Paul Marvin
Member
Hi Guys is it me or is there a UK shortage of these , just had a look on Ebay that used to have 1000,s now its all chargers :-\
18650 Batteries
- Thread starter Paul Marvin
- Start date
alanw
Well-known member
Paul Marvin said:
It's almost certainly due the risk of them bursting into flames during shipping. See these posts:
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Archive-Selling-Central/How-to-Sell-18650-Lithium-Ion-Batteries/m-p/6716641?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5337590775&customid=&toolid=10001
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Lithium-Battery-Restrictions/td-p/29691914?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5337590775&customid=&toolid=10001&nobounce
See this recent post for recommendations for UK sellers:
https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=29164.msg357203#msg357203
I've just ordered a Panasonic 18650 3400mAh Battery Protected from Ecoluxshopdirect.co.uk for ?7.99 + ?0.96 p&p
ZombieCake
Well-known member
I've tended to get mine from Torch Direct (other good suppliers available). UK based and you get the real thing and not cheap / counterfeit knock offs.
https://www.torchdirect.co.uk/batteries.html
https://www.torchdirect.co.uk/batteries.html
Paul Marvin
Member
alanw said:
They are the exact ones I am after, made in Japan and trustworthy, I use 12 of them now just need a couple more for my new head torches as spares . Thanks for the tip
royfellows
Well-known member
alanw said:
With respect I disagree.
The airplane incident was in 2010, some 12 years back, the issues described by Paul are recent.
There is a general shortage of electronic components at least in part due to the pandemic.
This is effecting the production of new cars amongst other things.
The development of my new lamp project is affected by a long lead time on the availability of my 'best for purpose' IC chip, ref my posts on the project.
It is also affecting quality. Every batch of Li Ion cells that arrive I test individually, nowadays I have to as one batch had a dud, and these are genuine Sanyo.
I have had issues as well with components sourced from reputable sellers such as RS Online and Farnell.
However, the shipping issues are affecting delivery times as they have to come overland, with orders taking about 2 months to arrive.
By way, Ecolux Shop is a seller to be trusted.
royfellows
Well-known member
A bit more, Lithium ion batteries cannot just burst into flames. However, just like any other battery they are a means of storing and electrical charge, and as such, if short circuited, can cause fire and injury. However, Li Ion cells are more inherently dangerous because they can suffer from an effect called "Thermal runaway", this can be triggered by an external short circuit or an internal one caused by over discharge and subsequent recharging. In the latter case they will ignite while under charge.
When I first started lamp building, now many years ago, I was disturbed to find deliveries of Li Ion cells from the Far East were by just dropping the loose cells into a jiffy bag and putting them into the post. Obviously if cells settled in a particular way they could cause a short. It was a bit like watching the Titanic set sail, I knew what would eventually one way or another happen, and it did.
This, to my mind, explains the plane incident.
I am please to be able to say that they are now shipped individually boxed and well protected in the package.
When I first started lamp building, now many years ago, I was disturbed to find deliveries of Li Ion cells from the Far East were by just dropping the loose cells into a jiffy bag and putting them into the post. Obviously if cells settled in a particular way they could cause a short. It was a bit like watching the Titanic set sail, I knew what would eventually one way or another happen, and it did.
This, to my mind, explains the plane incident.
I am please to be able to say that they are now shipped individually boxed and well protected in the package.
Cantclimbtom
Well-known member
Wasn't there very briefly a problem with a specific batch of Li ion laptop batteries 10+ years ago?
I think at the time, in that batch they had a different internal design and a fault, more prone to growing whiskers between the electrodes and internally shorting and catching fire especially during charging in a dramatic way you'd only expect from Li polymer (e.g. Samsung's problem a few years ago). Haven't heard of anything like that with Li ion since, and think it's no longer an issue. Maybe events in a small number of laptops from way back, are still ingrained in people perception?
I think at the time, in that batch they had a different internal design and a fault, more prone to growing whiskers between the electrodes and internally shorting and catching fire especially during charging in a dramatic way you'd only expect from Li polymer (e.g. Samsung's problem a few years ago). Haven't heard of anything like that with Li ion since, and think it's no longer an issue. Maybe events in a small number of laptops from way back, are still ingrained in people perception?
Cantclimbtom
Well-known member
I think they are now, but I think for a brief time about 10 or something years ago some had a problem
Paul Marvin
Member
By way, Ecolux Shop is a seller to be trusted.
[/quote]
This shop is good Roy and its not far from me
Ecolux is good Roy thanks and its not far from me if I wanted to collect things
[/quote]
This shop is good Roy and its not far from me
royfellows said:
Ecolux is good Roy thanks and its not far from me if I wanted to collect things
Caveman Ken
New member
try https://www.18650.uk/ good value, post free, good quality.
Paul Marvin
Member
Caveman Ken said:
Thanks caveman
I found a brand new 4000mah 14.4v power tool battery on Ebay for around £14.00. This gave me 8 x 2000mah 18650 lithium cells for less £2.00 each, and I got it within a couple of days and they rork great. Much better than waiting 2 months for stuff to come fyom AliExpress.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255638290778 ... 635-2958-0
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255638290778 ... 635-2958-0
royfellows
Well-known member
What do the cells look like, are they branded and if so, what brand?
Also, capacity. Current Sanyo OEM cells I use are 3500 mAh, so 2000 mAh is just over half the burn time.
High dischage cells as for drills etc do have a lower capacity, its horses for courses.
Also, capacity. Current Sanyo OEM cells I use are 3500 mAh, so 2000 mAh is just over half the burn time.
High dischage cells as for drills etc do have a lower capacity, its horses for courses.
No doubt I'm being stupid and showing my ignorance of things electrical – but 'a brand new 4000mah 14.4v power tool battery' suggests to me that the batteries were arranged in two lots of four (series/parallel). If there were 8, with a total capacity of 4000 mah, wouldn't the capacity of each battery be 500 mah?
No, each Cell is 2000 mah, set up with 4 in series to get to 14.4v then multiplied by 2 sets in parallel to get to 4000 mah
Hi I can send you a photo if you like, not sure how to do it but if you let me know i'll take some pics and send them to you somehow. I also got data from the manufacturer that I can send
Sorry I got that the wrong way round.