Fenix TK41 - half the batteries empty, other half unused?

[RCantor]

I just used up my first set of batteries in my Fenix TK41. When I put them in the charger it said 4 of them still had a full charge and the other 4 were empty. I put all of them in with the negative terminal toward the small springs in the 2 AA columns in the carrier. Does anyone know if I put them in wrong or what might have happened?

Thanks.

[monkeyboy]

In the TK41, the battery configuration is 4s2p meaning that there are 2 parallel sets of 4 batteries in series. If there is one bad contact, then it will only be running on 4 batteries and the other 4 will not be used. You need to clean all the contacts on the batteries and holder. Use rubbing alcohol or deoyxit etc.

[flashflood]

I just used up my first set of batteries in my Fenix TK41. When I put them in the charger it said 4 of them still had a full charge and the other 4 were empty. I put all of them in with the negative terminal toward the small springs in the 2 AA columns in the carrier. Does anyone know if I put them in wrong or what might have happened?

Thanks.

That certainly seems possible. I have a TK45, which I believe uses the same 8xAA battery carrier. The four columns do not all face the same way, nor do they simply alternate up/down -- it's two columns up, then two columns down. It would be pretty easy to load incorrectly if your mind was wandering a bit at the time.

[jhc37013]

I don't have a TK41 so I really don't know how the battery's insert but IIRC it will run off 4xAA so maybe you had one or more in backwards.

[blah9]

I have a TK45, which I believe uses the same 8xAA battery carrier.

I think the TK45 has all batteries in series whereas the TK41 does not, so the wiring in the carrier would be different even if they look similar.

[RCantor]

That certainly seems possible. I have a TK45, which I believe uses the same 8xAA battery carrier. The four columns do not all face the same way, nor do they simply alternate up/down -- it's two columns up, then two columns down. It would be pretty easy to load incorrectly if your mind was wandering a bit at the time.

But does the negative side of the battery always face the spring in the inside of the carrier?

[blah9]

But does the negative side of the battery always face the spring in the inside of the carrier?

On my TK45 this is the case.

[monkeyboy]

But does the negative side of the battery always face the spring in the inside of the carrier?

Yes it does.

[pblanch]

That sounds kind of dangerous to me. If you where recharging the batteries and got the full batteries mixed with the empty batteries wouldnt that be a recipe for trouble.

[vali]

I dont see the problem using a charger with independent channels.

[pblanch]

I dont see the problem using a charger with independent channels.

Not everyone has a cutting edge charger. I use the charger that came with the rechargable batteries.

[aimxplode]

That sounds kind of dangerous to me. If you where recharging the batteries and got the full batteries mixed with the empty batteries wouldnt that be a recipe for trouble.

It might damage the longevity of the cells, but NiMHs will not explode.

Not everyone has a cutting edge charger. I use the charger that came with the rechargable batteries.

You can find independent channel chargers for relatively cheap nowadays.

[pblanch]

Hey I'm just saying....when I see on the forums that people willing buy ebay $2 18650 3000mah batteries then leave them on charger all night makes me worried some one may be hurt by using the old charger that came with there energisers. I relise that the CPF users tend to consume info on everything torch, battery, runtime, lumuns, tint, shade of green ... (you get the drift) related, a lot of people dont have this forum to ask the numerous questions (like myself) and at least try and be as safe as they can.

I also have a system in place to monitor all my batteries and wont mix batteries at all. I even carry a USB enloop charger with me and have a seperate enloop for that is dedicated to my single AA battery torches (did the research and they can charge single batteries). I have considered gettinga Pila but cant justify an extra $50 to recharge batteries that I already take good care of. I just think the above senario could catch out a lot.

[RCantor]

I use an MH C808M - 8 independant channels from Thomas distributing, but it's a good point to make people aware. I must have screwed up the first time. I ran a set of imedions through today and all 8 got discharged. The flashlight seemed to last forever though even on only 4 batteries. Today it took 12 hours to mostly d/c the batteries and it was on turbo a lot of that time. I had to leave it unattended for a few hours and put it on medium then. the rest of the time it was high or turbo. It's a very impressive flashlight. This time I found out one of the imedions was dead so it really was running on only 7 cells.

[aimxplode]

Hey I'm just saying....when I see on the forums that people willing buy ebay $2 18650 3000mah batteries then leave them on charger all night makes me worried some one may be hurt by using the old charger that came with there energisers. I relise that the CPF users tend to consume info on everything torch, battery, runtime, lumuns, tint, shade of green ... (you get the drift) related, a lot of people dont have this forum to ask the numerous questions (like myself) and at least try and be as safe as they can.

I also have a system in place to monitor all my batteries and wont mix batteries at all. I even carry a USB enloop charger with me and have a seperate enloop for that is dedicated to my single AA battery torches (did the research and they can charge single batteries). I have considered gettinga Pila but cant justify an extra $50 to recharge batteries that I already take good care of. I just think the above senario could catch out a lot.

Yea it also worries me that people that are completely brand new to high powered LEDs jump straight into Li-ions. I've been in here a while, and I'm still not brave enough for that.

Where you thinking of getting the Pila for some Li-ions?

[pblanch]

Yea it also worries me that people that are completely brand new to high powered LEDs jump straight into Li-ions. I've been in here a while, and I'm still not brave enough for that.

Where you thinking of getting the Pila for some Li-ions?

First time running the Liion to flat (SC600) made me panic a bit sat up half the night recharging to a safer storage level (for battery longevity) and thought you couldnt do this if you were out bush somewhere. I was going to get Pila but couldnt find anywhere in Aus that would sell (at a resonable price - settled on the WF139 but watch it like a hawk checking the temp and voltage every half hour, and placed in a pot plant surrounded by a fireproof blanket just in case - well at least until I get comfortable with the format) Got the batteries and charger from AW in the CPF market place as I would NOT buy anything like that from ebay.

I love the TK41 old school style charm and once you go 750Lm+ you just cant go back I think. But have been put off by the reports of green tint so far.

RCantor can you post the configeration that the full/flat batteries were in. Carrying 4 spare batteries rather than 8 would get you by I think in a jam.

In my last post I put down Pila charger when I meant Maha. Sorry if I caused any confusion (for me as well) Still pricy in Aus but they are coming down in price slowly.

[RCantor]

If I knew that a battery was in wrong I wouldn't have started this thread I only found out when all the batteries were in the charger. The light is built to use 4 batteries in a pinch but I don't know how to do that. It is posted here on CPF (or MP) but I didn't have the light with me when I read it. To be honest I didn't see a change in brightness and it still seemed to run for just about ever. I have no problem with using LiIons. just read about them and use a proper charger. The newer U/F 139 chargers seem to do it right by all accounts. I've heard the same about the newer 4 sevens chargers.

As for green tint, mine looks pure white on med - turbo. It looks a little blue-grey on low. When I compare it with neutral lights in the 4000K - 4750K range it looks very slightly green but nothing to screech about. There's a thread where someone was very upset by a large amount of dust in his Fenix head but wouldn't post pictures. I think there's some people who are out to hurt Fenix for whatever reason. The TK41 is a spectacular light. It's the biggest light I own but in terms of reach and runtime it definitely outshines the smaller lights.

I got the particular Maha because I imagine eventually I'll need to recharge NiMH C & Ds. It's also unbeliveably great. It charges 8 AAs from empty to full in about 3 hrs. I didn't set out to time it so I don't know exactly.