Advice concerning Nitecore needed

Klingsteve

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Mar 11, 2011
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13
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Near Tampa, FLA
I recently purchased a Nitecore Infilux IFE2. It works fine with 2 123A batteries, but for the life of me I cannot get it to work with one 18650. :sick: I've tried several brands (AW, UltraFire, JetBeam) but no-go. These batteries work fine in another light, so I know it's not that. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help :grin2:

-- Steve
 

Stephen Wallace

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Mar 10, 2011
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London, UK
Are all the cells that you are trying flat tops, or are any of them nipple ends? If all of them are flat tops that may explain the problem - the electrical contact behind the head may not be making good physical contact with a flat ended cell.
 

Klingsteve

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Mar 11, 2011
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Near Tampa, FLA
The Aw's are flat tops, but the UltraFire's and JetBeam's have the button on top.

There is a black plastic ring around the metal contact where the positive end of the 18650 makes contact. I don't want to ruin the flashlight, but maybe if I try to remove that?

Anyone else ever run into this kind of problem?

-- Steve
 

mrlysle

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Mar 10, 2011
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649
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West Virginia
I wouldn't return it as there's nothing wrong with it except a goofy "reverse polarity" protection scheme. Get some of the rare earth magnets, (mine are smaller in diameter than the positive contact on my AW 2900 flat-tops). Put the magnet on the battery and you'll be good to go. I had to go the magnet route with my Eagletac T20C2 MK II also, to use AW 2900 cells in it. Lots of folks use magnets to use certain cells in certain lights. Those little rare earth magnets are incredibly strong and won't move or shift once stuck on the positive end of the battery. Other guys here will put a small blob of solder on the flat-tops, but unless you've got a really good iron with a pretty high tip temp, I wouldn't risk trying the solder thing, as you could damage the cell if it's not done quick enough. ( 2 or 3 seconds). If you do want to go the more permanent solder solution, do a search here on the forums. Someone posted a brief but effective tutorial on how to apply the solder without cell damage. The magnets do work fine though. Good luck, and enjoy your light!
 

CKOD

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Aug 3, 2010
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Problem solved, I use these in my IFE2

As said you need to do it QUICKLY to not risk damaging the cell. You just need some flux (paste or liquid) put it on the positive contact (no the flux in flux core solder wire is not enough! Nickel plating doesnt take a tinning as well as copper and the like, and the oxide is very tough, if you overheat a piece of nickel and it oxidizes, even slathering it in RMA flux wont strip the oxidation)

I used a temp regulated iron set at ~800F so I could get the joint done quickly. With a non-regulated iron I'd say shoot for something in the 50-70W range or bigger, maybe even a soldering gun as opposed to the iron. Unless you have the raw watts to throw at it (a soldering gun would) you'd need a big tip for a lot of thermal mass. The key is quickness. I'm not usually one to say solder to Li cells, and I'd still be leery of soldering tabs on (multiples heatings, most likely longer) but putting just a little solder button on can be done quickly enough imo.
 
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