Vapcell 18350 Purple Lithium-ion Cell Review
Vapcell has a great little 18350 lithium-ion cell with a recognizable purple wrapper. It offers 10 amp discharge and has a flat top. Read on!
Official Specs
Here’s a link to the Vapcell 18350 Purple Lithium-ion product page.
Package
These cells might not normally ship in any special package, but if you buy a couple you’ll get them in this plastic case.
Build Quality
These cells are proper cells. The wrapper on each of them is perfect.
They’re flat top cells. Nice, unprotected, flat top cells.
Each also has a QR code and a scratch-off area for proof of authenticity.
Most importantly about these cells, is that they’re rumored to be re-wraps of the famous Aspire 18350 cells. That’d be the ones originally labeled as 1300mAh and then downgraded to a more reasonable 1100mAh.
These Vapcells are labeled 1100mAh and just based on the visual inspection are the same as the Aspire 1100mAh cells I have. (If anything, the wrapper on these is better.)
Size
These unprotected flat top 18350 cells are 18mm around by 35mm long.
And my main use for them is in the TorchLAB BOSS. This light loves two-up 18350 cells, and these cells work great.
Testing
| Rated Capacity (mAh) | Tested Capacity | Percent Difference (Labeled Capacity) | Percent Difference (Nominal Capacity) | Internal Resistance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
| 1100 | 1067 | 1055 | 1026 | -4.6 | 4.9 | 59 |
| 1100 | 1066 | 1048 | 1027 | -4.8 | 4.7 | 61 |
| 1100 | 1057 | 1025 | 1034 | -5.6 | 3.9 | 98 |
| 1100 | 1062 | 1021 | 1039 | -5.4 | 4.1 | 72 |
Every cell in every case is measured at a capacity above the minimum rated capacity. (Min rated is 1000mAh.) I tested these cells with my SkyRC MC3000 and ran a D>C (discharge>charge) cycle to get these numbers. The discharge was at 0.75A, and the charge was at 1.5A. My discharge cutoff was 3.0V.
Spec Sheets
I don’t have a way to test the high drain capability, but LiIonWholesale did a little of their own testing. They tested discharge at 0.5A and 5.0A.
Notably on the chart above, at a drain of 0.5A, the cell shows a capacity of 1200mAh! Well above the rated capacity. The difference in what I tested and what’s seen here is likely due to me discharging at higher than 0.5A, and I stopped around 3V (instead of 2.5, as tested above).
Also tested was a pulsed 15A discharge, against the comparable Aspire cell.
Conclusion
The capacity alone makes them appealing, and they’re certainly able at 5A, and looks to be capable even higher. The charts above prove they’re capable at 15A (even though I don’t yet have the test equipment to show it). I really like these!!
Buy these cells at LiIonWholesale!
Notes
- These cells were provided by LiIonWholesale for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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