Battery selection help

Hi guys I've just ordered the zebralight h602w with a xtar vp2 lion charger. Can anyone recommend what 18650 batteries I should use. Nmh 3000 3400 etc I have no idea as this is my first unit where I have not had either aaa or aa in it. I've just read a post that these lion batteries need multi meter checked and can be dangerous. I'm now wondering if I have made a mistake. Can someone please guide me
Thanks

any protected 18650 will work. Keeppower 3400mah cells are your best value. Keeppower 3500mah cells are your best performers but average 3-5 bucks more you can find these cells in the US at illumn.com and NKon eu in Europe

CelticCross74 said:

any protected 18650 will work. Keeppower 3400mah cells are your best value. Keeppower 3500mah cells are your best performers but average 3-5 bucks more you can find these cells in the US at illumn.com and NKon eu in Europe

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I agree with celticcross. I use keeppower 3500 mah Sanyo in my olight m1x striker. I gave my brother thrunite mini tn30 ( keeppower 3500 mah ).

I personally want to use high quality cells in my flashlights.

I don't mind spending extra cash on good cells I'm more worried about the post I seen about them over heating and exploding. Do u use multi meters on yours and do u leave them charging at night in bed??

Hi guys I can't seem to find a retailer in the uk for keeppower what about Sanyo ncr18650ga would they work ?

Should have added 3500 version and are these protected

Arf69 said:

I don't mind spending extra cash on good cells I'm more worried about the post I seen about them over heating and exploding. Do u use multi meters on yours and do u leave them charging at night in bed??

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I use a MM now and then to check, kind of good practice but not a must. A good charger with a voltage readout helps keep things simple. No , not over night, even with good quality chargers that terminate..........anything can fail even if its 99.99% reliable, there is still a 0.01% chance something could fail.

Check ecoluxshop on ebay , guy is called Norb and a great guy to deal with.

Just noticed you have a cracking charger, so all good there. Other options if the 3500 are not available, check out the 3400mah protected,panasonic generic or Xtar/keeppower flavours(same inside).

Fully charged at 4.2v(come around 3.6-3.8v) so charge when you get them , the vp2 will show the V .

Your light will tell you when low but its a good idea to learn the light. After 30 mins use, pop in charger to check V(rough idea) example its 4.0v, so next time give it an hour and see again.......

Or if it suits and you use it everyday for 30mins or 1hr 14m and 33s...............top it off every day ready for the next day!

Have a little read up, no need to study for weeks on end(unless you want to and all good) but realistically , just get an idea and enjoy the light. You have already used the chemistry maybe without knowing, your laptop may have 6 or 9 of the 18650's in. Your power drill which may be lithium will have several in...........

Bonus is high power, no memory and tough.............but respect and treat right for a safe and long relationship of flashlight illumination

Arf regarding your concern with Li ion. They aren't as bad as they're made out on some posts on here. I have only recently started using 18650 cells in an sr52vn (cheers ven it's great) and I can't believe how well behaved they are. I have xtar 2600mah protected cells and they are balanced pretty much perfectly. I just check them before use to ensure they're each the same voltage (and they always are) with a normal Mm. It's really put my concerns to rest and a whole world of lights feels more available now. Bit of common sense and good practice and you are not going to have issues

torchsarecool said:

Arf regarding your concern with Li-ion. They aren't as bad as they're made out on some posts on here. I have only recently started using 18650 cells in a sr52vn (cheers ven it's great) and I can't believe how well behaved they are. I have xtar 2600mah protected cells and they are balanced pretty much perfectly. I just check them before use to ensure they're each the same voltage (and they always are) with a normal Mm. It's really put my concerns to rest and a whole world of lights feels more available now. Bit of common sense and good practice and you are not going to have issues

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That is the secret of a good hobby common sense above all else pays real dividends.

mcnair55 said:

That is the secret of a good hobby common sense above all else pays real dividends.

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+1

A great start is being a member here, Arf is already asking the Q's and looking into them which is great. For every 1 member on here, how many 1000's dont research, wait till it stops working, chucks on a *****fire charger at bed time. Wakes up, throws it in the light and goes on their day.............

I have learned a lot, always keen to learn more! Just for the record...............i was one many years back who would put a cell on charge before bed and use the next day!

Not that many want to know, its a battery after all..........just a battery and a torch, i mean how can there be anything to that?!?

Many new to it are used to alki cells, when the die they go, new ones in till the next tine darkness falls. I can see very easily why people do these things...........

Members of RC forums(vape forums) know their stuff if serious,2s,3s 6s etc, charge rates........... knowledgeable as we are on this hobby/interest/tools . We all start somewhere........i can hold my hands up and say mistakes i have made, real school boy errors too. Even had one the other day........Took a 16340 cell out of my light before posting, put in pocket that i knew no money in(yep thinking kind of at the time). Then what do i go and do? Put my car keys in the pocket, only took me a few second to do a HUGE:fail:.. Nothing happened, but the point, even people with years of experience are not immune to that 1 time. I can use all the excuses in the world(rushing, did not account for issues with cell even though it should be OK i did not want to risk loosing the light, rushing to school) but i still made that mistake and none of the excuses make it acceptable. Not done it for many years, last time maybe 10+ago with an alki cell which again was issue free.

No one is perfect(i am far from, i even stub my toes after 40yrs of walking!) but i can hold my hands up and admit errors, even if someone reads this by a search and think " geez, i put batteries in my pockets" "better not do this as it could short and cause severe burns" then it may prevent it happening in future.

End of waffle and moment! But i am honest............

Great posts guys thanks I'm feeling more relieved that it's not all science with these batteries. Ven so would I be right in saying that these batteries have no memory so it's better to top up than run flat. Will run flat damage them ?? My light will be used for work every day so prob best just to top up if possible

Arf69 said:

Hi guys I can't seem to find a retailer in the uk for keeppower what about Sanyo ncr18650ga would they work ?

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I'd recommend reading up on Li-ion a bit. It'll help you out no end and make you an informed buyer.

They can be potentially dangerous if mishandled. But no more so than handling petrol, which we all do often. A good charger, digital multi meter (£5 off eBay) and common sense are pretty essential.

If if you plan to use high output modes a lot. Then high performance IMR batteries are the way to go.


I prefer Samsung 30Q's I get them from Banggood. They are a good price, but expect 2-4 weeks delivery. Efest purple batteries are good too. You can get these off eBay from a UK seller if you need them quicker. But they will cost more.

High mah only really works best for low output use.

Here is an example:



to read this graph you essentially want the line to stay as high for as long as possible. That will give the best performance. Even on a Zerbralight which uses a very clever driver able to boost the voltage as it drops. As you can see the 30Q out performs the larger better for most of the discharge. The last bit is less relevant as below a certain point the flashlight will stop working anyhow due to limits of li-ion technology and their minimum voltages.

this chart is for a light on turbo or high making 900-1000 lumens. For moonlight or low mode use the bigger battery will give the better runtimes.


http://m.banggood.com/2PCS-INR18650-30Q-3000mah-20A-Power-Li-ion-Battery-for-Samsung-p-1015666.html

Arf69 said:

Great posts guys thanks I'm feeling more relieved that it's not all science with these batteries. Ven so would I be right in saying that these batteries have no memory so it's better to top up than run flat. Will run flat damage them ?? My light will be used for work every day so prob best just to top up if possible

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Ideally you don't want to run flat! As that is taking it right down to the minimum voltage(could be 2.5/2.7v cell dependent) . Most lights won't even run then anyway and having the vp2 will soon get you used to the voltages being used/time
used.

I am sure the ZL has built in warnings/protection and will not sustain any higher mode once the voltage goes bellow 3.6v or so( don't know exact figure). These in itself are a little warning to charge the cell up .

So so if your using daily for a set amount of time, it may suit you to charge in evening or every 2 days(etc etc to what suits your uses). A case with a spare cell in is a good idea for anything unexpected . Even another light as back up , anything can fail and last thing you want is no light(could be life or death). All depends on uses really but I still recommend a back up, even if it's small key chain light!

As mr drumstick suggests , have more of a read up, yes no memory but still need to be looked after to get the best out of them(safety and life of cell).

As a rough guide i tend to top my cells up around 3.6-3.8v back to 4.2v .

Away from lights, I take them down to 3.3-3.4v in my ecig mods with a 20% warning.

Thanks for posting this thread - I am equally new and am also in the learning process about batteries.

Are primary cells generally less dangerous than rechargeables? Should I still run MM's for multi cell lights with primaries? I'm somewhat hesitant to buy a 2xCR123A MD2 by Malkoff because of it even though it looks like the absolute perfect light for me.

Equally unsure of if I want to go for the 2xAA route for HDS even though I suspect I will like the dimensions and feel of the tube better.

Dangerous is really a wrong word imo(not picking here) as a car could be classed as dangerous, as a bike in the wrong hands.

They require a little reading up, little common sense and a lot of enjoyment

Potentially cr123 cells can be "dangerous"

HDS wise, the 18650 body will give excellent run times, depends on what type of uses you have in mind really. I am not keen on the 2x AA format, prefer the short 16340/cr123 size for EDC. For longer use the 18650 body...........but again depends on use time and the output you will be using. Most uses can be covered with 100lm, if its being used as an EDC for maybe up to 30m or 1hr, then no issue with the smaller body(always can have a spare cell to throw in). If your usage may require 4hrs a day, maybe size is not too much of an issue, then the 18650 would make the better choice imo.

That is how i would decide


Amazing light, the rotary is fantastic and the hi cri is beautiful!

Posting images like that doesn't help me any!! I'm somewhat trying to stay connected to the 3-500$ that I want to spend on flashlights since spending 2 weeks lurking on CPF. It's a losing effort, but the battle has to be fought nonetheless. :devil: I've EDCed a 5.9 and a 6.1 inch flashlight for the last few years so I'm not overly concerned with the tube size even though now that I have a 3.75' in hand I'm starting to think maybe I've been missing out.

Edit: Also thank you for the advice. It's always welcome and appreciated.

I better not post this as well then..........

What is that little beautiful thing? I haven't seen it before. It also appears to have soundly wrestled and pinned that fancy Hinderer quite well.

Its a gizmo, 4000k xp-l HI and programable driver thanks to SOYCD,

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?298311-Wave-of-Haiku-High-CRI



thats just a kershaw knife