Informations about low battery flickering mode of the PD30

Hello,


I brought the new PD30 CR4 recently, very good flashlight at all with its 265 lumens turbo mode and heavy strobe... I'm french so sorrry for my possible english errors...

But i was surprised when my battery shutt off there was no low battery warning by flickering like my ex P3D.
But i noticed i used no protected rechargeable battery with the P3D (no name battery) and i used now good protected rechargeable battery with the PD30.... (2 AW and 2 Solarforce)

So is the low battery warning by flicking goes on only with no rechargeable battery and no protected rechargeable battery ?
Is the protected battery made that brutally shutting off without any warning or is it my PD30 wich have a problem ?

Thanks for your answer ! :twothumbs

One or two batteries? If two, would that be 3.7v or 3v?

Edit: Nevermind, the description on Fenix-Store doesn't include "Low Battery Indicator". The PD30 that uses an R2 does say this. So, it either didn't make it on the website, or the R4 version doesn't have it.

I know that the P3D I had, would not warn you with rechargeable batteries. I think the protected circuit kicked in before the low battery warning did.
Sorry not to sure about the newer PD30

leonidass said:

So is the low battery warning by flicking goes on only with no rechargeable battery and no protected rechargeable battery ?
Is the protected battery made that brutally shutting off without any warning or is it my PD30 wich have a problem ?

Click to expand...

I own all three PD30s Q5, R2 and R4. I found out using rechargeables batteries that they don't last as long as non rechargeable and that I had this same experience as you of abrupt shut off.

Using my voltmeter and checking the 2 RCR123A to find out what's happening I find out that one of the batteries was at 0.4mV and that was the reason of the abrupt shut off because probably of the protection inside.

Waiting few minutes the batterie will gain a little bit more than 3V but only for few seconds of energy. (My charger is a Tenergy model with 900 mAh RCR123A)

For me these rechargeable batteries are not reliable in a situation where it is very important to have a light source. From what I read the non rechargeable will also be better in extreme warm and cold situation they won't stop abruptly with no warnings.

To conclude I do always have with me a pair of full charged batteries or fresh non rechargeable in case of. Don't worry your PD30 R4 has no problem at all.

Buy a cheap voltmeter and you will appreciate to check the evolution of the voltage on yours batteries and you will know if they are equal, for example it you use two batteries, one at 3.23V and the other at 3.19V it is better than a batterie at 3.01V and the other at 3.33V.

Sorry for my english... my mother's tongue is french like you - ha ha may be we can communicate in french next time but all the others CPF members would appreciate the information we exchange.

Have a nice time with your Fenix PD30 XP-G R4, for me this premium led torch is a real jewel.

My EDC's post 169 at this link : https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/237805&page=6

Pierre

Thanks a lot for your fast and informativ solutions.
Excellent forum with good guy

Search, it's 2 CR123A 3.7v i used like that :
http://www.lighthound.com/AW-RCR123a-Protected-750-mAh-Battery_p_114.html
The notice indicate that the PD30 have this function of flicking to warn low battery mode.

Pierre thanks, the utimate camping master
It's good to know that it's not a problem withe the PD30.
The flicking goes on with the non protected with the P3D... but they was cheap and bad because their life time decrease a lot after 10 recharge to 10 even 5 minutes in turbo mode before flicking... (50 minutes when new)

I think so it's the protective system of the battery that cause this brutal shutt off.
The guy who sell my PD30 say it's the high voltage of the rechargeable battery that cause this problem.
For him i have to try 3.0 v rechargeable battery... I'm going to...
And if this isn't good i will recharge more frequently the battery, i read this is better for the life of lithium battery to don't let go down every time...
I'll take always a second pair of battery the next time...
For bad conditions i had try the PD30 at -10°C with the AW rechargeable and no problemo.. so far so good... lower temperature i don't know...

Pierre, yes it will be easier to speak in french but it's good to pratice my poor english i had learn with jack bauer and "breaking bad" in VO recently :twothumbs

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The leatherman charge TTI the ultimate or the new wave excellent too :

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leonidass said:

The notice indicate that the PD30 have this function of flicking to warn low battery mode.
I think so it's the protective system of the battery that cause this brutal shutt off.
The guy who sell my PD30 say it's the high voltage of the rechargeable battery that cause this problem.
For him i have to try 3.0 v rechargeable battery... I'm going to...
For bad conditions i had try the PD30 at -10°C with the AW rechargeable and no problemo.. so far so good... lower temperature i don't know...
Pierre, yes it will be easier to speak in french but it's good to pratice my poor english i had learn with jack bauer and "breaking bad" in VO recently

Click to expand...

Thank you for the info at using your torch lamp at -10°C (14°F) with RCR123A and the link you submit -> because on this link I find this one http://www.lighthound.com/Rechargea...n-Batteries--Lithium-Ion-Battery_ep_36-1.html very good info for all of us users of RCR123A batteries - WOW!

Me to I practice my english writing on this forum, it is the first forum of my life, no time to lose at all on a forum but as a flashaholic I fell in love with CPF.
:welcome:to you and :welcome:to me. Hey hey hey!!!

Bye !

P

Yes lighthound.com is a very good link, very serious with good price even more for european customer like me...

The link below is very good too, it's a part of a french forum for flashaholic with a lot of good link french but international too :

http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Discussions/Viepratique/lampes-torches-addict-sujet_54128_1.htm

about non protected battery :
"They output 3.6 volts until they are mostly discharged, at which point the voltage falls rapidly. If they are discharged below 3 volts, they will be ruined and no longer usable. The user must be very careful not to let this occur."

I think it's what happened with my non protected battery with the P3D... they permit to flick because the tension goes below 3v that the protected battery non permit...They permit to flick but when the light flick with this type of battery you'll have to stop to use the light if you don't want to kill the battery... So with rechargeable battery 3.6/3.7 v the flicking warning mode have no utility. It's good only with non rechargeable battery, i think, and maybe 3v rechargeable battery.

I found only one type of 3v battery rechargeable and they are not protected :ironic: (trustfire green on ebay...)

If someone found 3v rechargeable protected battery... i'll take it.

A last question : i see some protected battery with 1000 maH , the AW have 750 maH... so is the 1000 maH made the light more powerful, more lighting or not ? And is the autonomy are lighter with a superior intensity ?

leonidass said:

If someone found 3v rechargeable protected battery... i'll take it.

A last question : i see some protected battery with 1000 maH , the AW have 750 maH... so is the 1000 maH made the light more powerful, more lighting or not ? And is the autonomy are lighter with a superior intensity ?

Click to expand...

The charger I used for all my Fenix's PD30 Q5, R2 and R4 is this one here :
http://www.cfrlights.com/servlet/the-318/smart,-charger,-900,-mah,/Detail

Here is all the info I found in the Net about this charger :

TENERGY 4 Pack RCR123A 3V 900mAh Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery with Smart Charger
​

​

​

​

Charger Features:​

• Smart, build-in microprocessor automatically switch off when batteries are fully charged.
  
• Safe build-in IC provides various protection, Thermal protection, Overcharge protection, Short-circuit protection, mechanical. and electrical protection against reversal polarity, and auto defective battery identification.
  
• Includes 100-240V AC adapter for worldwide use and a convenient, DC 12V car cigarette lighter plug for on the road charging.
  
• Compact ( 2.5 x 4 x 1 inch ), Light weight (only 5 oz), include charger and all accessories.
  
• Charge 1 to 2 RCR123A from 1.5 hours to 3 hours. Peak voltage of 3.0V Li-Ion will be 3.60V after fully charged.

• 
  

​

CR123A Features:​

• Rechargeable CR123A Li-Ion Batteries with 3.0V working voltage.
  
  [*]Fully protected against over-charge, over-discharge, over-current and short-circuit.
  
• Tenergy RCR123A can be recharged up to 1000 times. 1 RCR123A Li-ion = 1000 CR123A Primary Cells
  
• Replace the most of non-rechargeable CR123A primary Lithium battery for a digital cameras and flashlight
  
• Modified Voltage to achieve 3.2v at full voltage; once loaded, cell voltage drops to 3.0v.
  
  [*]Internal over-charge and over-discharge protection to prevent battery over use. The current will be shut off when the battery voltage drops below 2.5V.
  
• Capacity:
  • Nominal: 600mAh
    
  • Maximum:900 mAh
• Internal Voltage Regulators.
  
• Dimension: 16 D x 34 H mm. (The height 34mm includes the button top).
  
• Weight: 17 g or 0.6 Oz.
  
• NOT COMPATIBLE WITH SUREFIRE FLASHLIGHT. DON'T USE THESE BATTERIES WITH ANY SURE FIRE FLASHLIGHTS.

• Replaces CR123A primary Lithium batteries for most digital cameras and many LED flashlights.

Warnings:​

• You must use the 3.0V RCR123A battery charger included to charge these 900mah RCR123A 3.0V batteries, please do not use other chargesr nor charge other batteries with this charger.
  
• This Charger can not be used to charge any other 3.0 or 3.6V RCR123A cells or they may explode!

<U>

Compatability/Suitability:​

• </U>
• For SureFire and other brands of incandescent (halogen, kyrpton, xenon, etc.) flashlights which have a bulb rated 7.2V and under we do not recommend this setup. We typically do NOT recommend these for any incandescent flashlights. They work GREAT for most LED flashlights!

On a site specialized on Fenix products in Canada they sell this charger, than I deduct that this is a recommanded charger for RCR123A for Fenix's lamp torch.

Pierre​

Thanks for the good info:thumbsup:

I found this one : ultrafire 3.0v 880 maH protected :

http://cgi.ebay.com/UltraFire-3V-80...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3359325951

I will try them...

For the charger i think there is a good and cheaper charger that is often recommanded by users because it could be recharge 3v and 3.7 battery too by push a little button to change the type of charge, always protected :
http://www.lighthound.com/Ultrafire-36-volt-or-3-volt-RCR123-Lithium-Battery-Charger_p_2270.html

I will see with the 3.0v protected if the PD30 flick to warn me with no problem of dangerous discharge because they're protected...
I'll be back soon

leonidass said:

Thanks for the good info:thumbsup:

For the charger i think there is a good and cheaper charger that is often recommanded by users because it could be recharge 3v and 3.7 battery too by push a little button to change the type of charge, always protected.

Click to expand...

Sorry, small correction : This charger is "cheaper" because it comes with no batteries. The Tenergy alone is around 10$, at 28$ this is with 4 x 4.50$ RCR123A at 900 mAh.
I just ordered Ternergy rechargeable 12xAA and 12xAAA for a friend and at the same time I took 2 sets of Tenergy RCR123A at this place : http://www.cfrlights.com/servlet/the-317/led,-flashlights,-cr123a,-rechargeable,/Detail

Have a nice time with your led flashlights!

Bye!

Pierre

ok you're right your charger have finally a good price.

Thanks for the link for the battery but for France there's too expensive in compariason of ebay... with the free shipping

See you.

leonidass said:

Thanks for the link for the battery but for France there's too expensive in compariason of ebay... with the free shipping See you.

Click to expand...

Good to know you are in France... I was thinking somewhere in Québec because there is no indication from where you are from in your CPF profile.
Bye !
P