Manufacturers need to start listing parasitic drain on all light products

Nothing worse then clicking "buy" on a light, paying for shipping, waiting your time and getting a light that sucks the battery dry while sitting turned off.

We need to push the light makers to list parasitic drain!!!!

All lights with electronic switches will have a certain amount of parasitic drain. The amount of drain can vary from so little it isn't worth worrying about to enough to drain your batteries over time if left unchecked. Some common reviewers test the amount of parasitic drain on the models they test if you want to know. The simple solution is to simply crack the tailcap on most anodized lights when they aren't going to be used for a while. Problem solved. The other option is to avoid lights with electronic switches and go for mechanical switches which physically break the circuit and therefore prevent any parasitic drain.

You hit the nail on the tachead with that comment ^

Shaysrebellion said:

Nothing worse then clicking "buy" on a light, paying for shipping, waiting your time and getting a light that sucks the battery dry while sitting turned off.

We need to push the light makers to list parasitic drain!!!!

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I agree. But not enough people, informed or uninformed, stop buying because of it (no parasitic drain info listed or high parasitic drain). Until then, for the more particular or demanding consumer, beware.

Don't know if people have thought or asked about it: is there still parasitic drain from the E-switch when the light is in use and is it at the same rate as with the light off?

Tachead said:

All lights with electronic switches will have a certain amount of parasitic drain. The amount of drain can vary from so little it isn't worth worrying about to enough to drain your batteries over time if left unchecked. Some common reviewers test the amount of parasitic drain on the models they test if you want to know. The simple solution is to simply crack the tailcap on most anodized lights when they aren't going to be used for a while. Problem solved. The other option is to avoid lights with electronic switches and go for mechanical switches which physically break the circuit and therefore prevent any parasitic drain.

Click to expand...

I have lights that cracking the tailcap does not disconnect battery. I think they are the spring loaded ones. You would have to take the tailcap off to make it stop the power.

Also I have to wait on every light to see if some kind person has tested the parasitic drain before I buy. If they have electronic switches the drain needs to be limited to not matter like you said OR have a tailcap switch as well so we can click it off and stop drain. OR maybe some hybrid switch that locks out power when held down for 10 seconds. The only alternative is to have spare batteries BUT you are not supposed to leave the 18650 charged to 4.2v so now what?

Shaysrebellion said:

I have lights that cracking the tailcap does not disconnect battery. I think they are the spring loaded ones. You would have to take the tailcap off to make it stop the power.

Also I have to wait on every light to see if some kind person has tested the parasitic drain before I buy. If they have electronic switches the drain needs to be limited to not matter like you said OR have a tailcap switch as well so we can click it off and stop drain. OR maybe some hybrid switch that locks out power when held down for 10 seconds. The only alternative is to have spare batteries BUT you are not supposed to leave the 18650 charged to 4.2v so now what?

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It's not whether they are spring loaded or not that affects if they cut the circuit. It's lights that don't have anodized threads that usually prevent you from cutting the circuit. Generally most aluminum lights with anodized threads will allow a lockout by slightly cracking the tailcap or head.

Yep, just wait for the reviews before you buy. There are a lot of other reasons to wait for reviews before buying anyway. Parasitic drain is one of the smaller issues that a new light can have and most lights don't have a significant amount of parasitic drain these days. Even the worst examples often take weeks to drain a cell. I agree though, it would be nice if every new light with an electronic switch could have a very low parasitic drain but, that's just not the case unfortunately. So again, just be patient and wait for the reviews, only by lights from companies that are known to not have high parasitic drain issues, or just stick to mechanical switches:thumbsup:.

lol,

The worst lights I own are: Tie for 2nd Place = Nitecore EC-11 & HC90 (Headlamp), and First Place by a huge lead: FourSevens Smart Quark! lol But hey, they are fun lights as long as you know how to use them.

Shaysrebellion said:

I have lights that cracking the tailcap does not disconnect battery. I think they are the spring loaded ones. You would have to take the tailcap off to make it stop the power.

Also I have to wait on every light to see if some kind person has tested the parasitic drain before I buy. If they have electronic switches the drain needs to be limited to not matter like you said OR have a tailcap switch as well so we can click it off and stop drain. OR maybe some hybrid switch that locks out power when held down for 10 seconds. The only alternative is to have spare batteries BUT you are not supposed to leave the 18650 charged to 4.2v so now what?

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Oh, and as for not leaving 18650's fully charged, it's not the end of the world. Yes, leaving them fully charged for extended periods will accelerate their degradation/shorten their life but, they will still have a long and healthy life. Many people leave their spare 18650's full and ready for use and still get years and hundreds of cycles out of them. Also, considering the highest performance 18650's can be purchased for less then $9 a cell these days(some considerably less) I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just use your cells as you see fit and recycle and buy new ones as needed:thumbsup:.

Str8stroke said:

lol,

The worst lights I own are: Tie for 2nd Place = Nitecore EC-11 & HC90 (Headlamp), and First Place by a huge lead: FourSevens Smart Quark! lol But hey, they are fun lights as long as you know how to use them.

Click to expand...

Yeah, Nitecore seams to be one of the worst companies for releasing lights with high parasitic drain. Some of their other models have issues as well. That's ok, I stay away from them for the most part these days anyway for other reasons as well.

Shaysrebellion said:

Nothing worse then clicking "buy" on a light, paying for shipping, waiting your time and getting a light that sucks the battery dry while sitting turned off.

We need to push the light makers to list parasitic drain!!!!

Click to expand...

Back in October I made my first amc7135 edc. I regret not putting the kill switch between 18650 battery and controller. I put it between the led and controller so it had mode memory.

Everytime I go to grab the light, it is dead. When not used daily.

I made it from a Coke can, zebra style, with elastic spring. So, no go on loosening end. . I will probably just put two on off switches in next light, to have both memory and no parasite drain.

Nitecore extremely high. Zebralight and Armytek extremely low. To the point of being less than the normal discharge rate of the battery. Manufacturers will publish anything if they see a marketing advantage. After all, we continue to salivate over the inflated Lumen ratings manufacturers advertise.

I agree with Tachead re: leaving 18650's fully charged. I have quite a few lights, and at one point in my career was always on call 24/7, with my ultimate destination in a number of various countries. Because of the emergent nature, all my lights that were top tier always had fully charged cells, with multiple backup cells and chargers in my go-bag. I would say the premature degradation of cells was so low I had no regrets. Because of the nature of my work, I also have around 500 lithium ion cells at any given time. Currently off work due to some surgeries. I have the opportunity to do more extensive testing on my cells and still no regrets at keeping them "at the ready" fully charged. I also have a few lights I keep strategically placed with lighted tailcaps-another source of parasitic drain besides my e-switched lights. I love my Nitecore EC-11, but when flying I place an actual physical barrier between switch and cell to ensure no drain(I used to just loosen the tailcap), but on one flight we ended up doing some barrel rolls & other moves & the tail cap ended up connecting & parasitic drain did it's thing...

The Nitecore EC4S/W lights have some nasty parasitic drain if they aren't charged weekly when on storage duty. My W variant would drain pair of 3400 mAh cells in a month.

I personally will not buy a light with an electronic switch as I don't care for the drain, or the usually terrible tactile response. The exceptions would be a Zebralight or an HDS that I might consider buying.