Ultrafires....any good?

[UKtarget]

Hi all.
Not all that clued up on batteries i have never had a device like this before where a good battery is essential, even when i raced RC cars as a kid they were always nitro models.
Just been looking at the ultra fire 18350's on fleabay.
I get plus points and every 3 months get a voucher to spend on there so are they any good as i have nothing i want off there at the moment so i've seen these together with a 2 bat charger and they're 12000mah rated.
Cheers guys

[prof beard]

I think you meant 1200mah

I've used the Orange 1200mah batteries a fair bit in my SD Mk2 - they lack the protection of the TW SD batteries, but do last just a bit longer (wouldn't  stand up and swear to 1200mah though, just "a bit longer")

[CraigHB]

You have to be careful with the unprotected ones.  They can vent on you if you mistreat them.  If you can find the LiMN ones (aka IMR), they're safer.  They also have higher drain capacity which is better.  Don't put much faith in the mah ratings.  There's no standard and these small Chinese companies that make them are pretty liberal with the specs.  A really good place to go to find out about batteries is candlepowerforums.com.  Lots of comparisons with benchmarks there.  From what I've gathered, AW batts are the best, check out lighthound.com.

[Darth Vaper]

I have been using some UniqueFire  LC18650 2400mah batts in a home brew mod. They do have the PC board on them.
Rating does seem accurate as I get two days runtime out of one charge.

I am looking for something with a higher rating though..... in the 3000 + range...... I'm all ears if any know of a good one.

[UKtarget]

Cheers guys.
I guess im going to have to invest a little time in finding out more about batteries.
I'm probably going to get a ggts for my birthday as i do like those and my other halfs stuck for a prezzie, i also like the afs system.
Found these on the bay for you Darth if you want to check them out
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Spiderfire-LC-18650-3-7V-3000mAh-Rechargeable-Battery-2-/150490722625?pt=US_Batteries&hash=item2309f23141

 

[CraigHB]

I am looking for something with a higher rating though..... in the 3000 + range...... I'm all ears if any know of a good one.

There's an UltraFire 3600 mah battery, but they cheated on the rating, it's just like any other 3000(ish) battery.  The highest rated best 18650 I've come accross is the AW 2900mah.  It uses a Japanese made Panasonic LiNi battery.

[Darth Vaper]

Thanx Craig and UKTarget.

That 2900 batt is wayyyyyyyy to expensive for my wallet  Your Price:  $18.75 ouch!!!!! That's not my price.

Pass on ebay.... burned to many times....

So it seems the UniqueFire's I got off of DealExtreme weren't to bad..... think they were 2 for 7$

I was hopeful the 3000 + batts were the real deal..... or at least some of them were accurately rated.

[UKtarget]

Been really filling my brain up today with batteries and ratings and what goes best in what.

I'm into photography and we use a lot of liths in flashes etc..etc.. to be fair i never have really given them a second thought but looking now i see that there are recharge ones available for most camera uses just that some of the mah ratings are quite high.
Would i be ok with some of those? the sizes and voltages are the same and i have a couple of people i use on ebay all the time for them

[trog100]

size  for size they are mostly much of a muchness.. the factory brands them with whatever the seller asks for.. i dont think there are that many factories that make them to be honest..

the orange ultrafire ones are quite good.. folks buy high numbers which explains the chinese exaggerations..

i always avoid the super high numbers.. they ether carry too high a price premium or are just lies.. sometimes both.. 

trog

ps.. i have just been talking to someone into high powered electric bikes.. they use flat lithium polymer cells around 4 amps per cell.. a nice idea for a long lasting box mod.. he he he.. 10 x 4 amp cell in series gives 40 volts.. three such packs in parallel gives 40 volts at 12 amps.. they are not protected cells so if an e cig scares you avoid electric bikes..  he he he..

[CraigHB]

You have to take those manufacturer ratings with a grain of salt.  People over at candlepowerforums have done some real world discharge tests on a bunch of the 18650 batts out there.  It's interesting and very enlightening.  

Yea, the lithium polymer batteries are amazing, hard to find them in a cylindrical package though.  They're mostly flat.  I'm looking at doing a box mod with a lipol batt that's 74x64x9mm (about the size of a cigarette pack, but much thinner) and it has a jaw dropping 5ah.  It's a real world rating at .2C down to 2.75V so it's no exaggeration.  Comes from a battery company based in Silicon Valley and it's pretty cheap, considering.

[trog100]

li-ion cells seem to be made of rolled up copper sheet with what i assume to be lithium powder on one side.. the cylinder shape kind of fits with how they are made.. the bike guys like the flat (polymer) shape because there is no wasted shape when they are made into packs.. they also stand more "abuse".. in theory they can be any shape to fit any thing..

just for interest it was my interest in high power led torches ( i have quite a collection) that directly led to the development of the screwdriver.. 

one kind of led into the other.. pun unavoidable.. he he

trog