Nitecore D20 misbehaving?

[Jash]

Got my D20 a few weeks ago and I love it.

But, it only gets about 50 mintues at max and leaves one battery considerably more discharged than the other.

I've put two sets of brand new, freshly charged eneloops with similar results and also a set of duracell alkalines with the same result. One battery comes out with less power than the other.

Any ideas what's going on? Is this a normal thing for a D20?

I also have a fenix E20 and after having run it for an hour and a half, the batteries are virtually full and show the same charge. So I assume it's not that the D20 uses two cells that causes the problem.

 

[Jash]

Seems no one has any experience with something like this, so I guess I'll just live with it.

 

[glockboy]

Look like batteries problem, not the D20.

 

[bfksc]

Look like batteries problem, not the D20.

I agree, the light simply draws current from the cells in series, so any differences in charge level are purely the fault of the cells or the charger, not the light. Check the cells voltage immediately after they come off the charger, they should read 1.42-1.44v each. If they do read just over 1.4v then let them sit for an hour to cool a bit and then recheck the voltage which should still read about 1.40v. If they differ, then the cells are not matched and they will not discharge at the same rate.

Of course, this could be the fault of the charger and cells. I would mark the cells so you can differentiate the two and then swap the spot where they are charged next time to see if the charger is not fully charging one cell. Some Eneloop chargers are smart and charge each cell individually to full capacity, while some will simply charge for a period of time and you end up with cells that have different charge levels.

And you only waited half a day for a reply...some of us don't read every single day, nevermind every few hours.

 

[jblackwood]

Also, with your eneloops, make sure you're using a charger with individual channels. If your charger requires you to place at least two cells into the charger, it will only charge until the average of both cells reaches a certain level, which does not charge the one with a lesser charge to its max.

 

[Jash]

Yeah sorry for the impatience. I usually get a reply within hours.

I have a smart charger and it works ok as far as I can tell. I left the batteries sit for half a day and ran the light again. Seemed to work much better.

One battery still was more discharged than the other, but not to the degree it had been. So yeah, I think I may just have a few dud cells.

I have labeled each one and will see how it goes.