HDS flashlight as a battery tester...

RCS1300

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My 1 year old Fenix 16340 batteries have begun to reach the end of their service life.

I purchased seven Fenix 16340 batteries about a year ago and have been using them daily. One of them has started to drive my HDS flashlight bananas. The light works fine for about 15 minutes then is steps down from high a few levels. When I turn it off for a few minutes and then turn it on to the high level it steps up to high stays for about a minute and then steps down two levels (I have burst disabled). When I put in a new and freshly charged Efest 16340 battery everything goes back to normal and the HDS is happy. I have recycled that Fenix 16340 battery. I had hoped for at least two to three years of daily service. Guess not.

I guess the HDS light is a good indicator of battery service life given that it has 20+ step down levels.

Once all of my Fenix 16340 batteries have reached the end of their service life - which I predict will be within the month of August - I will invest in some HDS 16340's and give them a try.
 

LuxTacGear

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You really seem to use your light a lot. How many charging cycles went through one Fenix battery in that one year lifespan?
 

RCS1300

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You really seem to use your light a lot. How many charging cycles went through one Fenix battery in that one year lifespan?

My HDS lights are on between 60 to 90 minutes daily and I use 16340's exclusively. Most of my use is dog walking prior to sun rise and after sun set. I disabled burst because I predominantly run the lights at maximum lumen level or one step down from that - by my choice not the Burst time setting. I charge the batteries about once every four days so that would be 91 charging cycles/year. The one Fenix battery could be unusual with its short cycle life but time will tell how many more of the seven bite the dust soon.

With Burst disabled a fresh 16340 700mAh should last at least 41 minutes at maximum output level 24 and 1:15 at level 23
 
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Modernflame

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Not to derail your thread, but I thought you were running 18650's? Since you prefer the clicky UI, access to the battery tube is no obstacle unless you're toting that titanium gem.

But yes, the HDS will notify you quickly if the battery is not up to snuff.
 

RCS1300

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Not to derail your thread, but I thought you were running 18650's? Since you prefer the clicky UI, access to the battery tube is no obstacle unless you're toting that titanium gem.

But yes, the HDS will notify you quickly if the battery is not up to snuff.

I run the 18680 extended tube in the winter when daylight is less than 11 hours. That is when the longer run times really come in handy. In the Summer I run 16340's because I enjoy the smaller, lighter HDS light.

I put all of my Fenix and Efest 16340's through my ZTS Pulse Load battery tester. Only that one particular Fenix 700mAh 16340, that upset my HDS light this morning, fluctuated in its reading - bouncing between 20% and 60%. All of the other 16340s were steady and strong in their Pulse Load readings. So, it may only be the one 16340 cell that has a premature end of life.
 

Modernflame

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One bad cell in seven seems to be within the norm, based at least on anecdotal evidence. I've one bad Efest 16340 out of a six purchased.
 

RCS1300

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By going nuts this morning, the HDS flashlight probably saved me from a bad battery fire/explosion. I charge these 16340's in groups of four on a new Nitecore charger. The erratic behavior of this Fenix 700mAh protected battery in my HDS flashlight caused me to also test the battery with a Load Tester. After confirmation of erratic behavior with the Load Tester I took that battery out of circulation and recycled it. Great work on the HDS lights and the step down feature Henry!
 

Modernflame

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Did you have one of your (Efest?) batteries start a fire in your house?

Sorry, I just saw this. No, the only battery that burst into flame in my home was a 2000 mAh AW button top 18650. The Efest 16340 just didn't have any capacity. It could only sustain level 23 for two or three minutes before stepping down.
 

RCS1300

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Sorry, I just saw this. No, the only battery that burst into flame in my home was a 2000 mAh AW button top 18650. The Efest 16340 just didn't have any capacity. It could only sustain level 23 for two or three minutes before stepping down.

Sorry to hear that. I recycled all seven of my Efest 16340s and migrated to eight HDS INR 16340s. Based on my reading up on Efest I understand they re wrap batteries of all kinds. The only constant is the Efest wrapper. I also recycled that Fenix 16340 with voltage that was jumping up and down when put under load on my ZTS battery tester.

Based on your AW experience and Henry's discussion on Lithium Ion batteries, today I am also going to recycle the last of my 18650 AW batteries. The last time AW batteries were made was 2016 and that is over three years ago.
 
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usdiver

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Sorry, I just saw this. No, the only battery that burst into flame in my home was a 2000 mAh AW button top 18650. The Efest 16340 just didn't have any capacity. It could only sustain level 23 for two or three minutes before stepping down.

Curious to know how that happened especially if it was a genuine aw. Regarding efest the little experience I've had was with their charger and customer service. Won't be dealing with em again!
Looking to get the vapcell and the HDs inr batteries
 

Modernflame

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Sorry to hear that. I recycled all seven of my Efest 16340s and migrated to eight HDS INR 16340s.

Thanks, man. My other Efest cells have been quite good, but I will eventually replace them with INR 16340s from HDS.

Curious to know how that happened especially if it was a genuine aw.

Yeah, it was a genuine AW cell from a reputable dealer. All of this happened before AW went under [water]. I actually started a rather panicked thread on this forum, but there's little need to rehash it here. It was a new cell went into thermal runaway during its first charge cycle. The charger was also new.

I still have some gently used AW cells that function normally. In fact, I sometimes use them in my 18650 Executive battery tube.
 
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