Novatac Storm Parasitic Drain Q

[andrewnewman]

So...

After deciding I was only moderately impressed with my new Novatac Storm, I decided I'd put a lithium primary battery in the unit and keep it in my laptop case as a "near EDC". I dropped the "Novatac" branded battery that came with it in, did a battery detect reset and largely forgot about the light for about 10 days. Well... today on a lark I tried to turn the light on and it behaved all "spastic". It seemed to run through a series of light settings before settling on really really dim. I did a reset but it didn't help. Popped the battery out and measured the voltage. Sure enough, pretty close to dead. The battery's pedigree is admittedly unknown but it had a "2019 expiration date" stamped on the side.

Is it possible that this light has a significant enough parasitic drain that it could go flat inside of less than two weeks? I put a fresh new 4Sevens battery in and we'll see what happens this time. My "moderate impression" of this light just took a notch down. Hopefully the battery was just bogus.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

I routinely check the voltage on all of my cells prior to installing them in my lights. Just good practice for me in that I have lots of batteries on hand and some of them have been used a bit. The parasitic drain issue with the Novatac, HDS, and Ra lights is a minor issue, the drain so low that it would probably take more than a year to deplete a cell, if not longer.

Bill

 

[parnass]

I routinely check the voltage on all of my cells prior to installing them in my lights. ...

Amen. I've bought at least one brand new flashlight which was supplied with nearly dead CR123A batteries.