Question XTAR Batteries are they the "Best" and the "Reference" for batteries?

[BoltSnap]

Not sure why people dont just buy genuine samsung/panasonic cells...

Samsung 35E 18650 3500mAh 8A -Protected Button Top Battery

Get the Samsung 35E 18650 3500mAh 8A protected button top battery for reliable power. Perfect for flashlights, doorbells, and more. Ensure safety and compatibility.

www.18650batterystore.com

Are these batteries better batteries or are they from the original cell mfg.? Why do you recommend them over the XTAR ones?

 

[tursiops]

Not sure why people dont just buy genuine samsung/panasonic cells...

Samsung 35E 18650 3500mAh 8A -Protected Button Top Battery

Get the Samsung 35E 18650 3500mAh 8A protected button top battery for reliable power. Perfect for flashlights, doorbells, and more. Ensure safety and compatibility.

www.18650batterystore.com

Sometimes you need 10 or 15A batteries....

 

[tbone1004]

Are these batteries better batteries or are they from the original cell mfg.? Why do you recommend them over the XTAR ones?

The problem is you don't know who the original cell mfg is. Xtar doesn't manufacture batteries and if they aren't telling you who made them then you have no reason to believe they are higher quality than the top quality cells in the world. I promise you if they were Samsung/Sanyo/LG cells they would be marketing that fact....

Sometimes you need 10 or 15A batteries....

Protected 3500mAh 10A 18650 Button Top Battery (Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA cell inside) - Wholesale Discount

The LiionWholesale Protected 3500mAh (NCR18650GA) is a PCB protected button top version of the Sanyo NCR18650GA. This is a 3500 mAh 10 A battery and is one of the best batteries we offer for high discharge flashlights or other devices that need a high capacity but medium discharge protected...

liionwholesale.com

BUTTON Top 15A 3000mAh 18650 Battery (Samsung INR18650-30Q inside)

This battery is manufactured under our brand and uses as its main component a genuine Samsung 30Q 3000 mAh battery cell. This is an amazing cell, extremely low internal resistance similar to the 25R but with a higher capacity of 3 Ah. As always with Liion Wholesale, you can be confident we only...

liionwholesale.com

 

[runsongas]

@BoltSnap modern lithium battery plants are expensive to set up, there aren't that many true OEMs and many smaller brands are just rebadged (same as how the smaller dive gear brands are getting their regs made by ODS). the assurance with getting a brand that discloses the original OEM (eg samsung/LG/sony/sanyo/panasonic) is that they are using new cells and not a hodgepodge of QC rejects or harvested used batteries from recycled laptop packs. with that said, XTAR is better regarded as a brand so the chances you'll get something as junky as TrustFire/UltraFire is a lot lower.

 

[tridacna]

Might be relevant

Project Farm on YouTube

That guy is my hero!

 

[Whitrzac]

Sometimes you need 10 or 15A batteries....

Then you can buy the 30q cells, lol.

What are you building that has a <15min burn time?

 

[runsongas]

high amp cells are generally for vapes

 

[Thunder Struck]

One of the considerations with the cells is the protection from over discharge. They should shut off and not allow to be discharged to flat. This is done through the BMS circuit that is on the cell when it is typically packaged as a button top cell. It will vary by manufacturer but the BMS should shut off typically from 2.0-2.5 volts.

I've been happy using cells from Orbtronic. The use Japanese cells in their construction and they have proper shutoff cell protection verified with my own testing. For charging I use a Nitecore UMS2 charger.

I use my West Mountain Radio CBA IV for testing some 18650 and 21700 cells. I can assign it a load and it will chug along draining the cell at the assigned rate. Following is a plot of such a test. I used three different 18650 Li-ion cells, a couple Victagen 3200 mAh, an Ultralast 3400 mAh, and a couple Orbtronic 3500 mAh cells. The graph clearly shows the BMS cutting off the cells for the Ultralast and the Orbtronic at about the 2.1-2.2 volt mark. The Victagen just wanted to keep on trucking until my pre-programmed cutoff at 1.5V. Once the Li-ion cells get below 3V they start to tank quickly. They hold a fairly flat discharge rate compared to alkaline or lead acid batteries, but once they start to turn, it's an exponential drop.

The Victagen cells make it to 81-84% their rated capacity even when tested at a .2C (C being the Ah rating of the cell) draw rate. This along with their lack of cutoff protection leaves for much to be desired. The Ultralast tested to 96% of rated capacity and the Orbtronic cells to 95%. Really, not enought of a difference to make a difference.

A pair of Orbtronic 18650 3500 mAh cells sell for $26 from Orbtronic, and the Ultralast are sold for slightly more to considerably more depending on retailer ($13.50 from zbattery.com to $31 from Grainger). The Victagen cells came from Amazon with a charger for $23. A prime example of you get what you pay for, the stereotypical cheap Chinese junk.

 

[Thunder Struck]

And to tail on: The Xtar web site states their 3500 mAh cells are Panasonic-Sanyo cells inside. So Xtar is simply repacking them with a BMS. Basically the same product as Orbtronic is offering. I've no experience with the Xtar units, but if they are as they claim, I'd expect similar performance to the Orbtronic units given that they have the same underlying cells. Prices are comparable to one another with a quick web search shows imrbatteries.com selling them at $13/ea.

 

[Ukmc]

One of the considerations with the cells is the protection from over discharge. They should shut off and not allow to be discharged to flat. This is done through the BMS circuit that is on the cell when it is typically packaged as a button top cell. It will vary by manufacturer but the BMS should shut off typically from 2.0-2.5 volts.

I've been happy using cells from Orbtronic. The use Japanese cells in their construction and they have proper shutoff cell protection verified with my own testing. For charging I use a Nitecore UMS2 charger.

I use my West Mountain Radio CBA IV for testing some 18650 and 21700 cells. I can assign it a load and it will chug along draining the cell at the assigned rate. Following is a plot of such a test. I used three different 18650 Li-ion cells, a couple Victagen 3200 mAh, an Ultralast 3400 mAh, and a couple Orbtronic 3500 mAh cells. The graph clearly shows the BMS cutting off the cells for the Ultralast and the Orbtronic at about the 2.1-2.2 volt mark. The Victagen just wanted to keep on trucking until my pre-programmed cutoff at 1.5V. Once the Li-ion cells get below 3V they start to tank quickly. They hold a fairly flat discharge rate compared to alkaline or lead acid batteries, but once they start to turn, it's an exponential drop.

The Victagen cells make it to 81-84% their rated capacity even when tested at a .2C (C being the Ah rating of the cell) draw rate. This along with their lack of cutoff protection leaves for much to be desired. The Ultralast tested to 96% of rated capacity and the Orbtronic cells to 95%. Really, not enought of a difference to make a difference.

A pair of Orbtronic 18650 3500 mAh cells sell for $26 from Orbtronic, and the Ultralast are sold for slightly more to considerably more depending on retailer ($13.50 from zbattery.com to $31 from Grainger). The Victagen cells came from Amazon with a charger for $23. A prime example of you get what you pay for, the stereotypical cheap Chinese junk.

I have an XTAR charger that will check actual battery capacity for you. (I think several of their models are capable to do it). New XTAR batteries were spot on on their capacity. I checked my older batteries and they were lower. However, I think all these Li recharger batteries lose their capacity with re-charge cycles.