Note that an individual tube is called a cell and it is a group of them connected which is called a battery; maybe more appropriately it is a battery of cells.
See also:
- Lithium ion battery jumpstart
- The main battery I use is the model
INR21700M50T, an unprotected flat-top 21700, in a Convoy S12 flashlight.
Recommendations ∞
You desperately want high-quality batteries. Price must not be part of the consideration; high price does not mean high quality.
-
- https://illumn.com/batteries-chargers-and-powerpax-carriers/batteries.html
- Specifically: 21700 LG INR21700M50LT 5000mAh High Discharge Flat Top
- 21700 Acebeam IMR21700H-400A 4000mAh 30A High Discharge Protected Button Top (USB-C Charge Port)
- 21700 Acebeam IMR21700NP-510A 5100mAh 20A High Discharge Protected Button Top (USB-C Recharge Port)
- 21700 Acebeam IMR21700NP-510A 5100mAh High Discharge Protected Button Top
- https://liionwholesale.com/
- https://www.mtnelectronics.com/
- convoy.aliexpress.com/store/330416
- www.aliexpress.com/store/3391004
- www.aliexpress.com/store/1382210
-
www.aliexpress.com/store/1191644
You can directly search for a very specific phrase, such as buy "LG INR21700M50LT"
Others noted here for reference ∞
-
LG 21700 M50 INR21700 M50T M50T M50LT M50L 21700 battery cell 5000mah 3.7V battery cell 10A(GRADE A)
- LG INR21700M50LT(life cycle 1000 times)
- LG INR21700M50T(life cycle 500 times)
These seem like clone stores for SEO purposes.
- https://www.vape360.ca/products/aspire-21700-3800mah-battery-25a
- https://www.vape360.ca/products/efest-20700-battery-3000mah-30a
- Samsung 30T 3000mah [ 1 ]
- https://fatpanda.ca/products/samsung-30t-21700-300mah-35a
- https://fatpanda.ca/products/samsung-40t-21700-4000mah-30a-battery
- https://fatpanda.ca/products/efest-30a-3000mah-20700-battery
- https://theravape.net/products/samsung-40t-3-7v-30a-4000mah-21700-battery-flat-top
- https://theravape.net/products/ijoy-21700-40a-3750mah-21700-battery-flat-top
- https://theravape.net/products/ijoy-20700-40a-3000mah-20700-battery-flat-top
-
https://theravape.net/products/ijoy-21700-40a-3750mah-21700-battery-flat-top
Terms ∞
-
-(negative) and+(positive)- When putting a battery in your device, you must match these ends. Some devices simply won't work, and other devices will potentially damage the battery; see below for protected batteries.
- A button-top will generally be at the
+end. - The technical term is battery terminal, with the positive terminal (
+) called a cathode and the negative terminal (-) called an anode.
-
Button top
- The little bump at one of the ends, usually the
+/positive/cathode end. - Many, but not all, protected batteries have a button top.
- The little bump at one of the ends, usually the
-
Protection
- Various measures to deal with common issues and dangers with batteries: Overheating, over-voltage, under-voltage, reversed-polarity, pressure. Protected batteries often have a button top.
-
Amperage (
A)- A measure of how much power a battery can provide and a device wants to draw. Match them.
- A device that is high amperage will aggressively draw power. If your battery cannot keep up, it will heat up and be damaged. Some heat is normal during use, but if your amperage mismatches you will cause potentially dangerous hazards like fire and chemical smoke.
- Is it okay to use a high amperage battery? (yes)
-
Voltage (
V)- An absolutely critical number to match with your device. Although this has standards across battery types, there are variations which you must pay attention to. For example:
- Various rechargeable AA batteries are different. A NiCd and NiMH are 1.2V, but lithium-ion batteries are 3.7 V. The lithium-ion are the same shape as AA but are labelled "14500". Even more confusing, there are 14500 batteries which have circuitry to reduce the voltage to 1.5V.
-
Milliamp hour (milliamps,
mAh)- Capacity; how much overall energy a battery can store.
-- This is kind of like the size of a swimming pool holding a certain amount of water. - This capacity is an estimate, and it is reduced over the lifespan of the battery. Over the lifetime of a battery, some will lose capacity steeply and others gradually.
- Capacity; how much overall energy a battery can store.
-
Kilowatt-hour (
mWh)- Capacity; how long a battery can provide energy.
- Some manufacturers will use this number as a way to inflate the number they label with. It is a dishonest practice and a sign that you might want to avoid that company. Instead, look for the standardized milliamp hour (
mAh)
-
- Rechargeable batteries do not last forever. This number is the estimated number of times a battery can be charged then discharged (used) before becoming wholly unusable; it cannot be recharged, cannot keep a charge, and cannot provide power.
- This number gives you a very rough estimate of how confident a manufacturer is in the battery. It is not a sudden stop, but a gradual decline influenced by how used and well-maintained a battery has been.
- Manufacturers which provide these data, and especially those which give a graph of the decline, are going out of their way to appear be honest and forthcoming.
Questions ∞
Is it okay to use a high amperage battery? ∞
Universally yes.
- Your device has an amperage usage of
x -
Your battery is of amperage
y
y must be equal or greater than x.
Amperage is a measure of how much could be provided, if called for. If your device doesn't ask for additional amperage, that's okay!
Should I get a very high amperage battery? ∞
If your device requires it.
If none of your devices need a high amperage battery, then a high amperage battery does not provide any benefit whatsoever.
High amperage in a battery is not a measure of quality, uptime, or lifespan.
One advantage is that you have a battery available for other devices which might need the high amperage. The last thing you'd want is to buy some new high-power flashlight and not have batteries which it can use for it's highest setting or at all.
So if you want batteries that will work in everything you have or might have in the future, getting only high amperage batteries is a good way to future-proof.
Is it okay to use a high wattage battery / power source? ∞
Universally yes.
It's the same situation as amperage, see Is it okay to use a high amperage battery?.
Should I get a very high amperage battery? ∞
If your device requires it.
It's the same situation as amperage, see Should I get a very high amperage battery?.
Adapting batteries / extending terminals ∞
Yes, but I do not have direct experience.
All other things considered (Amperage, Voltage, etc.), a smaller battery will probably have a significantly lower mAh capacity and so the device it powers will not run for as long.
There are adapters which you can purchase, which are probably the best idea. I've been told that one can use small magnets to extend the terminals, but I can't find proper information on this. Any conductive metal should work, but again I have no experience.
This seems like a stupid idea to me, but if you're in a desperate situation then it's your risk to take.
Battery codes ∞
See also List of battery sizes.
The three main sizes I care about are:
- 14500 Lithium Batteries are of the AA battery standard.
- 18650 is another size, meant for larger devices like flashlights.
-
21700 is for high-drain flashlights.
Chargers ∞
Your charger should have basic safety measures like not overcharging, overheating, or detecting when the - and + terminals have been switched because the user put the battery in backwards. Remember that not all batteries themselves have the same safety measures in place, notably the various "flat top" 18650 and 21700 batteries.
If you want an exceptional charger for all of these, I recommend the Nitecore UI1 USB Charger.
Last updated 2023-07-15 at 15:28:08
I forgot to mention wattage.