This Nitecore is a 23A rewrapped cell with a useless pulse rating (see the Comments section).
While this cell has a 20A continuous rating in micro print on the wrap it has a useless 38A “max pulse discharge” rating on the wrap too. It also features “38A” in a huge font which many people will use as the cell’s rating when shopping or when a vendor displays it on their web site. For these reasons I feel the large “38A” rating, or any “pulse” or “max” rating, is misleading and shouldn’t be used.
The wrap is not the standard heat shrink plastic. It is self-adhesive and appears to be similar to Mylar. I do not know how durable it is compared to the wraps being used now by other companies.
This cell says “IMR18650” on the wrap but it does not use IMR chemistry. It uses one of the INR chemistries.
I am rating this Nitecore at 23A and 2100mAh. The ones I tested were rewrapped Sony VTC4’s. Their performance was close to, but a bit worse than, the VTC4’s I have here.
The two cells that were tested were purchased by me from IMRBatteries.
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/nitecore-38a-2100mah-18650-bench-test-results-useless-38a-rating-only-23a.802981/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
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