I don't use my flashlights frequently

I keep a Zebralight SC62w in my pocket or on my belt;
A Nitecore SRT7 in my drawer at home, and;
A Nitecore P12 2015 edition in my car (currently freezing temps are possible)

1. if I fully charge the 18650 batteries and don't use these lights frequently, will I damage the batteries or light? Can the batteries leak?
2. if I fully charge the 18650 batteries and don't use these lights frequently, how long a battery life can I expect/how often should I put a freshly charged battery in them?
3. Should I use my Innova 3320 frequently to check voltage?
4. Does the Innova show me voltage while the battery is discharging?

Right now, this is how I'm using my lights as I don't need one for my occupation or, outside of the fact I have no electricity at my house, don't need them too much aside from emergency.

Even if I didn't ask the right questions above, any information you could give me about this would be great!

There's a lot of (over-exaggerated IMO) worry about 18650 cells, and how they'll turn to crap just sitting. I say, don't worry so much. I like to use ~$6 cells and not lose sleep over it. If they crap out in a few years, no big deal. They will start to degrade before that and you may not even know it. It's not like they'll just stop working at exactly "x days" from now.

- I like to stop charging mine around 4.10v just for peace of mind. Lots of my lights sit for weeks or months. I haven't noticed any performance loss so far (2 years in on most).

- I keep a Fenix PD32UE and 18650 cell in my Jeep. -22° to 130°+ inside temp. While I'm probably torturing that battery, I still haven't seen any problems. CR123 would make sense since I hardly use it, but I just don't like primary cells. Stupid, I know.

- You didn't mention storage, but if you do set them aside for a long time (6+ months), discharge them to about 3.7v or somewhere around there.

I know I didn't answer all your questions, but I'm sure others with more experience will chime in...

Thanks for the quick response.
Do I discharge them in the flashlight, or is there another method? I'm new to this so I'm not sure.
Happy Thanksgiving!

rwfishman said:

Thanks for the quick response.
Do I discharge them in the flashlight, or is there another method? I'm new to this so I'm not sure.
Happy Thanksgiving!

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Actually, I wondered about that too. Seems like extra wear and tear on the light doing it that way, but not something you'll do often. I believe all 'hobby chargers' will discharge safely, but I don't know much about those.

Just be careful not to over-discharge them (2.5-2.7v) if they are unprotected cells. To be safe, try to recharge around 3.5v at a minimum.

I just use my lights and discharge my li-ions that way, sometimes having five lights going at once! Cree states 50,000 hours, so I'm not worried about it.

Chris

I use an AW IMR 16340 in my HDS EDC and not worry about the over-discharge it because the light will let me know when to recharge the battery.:thumbsup:

markr6 said:

Actually, I wondered about that too. Seems like extra wear and tear on the light doing it that way, but not something you'll do often. I believe all 'hobby chargers' will discharge safely, but I don't know much about those.

Just be careful not to over-discharge them (2.5-2.7v) if they are unprotected cells. To be safe, try to recharge around 3.5v at a minimum.

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I use a hobby charger and believe it is the best way to go. I can charge any chemistry of lithium battery safely and at a variable charge rate. It also has a storage function that charges or discharges cells to the proper voltage for long term storage (6+ months). I use a Traxxas EZ-Peak Plus with an adapter that I made.


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Mrhoades said:

I use a hobby charger and believe it is the best way to go. I can charge any chemistry of lithium battery safely and at a variable charge rate. It also has a storage function that charges or discharges cells to the proper voltage for long term storage (6+ months). I use a Traxxas EZ-Peak Plus with an adapter that I made.


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Does the Nitecore i4 Intellicharger 2014 Edition fit in the "hobby charger" catagory? If not, can this model safely discharge 18650 batteries?

rwfishman said:

Does the Nitecore i4 Intellicharger 2014 Edition fit in the "hobby charger" catagory? If not, can this model safely discharge 18650 batteries?

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That is not a hobby charger and does not appear to have a discharge feature. I'm sure it charges 18650 batteries fine though and is about 20% of the cost of the charger I have. My charger is overkill for these small batteries, but I like being able to monitor battery voltage and charge rate.


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rwfishman said:

Does the Nitecore i4 Intellicharger 2014 Edition fit in the "hobby charger" catagory? If not, can this model safely discharge 18650 batteries?

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No, the I4 is not a hobby charger. And it does not have a discharge function.

I am not a battery expert by any means, but my take on this is...
I don't worry about them degrading.
If I can use a rechargeable a couple of times it has paid for itself, any usage above that is bonus time.
I also don't require my lights to have the absolute longest run time possible from the batteries, I keep them topped up and some sit for extended periods of time.
So far none have completely failed and I will swap them out for new ones around every 4 years anyway.
Use them, enjoy them, recycle & repeat.

Mrhoades said:

That is not a hobby charger and does not appear to have a discharge feature. I'm sure it charges 18650 batteries fine though and is about 20% of the cost of the charger I have. My charger is overkill for these small batteries, but I like being able to monitor battery voltage and charge rate.


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What kind of charger are you using?

Mrhoades said:

That is not a hobby charger and does not appear to have a discharge feature. I'm sure it charges 18650 batteries fine though and is about 20% of the cost of the charger I have. My charger is overkill for these small batteries, but I like being able to monitor battery voltage and charge rate.


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Click to expand...

This may be a duplicate.
What kind of charger do you use?

rwfishman said:

What kind of charger are you using?

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Traxxas EZ-Peak Plus. I had it for RC car batteries and made an adapter to hold RCR123 batteries.


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Just recharge your batteries maybe once a month if you have time, or maybe once every 2 months. I had flashlights with 18650 battery sit for 3 or more months, and they still work with the voltage drop down to 3.9 volts.

I have lots of lights all fully fed with cells,i tend to lock them out where possible. Then if not used for a few month i run for a bit and drop the V down,top back off.........

I do this pretty much subconsciously .........more to counter any potential drain and discharging too low. As said cells are cheap enough so i dont worry about loosing a few cycles of life,in scheme of things its pretty irrelevant in a few ways,for starters you will have many years anyway,also newer cells come out.........

Out of all my lights,the mm15vn appears to be the worst.........after 3 months it dropped to 4.1v :laughing: thats the longest i have left it(cant lock this light out due to design) so has very little drain at all. Now i tend to use every week or two due to darker nights,even if i just run it for a few mins and use it when i can outside . The hardest part for me is picking what light/s to take out :laughing:

So as said,enjoy and dont worry, locked out even a year wont make a difference in real life use..........end of the day if you get 400 charge cycles or 390........how will you know and to keep track of.............I for one will not be monitoring a $10 cell over years to get an extra bit of use!! Just my opinion:thumbsup:

"...i tend to lock them out where possible...."

What does this mean?

"Locking out" is usually unscrewing the tail-cap slightly ( or something similar ) to stop parasitic drain and to keep light from being accidentally turned on.

The downside is if someone else goes to use it and doesn't know or try to tighten cap, it wont work.

I keep primary lithiums cr123 / energizer l91 etc. in my car lights especially in winter if it gets much below freezing. They also have a fairly long shelf life with the l91 aa being the winner there. ( as far as i know ).

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rwfishman said:

"...i tend to lock them out where possible...."

What does this mean?

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Basically a twist of the tail cap(maybe head on some),some turn a few mm like the tm15,others a couple of full turns like the tk75vn for one example.This is due to the carrier inside the tk75vn light,the contacts are longer(and sprung).
This stops contact, so can not switch on via power button and stops any V drain that some lights have due to electronic switch etc . Some lights have parasitic drain,others that are clicky may have none.........so would not really need to "lock out"

But there are other advantages too of locking out(of course if possible). One example,accidental activation,maybe in pocket or rucksack and turn on,not only could this fry the light,but potentially damage other items too.

Cheers ven

Lithium primaries (CR123s) are really the way the go for infrequent use/long term emergency storage purposes - but if you already have 18650s you certainly might as well use them since they'll die of age whether you use them or not.

I agree with Chazz on the primaries for car use if subject to extreme heat and cold cycles - heat+high SoC is by far the greatest wear factor for Li-ions, and primaries will perform better in the real cold. Then again, dual cell configs are riskier for car use due to the effects of constant temperature swings and road agitation on cell imbalance.

And definitely agree with Ven on locking out the electronic clicky lights. Parasitic drain should be tiny and take years, but I've read enough excessive drain posts from faulty circuits (on the flashlight or the batt. PCB). Whatever you do, make sure you understand Li-ion safety and check that cell has not been over-discharged before recharging it - spectacular failure with these cells generally occurs during the charge cycle.