Nitecore DI Protected 14500, hard to set to High

[Khaytsus]

I got my 14500 Ultrafire Protected's in today and it's very difficult to set it to high. At least it's difficult in terms of me wanting to screw it down that tight in order for it to go to high, not to mention switching, ramping up/down etc...

I went ahead and ordered unprotected 14500's from DX and will probably sell these protected ones, but curious if anyone else has the same problem? I hadn't seen anyone mentioning any problems with usage on the 14500's.

The cell fits fine, but it's apparently just very tight in the length.

 

[Draven451]

I am using protected AW 14500's I purchased from Lighthound. I have not had any issues with rotating the head in any way. I wonder if the Ultrafire protected batteries are a longer in length.

I would reccomend ordering the protected AW 14500 from lighthound. Here: http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1296

 

[gunga]

The silver ultrafire protected cells are know to be longer both 14500 and RCR123.

You can try adding a ring of wire to "lengthen" you battery tube to help with contact.

Should help, otherwise you are compressing the tail cap spinrg a lot, smashing your circuit board into the positive terminal of your battery.

This could lead to some flexing or damage (or maybe not). Just be careful.

 

[Lite_me]

I too am using the AW protected 14500's from Lighthound. Although they are a slightly longer than a AA, I did not notice any difference in usage when switching modes. I used the light with AA's for awhile before getting the AW protected 14500's and didn't notice much if any difference at all the way it turned.

I also make sure I have some DeoxIt or DeoxIt Gold on the Pos+ battery terminal to help minimize the twisting resistance. I can notice a difference in most twisting lights.
.

 

[pbs357]

I'd try the AW batt's. Ultrafire rcr123'a are significantly longer than AW's, and even the generic ones I have from Lighthound.

 

[Khaytsus]

Yeah, I was hoping to go cheap to just see if I want to use 14500's..... I'll see how the unprotected cells are, if it works out that's good, if not, maybe I'll sell the kit.

I'm really not comfortable with the 14500 the way it is right now, so I'm going back to NiMH for the time being. It's a lot of stress on the head, unless I shim it as mentioned, but doesn't sound like a very good reliable solution.

Probably should have gotten unprotected cells to start with. Ah well.

 

[WadeF]

I'm using AW 14500's with no problems.

 

[Draven451]

Prior to receiving the AW Protected 14500's I was using Energizer Rechargeable 2500 mAH. Visually there was only a slightly higher output detectable but I don't have a light meter to verify that. You may want to try the Energizer's as another readily available cheap option.

 

[Everett]

I'm running the blue trustfire protected 14500s from DX in mine, and although it is a bit of a tight fit, everything works fine and there's no issue changing modes.

 

[Hitthespot]

I'm using both Ultrafire protected and the AW 14500's and have had no trouble with either. The Ultrafires are tight though.

Bill

 

[Khaytsus]

I'm using both Ultrafire protected and the AW 14500's and have had no trouble with either. The Ultrafires are tight though.

Bill

Odd.. These must be tightened a lot.. Ah well. I'll just use my NiMH until my unprotected cells get here.

I just measured these cells, they're 14.12x52.24mm (vs 13.94x49.82mm for NiMH)

I'm pondering how much work it'd be to make a penny smaller and drill a hole in it...

 

[Hitthespot]

Odd.. These must be tightened a lot.. Ah well. I'll just use my NiMH until my unprotected cells get here.

I just measured these cells, they're 14.12x52.24mm (vs 13.94x49.82mm for NiMH)

I'm pondering how much work it'd be to make a penny smaller and drill a hole in it...

I just lined them up side by side and the Ultrafires are noticibly longer than the AW. I left my calipers at work so I can't measure the difference. When I first put the Ultrafires in my light they were very tight. Now the spring is looser and they fit OK. I personally would not use unprotected cells but this is just my opinion. Many do.

Bill

 

[TwoWheelNomad]

I have some ultafire protected 14500's in the silver wraper that fit just fine, bottom of battery is even with tube and light functions perfect. But, after a few weeks of use I started getting real short runtimes. Way less then normal. I think its a capacity issue, my NDI starts to flash low battery warning when the battery is still at at 3.5 to 3.6 when I take it out and check it. I get less then 50 min on a fresh charge. So Im assuming the batterys are crap and I have some AW's on the way to confirm this theory. Always seems to be a roll of the dice kind of thing with Ultrafire's, trustfires, and those other knock off brands. (I have protected cr123a ultrafires that work great) If I get my normal runtime again with the AW 14500's then they will be so worth the money and I will get all my LI cells from him from now on. And the ultrafires scratched a circle in the contact on my head even though they are button cells! So I will never buy those "Bargin" cells again. They cost me more in the long run.

 

[Khaytsus]

I have some ultafire protected 14500's in the silver wraper that fit just fine, bottom of battery is even with tube and light functions perfect. But, after a few weeks of use I started getting real short runtimes. Way less then normal. I think its a capacity issue, my NDI starts to flash low battery warning when the battery is still at at 3.5 to 3.6 when I take it out and check it. I get less then 50 min on a fresh charge. So Im assuming the batterys are crap and I have some AW's on the way to confirm this theory. Always seems to be a roll of the dice kind of thing with Ultrafire's, trustfires, and those other knock off brands. (I have protected cr123a ultrafires that work great) If I get my normal runtime again with the AW 14500's then they will be so worth the money and I will get all my LI cells from him from now on. And the ultrafires scratched a circle in the contact on my head even though they are button cells! So I will never buy those "Bargin" cells again. They cost me more in the long run.

yeah, these line up with the bottom of the tube, but it's VERY tight to screw down to high.. Maybe my spring is heavier than others?

I'm getting some unprotected, they should be just a hair over 50mm and should fit just fine.

In the end, I almost bet I might wind up just going with Eneloop.. We'll see. Safer batteries and probably not much difference in output really.

 

[Fallingwater]

I'm using it with a protected 14500 from DX. It is longer than unprotected cells or normal AAs, but it still gives me no trouble switching the light to high.

 

[MetalZone]

I'm using AW protected 14500's. No problems at all here.
There's hardly much difference in output between this and eneloops from my experience.

 

[Khaytsus]

Well I decided to screw down the light all the way with 14500 for a day or so and now it's much easier to use.. Spring compressed a bit, is my guess.

I still have some unprotected on the way, but I'll see when they get in..

 

[Lite_me]

If it compressed the spring, going back to an Eneloop now should make it noticeably easier to turn. Lets hope that the spring is more resilient than that.

As I stated in a post above, I'm using the AW protected 14500 and I just tried an Eneloop again and I can't detect much difference between the two in the way it twists. My light twists very easily with or without a battery in it, as I have sanded down the o-ring. This could make a difference.

 

[resistance1]

im also using the AW 14500s, i think the consensus here is that the AW 14500s are the best fitting lithium batteries for the DI. be very careful useing unprotected cells, they are a kind of a headache to me, cause im always scared of over draining them and damaging the cells. plus the AW cells never vent with fire, cause of the safety caps.

 

[jirik_cz]

I tried AW 14500 and Trustfire 14500 and both fit fine.