DM51
Flashaholic
Kier said:
If the setting for the beam is high, then it is quite easy to tell when the battery is getting low – it visibly begins to fade, and when it starts doing that you should stop using it at once and recharge it. On a low setting this will NOT be easy to spot, as the current draw is less and the battery will continue to provide power even when it reaches a low safe limit.Kier said:
The best thing is to recharge little but often. For example, if I use mine for only 3-4 minutes on high one night, I recharge it the next morning anyway. Even if it has only dropped to maybe 3.9v, I recharge it. Pull it from the nanocharger as soon as the light goes green and it will be below 4.2v. I hope to get 500+ cycles out of each cell, and I have 2 spare cells ($4.50 each, IIRC). The extra small charges aren't going to shorten their life, if anything they are going to extend it, 500 cycles = a long time, and $4.50 is pretty cheap for something that may last 2-3 years.
I would however very strongly recommend you should get a multimeter. You can get reasonably-priced ones, and you will then be able to monitor your cells properly. When you get one, make sure you test it for accuracy against a professional-grade one like a Fluke, as even a 0.1v difference is quite a lot when you are dealing with Li-Ions.
Re the other question above concerning sapphire lenses, I asked Jonathan about this some time ago, and he said they are very tough and he's never heard of one that size breaking, so you may decide you don't need a spare.
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