Just ordered a wizard pro magnet with the Xhp50. Its coming from china which is lame... what batteries do you reccomend? Do you know if any will charge with the USB provided? My current charger is a tenergy n270.
Sorry that I missed this post.
Are you aware this particular model comes with an ArmyTek li-ion 18650 battery?
I think you are asking if there is a lithium ion chemistry that doesn't charge well with the provided USB? That's a good question. Can't say I have an answer. I'm not that deep yet :laughing:. Maybe you can find a thread on this particular model and ask that question. This board is FULL of geniuses (sometimes that can be a good thing! :shakehead) The moderator
Woods walker did a review with this headlamp I think, let me see if I can find the link....and
here it is ask him in the thread. He should know!
I can't say I know much yet about battery quality, performance and so forth. Someone else will have to help you with that.
I do know 18650s come in different lengths. Sometime they won't fit and you can't close the cap well enough to seal out water. Sometimes an improper fit can cause a problem with intermittent flickering. Usually the manufacturer will have a note on the best length to use for the light.
You have protected cells (special circuit in battery) and unprotected. If you have a headlamp that has discharge protection, it's sort of redundant, then you can buy the cheaper unprotected type. The protected types (more often than not) aren't performance fit for headlamps that have a high drain requirement. The discharge protection in them usually doesn't allow enough amperage to pass to run the turbo boost.
These batteries come in a variety of capacities. I don't know the full range, but I've seen anywhere from 2600 mAh to 3800 mAh. The latter lasts almost 50% longer.
Since lithium batteries carry an explosion risk (USPS hates these batteries in their air mail regardless of them being rechargeable or primary), I think it just makes good sense to go with a reputable name brand. I think Panasonic/Sanyo is great in that regard. Anyone feel free to jump in here.
Side note: Don't let your li-ion battery fully discharge. Better to keep it topped off.*
Your manual emphatically states:
Turbo mode needs rechargeable 18650 Li-Ion batteries without PCB (unprotected) or with PCB which guarantees 7A discharge current for stable work.
I think they weren't very clear. It means the protected battery will only allow turbo mode if it specifies the manufacturer guarantees it has a high discharge current of at least 7amps. (PCBs in general don't guarantee 7 amps simply because they are PCBs. Get the difference in meaning?)
*Some good advice on not letting your Li-ion battery reach full discharge: