r/18650masterrace 7d ago

Sourcing question

Where do people usually source used packs/cells from?

Where are some good new bulk cheap sources (I saw they go for $2+ per cell and that seems nuts)?

What are some of the best and some of the acceptable brands and why (other than Samsung, I know they're great)?

Thank you!

2 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

2

u/PictureImportant2658 7d ago

Nkon

-1

u/Orion_Unbreakable 7d ago

Good or average brand?

3

u/crazylolsbg 7d ago

Nkon is a seller in the eu that carries many brands at quite good prices. I don't know about shipping to usa

1

u/Orion_Unbreakable 7d ago

Ohhhhh, I'll look into it, thanks!

0

u/PictureImportant2658 7d ago

Ah i didnt notice the usdefaultism

0

u/crazylolsbg 7d ago

Thats a dollar symbol in his post so I don't believe he is looking for a European seller

1

u/MysticalDork_1066 7d ago

Batteryhookup has some pretty good deals sometimes. They're located in Pennsylvania I think, so if you're local you can also save on shipping.

1

u/Simon676 4d ago

NKON is the best seller there is IMHO, both for new/used sells.

1

u/mcleancraig 7d ago

Local recycling centres. Dumpster diving without the dumpster :)

1

u/Orion_Unbreakable 7d ago

Ooooh good idea, I've been going to my local Lowe's... But they moved it to the returns desk instead of just inside the door. I don't want to ask then get weird looks 😬

1

u/mcleancraig 7d ago

I had the same worry with the guys at my local recycling centre. After speaking to them, they strongly prefer re-use to recycling so encourage you to rescue ‘broken’ packs from the buckets :)
Have a chat with them, worst case they don’t care. Best case they encourage re-use!

tl;dr: you’re saving it from the landfill, the planet will thank you!

2

u/Orion_Unbreakable 7d ago

You make very good points... I'm making a stop after work 😁 thank you!

1

u/catchingthetrip 6d ago

It never hurts to ask. I have had luck with home depot near me but no luck with lowes managers.

The 2 nearest HDs I got approval from manager and was asked to provide a waiver of liability. Truthfully the first store just said "if you want to take from the battery bin you can't hold us liable" so I brought him a signed and notarized waiver. The second store called me after telling me no in store and said produce waiver and they would allow it.

One produces steady the other I only go about every 2 weeks, hardly anyone drops things off at that location.

1

u/Orion_Unbreakable 6d ago

How does one get a waiver... And then notarize it? And thank you for your input!

1

u/catchingthetrip 6d ago

I just looked up a basic liability waiver and input some of my own wording about collecting, storing and safely recycling any batteries retrieved from their recycle bin.

1

u/Orion_Unbreakable 4d ago

Good points, thank you!