There's been quite a bit of discussion about the heat issues on some of the Nitecore Explorer series, especially with the use of the constant red-light mode. Selfbuilt did a measurement of this mode. I noticed that my EC1 also runs fairly hot on the other modes, so I thought I'd test it with my inexpensive IR thermometer. I compared it to my Quark QTA, which is a 1xAA and 105 lumens, and my older Fenix E15, which is 1xCR123A and 140 lumens, and my Foursevens Mini ML XP-G2, which is 1xCR123A and 216 lumens.
Note that this is not very scientific, as I said, my IR thermometer isn't very expensive, it's a Ryobi I bought from home depot. I ensured that it's at least reasonably accurate by measuring the inside of my mouth.
I ran each test for 10 minutes or until the light reached ~110 degrees fahrenheit - I didn't want to burn myself or fry a battery, and I wanted room to spare - safety first.. I measured the outside of each flashlight on the side of the head and the body, as close to the center of each part as I could - my thermometer tracks the maximum temperature of each trigger pull, so I waved it slowly over the light and used the maximum temperature.. The flashlights were resting on their side. The temperature of the room was around 72 degrees.
Note that I was not holding the lights during these tests, so they were likely running hotter than they might if they were in my hand.
Foursevens QTA (XP-G), high: Head: 96.5, Body: 94.1. Warm to the touch, but not at all concerning.
Fenix E15 (XP-ER3), high - Stopped at 8.5 minutes: Head: 112, body 110. Very warm. I would have turned the light off or lowered it by now.
Quark Mini-ML (XP-G2), high: Head: 104, body: 106, battery: 95.
Nitecore EC1, red light mode: Head: 86.6, body: 87.0.
Nitecore EC1, high (NOT turbo): Head: 108.3, body: 109.0. I removed the battery after this run and it was up to 117.
Nitecore EC1, high (NOT turbo) #2: Stopped at 7.5 minutes. Head: 110, body: 109. Battery was 110.6.
Now, all the spec sheets I've read on CR123A primaries states that they should be good up to 60 celsius, or 140 fahrenheit, so at 117, there should theoretically be no real danger. However, the high temperatures make me a little uncomfortable. Only a little, to be honest. I don't usually run my lights on high for extended periods of time, and if I need lumens, I'll get a bigger light.
Another interesting thing I noticed: When I tested the batteries I ran through the EC1 in my ZTS Mini-MBT - I tried this on more than one - they tested at 100%, fresh out of the box, before I put them in. After running them for 8-10 minutes, and letting them get hot, they tested lower - one was <20%, the other was 60%, but as it cooled, went back up to 80%. I'm wondering if one of the batteries I used was garbage. It was a surefire battery.
I'm not a huge fan of the temperatures the EC1 reached in high during my testing, although they don't seem dangerous.
Either way, I don't like that it heats up in the red light mode. The issue here, as other has noted, is that runtime is significantly reduced in the units that have this problem.
I've sent an e-mail to the company I bought the light from and I'm going to try to get a replacement.
Edit: I left the red light mode on for 20 minutes, and the temperature of the head is 95.7, body is 96.7. I'm going to leave it on for a while longer and we'll see where it goes.
After 30 minutes, it's at 100.6 on the head, 100.5 on the body.
At 40 minutes, it's at 100.1 on the head, 100.7 on the body. Battery at 99.9 degrees. At this point I decided to stop watching it.
Note that this is not very scientific, as I said, my IR thermometer isn't very expensive, it's a Ryobi I bought from home depot. I ensured that it's at least reasonably accurate by measuring the inside of my mouth.
I ran each test for 10 minutes or until the light reached ~110 degrees fahrenheit - I didn't want to burn myself or fry a battery, and I wanted room to spare - safety first.. I measured the outside of each flashlight on the side of the head and the body, as close to the center of each part as I could - my thermometer tracks the maximum temperature of each trigger pull, so I waved it slowly over the light and used the maximum temperature.. The flashlights were resting on their side. The temperature of the room was around 72 degrees.
Note that I was not holding the lights during these tests, so they were likely running hotter than they might if they were in my hand.
Foursevens QTA (XP-G), high: Head: 96.5, Body: 94.1. Warm to the touch, but not at all concerning.
Fenix E15 (XP-ER3), high - Stopped at 8.5 minutes: Head: 112, body 110. Very warm. I would have turned the light off or lowered it by now.
Quark Mini-ML (XP-G2), high: Head: 104, body: 106, battery: 95.
Nitecore EC1, red light mode: Head: 86.6, body: 87.0.
Nitecore EC1, high (NOT turbo): Head: 108.3, body: 109.0. I removed the battery after this run and it was up to 117.
Nitecore EC1, high (NOT turbo) #2: Stopped at 7.5 minutes. Head: 110, body: 109. Battery was 110.6.
Now, all the spec sheets I've read on CR123A primaries states that they should be good up to 60 celsius, or 140 fahrenheit, so at 117, there should theoretically be no real danger. However, the high temperatures make me a little uncomfortable. Only a little, to be honest. I don't usually run my lights on high for extended periods of time, and if I need lumens, I'll get a bigger light.
Another interesting thing I noticed: When I tested the batteries I ran through the EC1 in my ZTS Mini-MBT - I tried this on more than one - they tested at 100%, fresh out of the box, before I put them in. After running them for 8-10 minutes, and letting them get hot, they tested lower - one was <20%, the other was 60%, but as it cooled, went back up to 80%. I'm wondering if one of the batteries I used was garbage. It was a surefire battery.
I'm not a huge fan of the temperatures the EC1 reached in high during my testing, although they don't seem dangerous.
Either way, I don't like that it heats up in the red light mode. The issue here, as other has noted, is that runtime is significantly reduced in the units that have this problem.
I've sent an e-mail to the company I bought the light from and I'm going to try to get a replacement.
Edit: I left the red light mode on for 20 minutes, and the temperature of the head is 95.7, body is 96.7. I'm going to leave it on for a while longer and we'll see where it goes.
After 30 minutes, it's at 100.6 on the head, 100.5 on the body.
At 40 minutes, it's at 100.1 on the head, 100.7 on the body. Battery at 99.9 degrees. At this point I decided to stop watching it.
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