How close did I come to blowing myself up???

witness · May 22, 2014

The other day I was looking under my desk for something and grabbed by Zebralight SC600 (with 18650 battery) for the job. I wasn't paying attention and forgot to turn it off as I put it back on the shelf. Of course when it's emitter down you can barely see any light spilling out and it sat there on high for 10 minutes (or more before) I noticed it was on and too hot to touch. Did I just narrowly avert a disaster?

P.s. Should I discard the battery since it came very close to overheating and may have gotten damaged?

thedoc007 · May 22, 2014

witness said:
The other day I was looking under my desk for something and grabbed by Zebralight SC600 (with 18650 battery) for the job. I wasn't paying attention and forgot to turn it off as I put it back on the shelf. Of course when it's emitter down you can barely see any light spilling out and it sat there on high for 10 minutes (or more before) I noticed it was on and too hot to touch. Did I just narrowly avert a disaster?

P.s. Should I discard the battery since it came very close to overheating and may have gotten damaged?

Not very close at all. Worst case, you might have damaged the driver in your light (more likely), or burnt out the LED (less likely). I wouldn't worry about the battery, either. Other than physical damage or shorting it out (or being burned in an actual fire), I've never heard of a battery being damaged by heat. They actually give peak performance when they are warm.

Just don't do that again :thumbsup:.

ChrisGarrett · May 22, 2014

I ran my SC-600 on turbo/high for 124 minutes today, LED up, using a 4.35v LG E1 3200mAh cell charged up to 4.33v and after the 5 minute 750LM turbo mode ended, things were peachy.

I'll have to try it face down, one time, perhaps, just to see if it gets a lot hotter.

Chris

Fireclaw18 · May 22, 2014

I recall reading about a similar incident a year ago where someone left an SC600 on full power while face-down on a desk. The lens broke.

newbie66 · May 23, 2014

Scary stories.

Hope i don't mess up with my incoming h600w mkii...

sticktodrum · May 23, 2014

Forgot to turn it off while it was on high? That's a first I've heard...

I doubt it did anything though. I ran a couple of my ZLs down from high to check runtime. They were quite hot, but none have had any issues. That was over a year ago.

Just as personal practice, I lockout the tailcaps on any ZL I'm not carrying.

Cataract · May 27, 2014

Never heard of a Zebra getting damaged for running it until it stepped down on its own. Of course, they're not intended for running face down and I do believe one could damage a lens that way. Other than that, it's not like they're some crazy mod where the user is 100% responsible for respecting the electronics limits.

al93535 · May 27, 2014

I'd imagine that the manufacturer has tested these lights, on high, for an extended amount of time. I would also like to hope they find the point of failure, and then reduce the available output to a safe level.

However, over discharging a cell can and will damage it. Over heating a cell will increase its internal resistance.

zs&tas · May 28, 2014

i dont own a zebra but im sure the light will be fine, im more interested in what the shelf is made from ? and if there were any marks left on it

Cataract · May 28, 2014

Unless they changed their philosophy, which is very unlikely, Zebras include battery protection; they'll step down when needed and shut off before killing the battery. Still, you should always use protected lithium-ion batteries because inside a flashlight is not the only place where things can go wrong. It could also be wise to check the specs and do some runtime testing to make sure you don't have one with a faulty protection circuit.

How close did I come to blowing myself up???

witness

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