This “40A” cell is overrated by a LOT. IronSmith’s rating is even useless as a “pulse” rating. The first pulse at 40A on a fully charged cell dropped the voltage to under 3.10V.
The 23A 2100mAh VTC4 easily outperforms the IronSmith cell. The VTC4 hits harder and runs for a bit longer.
I do not know what cell IronSmith is using. I thought it might be one of the LG HD Series cells because of its four “leg” top contact and ratings but the metal can and tooling marks don’t match any of the LG HD Series cells I have here. LG might have changed the can or it could be a China-manufactured cell.
IronSmith gave this cell a 7A charge rating. This is higher than the fast charge rate of any 18650 and is guaranteed to shorten the life of your battery. I recommend 2A charging maximum for long cell life.
I am rating this IronSmith at 25A and 2050mAh.
The two cells that were tested were donated for that purpose by IronSmith Group. Thank you!
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-ironsmith-40a-2050mah-18650-hugely-overrated-vtc4-performs-better.831997/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
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