Strange behavior from Orbtronic 3100 mAh protected 18650

I had two protected Orbtronic 18650 3100 mAh cells in an extended and 18mm bored 9P setup powering a Malkoff M61W L. I noticed two days ago when I set the light down on a table it came back on— regardless of the fact the switch was in the off position (a McClicky in an RPM tailcap). I thought it was real strange and clicked it to 'on' and then off which turned it off finally.

The next day, I successfully replicated the incident by knocking the light against my leg and it stayed on (again, despite the clicky not actually activating it).

I repeated this a few times yesterday and eventually the light just wouldn't power on at all. At first I figured the McClicky was loose in the tailcap, but felt the spring with my finger and it was nice and firm in its socket. Ultimately I tried two Redilast 3400 cells in there and the problems stopped.

Keeping that background info in mind, I got my Fluke 111 out and one of the cells read 0.00 volts DC. Is this the protection circuit kicking in? Why was the light turning on despite the McClicky being off?

Both cells were around 4.18 volts when they were put in the light so it wasn't a charge level issue I don't believe. Can anyone explain this strange behavior? The other Orbtronic cell read 4.15 volts when I checked them...

Again, I had a Malkoff M61W L, which I believe is at most around 350 mA current draw, so this was not a high power module to begin with.

Should I return this cell?

— Sent from my "not going to be released this century" iPad 62 'Quad' running iNOS (Apple's future neural interface OS) with the teleportation upgrade on Tapatalk 0.0.1.4 (beta) while Remote Desktop'd into Windows 98 SE.

it snifs to me like somthing in the mcClicky touching the bare body and closing the circuit

- I think you should upgraded to a more stable remote platform like Windows 3.1

kosPap said:

it snifs to me like somthing in the mcClicky touching the bare body and closing the circuit

- I think you should upgraded to a more stable remote platform like Windows 3.1

Click to expand...

hmmm, well the problem stopped with Redilast 18650s in there and I've tried to duplicate it the same way, so I'm 99% certain it's the 0.0v Orbtronic cell. The mcclicky seems to work fine though

- hahaha 3.1

have you tried a different orbtronic? it could be that one battery or orbs in general. process of elimination. I use protected orbs & no weirdness yet. downgrade to dos.

stevieo said:

have you tried a different orbtronic? it could be that one battery or orbs in general. process of elimination. I use protected orbs & no weirdness yet. downgrade to dos.

Click to expand...

I don't have any other Orbtronic cells than those two if i remember correctly. One of the cells does show normal voltage though

could be a bad cell or protection board. my protected orb 3400's measure 69 mm. my protected aw 3400's measure 67.85. don't know about redilast but maybe the orbs are a tad long for your light pressing it on or crushing the protection board. just a guess. is it possible to back off the tailcap a bit without locking it out? I have had a protected nitecore 18650 protection circuit separate from a brand new unused battery. it dangled off the bottom of the battery. maybe the protection circuit got crushed due to length or spring pressure. i think i read overready warns about tightening down tailcaps too far & crushing protection circuits. I think it can be found on the zero Rez page. I do not know if that would apply to springs as well. all speculation of possibilities on my part, fwiw.

tobrien said:

I don't have any other Orbtronic cells than those two if i remember correctly. One of the cells does show normal voltage though

Click to expand...

I think we all have forgoten the obvious.
Coudl it be a tear on the battery shrink wrap? The bare body is -current and if it touches on the bare body of the flashlight (since it is bored) it would close the circuit.
And explain why the 0.0V battery drain

stevieo said:

could be a bad cell or protection board. my protected orb 3400's measure 69 mm. my protected aw 3400's measure 67.85. don't know about redilast but maybe the orbs are a tad long for your light pressing it on or crushing the protection board. just a guess. is it possible to back off the tailcap a bit without locking it out? I have had a protected nitecore 18650 protection circuit separate from a brand new unused battery. it dangled off the bottom of the battery. maybe the protection circuit got crushed due to length or spring pressure. i think i read overready warns about tightening down tailcaps too far & crushing protection circuits. I think it can be found on the zero Rez page. I do not know if that would apply to springs as well. all speculation of possibilities on my part, fwiw.

Click to expand...

kosPap said:

I think we all have forgoten the obvious.
Coudl it be a tear on the battery shrink wrap? The bare body is -current and if it touches on the bare body of the flashlight (since it is bored) it would close the circuit.
And explain why the 0.0V battery drain

Click to expand...

thank you both! so should I try recharging this to potentially reset the protection circuit?

edit: I cannot find any tears on the wrap :/