Nailbender SST-50: Battery Problem?

[RedForest UK]

Okay, I just recieved a Solarforce L2 with a nailbender 3-mode SST-50 Module (Customlites 3.6v-6v 650lumen SST-50 GJ Bin 3-level) However on high mode with a fully charged 18650 this light only draws 1.5A, this is meant to be current controlled at 2.5A, thats a whole Amp not being drawn and you can tell from the output, it might be pushing 350-400lumens but I wouldn't think anywhere near the 650 claimed..

Also, now having run the light for 40mins, it has dimmed considerably and the current draw is down to 1.05A with the cell at 3.9v, this is particularly worrying on a supposedly current regulated driver.

Does anyone know what the problem is or how to solve it? The light was bought second hand off cpf marketplace, but it had only been used lightly and I have no reason at all to suspect the seller of knowing any problem with it.

Thanks,

RF

 

[jasonck08]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 problem?

What kind of 18650 are you using? Is it fully charged?

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 problem?

Yes it is a fully charged (4.21v off the charger) Black and Red Trustfire 18650 battery, I know they arent top end performance, but I have tested them successfully at a true 2400mah capacity and have never had any problems with them before.

 

[jasonck08]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 problem?

Maybe the driver is doing something strange... Try running the battery down to about 3.9v and then take a current reading. Driver should be more efficient when its closest to the vF of the LED.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

Hi RedForest,

I bought the same drop-in from nailbender. While reading the sales thread I seem to remember someone writing about the Solarforce being too large at the top of the battery tube to make good contact with this drop-in. How many springs are there on the drop-in you have? You might need two, one small, and another larger one on the outside of the small.The following is from the sales thread.Which can be found searching this, ( PART 5 !!! P60 Style Custom Drop - in modules for SF and other Products.) All hosts are slightly different and one module may fit tight in a SF product and a bit loose in a FM Nite clone or an FM C but they will fit all. One may have to have the spring cut down to allow the head to close more or a whole spring may be needed to keep the module from rattling.

Hope this helps.


Chance

ps You might want to change the title of this thread, just in case the drop-in is not the problem.

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

I have run it down for a while, and on a cell that is down to 3.9v the current draw has dropped a further 50% and is now drawing between 1.00A and 1.05A.

Also, thanks for the comments chauncey, but the drop in appears to be held in place perfectly in my host and is making very solid contact, I have had no problems fitting it at all. So I'm afraid my only current conclusion is a faulty driver or problem within the drop-in. :shrug: If the problem is found not to be with the drop-in however then I will be more than happy to change the thread title straight away.

One further possibly interesting piece of info is I tested the current draw from for a moment with two 3.2v LifePo4 RCR123 batteries and got a massive current of 4.88-5.06A. I am assuming this is beyond the driver limits however and the light switched into direct drive?

 

[bigchelis]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

I think you need an IMR 18650 or AW 2600mAh 18650.


While testing some P7 direct drive with 2.8A at the tail the output was nearly 50% less with the Thrustfire vs. the IMR 18650.

I purchased my Thrustfire Protected 18650's at Deal Extreme, so it could have been a bad sample I got, but still you need to get an IMR 18650.

Why don't you PM Nailbender, I am confident he will refund you ASAP or send you another sample

 

[orbital]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

+

Could very well be the protection circuit in your 18650 limiting you,..

please don't word a thread saying something is negative ,
ex:..
~Have Eagletac made the T100C2 worse?
or
~ Faulty Nailbender SST.....

This may be a UK thing,
but consider your wording better & Please reword you title.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

While searching the thread I came across this.

Chance

Quote:
Originally Posted by eproblemsolver
Dave,

My SST-50 drop-in arrived today :twothumbs. Nice packaging with the tube, everything arrived it good shape. Although the instructions clearly say 6v max, I was wondering if 3.2 volt LiFePo4 batteries are too much voltage. Obviously it's more that 6 volts, but it's not 8.4 volts like 3.7 volt rechargeables are at full charge.

My DMM shows two of them in series to be 6.69 volts, versus two brand new Titanium brand CR123 primaries are 6.45 volts.

Versus two trustfire 3.7v show 8.33 volts in series.

What's the verdict?

Thanks,

David


Hi

I have posted at the first of this thread to use them at your own risk, warranty would not apply. It is not all voltage which the VF is 3.6v but also amount of amperage pulled.

It depends on type of lifpoe4 and condition, some throw too much amperage while some are fine.

There was too much variance so I had to post use at own risk.

Dave
__________________

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

Thanks Bigchilis, I did consider this as a problem, however I had previously found the black and red trustifire 2400 cells to be very good performance. My Blue 2500mah ones on the other hand are only about 2/3 of the capacity of the newer 'true capacity' ones. I would happily buy some other cells, but quite simply can't really afford to purchase more lithium cells that will degrade in performance over time, as I simply don't have enough need for them.

I have sent Nailbender a PM asking for possible advice on the problem. However I wouldn't expect him to replace or refund the purchase as I bought the light from a third party on CPF marketplace and so it isn't really his responsibility anymore.

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

+

Could very well be the protection circuit in your 18650 limiting you,..

please don't word a thread saying something is negative ,
ex:..
~Have Eagletac made the T100C2 worse?
or
~ Faulty Nailbender SST.....

This may be a UK thing,
but consider your wording better & Please reword you title.

No, sorry, I don't think it is at all relative to the UK, in fact we have some of the most ridiculous libel laws here, so much so that many companies are taking cases to courts in London that didn't even get of the ground in the US.

I think it is a more personal trait, with me being a student of a few very confrontational debate minded subjects and having to write a lot of shall we say 'persuasive' and some would say critical literature. I also find that I normally get a much better level of response if there is some level of controversy in an item title, much like the aggressive titles youll find heading newspapers.

I find CPF to be very limiting in this aspect, allowing very little criticism or challenges to be made, which in many cases may not in my opinion be conducive to discussion. However I do respect the rules of the forum and to me more importantly the manufacturers themselves, so unless I find for sure there is a problem with the drop in itself I will try my best to leave out any unnecessary questioniong of any individual item or product.

I have now changed the thread title to something I hope you will find more acceptable.

Sorry for any trouble or offence caused.


Secondly, I do know that the use of two LifePo4 cells is over the voltage limits and would not run the light on them for any period of time, my test was purely out of curiosity to see how a higher input voltage would cause the driver to react. I am assuming that it went into direct drive, but am not an electronics expert by any means..

 

[stevemorg]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 Problem?

Zac,

I've jus got back from a couple of days away and have mailed you re. this

 

[orbital]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 Problem?

+

Nope, its a UK thing.
Very similar to fabricating news, to sell a story.

That's not Law.

For you flashlight question, I'd bet its your cell, not nailbenders drop-in.
Does UK law have a term for....user error?

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

Secondly, I do know that the use of two LifePo4 cells is over the voltage limits and would not run the light on them for any period of time, my test was purely out of curiosity to see how a higher input voltage would cause the driver to react.

Hi RedForerst,

I spent a lot of $ on my SST-50, and I really enjoy it. I would hate it if yours reacted by going You know what they say about curiosity and the cat. They might say the same thing about curiosity and the SST-50 with LifePo4 cells.

Cheers from the North West,

Chance

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 Problem?

+

Nope, its a UK thing.
Very similar to fabricating news, to sell a story.

That's not Law.

For you flashlight question, I'd bet its your cell, not nailbenders drop-in.
Does UK law have a term for....user error?

To be honest I find that comment to be not only inflammatory and slightly insulting, but also misinformed, borderline 'racist' and quite frankly wrong.

I don't understand why you would generalise a comment to a whole nation. In the UK a generally held belief of Americans is that they are fat, rude, stupid and obnoxious. I personally know that belief to be wrong having met and known many very well-mannered intelligent and friendly american people, and so hold no such prejudice. :sigh:

I can't grasp how you feel you can, or why you would even wish to canvass an entire nation of people with one characteristic. That just seems arrogant and stupid to me. :thinking:

In fact maybe some of my friends only have personal experience of people like you from america, that would seem to explain their opinions, however crude and innacurate. :shrug:

For the record, I wasn't comparing my title to 'fabricating news' as I haven't simply created a problem, I do have one however and am simply asking for any help and advice on the best place that I know to ask such questions. I know that news isn't law, you perhaps failed to grasp the connection that I was making about the UK being in fact very against people casting criticism on companies or products, where america is much more famous for difficult to please consumers, which seems to be in stark contrast to your original assumption about the UK.

I am not ruling out the possibility of the cell being the problem, though I have now tried several different cells in the testing I do not currently own any IMR 18650's so cannot test the light with those. I also don't want to cast unfair criticism on Nailbender or this particular drop-in, I know and respect that he is a very good manufacturer and his products are in almost every case of the highest quality and performance.

That is why I chose to gamble on buying this light second hand, due to his reputation being so good. I am not trying to lead an attack on him or his products, simply to find an answer to the problem in hand.

If you do not wish to offer any help (on a forum designed for offering help to people with electronic related problems) and only wish to criticise me in a way that I honestly find slightly embarrassing to your own reputation if anything, then I would like to suggest that you do it somewhere more private and give some of the other more well-meaning and perhaps better mannered members of this forum a chance to tell me if it is my fault. Which incidentally, if they do, I will quite happily accept.

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Faulty Nailbender SST-50?

Hi RedForerst,

I spent a lot of $ on my SST-50, and I really enjoy it. I would hate it if yours reacted by going You know what they say about curiosity and the cat. They might say the same thing about curiosity and the SST-50 with LifePo4 cells.

Cheers from the North West,

Chance

Okay, thanks Chance. I definately won't be risking it again, or using the light with those cells, I bought it to use with my supply of 18650's and they are the only thing I ever planned to use in it. That coupled with the price of the module is why I am perhaps a little agitated about getting this problem solved.

Thanks for your input, it's always appreciated.

RF

 

[orbital]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 Problem?

+

RedForest UK
you flame titles to your threads to get a reaction,..

you'll get more helpful information if your title was like:
Max Amp. draw on Protected TrustFire 18650?

or

Battery question with nailbender SST-50

 

[RedForest UK]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 Problem?

+

RedForest UK
you flame titles to your threads to get a reaction,..

you'll get more helpful information if your title was like:
Max Amp. draw on Protected TrustFire 18650?

or

Battery question with nailbender SST-50

Ok, thanks for offering a more helpful post. I don't deny that I like to make my titles as 'interesting' as possible but I never intend to do so if it is seems overly or unnecessarily critical of a particular item or company, only to attract comment and help discussion.

I accept this may well be the problem, thanks for bringing it up, I just hope that it isn't as I really cannot afford any new lithium cells and may have to sell on what is otherwise a great light..

RF

 

[bigchelis]

Re: Nailbender SST-50 Problem?

My experience with Thrustfire 18650 cells:


I don't thrust them. I just now tested the Thrunite XP-G R5 with 1.5A driver. I kid you not the lumens were again like half when I used the IMR 16340's. This reminds me I really have to stop purchasing those DX CR123 and 18650...old habbits hard to break I guess

 

[RedForest UK]

Yeah, thanks for helping me address the problem. I now believe it to be the protection circuit limiting the current draw and not a fault with the drop-in itself. :thumbsup:

I'm just not sure if I can bring myself to shell out for yet more batteries.

I bought this light specifically as my current 18650's weren't getting enough use.. :sigh: