Protected or unprotected batteries? And which is the best brand?

[spydre]

Okay, I need to double check the Zmax description on the various sites, but I've heard you want to go with UNprotected batteries rather than protected, something about there being limits to how fast you can charge them, or limits on the power output at one time? So I'm asking my experts here, which are best to go with on APV's?

Also, which is the best brand of batteries - Efest or AW?

Finally, I was PLANNING to get and EFest LUC intelligent charger, I've heard Trustfire has issues, and hubby's Trustfire has issues. Are there any issues I should know about the EFest?

[Proetus]

Th eLuc charger is a good one. You can also get a nitecore they are good as well. Unprotected is what you want for mods. Efest or AW will be fine.

[spydre]

Th eLuc charger is a good one. You can also get a nitecore they are good as well. Unprotected is what you want for mods. Efest or AW will be fine.

Cool, thanks!

[CascadianExotics]

Efests are pretty much crap for anything but regulated devices. Since you're using a Zmax, there's no real need to drop twice the cash for AWs.

As for the charger. Go to Amazon and look up the Nitecore Intellicharge series. A two or four bay smart charger shouldn't cost you more than $25 shipped.

[Proetus]

I suggest checking out Phil's Battery Charts before claiming things are crap. Opinions are great, but straight telling people things are crap, not so much. At 5 amps, the only thing beating the Efest is the 3 times as expensive Orbtronics. At a constant 4v, the beloved AW lasts only 2/3 the time of most others.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Proetus

[spydre]

Well, hubby wanted me to get AW, so I did, off RTD, and I ended up with a 4 bay Nitecore intellicharger.

[Uma]

Well, hubby wanted me to get AW, so I did, off RTD, and I ended up with a 4 bay Nitecore intellicharger.

That's exactly what I would suggest. Ya done great, IMO.

[Uma]

While this topic is here I'll mention the new resettable spring replacement fuse for mechanical telescopic mods called the Bug by atmizoo.com.

It's brand new and specially made for us low ohm folk with our mechanical mods (telescoping mostly, to date)

[CascadianExotics]

I suggest checking out Phil's Battery Charts before claiming things are crap. Opinions are great, but straight telling people things are crap, not so much. At 5 amps, the only thing beating the Efest is the 3 times as expensive Orbtronics. At a constant 4v, the beloved AW lasts only 2/3 the time of most others.

Note that I said "pretty much crap," (implying that the cells were not a total crap-tastic waste of money) and followed that phrase with the implication that Efest cells were fine for regulated devices. Again, never once stating that the cells were crap in absolute fact. What I tried to get across is that the individual performance of any given battery cell all depends on the applications your are using them for. If you are going sub-ohm, then forget using Efests, and stick to something that is known to handle the amp draw. For the record, I have Efests, AWs, and Panasonic CGRs in my vape box. The CGRs handle a 7 amp draw (0.6 ohm coil) as well as, if not better than AWs...Efests can hardly handle 5 amps (0.8 ohm coil) without a severe voltage drop. While it may be anecdotal evidence, it still comes from my own firsthand experience using a multimeter on my own gear to measure the voltage drops, and facilitate better builds in order to get the most out of my equipment. Edited August 28, 2013 by CascadianExotics

[bcartervol98]

I got 2 AWs and 2 Efests coming for my new Vamo. Are those both good batteries? Both button top 18650s.

[Proetus]

Both will serve you well.