A BATTERY MOOCH POST: Vapcell Gold 30A 3100mAh 20700…cell has changed, now only 25A 3000mAh!

This cell has changed. It now runs too hot to be rated at 30A and should be considered a 25A cell. Its appearance is only slightly different from the earlier cell and knowing which one you have will be tough. If you cannot tell, assume it’s rated 25A. I am not able to tell you which you have from photos you might send me.

The newer 25A-rated cells have a more sharply bent bottom edge and a sharper bend at the fold over of the metal can at the top. It also appears that the newer cell has the image of a hand fan on the wrap positioned further down from the top than before and that the white printing on the wrap isn’t as solid, as dense, as it was in the 30A-rated version. But wraps can change at any time and this should not be used as the only method of identifying which cell you have!

This Vapcell’s cell-to-cell performance varies much more than the cells from Samsung, Murata, LG, Panasonic/Sanyo, etc. This seems to be typical for the China manufactured cells being favored by a lot of battery wrapping companies now and will require a different way of rating them to account for this variation in performance. I’m working on it.

The sixteen cells I tested…yes, sixteen…delivered from 2.6Wh to 5.4Wh at 30A down to 2.5V. The earlier version of this cell averaged 5.5Wh at 30A. This is a huge range of values and means some would only last half as long as others in a regulated device at high power levels due to their extra voltage sag.

The cells I tested delivered 3052mAh to 3221mAh at 600mA (0.2C) down to 2.5V. That is also a huge range of values. While the “typical” capacity of this cell is over 3100mAh the minimum guaranteed capacity rating must be lower than the lowest capacity seen in testing. This way every cell is supposed to have at least that high a capacity.

I do not have the datasheet for this cell. I am ESTIMATING this Vapcell’s new rating to be 25A continuous and 3000mAh. I cannot guarantee that every cell in every batch will rated at least this high though. This is a big issue for our community and I am working on new rating standards for China-manufactured cells.

Six cells were donated for the purposes of testing by Economy Ecigs Distro, two cells were donated by Eciggity. Thank you! Eight were purchased by me from Illumn and Liion Wholesale. Vapcell also wanted to send four more cells for testing but I said no.

Ratings graphic: https://imgur.com/a/BYpJn0S

Test report: https://bit.ly/2M5NcZL

I want to work for the vaping community full time! If you feel what I do is worth a couple dollars a month and you would like early access to battery availability and testing news and a say in what I test then please consider becoming a patron and supporting my testing efforts: https://www.patreon.com/batterymooch

These tests only note the ESTIMATED ratings for these batteries at the time I tested them. Any battery that is not a genuine Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, or Sanyo can change at any time! This is one of the hazards of using “rewrapped” batteries or batteries from other manufacturers so carefully research any battery you are considering using before purchasing.

Misusing or mishandling lithium-ion batteries can pose a SERIOUS RISK of personal injury or property damage. They are not meant to be used outside of a protected battery pack. Never exceed the battery’s continuous current rating and keep the plastic wrap and top insulating ring in perfect condition.

Any rating in my ratings tables can change at any time as different grade cells appear on the market, we get swamped with fakes, or new information becomes available to me. Please, never assume that the ratings in the tables are permanent and will never change! Always download the latest version before considering any cell purchase.

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Author: John Muchow