How much discharge rate is too much?

I always wondered this, how many amps is too much for most flashlights?

I assume, the driver would do just fine regulating this, but is there a such thing?

I guess not, unless in case of shorting the battery, in which case is a big nono no matter what.

You can get into a position where the flashlight asks for more than the cell(s) can easily give. If you run protected cells, most protection circuits kick in at 2.5 to 3 amps. If your light pulls close to that at max, you run the risk of getting a cell that will kick out as the protection kicks in, especially as cells start to age and their internal resistance rises. That is why I got IMR cells for my TM16, they can put out much more than the light will ever ask for.

I have a zebralight sc32w. With CR123A in H1 it pulls over 2 amps. Is Zebralight crazy?

Battery being able to deliver more current than the circuit draws is no problem. There is nothing to regulate here, circuit will just take what it needs and not an mA more, regardless of how much more current can the battery deliver.

It is the opposite situation that is problematic, when device needs more current than your energy source can deliver.

recDNA said:

I have a zebralight sc32w. With CR123A in H1 it pulls over 2 amps. Is Zebralight crazy?

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I have followed your questions about this with some interest. The high temperatures and high amps you have measured seem large to this uninformed observer.

I do recall Selfbuilt reporting instances of US-made CR123A batteries restricting output when asked to provide "too much." Some of his foreign-made batteries were not as restrictive. For this reason, he uses only US-made CR123A batteries in his current reviews. His experience with US-made CR123A batteries is the reason I was surprised to hear of your experience with the Surefire brand.

I guess you should try writing to Zebralight. If you word your inquiry by suggesting you have a problem with batteries, rather than with the Zebralight SC32w, you will make it easier for Zebralight to say the 2A draw is bad for the SC32w.

Good luck with your quest.

I did write Zebralight. Surefire says CR123A max sustained amps is 1 amp. Another user tested his and got 2.5 amps on H1. I put an imr 16340 in it but I am annoyed because I purchased the sc32w only to use with primaries. Of course no problem if I only use H2 or restrict H1 to short bursts.

recDNA said:

I did write Zebralight. Surefire says CR123A max sustained amps is 1 amp. Another user tested his and got 2.5 amps on H1. I put an imr 16340 in it but I am annoyed because I purchased the sc32w only to use with primaries. Of course no problem if I only use H2 or restrict H1 to short bursts.

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Let us know what Zebralight has to say.

I am not clear what Surefire has said. Did it say that your experience was normal and acceptable, or did it say your experience was anomalous?

recDNA said:

I did write Zebralight. Surefire says CR123A max sustained amps is 1 amp. Another user tested his and got 2.5 amps on H1. I put an imr 16340 in it but I am annoyed because I purchased the sc32w only to use with primaries. Of course no problem if I only use H2 or restrict H1 to short bursts.

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No warning from ZL? Armytek has a warning in the users manual about the use of CR123 primaries in their 380-OTF-lumen Prime C1 Pro (which is approved for 1x18350, 1x 16340, or 1xCR123A). And the Armytek rep here on CPF wrote: "...But I should say that we don't recommend to use CR123 batteries for often and continuos operation, especially in Max mode (as the high temperature can damage unprotected primary cells and cause a shortcut [short circuit] even…"

How is Olight going to pull off 500 lumens off a CR123 safely I wonder then?
I wonder if OEM are using timed step down to prevent to much overheat on cell as well, works for protecting led, little tweaking to run time to not over stress cell and Wallaa!
Jmtc

WarRaven said:

How is Olight going to pull off 500 lumens off a CR123 safely I wonder then?...

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After 1.5 minutes in turbo, the S1 steps down to 300 lumen.

Wonder 90 second is considered a pulse by OEM?

recDNA said:

I have a zebralight sc32w. With CR123A in H1 it pulls over 2 amps. Is Zebralight crazy?

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CR123s are usually rated for 1.5A continuous current.

Some random datasheets:
https://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data Sheets/FDK/CR123A.pdf
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/123.pdf
http://omnicelbattery.com/spec/cr-123a.pdf

WarRaven said:

Wonder 90 second is considered a pulse by OEM?

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Definitely not. It's normally 3s pulse, 27s rest.

Sorry, my tongue in cheek smiley was forgotten ☺

KeepingItLight said:

Let us know what Zebralight has to say.

I am not clear what Surefire has said. Did it say that your experience was normal and acceptable, or did it say your experience was anomalous?

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I did not write surefire. I'm quoting published Surefire CR123A specs. It isn't the fault of the battery. The battery is fine. I just think the sc32w driver is pulling too much current from a primary based on battery specs but I am no expert. I wish someone more knowledgeable about batteries would comment.

SubLGT said:

No warning from ZL? Armytek has a warning in the users manual about the use of CR123 primaries in their 380-OTF-lumen Prime C1 Pro (which is approved for 1x18350, 1x 16340, or 1xCR123A). And the Armytek rep here on CPF wrote: "...But I should say that we don't recommend to use CR123 batteries for often and continuos operation, especially in Max mode (as the high temperature can damage unprotected primary cells and cause a shortcut [short circuit] even…"

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There may well be a warning that I missed. Perhaps someone has seen it?

I did find a warning not specific to primaries that said under extreme temperature or usage battery may leak and damaged batteries may explode.

On the bright side I have yet to read of any sc32w owner complaining about batteries leaking or exploding and I am often overly cautious by cpf standards. When I read about the demands vapors but on batteries I'm horrified.

Zebralight does have a circuit to lower output if led gets hot enough but in the time I tested it started at 2 amps H1 then Intried H2 and it was .3 amps then went back to H1 and it was 1.5 amps. I feel comfortable with 1.5 amps as long as it continues to drop. I don't know if current dropped due to pid circuitry or because my battery was depleted (2.95 resting volts). Like I said - I'm no expert.

recDNA said:

There may well be a warning that I missed. Perhaps someone has seen it?

I did find a warning not specific to primaries that said under extreme temperature or usage battery may leak and damaged batteries may explode.

Zebralight does have a circuit to lower output if led gets hot enough but in the time I tested it started at 2 amps H1 then Intried H2 and it was .3 amps then went back to H1 and it was 1.5 amps. I feel comfortable with 1.5 amps as long as it continues to drop. I don't know if current dropped due to pid circuitry or because my battery was depleted (2.95 resting volts). Like I said - I'm no expert.

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I only found a non-specific general warning as you stated above.

Did you ever hear back from Zebralight about the H1 level running primary's on you your SC32w?

I have an H32 that I use Surefire 123A primary's in and have been running it on H2 (262 lm) instead of H1 (480 lm) due to the concerns you mention with regards to current. I have been following many of your posts with interest on this subject over the past week. When I get back into the laboratory next week I am going to test the current for both the H1 and H2 levels on this headlamp. I am hoping that the H2 level on this H32 is around 0.3A like your SC32w as I do NOT want to go over or even near 1.5A.

The last thing I want is to run on H1 or H2 and have my primary battery overheat and vent and/or leak into my eyes!!

Double post. Please delete.