18350 flat-tops and old stock - performance issues?

[Crispycritters]

When it comes to 'old stock' batteries - all batteries deteriorate with age, they will still have the same Amp draw capability but they will have a reduced capacity to store energy. If they have been badly stored in very hot or cold conditions the deterioration will be excessive. If they have been stored for an extended period of time the internal voltage could have dropped below 2.5V at some point possibly causing internal damage; if this has happened the Amp rating is also meaningless as they could crap out at any moment.

Personally I would avoid any cells you know to be discontinued.

 

[izznet]

@Crispycritters -- That sounds very sensible. I think we can draw a line through question #1:

So unless anyone's got some alternative 18350s to the Vapcells / Fogstar's YDL 18350 (same battery) -- I'll just say thanks to everyone for chiming in so quickly and getting me up to speed on the current state of 18350s.

Steer clear of old bargain bucket stock with batteries no longer in production -- seems like sound advice.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[RAPTOREX]

Hi all,

The 18350 batteries I've used that seems to have performed well are:
Efest, then Shokli and more recently the Vapcell 1100(10A,and now Mk II 9A).

I'm struggling to find out if / when the Efests stopped being made (perhaps they're still made?), but I've noticed a few sites have them for sale (purple and red) and I was wondering about storage life of old stock.

Two questions:
1) Does anyone have any views about buying discontinued (?) brands of batteries and the implications for safety and performance when buying older cells?
2) Are there better batteries around than the latest Vapcell 18350s ?

Any and all help / thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers,
Andy

edited typo - "vapcell"

Your best bet, for battery info, is probably to search “ battery Mooch”. Then go through his videos. I’ve been less than impressed with any “ Torchy” output, I’ve read.

apart from that. I’ll echo the comments, already made, about quality battery retailers.