Received 150 NCR18650GA cells from Nkon to California USA

bigdeezs

100 µW
Joined
Jun 25, 2016
Messages
7
I did alot of research trying to find the GA cells shipped to the US. I looked at fastech but they were going to run about $4.63/cell. I tried Tumich (his thread: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=61608) but he didnt have any GAs anymore. So I took a gamble and ordered through nkon even though I had read they might not be the best for US customers due to shipping issues. I used a capital one credit card directly (not through paypal) so as not to incur and international transaction or currency conversion fees. The 150 cells ended up costing $622.75 USD shipped (580euro) making it $4.15 USD/cell.

Ordered on 4/21/17 received on 5/10/17 via fedex. Not too bad considering I thought it would be about 2 months before I would see them. Paperwork says they were shipped out of Berlin and I had just received tracking info on 5/7/17 (3 days before to receiving them).

They were shipped in a unmarked box with paperwork about Nickel-metal hydride batteries. I imagine this was to get around the lithium shipping issues. All cells shipped at 3.5v.

I've read only positive things about Arjan (from nkon) but I will likely test the cells before building my 24s 6p battery to makes sure capacity is where it should be.







 
Tested a cell after cycling it one time. Charged it to 4.2V...then Discharged it at .7A or 700 Milliamps down to 2.5V... and only got 3267 MAH. I believe I had read someone else getting a slightly low reading as well from NKON. Minimum should be 3350. I used a IMAX B6 clone to do the testing so take it for what it's worth. I'll still be using my cells but it's possible they are not top quality cells.
 
bigdeezs said:
Tested a cell after cycling it one time. Charged it to 4.2V...then Discharged it at .7A or 700 Milliamps down to 2.5V... and only got 3267 MAH. I believe I had read someone else getting a slightly low reading as well from NKON. Minimum should be 3350. I used a IMAX B6 clone to do the testing so take it for what it's worth. I'll still be using my cells but it's possible they are not top quality cells.

warm the battery to 25c and discharge at 0.25C to get the full capacity
 
Some cells actually need higher discharge rates to get the rated value, eg, Samsung 25R I think needed 10A discharge to get a higher capacity rating, instead of a simple 1C or less.
 
I welded over 1000 25r cells, and none of them had higher capacity with higher discharge rate. They are just normal cells. The higher the discharge rate, the lower the capacity, as with any cell types - not only Lithium. There is no more magic in them

timmy66 said:
Some cells actually need higher discharge rates to get the rated value, eg, Samsung 25R I think needed 10A discharge to get a higher capacity rating, instead of a simple 1C or less.
 
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