I'm at. Hopefully this info helps someone down the road.

 

[Switched]

None of the batteries listed in that post are readily available here in Korea. I will be visiting a Samsung service center tomorrow, and again I will post my results here for obtaining "safe" Li-Ion batteries in Korea. I can pay over $100 USD for two PROTECTED Panasonic batteries, or I can pay $5 for an unprotected UltraFire. Honestly if I'd have known this would be such an issue I'd have gotten a different mod, but this is where I'm at. Hopefully this info helps someone down the road.

Ryan,

Is there a ban on ecigs in South Korea?

 

[Ryan H]

No ban here, they just have something against ordering lithium from overseas.

 

[Ryan H]

Are all Panasonic NCR batteries OK? I have located some NCR 18650A batteries, though I don't know if I can order them yet.

 

[Switched]

No ban here, they just have something against ordering lithium from overseas.

Ummm? Strange! Normally it is the other way around. A country will not ship overseas, never heard of one refusing entry. Doesn't make sense!

Panasonic NCR 18650 PD = good battery

 

[Ryedan]

Are all Panasonic NCR batteries OK? I have located some NCR 18650A batteries, though I don't know if I can order them yet.

They have a max discharge rating of 8.5A and the NCR type is much safer than ICR. The SVD is limited to 5 amps. There are people here running these batteries and they are have had no issues. Personally, I don't know how they would behave if shorted but if these were the best I could get I would use them. The same applies to the NCR18650B.

The NCR18650PD Switched mentioned is very good as is the NCR18650PF. The CGR18650CH is also very good. All of these are rated for 10A and are quite safe.

Good luck with it!

 

[Ryedan]

No ban here, they just have something against ordering lithium from overseas.

Can a friend ship batteries to you from overseas, or would there be the same issues?

 

[Ryan H]

Can a friend ship batteries to you from overseas, or would there be the same issues?

I don't think it is possible unless they ship by boat, but even then it seems customs can still turn them back around.

I have located a bulk supplier of Samsung INR18650-20R's. The Samsung service center was absolutely no help at all, as are most Korean service centers. I pleaded (begged) the supplier over the phone to sell me two of them. They were extremely insistent on selling me a lot of 50 or 100 (yeah right!), but eventually caved.

The number of the supplier is: 02)2157-6767. They do not speak English, so you'll need to either speak Korean or have a Korean handy to translate for you. You'll also need a Korean bank account so that you can wire the money directly into theirs for payment (common in Korea, and it can be done at any Korean ATM).

 

[Ryedan]

Good to hear you found some. Those are great batteries too!

 

[Rickajho]

Ummm? Strange! Normally it is the other way around. A country will not ship overseas, never heard of one refusing entry. Doesn't make sense!

It does, sorta. And lot's of places have restrictions or outright bans on Li-On battery import. Pretty sure Germany is one country that also bans importation. You have to remember these batteries are pressurized. That means special precautions for cargo flight transportation to make sure an unmarked case of Li-On's doesn't end up in a non pressurized, not fire safe section of a plane and doesn't take the plane down with a runaway explosion and fire started by one crappy battery in that case.

Sure, everybody and their Mother has Li-On's in their carry on stuff and luggage. One of the requirements is that the batteries have to be mounted in the device they are used in. Stuff like that. Have you ever read the USPS regulations regarding mailing Li-On batteries? I'm talking just reading it - not actually trying to comprehend it. It kind of goes in circles.

I'm just saying for all our concerns about battery safety with what we do with them, there are reasons in play why some countries don't allow import or restrict how they are transported. And that whole FT China Post mess going on... Not to mention the Dreamliner batteries catching fire matter... When it comes to transporting Li-On's it's kind of a touchy matter for now.

 

[Ryan H]

Found a local place that sells Efest IMR18650 2000mAh batteries. Will post in the Korea forum.

Edit: For future reference.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/korea-forum/487096-found-good-e-cig-shop-changwon.html

 

[Switched]

It does, sorta. And lot's of places have restrictions or outright bans on Li-On battery import. Pretty sure Germany is one country that also bans importation. You have to remember these batteries are pressurized. That means special precautions for cargo flight transportation to make sure an unmarked case of Li-On's doesn't end up in a non pressurized, not fire safe section of a plane and doesn't take the plane down with a runaway explosion and fire started by one crappy battery in that case.

Sure, everybody and their Mother has Li-On's in their carry on stuff and luggage. One of the requirements is that the batteries have to be mounted in the device they are used in. Stuff like that. Have you ever read the USPS regulations regarding mailing Li-On batteries? I'm talking just reading it - not actually trying to comprehend it. It kind of goes in circles.

I'm just saying for all our concerns about battery safety with what we do with them, there are reasons in play why some countries don't allow import or restrict how they are transported. And that whole FT China Post mess going on... Not to mention the Dreamliner batteries catching fire matter... When it comes to transporting Li-On's it's kind of a touchy matter for now.

??? I import AWs by the truck load. Yes the rules have changed wrt battery safety in flight etc... UPS ships them the way they are supposed to be shipped. Packaging, is another thing. Individually wrapped and isolated from each other e,g like a case of booze for the lack of a better description.

Plain cell Li Ions are the ones being banned, yet Li Ions in a device are not e.g cell phones, laptops (which we know are 18650s) are all susceptible to the same environment wrt pressurized environment or not. The rule changed in Jan 2013. Cost to vendors and extra $50 per shipment.

Here is a funny observation. Some US companies will not ship to Canada, because USPS no longer ships Li Ion overseas. Last time I checked Canada is not overseas??? Yet batteries are flown across the US daily from point A to point B. Does this make sense?

 

[Mouseshooter]

There is a reason that the ****fire batteries have the word "fire" in the name!