18650 cells,

[DanSteely]

Hi All,

 

I am struggling to find a UK supplier of flat top 18650 battery cells for a ressonable price.

I've looked on RS but the prices are expensive at £39.72 for 5 delivered.

CPC are even more expensive.

 

Any suggestions?

[Jivemaster]

The cheaper the cell usually the less the real capacity or the greater the difference between the real and marked capacity.

[Cameroon]

"Dead" Makita batteries

[DanSteely]

It's gone through my mind to go to the £1 shop and pick up a bunch of they're emergency phone chargers and give them a try.

[Jivemaster]

Sadly if you want good cells of good capacity you will pay RS type prices. If you can tolerate low capacity cells I suspect ebay or other online platforms will have something useable and cheaper.

[pmiller056]

Assuming you are buying genuine cells, do check the cell datasheet if you can. Most people focus soley on the Ah rating. You also need to consider the intended discharge use (and other factors, but that's most important). Cells intended for power tool batteries will have a lower Ah rating, but will survive high current discharge duty well. A USB power bank has a longer term, lower current discharge duty, so these tend to use higher Ah rated cells better suited for this usage.

[musht]

https://www.fogstar.co.uk

 

https://www.megacellmonitor.com/CellTypes

[DanSteely]

Many thanks Musht for the links.

 

I was aware of the Fogstar one but not the database one which loks very useful.

 

I wonder if Clive has any thoughts on this subject?

Edited August 11, 2021 by DanSteely

[musht]

Secondlife Storage is other large 18650 database,from the DIY powerwall crew ripping redundant laptop battery packs.

 

https://secondlifestorage.com/index.php?pages/cell-database/

 

Thing to remember is 18650 is a package size not a specification, bit like looking for a TO220 transistor.

 

Fogstar cater to vaping market with need for very high discharge rates, Anker brand USB banks can be found with high quality cells that are cheaper than buying cells alone, but other end of scale, low discharge rate.

 

Avoid anything with Ultra in the name , like Ultrafire or the AAA cells in 18650 sleeves packed with sand.

 

Sure Clive has a video somewhere on hilarious Ebay rechargeable capacity claims, the 9900mAH AA`s ;-)

 

Edit from quick glance, real top end on an 18650 is around 4200, 9900 from appropriately named GTF.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284400788416

Edited August 11, 2021 by musht

[ojc123]

I got some from 18650.uk for a project. Delivery, packaging etc was good. The prices seemed to be similar for decent brands though wherever I looked.

[DanSteely]

Just to report back:

 

I raided our local Pound Shop and bought 5x £2 'power banks' and removed the cells and used them to replace the faulty ones.

 

The fix seems to have worked - so far.

 

The markings on the cells were:

 

18650 3.7V 2200mAh 8.14Wh

SZNS HG40313EL 703255

 

The TO220 analogy is a good one and thanks for that.

 

Interestingly the cells they were replacing were actually 22mm diameter x 65mm long so I guess they would be 22650? - which I really struggled to find anywhere.

 

Thanks all.

[DrV]

Disregard! Should have read the op more carefully. Edited August 13, 2021 by DrV

[paulears]

I bought these for radios used in airsoft team games - they have been solid - decent length of time on a full charge and all seem to last the same time.

[DanSteely]

Hi All,

 

Can anyone tell me the name of the silver coloured metal connector strip that joins cells together?

 

Many thanks

[Jivemaster]

18650 battery nickel strip

 

Lots of ebay listings.