battery problem

[skyfire]

first off, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

ok so last night i popped in 2 freshly charged spiderfire rechargeables into my quark 123-2. (needed to look for a remote under the couch)

it flashed and then output was extremely low. (my stomach turned alittle at that moment). so after trying to turn it on few times and checking out the contacts, i tried another set of batteries, and it was good again. (relieved)

so i checked out the voltage with my multimeter, 1 cell measured 4.17 and the other measured 4.09. so i thought it was probably the difference in voltage. i tried the two cells in my m20 and it worked fine.

then the next day(today) at work i was using my m20 and in a few minutes it just completely shut off. i figured it was the battery, so i pulled the cells from my quark and popped them into my m20.
(luckily i carry 2 lights and another set of batteries in my locker).

i come home and test the voltage with my multimeter and it reads "zero".

the batteries are protected.

so my question is... is the battery bad, or is there something wrong with the protection circuit? and if so... is there a way to salvage it?

(i use my cells in pairs, since i dont have any single cr123 lights).
now i have a battery just sitting around, maybe i should just get a single cr123a light for it LOL. it would be an excuse to buy another light

i will definitely get some AW cells in the future. just wished they came out with higher capacity rcr123a.

 

[45/70]

Just a supposition. I'm not familiar with your specific lights, or cells. A wild guess would be that the problem with the Quark was a connection problem, dirty contacts on the cells, or the light's, loose head/tailcap etc. Then, with the M20, I'd guess maybe you tripped the protection circuit in one of the cells, possibly because the current limit of one of the cells was reached.

In either case, I wouldn't give up just yet on the zero Volt cell. It would appear that the protection circuit has been tripped. They will read zero Volts when that happens, as this causes an open circuit. Try putting it on the charger, watching it closely, and see if it restores operation of the cell.

Also, it's important to try and have the voltage of two cells that are used in series, as close as possible. If you have four cells, for example, try to match them up in pairs, with similar voltages. If two cells are in a series application and one has a considerably lower voltage than the other, it's possible to trip the protection circuit of the cell with the higher voltage.

On another note, most xxxxxFire cells have a lot of inconsistencies. It really does pay to get quality cells over the cheaper ones IMO, and additionally, you will benefit from an increased safety factor, as well.

Dave

 

[TooManyGizmos]

You may have bad cells - or a light with parasitic drain on it's cells ?