Need Help With Batteries

Hey, guys! First of all, I am very new to the Vaping scene, my first ever Starter Kit was a Eleaf Ijust S, and now I am planning on upgrading it to an RDA Mod. I was thinking about buying the GeekVape Tsunami Mech Kit, and I got to the part where I need to decide which battery I want to use, I read that the Sony IMR VTC5 18650 was a good option to go with, and I was so close to buying it, but then I saw that my local Vape shop has it at a cheaper price, but some information on the first site didn't match the information in my local vape shop.

The first site said this:
Sony VTC5 2600mAh 20A
Parameters
Capacity: 2600mAh
Nominal Voltage: 3.7V
Size:18650 (Cylindrical)
Continuous Maximum discharge current: 20A

My local vape shop said:
Sony 18650 VTC5 2600mAh High-drain Battery - 12C 30A
Parameters
Capacity: 2600mAh
Nominal Voltage: 3.7V
Size:18650 (Cylindrical)
Continuous Maximum discharge current: 40A

The only difference is in the "A's" I don't know how big of a change that is, or if there even is any, I tried to find information about the different types of "A's" but didn't find too much, so If anyone could help me out here and explain the difference, and which one is better (the second one is a bit cheaper), that would be great.

And another question, when do I recharge the batteries, and do I leave them to charge full 100% or take it off when it's about 70 - 80 %?

And I am planning to buy something called "Nitecore D2" charger, do I just plug the batteries in and wait or is there something I need to do for safety?
That would be all, I know It's a lot, just some questions I would like to know the answer to.

Thanks!

VTC5's are NOT 30 amp batteries.
See here.
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mooch.256958/

Mooch is the man for battery testing for vapers.

The Cromwell said:

VTC5's are NOT 30 amp batteries.
See here.
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mooch.256958/

Mooch is the man for battery testing for vapers.

Click to expand...

So basically those are the same batteries? Just one of the shops entered different information?

here are Moochs results. the VTC5 is a 20 amp CDR battery and the VTC5A is a 25 amp CDR battery.

The Cromwell said:

here are Moochs results. the VTC5 is a 20 amp CDR battery and the VTC5A is a 25 amp CDR battery.


View attachment 84280

Click to expand...

Ok, thanks a lot!

I don't have the nitecore D2 charger but i have two nitecore intellicharger i4 chargers and they are great. They have overcharge protection and is very popular with vapers. You should always give them a full charge. Also, for the batteries, I use vtc4's 30A and mxjo's 35A yellows on my kennedy round house and my hexohm. I'm kind of partial to the mxjo's. They seem to last longer on mechs and i don't notice more of a voltage drop compared to the sony's like many claim. I don't think mooch has reviewd mxjo's, but they seem to be very popular with experienced mech users and can find them in just about any vape shop.

The Sony VTC5A hits harder than any other 18650 battery available right now (harder than the LG HB6), which I find important for mech use. It's because the VTC5A has such a small voltage sag compared to other 18650 batteries, even though the VTC6 is actually pretty close─and on par if you give it some time to warm up first─but the VTC6 is only 20 amps CDR... versus 25 amps for the VTC5A. The Samsung 30Q is not as good as the VTC6, but it's close. Finally, the LG HG2 is not as good as the 30Q (and there are a lot of fake HG2s out there... albeit any battery can still be faked).

As for the Nitecore D2, yes it automatically stops charging, and, yes the charger's slots are independent of eachother both in terms of when you want to start charging a battery and when the charging of a battery automatically stops so the only thing you could (and should) consider is to put a ceramic tile underneath the charger just in case the charger melts, as that can still happen with all battery chargers. I own both the Nitecore D4 and the Nitecore NEW i4.

Here's another great tip... to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on any Lithium rechargeable batteries, you should avoid charging them too long before you plan to use them. Also keep in mind that batteries may still be warm after the charging has stopped, so factor in an additional half hour or so to let the batteries rest and cool off naturally.

A lot of incorrect specs in a lot of sites, from either lack of understanding, from intentional misleading or from unclear data supplied by the manufacturer/wrapper.

The data supplied by Sony was unclear which lead to the misconception that their batteries are 30A CDR, but in fact none of them are.
Sony state 30A@80C which is entirely not the same as 30A and is basically meaningless.

Carambrda said:

The Sony VTC5A hits harder than any other 18650 battery available right now (harder than the LG HB6), which I find important for mech use. It's because the VTC5A has such a small voltage sag compared to other 18650 batteries, even though the VTC6 is actually pretty close─and on par if you give it some time to warm up first─but the VTC6 is only 20 amps CDR... versus 25 amps for the VTC5A. The Samsung 30Q is not as good as the VTC6, but it's close. Finally, the LG HG2 is not as good as the 30Q (and there are a lot of fake HG2s out there... albeit any battery can still be faked).

As for the Nitecore D2, yes it automatically stops charging, and, yes the charger's slots are independent of eachother both in terms of when you want to start charging a battery and when the charging of a battery automatically stops so the only thing you could (and should) consider is to put a ceramic tile underneath the charger just in case the charger melts, as that can still happen with all battery chargers. I own both the Nitecore D4 and the Nitecore NEW i4.

Here's another great tip... to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on any Lithium rechargeable batteries, you should avoid charging them too long before you plan to use them. Also keep in mind that batteries may still be warm after the charging has stopped, so factor in an additional half hour or so to let the batteries rest and cool off naturally.

Click to expand...

nightshard said:

A lot of incorrect specs in a lot of sites, from either lack of understanding, from directional misleading or from unclear data supplied by the manufacturer/wrapper.

The data supplied by Sony was unclear which lead to the misconception that their batteries are 30A CDR which in fact none of them are.
Sony state 30A@80C which is entirely not the same as 30A and is basically meaningless.

Click to expand...

Thank you guys for the answers, this will definitely help me out!