how bad is this

jbosman1013

Enlightened
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Apr 4, 2007
Messages
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michigan
i run 2 ultrafire unprotected 16340 in a regulated led light so when the regulation kicks in i just change the batteries. last time i did a battery change i checked the voltage of the dead cells and found they were at 1.9v is this to low and should i be woried.
 
1.9V is too Low to be draining Li-Ion cells.
2.4V would even be pushing it, and shortening their lifespan.

I think it was determined that about 2.8V was the safest and easiest point to drain them? For max lifespan.

~John
 
1.9v per cell is lower than their general minimum safe margin, so they were probably damaged a bit, but since you didn't discharge them to almost zero volts they're likely to be restorable.
 
I just checked the dead cell and the voltage jumped to 3.3v after a day of resting. should i wait a while before charging or should i switch to protected batteries and will this effect the regulation.
 
You are using non-protected cells, in a regulated light.
Your light obviously has a driver-board/controller that can keep your light running in regulated mode on voltages down to below 2 Volts.
That is a good regulated light, but not so good for your non-regulated cells!
But as you have already found out, if you let your cells rest, and they do themselves restore their voltage without load to more than 3 Volts, they do work and can be recharged.
Maybe they will have a somewhat shorter lifespan in total, but that is up to you to decide if you will pay the price and use this setup!
But then, cells worth far below 3 USD a piece, and still will take probably several hundred reloads before ready to be recycled; not a very high cost!
But for safety, I would check them with the meter after a resting period regularly before the next recharge!
And rather toss them away a few cycles too early than too late!
When they start having problems, like the pair start acting unevenly (big difference in unloaded voltage after use) maybe check their ability to deliver amperes with a meter and a load or using a capacity-measuring instrument and find the charged capacity of the cells.
These cells are potentially dangerous, but using some common sense and get the neccessary information about how to act and use them, they are usually not.
Of course, using regulated cells will protect the cells from too much drain!
But they are more expencive, possibly they do not fit sizewise, and they will give a shorter runtime!
 
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i want to get some AW's but just havent pulled the trigger yet. I use a nano charger and the cells always come out at 4.10v to 4.12v so there never getting over charged. I don't mind the loss of cycles I just don't want them to burn up in my light. the light is a SF C2 so i think AW's will fit and i should get better runtimes right?
 
it should work, should you be worried? definatly, its going below spec, and there is a reason for spec.
it might work, it might start heating up more on the charger, and IMO that is going to be the most dangerous aspect of it.
your nano thing cant go to hard on the cells, because its rather slow.

but if the cells are starting to self discharge faster, or get warmer on the charger, then its a dead, dangerous battery.
a li-ion shouldnt get warm at all, on a slow to medium charger, because the cell accepts the charge, as opposed to wasting it out as heat.
a BAd cell not only gets warm, but with a med to fast charge it can start a fire in ya house :-(

so its probably good today, but one should avoid doing that , not because the cell becomes trash, but because if you DONT do that, then the cells are reasonably safe, when you do that, the cells become less safe.

being an advocate of li-ion, i wish they would be used safely all the time, so we get to use them and the technology gets better and all.

if your going to be making it unsafe(r) , and your completly aware of the dangers, and the risks, then mabey you can avoid the ramifications, by your alertness, in the situation. but it would be better for the whole battery community in general if people wouldnt do this.
 
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I have some 3.0v tenergy batteries that i just put in the light, at least these are protected. I think i will stop using the ultrafire's and buy a few AW's rcr123's. lucky i guess that i went out and got a multimeter the other day, you never know when some cheap battery will decide to go :poof:
 
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