I would like to personally welcome Battery Mooch to TasteYourJuice.com.
“Mooch” is well known in the industry as the “battery guy” and is quite popular on the ECF. I’ve worked with Mooch several times in the background and he’s always been quite helpful and knowledgeable in answering my questions.
Although I have some experience with battery testing, Mooch has all the experience I lack so I though it a good fit to offer him his own page here on TasteYourJuice.com.
If you look to the left, you’ll see the new Battery Mooch page under Information/Resources. His first article can be found there as well.
WELCOME MY FRIEND!
Who is Battery Mooch?
My name is John Muchow, some of you may know me as Mooch on ECF and FB and Mooch315
on ECR. I have been vaping since April, 2015 and haven’t smoked once since I
started!I was born and raised in New York City and still live there now. Since 1992 I have
been designing and building electronic devices for a large number of clients. My
first products were camera remote-control systems for sports photographers. As these
systems, and other devices, transitioned from wired to wireless the performance of
the batteries they used was very important as there was no way to replace them
during use. This led to me doing more and more battery testing and developing the
electronics to charge, test, and protect them.As battery technology advanced, from NiCd to NiMH to Li-Ion and now
ultracapacitor/Li-Ion hybrids, the devices I built and the battery testing I did
advanced along with them. I started specializing in power management electronics;
battery chargers, energy harvesters (for charging from heat, light, or
vibration/movement), power supplies, battery analyzers, electronic loads for battery
discharging, and battery management/protection systems. This is the work I still do
today.My clients have included the US Army, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated,
Eastman Kodak Company, and hundreds of other companies from large to small. Part of
the work I’ve done for a lot of my clients has been battery testing. Sometimes they
want to recommend a good battery to their customers. Other times they’re batteries I
have chosen to combine with my electronics to form a complete, protected power
source for them to incorporate into their products.Depending on my client’s requirements this testing can take up to several weeks to
complete. I use a subset of these tests when evaluating the batteries we use when
vaping. This includes continuous-current tests to establish the battery’s true (and
safe) ratings. They also help to determine if there’s any risk of venting if one of
our mods autofires or a mechanical mod’s button is accidentally pressed. The
pulse-current tests measure the degree of voltage sag we would see when vaping at
different current levels. Both types of tests are done the same way for every set of
batteries I test.This consistency in the testing allows for direct comparison of the performance of
different batteries even if the pulse discharging I do doesn’t match the way you
vape.Safety is my number one priority. While I often test at discharge current levels
that can result in unsafe battery temperatures, this is the only way to figure out
what a battery’s true and safe ratings are. No battery is totally safe but we can
certainly avoid taking unnecessary risks.My blog at ECF has the results of all my testing and a few articles on batteries,
battery safety, etc.:https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mooch.256958/
I have also listed the equipment I use and the steps I follow when testing. This
allows anyone to replicate my tests if they want to:https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/my-cell-testing-equipment-and-setup.7431/
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/whats-done-for-each-cell-test.7433/
My battery test results offer you a resource you can use when choosing a battery
that will not only be safer for the way you vape but will also give you great
performance.I’m looking forward to contributing to TasteYourJuice.com and I want to thank
PBusardo for the opportunity to help spread the word on exaggerated battery ratings
and battery safety!Mooch
Latest Battery Updates
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Turnigy 20C-40C 1800mAh 3S LiPo Pack Bench Test Results…only an 11C/22C pack
Bottom Line: This Turnigy is an average performing pack but is overrated. At 36A (20C), Turnigy’s continuous current rating, it reached about 10°C over the pack assembler’s limit and was puffed by a decent amount (temporarily) indicating that the cells were being overstressed. This cannot be considered a 20C continuous-rated pack.
Vaping at its 72A (40C) “pulse” rating would quickly bring the pack voltage down to about 10V and quickly heat the pack up past Turnigy’s max temperature rating unless vaping quite slowly. This cannot be considered a 40C pulse-rated pack.
CAUTION: LiPo’s use the most volatile of the Li-Ion battery chemistries and can cause extreme injury if abused. Never use a LiPo unless the cells, wraps, wiring, and connector are in perfect condition. Never exceed the CDR of the LiPo unless you accept the risks involved. You are responsible for your own safety, be careful!
My Ratings:
– Capacity = 1800mAh
– Continuous Discharge Rating (CDR) = 20A (11C)
– Average Pack IR = 19.6 mOhms
– Average Cell IR = 5.1 mOhms
IR = Internal Resistance
mOhms = milliohms
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/turnigy-20c-40c-1800mah-3s-lipo-pack-bench-test-results-only-an-11c-22c-pack.794103/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Enook 35A 3600mAh 18650 Bench Test Results…a shamefully overrated 10A battery!
Bottom Line: This Enook is preposterously overrated. At 35A, this cell’s rating, it ran for less than one second before plunging to 3.2V. Enook did the same kind of overrating with their 40A 3200mAh cell. These two are among the most overrated cells I have ever seen.
This Enook’s appearance is identical to the 10A 3300mAh Panasonic NCR18650GA but it has a lower capacity than the Panasonic and performs a bit worse. It could be a lower grade NCR18650GA.
I am rating this Enook at 10A and 3200mAh. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.
IMPORTANT:
– There is no 18650 that can have a factory/manufacturer rating over 30A.
– There is no 3000mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 20A.
– There is no 3100mAh-3500mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 10A.
– There is no 18650 with a capacity rating over 3600mAh.
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/enook-35a-3600mah-18650-bench-test-results-a-shamefully-overrated-10a-battery.786197/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Enook 40A 3200mAh 18650 Bench Test Results…only 10A, shame on you Enook!
Bottom Line: This “40A” Enook has a ludicrously exaggerated current rating and an exaggerated capacity rating, it is only a 10A 3000mAh cell. At 40A continuous, it delivered only 31mAh down to 3.2V.
Basen did the same overrating with their 40A 3200mAh cell but they used a rewrapped Panasonic. Both cells are among the most overrated I have ever seen…shameful.
This Enook’s appearance is identical to the 10A 3200mAh LG MH1 but it has a lower capacity than the MH1 and performs worse. It seems to be a lower grade MH1.
I am rating it at 10A and 3000mAh. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.
IMPORTANT:
– There is no 18650 that can have a factory/manufacturer rating over 30A.
– There is no 3000mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 20A.
– There is no 3100mAh-3500mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 10A.
– There is no 18650 with a capacity rating over 3600mAh.
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/enook-40a-3200mah-18650-bench-test-results-only-10a-shame-on-you-enook.786067/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Enook 40A 3100mAh 18650 Bench Test Results…just 20A and same as Enook 3000mAh battery?
Bottom Line: This cell has an absurdly exaggerated current rating and an exaggerated capacity rating. Its appearance is identical (except as noted below) to the LG HG2 but this Enook has a higher internal resistance and performs worse.
Like the 3000mAh Enook this cell seems to be a rewrapped lower grade HG2 except that the center of the bottom of this cell is polished. I cannot explain why. I’ve never seen that before on any other cell.
As shown in the discharge graph below it performs almost identically to the 3000mAh Enook but worse than the HG2. I am rating this Enook at 20A and 3000mAh but it sags more than the HG2, delivering about 10% less capacity. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.
IMPORTANT:
– There is no under-3000mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 30A…none.
– There is no 3000mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 20A….none.
– There is no 3100mAh-3500mAh 18650 that can have a rating over 10A…none.
– There is no 18650 with a capacity rating over 3500mAh…none.
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/enook-40a-3100mah-18650-bench-test-results-just-20a-and-same-as-enook-3000mah-battery.785919/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Enook 40A 3000mAh 18650 Bench Test Results…laughably overrated, a lower grade 20A battery
Bottom Line: This is a poor performing cell with an exaggerated current rating. When discharged continuously at its claimed 40A rating (down to 3.2V) it only delivered 14mAh. Yes, only 14mAh.
Its appearance is identical to the LG HG2 but the Enook has a higher internal resistance and performs worse. It seems to be a rewrapped lower grade HG2.
I am rating this Enook at 20A and 3000mAh but it sags more than the HG2, delivering about 10% less capacity. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/enook-40a-3000mah-18650-bench-test-results-laughably-overrated-a-lower-grade-20a-battery.785759/#post-19114897
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Enook 40A 2600mAh 18650 Bench test Results…ridiculously overrated, poor performing 20A battery
Bottom Line: This is a very poor performing cell with exaggerated current and capacity ratings. It has only 1/2 the capacity (684mAh) of the Samsung 25R5 (1350mAh) at 20A continuous down to 3.2V due to the large amount of voltage sag. When discharged continuously at its claimed 40A rating it almost instantly dropped to just above 3.0V and reached my 2.8V cutoff a few seconds later.
Its appearance doesn’t match any Samsung/Sony/LG/Panasonic/Sanyo cell I have and appears to be of Chinese manufacture. It has the classic roughly done top crimp of many cells made in China. Both of the cells I tested had signs of improper storage (rust).
I am rating this Enook at 20A and 2400mAh but it sags badly. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/enook-40a-2600mah-18650-bench-test-results-ridiculously-overrated-poor-performing-20a-battery.785661/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Enook testing is done
The results will be posted this week.
If you live in the US or EU you might be thinking “E-who?”. They’re only sold by a couple of vendors outside of Asia but they are very popular batteries in a couple of countries.
Due to their lack of availability in the US and EU it took months to get the six sets of batteries I tested. Several weeks were spent trying to contact Enook and purchase samples from their Alibaba page, with no luck. I’d like to thank Regi SweetVippie Amos for donating the 3100mAh 18650’s and Sam Gibbs and Michael Hall for helping me to purchase the rest and shipping them to me from outside the US.
Thank you!
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Samsung has posted the results of its Galaxy Note 7 battery fires investigation.
Among other issues, one battery supplier made the case too small and the other supplier had poor quality welds.
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Interesting battery announcements for 2017
Some very interesting tidbits of info regarding the specs for upcoming 20700 and 21700 battery releases:
A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Sanyo 20700A 30A 3100mAh 20700 Bench Test Results…a great performing 30A 3100mAh battery!
Bottom Line: The Sanyo 20700A is the second newly available 20mm x 70mm cell I have tested. The first was the 20700B (https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/sanyo-20700b-4000mah-20700-bench-test-results-a-peek-at-the-future.775809/), a great high capacity cell I rated at 15A 4000mAh. At 10A-15A it runs about 25% longer than the LG HG2.
This 20700A is a true high performance cell that I am rating at a cool-running 30A 3100mAh. It performed well against the top 18650 cells for performance, vaping time, and safety (high amp rating). The 20700A…
…hits as hard as the Sony VTC5A at the start and easily holds its voltage up higher for considerably longer.
…runs 5°C cooler than the LG HB6 at 20A continuous and for about 230% longer. Yes, 230%.
While this cell will only fit in a custom battery sled it did just fit in the Xtar and Efest chargers I tested it in. I cannot say if it will fit in any 18650 charger. Otherwise it’s charged at 4.2V just like our 18650’s. It’s “standard” charging rate is 2.2A so 2A charging is no problem and won’t decrease its overall life.
Here’s the datasheet: https://www.imrbatteries.com/content/sanyo_ncr20700a.pdf
The two cells I tested were donated by IMRBatteries (www.imrbatteries.com). Thank you!
Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/sanyo-20700a-30a-3100mah-20700-bench-test-results-a-great-performing-30a-3100mah-battery.784543/
All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/
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