Introduce
You’ve seen 18650 batteries advertised as rated for 35A, 40A, or even 60A. These batteries sound like they would be perfect for mech mods or high-powered box mods . But there’s a big problem with this… as of January 2016, there are no 18650 batteries that are capable of delivering over 30A for vapers to use.
The rating does not limit the capacity of the battery.
The battery has a rating printed on it, but that is not the maximum current rating you can use.
There has been a lot of confusion regarding the rating of a battery and the amount of current you can draw from it while vaping . The most important thing to remember is that the rating does not specify the maximum amount of current a battery can provide.
The current rating, for example 20A on the Samsung 25R, specifies the maximum current you can continuously draw from the battery during a discharge while maintaining the battery's lifespan and not overheating it. Any battery can handle more than this, especially the pulsing that we do when vaping.
Current rating is an important indicator when comparing batteries. Knowing the actual current rating of each battery is the only way to know which one is better. You can consider it as a basic indicator to evaluate the performance. You can go by the manufacturer's rating, but this indicator allows you to easily choose the most suitable battery for you among the myriad of batteries on the market.
Side information
In the world, there are only a few companies involved in battery production.
“It costs thousands of dollars to start producing a normal battery line.”
So where do all the different types of batteries we see come from? They come from two main sources:
- Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG batteries are re-wrapped.
- Batteries are manufactured by Chinese companies
Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG re-wrapped batteries
The thin plastic shell that covers the battery is called a liner. A re-wrapped battery is one in which the original shell has been stripped off and a new shell has been placed over it.
Small companies buy batteries, re-wrap them, inflate their amperage and capacity, and also inflate their prices, selling them as high-capacity batteries. So how do we know if the battery rating has been inflated?
“The highest current rating of Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG batteries is 30A”
The re-wrapping companies buy them, but the batteries we can buy cheap still have the original packaging from the manufacturer, so why buy them? I think there is no specific reason other than that they are the best we can find. But if you like the new packaging and are willing to pay the high price, that is up to you. You have to be careful, because re-wrapped batteries can be low quality batteries that do not pass the quality inspection of the big 4 companies and are sold to other companies. These low quality batteries do not perform as well as the high quality batteries that the big 4 keep for sale.
Batteries made in China
There has been a wave of new batteries hitting the market aimed at vapers this year. Many of them are not re-engineered batteries from the Big 4. They are made by companies in China. Two examples are the Aspire 18650 1800mAH and 2500mAh batteries. They are made by Long De Li Energy, a subsidiary of Aspire.
Aspire 18650 battery
If we don't use batteries from the Big4, how do we know that the 35A or higher current rating is exaggerated? There are two ways, one is to try it. I have tried many batteries that are said to have a current rating higher than 30A, but none of them can exceed the 25A threshold. The second way is to look at the batteries produced by the Big4. They are large companies, able to spend a large amount of money on research and development of batteries. If they can't even create batteries with a rating above 30A, it's hard to believe that smaller companies can do this. Can this be considered solid evidence? Probably not. But it is true that up to now, no 18650 battery has a current rating exceeding 30A.
So will they appear in the future? They will appear, I just don't know when.
Classification of battery current ratings
If battery ratings can be exaggerated, how can vapers differentiate between true battery ratings and exaggerated numbers? The best way is to always remember that those numbers are too good to be true.
Despite all the hype surrounding battery development, the truth is that it is a slow process rather than a sudden breakthrough. Every few weeks there may be a rumor of a breakthrough in the battery industry, but it exists only in the lab. Those batteries will not appear on the market for years, if ever. And most of them are high-capacity, low-current batteries.
Let’s look at a few criteria that will help us see what the actual rating of a battery is. First, we need to know the difference between the different current ratings:
- Current rating
+ Also known as continuous discharge rating (CDR), maximum continuous current rating (MCC) or maximum continuous discharge rating (MCD).
+ This is the maximum continuous current that the battery can supply up to a certain voltage without increasing the temperature and causing the battery to suffer damage to its capacity.
+ This is the current intensity definition of Big 4, for example:
Panasonic NCR 18650 GA 3500mAh battery = 10A
Samsung 25R 2500mAh battery = 20A
LG0 HB6 1500mAh = 30A battery
This is a basic index to easily compare batteries with each other.
- Fast discharge
+ Also used to specify the continuous discharge level of the battery.
+ This is the maximum current you can draw from the battery without affecting the battery life too much. As vapers, we can stretch this number a bit.
+ Usually comes with a minimum discharge current rating.
+ Low rating, often used for devices using low current intensity such as flashlights.
+ This rating is used when the metric being evaluated is battery life.
- Maximum discharge current
+ Used to specify the maximum current level the battery can supply for a period of time
(To be continued)
Source: Vaping360
Author: Mooch
Translator: The Vape Club