My laptop battery died and I can't find a replacement (old laptop) so I'm going to need to replace myself the 18650 cells it has.
It is an 8-cell battery (a series of 4 banks of 2), making the whole package 14.8V and 4Ah.
So each individual 18650 cell is the typical 3.7V and 2Ah.
As a possible replacement I found these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-3-7V-4000-mAH-18650-Protected-Lithium-Based-Rechargeable-Battery-Flashlight-/131347594474
Which are 4Ah (twice the capacity of my current ones) and also they are protected.
My current battery cells don't have any marking that indicates whether they are protected or not but I have the impression they are not since the battery charging circuit should provide such protection.
Also, the physical dimensions of the cells are exactly the same as my current ones.
My question is:
Would there be any problem that the new cells have twice as much capacity?
Also, does it affect in any way that the new cells are protected and the old ones are not?
Best Answer
Cells in devices that you do not wish to be a flaming ruin MUST have protection.
Having protection circuits does not guarantee it will not happen.
Cells without protection are intended for use by either manufacturers or experts or enthusiasts who add their own or for suckers.
Whole device protection and cell protection are complementary and serve overlapping but different roles.
4,000 mAh 18650 LiIon batteries are ~~~= 99.9% +0.1% - 0.0% sure to be rubbish.
ie not just < 4000 mAh but << 4000 mAh and low quality.
The people who bogus label cells
almost never feel an obligation to use the best cells they can and
almost always decide to add injury to insult by using junk as well as lying.
Real world experience shows that the value of 'almost' is very high in both cases.
Higher capacity cells can usually be fitted OK.
MUCH higher capacity will lead to long CC tails and overcharge but not an issue here as mAh_new is < to << 4000 mAh.
ADDED:
Notice that in this ad and all their other ads they ALWAYS show non-brand-label views of the battery.
However, you may find that the racing stripes and general colour scheme a good match for the well known "Ultrafire" brand batteries. This may in fact be a real brand and these may be real examples of it BUT you can buy empty shrink wrappers to apply to the battery of your choice with this (or other) branding on it , so caveat emptor. Better nullius emptor I'd hazard.
These ones are a stunning 6800 mAh - a steal at the price. Available here
You'll find others similarly arrayed here and
here - 3000 mAh and 4000 mAh and
6800 mAh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {again}
and unspecified but with GENUINE CREE 2000 lumen {so 20+ Watt} flashlight for $9.27 and
only 4000 mAh and
that's better - 4200 mAh
and .............
Flee!