Zebralight SC600 Mk2 L2

Well, my wife went to Singapore on holiday so I've been equipping myself with light gear!

I bought the LED Lenser H5R.2 which I love and got the H14R.2 for a headlamp. I love both of them especially the focussing lenses.

I couldn't resist buying the Zebralight SC600. I got the one with the neutral LED as it could be useful for photography.

I also wanted a high output compact light which is still pocketable even if not quite as small as my H5R.2 which is my work torch.

Any recommendations on batteries would be good.

I thought this forum is supposed to be free? Costing me heaps...

Since not all 18650's are the same size, I got a Zebralight 3400mAh 18650 for my sc600 just to be sure it would fit without issue.

I almost bought Eagletac brand because they are suppose to fit without issue but didn't. So if you want to save a little get the Eagletac 18650.

Since the SC600 II L2 has built-in cell protection, you might consider buying unprotected cells. Without the protection circuit mounted to the battery, there is a much better chance that even a high-capacity 18650 will fit.

I've ordered protected cell panasonic 18650 which I'm confident will fit. They're a pretty standard battery at 3400mAh. Selfbuilt mentioned that this model has slightly more headroom for batteries than the original one. I ordered a nitecore i4 charger as well. I will probably have to wait for the SC600 though as they seem permanently on backorder which I guess is a good sign!

Congrats on the SC600. One of the most-used lights in my quiver for sure.

Re: batteries, you might want to check HJK's battery website for sizes (and lots of other info, for that matter). I believe the protected Panasonic-labeled cells are relatively long. Zebralight specifies that batteries up to 69mm in length are OK, but I can tell you that the longer batteries put the tailcap spring under a bit of duress.

If you stick with protected batteries, Eagletac and AW are among the shortest. 1 mm makes a difference.

Hope you get your light soon!

You could well be right which would be a shame although the batteries are 68.9mm versus 67mm for the ones on their website. They specify 69mm maximum length so I guess we will see. If it is a mistake I guess I'll have to look around, again. I can't get the batteries from Zebralight. US customers only evidently.

I use the green 3400mAh panasonic protected batteries which you see a lot of on ebay.
From what I have read, they are about the longest 18650 around with the AW being the shortest.

The clear wrapped green ones are definitely long but I have no issues at all with them in my SC600's (old + new) or SC62d. If the tail cap gets really tight as you get close to screwing it all the way down, it is too long. If it feels like it doesn't noticebly tighten up then you should be fine.

You can tell they are too long for the H600's (old + new) as it gets really tough when you have 1/2 to a full turn left before the tail is fully on. From memory the light still works but the force required to make contact is too much if you ask me..

LEDburn said:

I use the green 3400mAh panasonic protected batteries which you see a lot of on ebay.
From what I have read, they are about the longest 18650 around with the AW being the shortest.

The clear wrapped green ones are definitely long but I have no issues at all with them in my SC600's (old + new) or SC62d. If the tail cap gets really tight as you get close to screwing it all the way down, it is too long. If it feels like it doesn't noticebly tighten up then you should be fine.

You can tell they are too long for the H600's (old + new) as it gets really tough when you have 1/2 to a full turn left before the tail is fully on. From memory the light still works but the force required to make contact is too much if you ask me..

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Hi LEDburn, that is reassuring news. The cells are 68.9mm long and within the specifications set by Zebralight for their new SC600 Mk2 L2 which evidently has more battery space anyway.

I've never owned a 18650 powered torch and I went into a shop and was astonished at how damned big they are in comparison to a AA. I have 18650 in my H14R.2 but they're wrapped in a pack so it somehow hides their true size.

The ones in the shop were rebadged Panasonic 3400mAh cells and were somewhere about 68.5mm in length. It would certainly make sense that ZL would make sure that the most common cells on the market would fit especially if they give a specification of 69mm long but they vary a bit in diameter as well.

Thanks for your post.

The irony is I will get the charger and batteries next week and possibly will have to wait for several weeks or longer for my 'backorder' that I placed last weekend. I think I will wait though as this mini sun looks interesting.

I tried both the protected & unprotected Panasonic 18650B with no issues at all with the SC600 MKII L2. But I observed the bottom ( negative terminal ) of the battery is already aligned with the tail opening of the light body which simply means that once you install the tail cap with spring, this will give undue stress to it. Upon replacing it with the unprotected one, it still had some clearance by about 2 mm from the tail opening of the body. So I opted to use the unprotected battery also knowing that the light itself has a circuit protection.

I wouldn't think stressing a spring is an issue. If it were annoyingly tight and fiddly to fit then maybe that would be an issue. I will only use protected cells as it may not be the only light I want to use them in. The protection is a safety feature that I think is worthwhile, not to mention the ZL itself could develop a fault. Protection built into the battery seems like a good thing to me.

I will bet money that 99% of cells labeled as 3400mAh have a Panasonic NCR18650B cell hidden within.

The issue most have with fitment come from length or diameter of the battery. If it is too long, the tailcap will be tight to screw down. If it has too great a diameter or a spot that is a bit fatter than others, it may end up getting stuck in the torch.

Since they all use the same cell, the factor determining length is down to the protection circuit (if any) that was added and the factor determining overall diameter is down to the shrink wrap used and if any label is applied or not..

I haven't got a battery stuck in a ZL yet but I do have a few that will only take certain batteries due to their length.

With the SC600, I actually think the older one had more room (prob 1mm max) but they still both accomodate the aforementioned Panasonic NCR18650B with no worries at all.
Remeber the SC600 has two springs..when you insert the battery, push it in with your finger; if you can push it in a few milimetres clear of the end then you will not have any issues with the cell being 'too long.'

Hi LEDburn. Thanks for that. I'm guessing most manufacturers would want most 18650 cells to fit especially something high quality like the Panasonic 3400mAh.

I'm sticking with my order for the SC600. I'm worried about quality issues so if it has one it is going back for a refund. It is however the only one that intelligently puts logic in to control output based on temperature. I guess hitting the magic 1000 Lumen mark is significant. The other issue is that they do get hot to hold but I'll have to see about that, getting rid of heat is the limiting issue on these small torches unless they can find even more efficient emitters. I gather 95% efficiency currently which is pretty amazing.