What are the better/best 18650 cells to buy?

bluedogge

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Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and would like to know which cells you would generally recommend? I live in a smaller town and don't really have any recyclers around for me to source batteries from,
so I need to buy them online. After watching plenty of youtube videos I decided I wanted to built a powerwall for a solar project I am doing. Well needless to say I didn't research batteries much before ordering around 700 Sanyo's from batteryhookup. Now after doing testing I am finding around 50% of them are heaters, and I am afraid to use them for a powerwall.

So after checking out their site today I was thinking, well maybe I should order these Sony's instead. Luckily before I did I seen a post here saying that "they suck".

So I will leave the question to the experts here. Which brands do you prefer to use of the recycled batteries in your powerwalls? I of coarse don't want to spend a ton of money, which is why I am going the diy route in the first place. So for the money which would be the better cells to get? Batteryhookup has used modem packs of Samsung, Sony, LG, BAK, ATL, MOLI, and Sanyo. Thanks in advance.
 
You could look at larger prismatic cells too... less work, less extra materials, etc
 
Best cells are new cells. 2nd hand are always 2nd hand no matter if htey have been capacity tested.
No one that have tested cells out there actually looked at how many cycles they have been used...

You generally say you get 35% good cells out of non tested 2nd hand brand name cells. Take that into account buying them!

So best bang are always new cells no matter what. Large form factor LiFePo4 is what i would have used if the money existed :)
 
Redpacket said:
You could look at larger prismatic cells too... less work, less extra materials, etc

I considered those, but the best prices I could find were roughly $450-$500 per 1.2kwh. So for the battery bank size I would need I would be looking at spending well over $3,000 and that just wasn't in my budget right now.


daromer said:
Best cells are new cells. 2nd hand are always 2nd hand no matter if htey have been capacity tested.
No one that have tested cells out there actually looked at how many cycles they have been used...

You generally say you get 35% good cells out of non tested 2nd hand brand name cells. Take that into account buying them!

So best bang are always new cells no matter what. Large form factor LiFePo4 is what i would have used if the money existed :)

I would have loved to go with all new cells, but from what I found they average around $4+ each. And with me needing around 560 cells for my first build, I really didn't want to spend in excess of $2,000. I knew I would have bad cells buying 2nd hand of coarse, that's why I bought 700. Figuring on around 140 being non useable. I just didn't expect to have 50% heaters, and that is with just charging them. That doesn't even take into consideration of how many won't be usable due to low voltage/low capacity.

I just figured maybe people had better luck on average with certain brands of cells. Maybe Samsung, or LG tend to generally be better 2nd hand then other brands or something like that. Batteryhookup currently have Samsung, LG, Sanyo, Sony, BAK, ATL, and Moli cells. I know now the Sanyo are not good. and another post here said the Sony were not good either. Was hoping maybe people had better luck with one of the other brands.
 
bluedogge, good cells are a matter of perspective.

When doing something you must also consider how many cycles you want, how much current do the cells need to support and multiple other small factors. Once you know some exact specs on power, environment and other requirements, only then you decide.

In your case, if Sanyos overheat, you can just use high power Samsungs like the Q, R series which are available and affordable.
You also should make sure they are authentic and not fake.
 
bluedogge said:
Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and would like to know which cells you would generally recommend? I live in a smaller town and don't really have any recyclers around for me to source batteries from,
so I need to buy them online. After watching plenty of youtube videos I decided I wanted to built a powerwall for a solar project I am doing. Well needless to say I didn't research batteries much before ordering around 700 Sanyo's from batteryhookup. Now after doing testing I am finding around 50% of them are heaters, and I am afraid to use them for a powerwall.

So after checking out their site today I was thinking, well maybe I should order these Sony's instead. Luckily before I did I seen a post here saying that "they suck".

So I will leave the question to the experts here. Which batteries do you recommend? I of coarse don't want to spend a ton of money, which is why I am going the diy route in the first place. So for the money which would be the better cells to get? Thanks in advance.

Battery hookup make reference to the Sanyo a Heaters...is what you get....in my short experience go to recycling company to ge laptop batteries... you will get 60% still goos ones....cheap and good brands overall

New battery... Aliexpress and look for:
Lanzhd Rechargeable Batteries 18650 - 278 reviews and 4.9 Stars

CG
 
507PowerWall said:
bluedogge said:
Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and would like to know which cells you would generally recommend? I live in a smaller town and don't really have any recyclers around for me to source batteries from,
so I need to buy them online. After watching plenty of youtube videos I decided I wanted to built a powerwall for a solar project I am doing. Well needless to say I didn't research batteries much before ordering around 700 Sanyo's from batteryhookup. Now after doing testing I am finding around 50% of them are heaters, and I am afraid to use them for a powerwall.

So after checking out their site today I was thinking, well maybe I should order these Sony's instead. Luckily before I did I seen a post here saying that "they suck".

So I will leave the question to the experts here. Which batteries do you recommend? I of coarse don't want to spend a ton of money, which is why I am going the diy route in the first place. So for the money which would be the better cells to get? Thanks in advance.

Battery hookup make reference to the Sanyo a Heaters...is what you get....in my short experience go to recycling company to ge laptop batteries... you will get 60% still goos ones....cheap and good brands overall

New battery... Aliexpress and look for:
Lanzhd Rechargeable Batteries 18650 - 278 reviews and 4.9 Stars

CG


Yes, batteryhookup listed in the ad that the sanyo packs that I bought "may" have some heaters mixed in. I was just not expecting half of them to be that way. And as much as I would love to go to recycler to buy laptop batteries, that is simply not an option for me. Their is only one recycler within 75 miles of me, and they will not sell anything to the public for liability reasons. So buying used online is the only option I have.
 
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CG


Yes, batteryhookup listed in the ad that the sanyo packs that I bought "may" have some heaters mixed in. I was just not expecting half of them to be that way. And as much as I would love to go to recycler to buy laptop batteries, that is simply not an option for me. Their is only one recycler within 75 miles of me, and they will not sell anything to the public for liability reasons. So buying used online is the only option I have.

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Othe option that I use... is cable companies ... IT... Electronic repair depos.... I help them to reduce depo in term of battery packs / computer malfuncioning... etc. etc.

50% of heaters hurts....
 
700 cells should give you around 250 useable cells if bought 2nd hand. You should never count on anything better than that unless they are new old stock or tested. Do that and you wont get as dissapointed ;)
 
I would buy EV batteries from a reputable vendor or forum member... large format is the way to go for powerwall building.

For 18650 I really like anything that comes out of a medical pack.
 
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