Love Olight magnetic charging. Anyone else doing this with their torches?

youngster

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
25
I'm just tired of continually removing batteries every time I want to charge them. It is so convenient to not have to worry about that.

There are a number of companies that have micro USB connections but the ability to use magnets to make the connection take recharging to a whole new level of convenience.

I like Olight quality but I wish other great companies would copy their charging design. I think it is a game changer.
 

Boris74

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 23, 2017
Messages
192
I like it too. In the car, at the computer, plugged into the wall, no bulky external charger needed. Doesn't require investing in a separate charger. The tiny 16340s run them lights forever too. Now I know the lumen junkies sitting at their chair watching tv blinding the cat will argue otherwise, but with lumens you'll actually use, they run a long time. The batteries hold a charge when not in use a very long time too.

I constanly use (not play with) my H1R NW and S1R CW. Even when I'm working with it. If I'm working where metal dust, chips or steel wool might be I use this revolutionary device called tape to cover the contacts (GASPS!). Only needed to do that once though. Ironically to my amazement the magnet still works through the tape, who did of thought.

My 14500 charger (UM10) is a PITA when traveling but the light is worth the hassle, but the S1R makes travel and convenience so much easier. USB ports are everywhere, find one and plug it in.
 

Chad Varnadore

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
84
Location
United States
Several Armytek headlamp models (Wizard, Tiara) feature magnetic charging, and one or two newer handhelds, possibly in their Pardner line. But it's essentially useless with Armytek's implementation, at least with their Wizard. Aside from being absurdly slow, far too slow to be of any benefit for applications where having a separate battery charger might be a significant convenience (I've charged my Wizard for over 12 hours and it still wasn't fully charged), Armytek's magnetic charging is very unreliable. I've yet to see it fully charge the battery - the light will turn green even when it's only 2/3 charged. I don't know if that means it stops charging on green or if you have to worry about overcharging the cell. Sometimes just touching the light and it'll turn red again. But it's far, FAR too finicky, so I don't even bother with the magnetic charging anymore. The light has been great otherwise. It's just the magnetic charging feature that's absolutely worthless.

Klarus on the other hand has an excellent implementation of magnetic charging on some of their lights. The XT12GT magnetically charges the battery fully and in only a few hours, plugged into the same wall outlet I tried charging the Armytek through.

Other than Olight, I can't think of many brands incorporating magnetic charging into their lights yet. Interestingly, all that do appear to come with a battery. I think Fenix has one model with magnetic charging also. I'd expect to see a lot more lights go this route in the future.
 
Last edited:

LEDAdd1ct

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
3,557
Location
Hudson Valley
This feature interests me but the primary reason I have not gone this route is because they all seem to require proprietary batteries.

I don't like jumping on the "Must purchase cell from this company" bandwagon.

The Olight flashlights with magnetic charging all require you to use their special cell if you elect to use the magnetic charger, correct?
 

Chad Varnadore

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
84
Location
United States
This feature interests me but the primary reason I have not gone this route is because they all seem to require proprietary batteries.

I don't like jumping on the "Must purchase cell from this company" bandwagon.

The Olight flashlights with magnetic charging all require you to use their special cell if you elect to use the magnetic charger, correct?

Armytek and Klarus don't require proprietary batteries. I don't believe Rofis and Fenix require them either in their magnetic charging lights. I've read conflicting or at least confusing things on the Olight, so I'm not sure if it's that other cells can't be charged in the light or that most other "protected" cells, which the light design may require, for charging anyway, can't reach max turbo. Regardless, any shortcoming is less due to impossibility and more to do with design incapability. Afterall, the H2R had shorting issues early on that Olight has reportedly fixed since. Also, Armytek uses the same XHP50 as the H2R, in their Wizard headlamp, without a proprietary battery. But Olight squeezes roughly another 500 lumens out of it than Armytek manages, which the Armytek is supposed to be the better of the two at temperature regulation.

BTW. Anybody know why people seem to think Olight is a USA made brand, when their headquarters is in China?
 
Last edited:

Blades

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 22, 2000
Messages
1,137
Location
NC
I thought Olight fixed their tail caps to prevent fire for anyone who carries steel wool in their pockets.
 

Capolini

Banned
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
5,945
Location
Valley Forge, Pa.
This feature interests me but the primary reason I have not gone this route is because they all seem to require proprietary batteries.

I don't like jumping on the "Must purchase cell from this company" bandwagon.

The Olight flashlights with magnetic charging all require you to use their special cell if you elect to use the magnetic charger, correct?

+1

My primary reason is the same as yours.

Also I prefer to use my OWN top of the line[Sony/Samsung/Panasonic ect.] batteries that are ever evolving. In addition I trust and enjoy using my DMM to check battery health. Much more accurate than the Voltage meters inside these lights.
 

Capolini

Banned
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
5,945
Location
Valley Forge, Pa.
BTW. Anybody know why people seem to think Olight is a USA made brand, when their headquarters is in China?

Who might they be?! They have a facility in Marietta, GA. I have never heard anyone say/think they were an American Co.

It is common knowledge that Fenix/Olight/Nitecore/Thrunite ect are China based.
 

Hondo

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
1,544
Location
SE Michigan
+1

My primary reason is the same as yours.

Also I prefer to use my OWN top of the line[Sony/Samsung/Panasonic ect.] batteries that are ever evolving. In addition I trust and enjoy using my DMM to check battery health. Much more accurate than the Voltage meters inside these lights.

At least for my S15R Baton, I use an AW 14500, and charging works fine. No experience with any other magnetic charge base models, though.
 

Chad Varnadore

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
84
Location
United States
I love the idea but have always been worried about what's being exposed. I'm guessing dropping it in water does NOT short it, right?

Armytek's submersion rating is 10 meters for up to 2 continuous hours. That's a little over 30 feet depth to those of us who don't follow the metric system. Klarus is the usual 2 meters. I assume the others are the same, but can't recall for certain.
 

Chad Varnadore

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
84
Location
United States
Who might they be?! They have a facility in Marietta, GA. I have never heard anyone say/think they were an American Co.

It is common knowledge that Fenix/Olight/Nitecore/Thrunite ect are China based.

"They" being random users spread around the internet, thus making it an extreme inconvenience to search them out just to identify them all by name, or in most cases their handle. When I was researching a new headlamp I even saw several vendors who alluded they were USA made light. But a lot of people have bought them and left reviews on various etailers saying they went with Olight because it was American made. One person on amazon in particular almost sounded like he/she was on an Olight crusade because they believed them to be American made. So, it got me wondering, if they actually produce, assemble, or service anything at their Georgia branch or if it's just a distribution center for US suppliers as I'd previously assumed.
 

Chad Varnadore

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
84
Location
United States
+1

My primary reason is the same as yours.

Also I prefer to use my OWN top of the line[Sony/Samsung/Panasonic ect.] batteries that are ever evolving. In addition I trust and enjoy using my DMM to check battery health. Much more accurate than the Voltage meters inside these lights.

Every light I've mentioned has removable batteries just like most non-magnetic recharging lights. I never charge the Wizard magnetically, as my external charger/tester does a far faster job and charges the cell more completely. When I've tested the Klarus cell right after charging, Klarus's magnetic charger seemed to do a perfect job of topping it off and rather quickly. But it's not like you can't remove the battery for external charging or testing in any of these lights. Who knows, they may even be using some of the same cells you're familiar with. I haven't unwrapped any myself, but I know Lumintop uses Panasonic cells they rewrap with their own Lumintop label. They even sell them separately for customers who don't mind paying a small premium or who don't trust most vendors, selling the plain green wrapped cells, to be selling genuine new product, rather than refurbs or knockoffs, which seems to plague vendors like amazon and ebay. I'd be a little surprised if Klarus and Armytek actually make the batteries they use in their lights. And for light models that implement some of the very latest, most powerful LEDs - which currently seems to go hand-in-hand with features like magnetic charging - the battery they built the light around probably isn't any kind of slouch. But, you can use other cells, if you prefer. If your preferred cell performs just as well as the factory cell, great. If it can't... well, that's about as good an indicator as I can think of that it might be time to consider a better cell.
 
Last edited:

Capolini

Banned
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
5,945
Location
Valley Forge, Pa.
Every light I've mentioned has removable batteries just like most non-magnetic recharging lights. I never charge the Wizard magnetically, as my external charger/tester does a far faster job and charges the cell more completely. When I've tested the Klarus cell right after charging, Klarus's magnetic charger seemed to do a perfect job of topping it off and rather quickly. But it's not like you can't remove the battery for external charging or testing in any of these lights. Who knows, they may even be using some of the same cells you're familiar with. I haven't unwrapped any myself, but I know Lumintop uses Panasonic cells they rewrap with their own Lumintop label. They even sell them separately for customers who don't mind paying a small premium or who don't trust most vendors, selling the plain green wrapped cells, to be selling genuine new product, rather than refurbs or knockoffs, which seems to plague vendors like amazon and ebay. I'd be a little surprised if Klarus and Armytek actually make the batteries they use in their lights. And for light models that implement some of the very latest, most powerful LEDs - which currently seems to go hand-in-hand with features like magnetic charging - the battery they built the light around probably isn't any kind of slouch. But, you can use other cells, if you prefer. If your preferred cell performs just as well as the factory cell, great. If it can't... well, that's about as good an indicator as I can think of that it might be time to consider a better cell.


Most of my lights are modified. However they still come in stock form. Fenix and acebeam make some lights with the proprietary battery pack. I have absolutely no interest in those. You are dependent on the manufacturer for replacement.

Many lights have this USB charging. I would never use that because it's too slow. However a lot of those lights you can use your own battery and take them out and charge them yourself.

We all have preferences. The proprietary battery pack and the USB charging are not any of my preferences.
 
Top