This Nitecore is a 20A rewrapped cell with a useless and possibly dangerous “pulse” rating (see the Comments section).
While this cell has an exaggerated 25A continuous rating in micro print on the wrap it also has a useless 40A “max pulse discharge” rating on the wrap too. It also features “40A” 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 “40A” rating, or any “pulse” or “max” rating, is misleading and shouldn’t be used.
If we vape with this battery above about 30A or so it can heat up to ridiculously high temperatures if there is a regulated mod malfunction or accidental button press in a mechanical mod. This could possibly force the battery to vent and leak/spray toxic organic solvents from the battery. I think vaper safety should be a priority when setting “pulse” ratings.
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 was especially disappointed to see this cell’s continuous current rating set at 25A by Nitecore. It is clearly set by Sony at 20A (see the VTC5 datasheet image below).
I am rating this Nitecore at 20A and 2600mAh. The ones I tested were rewrapped VTC5’s. Their performance was essentially identical to the VTC5’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-40a-2600mah-18650-bench-test-results-ridiculous-40a-rating-only-20a.803307/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
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