Dark Photon
Newly Enlightened
Hello ! Hello ! I have been reading the forum for sometime. Finally my first post. I may have discovered something about the Zebra Light H30.
I bought a H30 about a week ago. I measured the currents drawn at the various levels. They are all in the right ball park compared to what others have found in the forum as well as the claim on the packaging. Then I figure I try to get a reading on the standby current. This is with the light off but the battery connected to the circuit. I figure my meter will not be able to sense the low current. Surprisingly, I got about 6ma with a 3.96V Li-ion rechargeable cell and 4ma with a CR123 primary. This is quite a bit higher than I expected. I repeated my measurements with other cells and got the same results.
To make sure that this is not a problem with my meter, I used a Li-ion cell charged about 10 hours before the test with an open circuit voltage of 4.11V (fresh off the charger) and it remained at 4.11V ten hours later. I put it into the H30 and measured the voltage every few hours or so without using the H30 at all. The voltage of the cell dropped with every measurement. It went down to 3.64V at 35 hours. I think this proved that my H30 is drawing a standby current much more significant than the self-discharge of this type of battery and I stopped the test.
I am not sure if this is how the H30 is designed or if I have a defective unit. If other H30 owners find the same level of standby current on their unit then there is no point for me to exchange my unit. I have to either live with an extra end cap twist or consider returning the unit.
This may not be a problem for most people because most would disconnect the battery when the unit is not in use by loosening the end cap to prevent accidental activation. I use or would like to use the H30 in an application where I go from a lit area to un-lit areas for short durations. I would be in the lit area more than 90% of the time. A one handed click of the H30 to control the output level is very handy. An extra end cap twist with both hands would make the H30 much less attractive for this application. Of course, I can just accept the standby drain and recharge/change batteries more often.
Let's see what other H30 owners find with their units. Thanks for going through the trouble to check the standby current.
I bought a H30 about a week ago. I measured the currents drawn at the various levels. They are all in the right ball park compared to what others have found in the forum as well as the claim on the packaging. Then I figure I try to get a reading on the standby current. This is with the light off but the battery connected to the circuit. I figure my meter will not be able to sense the low current. Surprisingly, I got about 6ma with a 3.96V Li-ion rechargeable cell and 4ma with a CR123 primary. This is quite a bit higher than I expected. I repeated my measurements with other cells and got the same results.
To make sure that this is not a problem with my meter, I used a Li-ion cell charged about 10 hours before the test with an open circuit voltage of 4.11V (fresh off the charger) and it remained at 4.11V ten hours later. I put it into the H30 and measured the voltage every few hours or so without using the H30 at all. The voltage of the cell dropped with every measurement. It went down to 3.64V at 35 hours. I think this proved that my H30 is drawing a standby current much more significant than the self-discharge of this type of battery and I stopped the test.
I am not sure if this is how the H30 is designed or if I have a defective unit. If other H30 owners find the same level of standby current on their unit then there is no point for me to exchange my unit. I have to either live with an extra end cap twist or consider returning the unit.
This may not be a problem for most people because most would disconnect the battery when the unit is not in use by loosening the end cap to prevent accidental activation. I use or would like to use the H30 in an application where I go from a lit area to un-lit areas for short durations. I would be in the lit area more than 90% of the time. A one handed click of the H30 to control the output level is very handy. An extra end cap twist with both hands would make the H30 much less attractive for this application. Of course, I can just accept the standby drain and recharge/change batteries more often.
Let's see what other H30 owners find with their units. Thanks for going through the trouble to check the standby current.
