Silver Bullet + AW P18650 2600 mAh

[jSquared]

Hi guys and gals,

I'm going to buy a Silver Bullet later this week. I'll pick up a couple of the UltraFire 18650 2400 mAh batteries which iVapour Elixir sells with the SB here in the UK so that I've got something to use when it arrives, but I know that they're not particularly good batteries overall.

I see a lot of people on the forums recommending AW IMRs for anything and everything, but, I'm not going to be using a kick in the SB and, for that reason, I want to use protected batteries. I've read a lot of really good reviews of the AW P18650 2600 mAh batteries, but I notice that they're flat tops.

To be honest, I don't really like the idea of using spacers/magnets to make a connection with the battery. Has anyone used these batteries in their Silver Bullet without spacers/magnets?

Thanks,

JJ

 

[garyd]

Hi guys and gals,

I'm going to buy a Silver Bullet later this week. I'll pick up a couple of the UltraFire 18650 2400 mAh batteries which iVapour Elixir sells with the SB here in the UK so that I've got something to use when it arrives, but I know that they're not particularly good batteries overall.

I see a lot of people on the forums recommending AW IMRs for anything and everything, but, I'm not going to be using a kick in the SB and, for that reason, I want to use protected batteries. I've read a lot of really good reviews of the AW P18650 2600 mAh batteries, but I notice that they're flat tops.

To be honest, I don't really like the idea of using spacers/magnets to make a connection with the battery. Has anyone used these batteries in their Silver Bullet without spacers/magnets?

Thanks,

JJ

Pretty sure you won't have a problem using the AW flat top without spacers. You can usually check dimension sizes on most batteries when ordering.

 

[Baditude]

I just looked at my Silver Bullet, and the recepticle (for lack of a better term) inside the SB's head where the positive part of the battery touches protrudes out. So, a flat top battery should work. If there is a little bit of "wiggle room", you could always stretch out the hot spring in the bottom of the SB.

Having said that, I use button-top AW imr's in all of my mods (mechanical and variable voltage) because they are safer chemistry than protected batteries.

 

[jSquared]

Thanks, Baditude. I think that, coupled with the fact that the protected AW batteries are some of the longest 18650s I've seen so far, the protruding recepticle ("procepticle"?!) sounds very promising!

It’s difficult to ignore the sheer number of recommendations for using IMRs in the Silver Bullet, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'd be making a mistake by going with the protected batteries. My intial decision was based on the following information/assumptions;

• The only built-in safety features in the Silver Bullet are the hot spring and the vented button.
• When I read stories on the forum about the hot spring in the Silver Bullet failing, the vast majority of times the poster was using AW IMRs.
• "Safe" or "safer" chemistry is only as safe as what you do with it. Apart from a short, the biggest potential risk when using unprotected batteries comes from either over-charging or over-discharging.
• You cannot over-discharge protected batteries because they will stop working when the battery voltage reaches a certain level (around 3.3V).
• Safety aside, unprotected high drain batteries are not particularly advantageous in a fixed voltage mechanical device, because there's no boosting.
• Based on the discharge charts, the AW protected batteries actually outperform the AW IMRs over the life of a single charge (Test of AW IMR 18650 2000mAh (Red) and Test of AW 18650 2600mAh (Black)).

Everything I've said so far comes with a couple of caveats:

• The hot spring in the Silver Bullet is pretty effective at doing what it's supposed to do and I have yet to read of a catastrophic failure when using the silver bullet. However, I do not want to be constantly having to source replacements.
• A good charger will significantly reduce (or even eliminate) the risk of over-charging any type of battery.
• In real world usage, it is unlikely that anyone would over-discharge an unprotected battery because vapour production would become unsatisfactory well before reaching "unsafe" voltages (e.g. 2.0 Ohms @ 2.7V = 3.65W).

Obviously, the choice between protected and unprotected batteries is, in the end, going to be a choice between whatever the individual feels more comfortable using. However, I would be very interested to if I’ve got anything wrong during my research or if there are some key differences between the two types of battery that I may have missed.