Where would the best deal be found on this?

I need probably up to 10 batteries and 1 charger.

Thanks to all the flashlight junkies who chime in.

I usually buy Panasonic protected cells from ebay for about $10/ea from r-lsales. After doing some reading, I ended up with an  Xtar charger from the same guy. Not sure if there's a better/bigger charger fro your needs.

Just make sure you order batteries from CONUS. There are now many more hoops to jump through getting li-ion cells from overseas, and will take longer to get.

Edit: be careful comparing cells. If any cell claims higher Ah than the others, its probably not true. 3400 is the highest available right now. Stay with Panasonic or
AW cells, and you should be good to go.

I use Ultrafire 4000mAh 18650's. They are on ebay for $5 shipped per pair. Been using 10 of them for about 9 months now with no issues at all.

As for a charger I bought a Nitecore I4 at the same time and again its been trouble free.

The whole setup was just under $50.

panasonic ncr18650b

Make sure they are real from a trusted source!

Good deal on a charger. http://www.fenixoutfitters.com/arec1d-fenix-18650-charger-damaged-pkg/

First off, I'll once again sound like a broken record, but so be it.

Never go cheap with Lithium-Ion cells and chargers and make sure you HAVE a decent digital multi-meter handy before you start playing with them.

If you have to go cheap on something, buy cheap NiMH batteries, cheap beer or cheap toilet paper, not Li-Ions.

TelephoneMan uses the same guy I've used for 19 months and he's now a very experienced seller, thanks to the the boom in E-cigarettes, which make Li-Ion cells/chargers almost ubiquitous these days.

If you just need to charge up lithium-cobalt, or lithium-manganese 3.7v cells, which are common in high end lights, then Xtar is the de facto king of chargers these days.  You can get easily get the dethroned king--the Italian Pila, but it's a bit slower in charging, is expensive at ~$50 and specifically built for Pila designed batteries, although that latter point is less of an issue in reality.

Xtar makes the WP2 II 2 bay charger, which is the one I have.  $21 shipped if you don't 'make an offer' and get it for less.  It's a safe charger that charges at 500mA and 1A, plus it has a USB out at 5v-500mA, so you can charge up most USB devices, with an already charged up cell, if you need to.  Finally, it, like the other Xtar chargers, comes with a 12v cigarette adapter.

500mA and 1A are two rates that cover most Li-Ion sizes, but not all.  500mA is a little too hot for those using the AAA size 10440 (and smaller) cells and current 18650 cells can take a 2A charge, but suffice it to say, the 500mA and 1A rates are right in the sweet spot, IMO .  

Xtar makes the newer XP2s, SP2 and VP1 chargers that have either higher, or lower rates (2A vs. 250mA,) which allow you to have a bit more flexibility if you use smaller cells, which I don't.  The RCR123/16340 (CR123A size) is the smallest I use and 500mA is borderline, but sufficient.  

You'd always rather charge a cell up to 'just under full capacity' than to go over, which can be dangerous and this is where cheaper chargers fail.  There's is a certain 'cc/cv' algorithm that 'should be followed' for Li-Ions and problems can occur if you fail in this regard.  The cheaply made shit couldn't care less about this algorithm.

Anyhow, see my guy here: R-Lsales and you can click on 'other items' to see his cell choices:

r-lsales on Ebay Xtar WP2 II and cells

If anything, you can start researching some of the things that I discuss here and see what you see for pricing.  

If your lights are high drain/high current draws, you might want to consider the Sanyo 2600s, which he has, as they handle 3+ amp loads better than the protected Panasonic 2900s, 3100s and the 3400s, but since they're unprotected, you wouldn't want to use the naked Sanyos in a multi-cell light.  Other people add protection to the cell, but the price goes up, FWIW.

Chris

http://www.batteryjunction.com/smx-intellicharge-i4.html



Charges just about anything and is on sale for $15

Good post, thanks