Help with Olight S1 Baton

I've been using the Olight S1 Baton for a year and it has been a frustrating experience.
I have fifteen RCR123A cells from three manufactures, Olight, Fenix, Edison Bright, and none of them will run the S1 in Turbo mode for more than a minute after the cells are a month old.

I know I can use the Olight 5C IMR 2.7 amp battery to power the light in Turbo mode but that battery MUST ONLY be charged in another Olight flashlight. I'm not purchasing another flashlight just so I can charge a battery. Period.
Titanium primary batteries are an option but the 3.0 volt output struggles run it in near Turbo mode which is probably at only 300 Lumens. Also I don't want to spend $1/hour to run the light.

It would be nice if Olight made a charger for their 5C IMR battery, but I'm not holding my breath with this one.
So that's it. I have really lost interest in this light unless one of you battery geeks can suggest a viable safe solution.

LEDuser5 said:

...
I know I can use the Olight 5C IMR 2.7 amp battery to power the light in Turbo mode but that battery MUST ONLY be charged in another Olight flashlight. I'm not purchasing another flashlight just so I can charge a battery. Period.
Titanium primary batteries are an option but the 3.0 volt output struggles run it in near Turbo mode which is probably at only 300 Lumens. Also I don't want to spend $1/hour to run the light.

It would be nice if Olight made a charger for their 5C IMR battery, but I'm not holding my breath with this one.
So that's it. I have really lost interest in this light unless one of you battery geeks can suggest a viable safe solution.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your issue, indeed, S1 Baton does put a strain on the RCR123 battery and most RCR123 after some time just can't deliver the required draw. In my experience, aged cell tends to triggers a "switch-off" action in S1 Baton before the 1.5 minutes turbo runtime is up, the supposedly step down after 1.5 minutes doesn't kicks-in, only a loosening and tightening action at the tailcap can bring back the light. I have no issues with IMR 16340 cell so far...


the Olight IMR battery -- ORB-163C05 can indeed be charge in cradle charger (charger that we use for other RCR123 LiIon cell charging, except those USB charging cable like the Olight UC Magnetic USB Charger) and not depending on in-light charging (other rechargeable Olight flashlight e.g. S1R, H1R, etc.) due to the button top on the ORB-163C05.

below you'll find 2 pictures showing the battery being charge in XTAR VC4 and Nitecore F1...



if you are worry your charger contact plate might come in contact with the battery terminals and thus creating a short, you can cover the negative contact ring surrounding the button top with scotch tape or one of those pre-cut terminal protector. hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. I have the VC4 charger but did not want to charge the Olight IMR cells in it because Olight advises to charge them in a flashlight only.
So I ordered two Nitecore NL166 4 amp cells and they should work well with the VC4 and S1 light in Turbo mode. We shall see. [h=1][/h]

I've got four of those Olight ORB-163C05 batteries and use them in recent high current lights like the 4Sevens Mini Turbo MKII and the SureFire EB1-MV.

They charge just fine in my Nitecore D2 and D4 chargers.

Oddly enough, the closely related 4Sevens 5C high current battery for the Mini Mk II has the same warning in the product listing about charging in the light only, except that you can't charge a battery in a Mini Mk II.

Vox Clamatis in Deserto said:

I've got four of those Olight ORB-163C05 batteries and use them in recent high current lights like the 4Sevens Mini Turbo MKII and the SureFire EB1-MV.

They charge just fine in my Nitecore D2 and D4 chargers.

Oddly enough, the closely related 4Sevens 5C high current battery for the Mini Mk II has the same warning in the flashlight instructions about charging in the light only, except that you can't charge a battery in a Mini Mk II.

Click to expand...

Many chargers don't have the 250mA/300mA rates that the 16340 cells require, but have a 500mA rate as a minimum, so maybe that's it?

RCR123 generally refers to the 3.0v/3.2v cells which come hot off the charger at ~3.6v, not the 4.2v that the 16340 reaches.

Chris

These cells are protected IMR's and come off the charger at 4.2 volts.

The ORB-163C05's are nominally 3.7 volts, 550 mAh as indicated on the packaging and on the cell as you can see in the charger pictures above. They are labeled RCR123A's on the battery and packaging as well.