Olight H2R Battery Experiments

Kitchen Panda · Nov 14, 2019

I'm quite liking my Olight H2R purchased this summer - it gets used frequently during the week for everything from surface-mount soldering to dusting. I was disappointed that the (Canadian) vendor said they were unable to sell me a spare battery for this lamp. I had initially hoped to use another spare 18650 I have but found that I could only get the two lowest settings to work, and the headlamp "blinked" indicating low battery (even on a freshly charged cell).

I think what was happening is that the button terminal on the + end of the 18650 was only touching the "ring" terminal in the Olight end cap (which on the proprietary Olight battery touches the negative ring terminal around the positive button) - the lamp was being back-fed through whatever charging circuitry is in the tail cap.

I cut out a little circle of report-cover plastic and cut a hole in the middle. I took a tiny magnet out of the drawer of magnets and put it on the batery terminal so it would touch the + contact of the tail cap. It works! I can cycle the lamp through all settings.

I did find that using the Fenix ARB-L2S that turbo mode (2300 lumens) only came on for a few seconds, then the lamp would go off for a minute or so. I surmise the ARB-L2S protection was coming on when the Olight H2R started demanding 4 amps. However, the 600 lumen setting seems to work well. I suppose I could pick up some kind of high-drain battery that would support the H2R load.

Anyway, this gives me a fall back. Until I can purchase a spare Olight battery, I can use this system to substitute an existing spare and still have usable output and run time. It's a bit more fiddly than I'd like, but acceptable for the gentle use cases I currently have. It's not like I'm caving with this light or even going on industrial site inspections.

Bill

ven · Nov 14, 2019

The H2R is an awesome lamp, so much so i have a back up if i need to send it off to olight(happened once so far). I dont like the slow inbuilt charging to be honest, also i like to keep an eye on things. I wrapped the cell again with a white washer(for 18650 batteries). So the 30Q i use as per any normal battery without the charging. Have you tried samsung 30Q button tops? Those should do the trick nicely, and at 15a will hold the turbo level pretty well. Most high drain button top cells(naked) should work. High drain meaning a minimum of 15a/20a continuous rating(not pulse). VTC5/VTC5a/VTC6/30Q types with button top.

Kitchen Panda · Nov 16, 2019

ven said:
The H2R is an awesome lamp, so much so i have a back up if i need to send it off to olight(happened once so far). I dont like the slow inbuilt charging to be honest, also i like to keep an eye on things. I wrapped the cell again with a white washer(for 18650 batteries). So the 30Q i use as per any normal battery without the charging. Have you tried samsung 30Q button tops? Those should do the trick nicely, and at 15a will hold the turbo level pretty well. Most high drain button top cells(naked) should work. High drain meaning a minimum of 15a/20a continuous rating(not pulse). VTC5/VTC5a/VTC6/30Q types with button top.

Just this afternoon I was thinking that maybe I should get a second H2R for the car.

I wonder if the H2R has low voltage over-discharge protection? Once you open the lid on the closed ecosystem of light and battery, you have to know the answers to all sorts of questions that the vendor doesn't want to answer because he wants to sell you the proprietary battery. From a product liability and warranty point of view, I undeerstand this - but it's a nuisance to stock a spare battery for every different brand of flashlight.

I see that Olight also makes a proprietary battery for their S30R lamp - it has a slightly higher claimed capacity and seems to be a buck or two cheaper. The S30R is compatible with the same chargers as the H2R; I wonder if it can sustain the higher discharge?

I suppose I should tell myself that it's not worth saving a few bucks on a battery if it's not going to perform like the original.

Bill

ven · Nov 17, 2019

Hi Bill, Olight use Samsung 30Q in the proprietary batteries for the h2r. I have had the wrap off , but it has been confirmed by other sources as well. So 30Q button top .

Yes another for the glove box , both my h2r's stay in work.

One of the H03 stay in my glove box, NW flavour.

H2r is my most used daily work light by a long way, every day 5 days a week.

Father Azmodius · Nov 20, 2019

The battery in mine has been flaky at best as of late. I switched to a Samsung 3400 (with magnet) and it's back to new performance. I don't normally use turbo with such a diffused beam. I always found the in light charging to be more of a hassle than anything else. I keep a ridiculous number of batteries and chargers in my work bag, so swapping in a fresh one isn't an issue. This is my favorite all around headlamp, so I'm glad I'm not stuck with the Olight battery.

Kitchen Panda · Nov 28, 2019

Father Azmodius said:
The battery in mine has been flaky at best as of late. I switched to a Samsung 3400 (with magnet) and it's back to new performance. I don't normally use turbo with such a diffused beam. I always found the in light charging to be more of a hassle than anything else. I keep a ridiculous number of batteries and chargers in my work bag, so swapping in a fresh one isn't an issue. This is my favorite all around headlamp, so I'm glad I'm not stuck with the Olight battery.

Lots of useful information in this thread, thanks. I'm still fairly new to Li Ion flashlight battery usage so I appreciate the tips and warnings.

Bill

Bigsplash · Dec 9, 2019

ven said:
I wrapped the cell again with a white washer(for 18650 batteries).

Any chance you could post some pictures of how you did this?
Have the same problem finding a replacement battery.

Deadcell · Apr 5, 2020

Kitchen Panda said:
I'm quite liking my Olight H2R purchased this summer - it gets used frequently during the week for everything from surface-mount soldering to dusting. I was disappointed that the (Canadian) vendor said they were unable to sell me a spare battery for this lamp. I had initially hoped to use another spare 18650 I have but found that I could only get the two lowest settings to work, and the headlamp "blinked" indicating low battery (even on a freshly charged cell).

I think what was happening is that the button terminal on the + end of the 18650 was only touching the "ring" terminal in the Olight end cap (which on the proprietary Olight battery touches the negative ring terminal around the positive button) - the lamp was being back-fed through whatever charging circuitry is in the tail cap.

I cut out a little circle of report-cover plastic and cut a hole in the middle. I took a tiny magnet out of the drawer of magnets and put it on the batery terminal so it would touch the + contact of the tail cap. It works! I can cycle the lamp through all settings.

I did find that using the Fenix ARB-L2S that turbo mode (2300 lumens) only came on for a few seconds, then the lamp would go off for a minute or so. I surmise the ARB-L2S protection was coming on when the Olight H2R started demanding 4 amps. However, the 600 lumen setting seems to work well. I suppose I could pick up some kind of high-drain battery that would support the H2R load.

Anyway, this gives me a fall back. Until I can purchase a spare Olight battery, I can use this system to substitute an existing spare and still have usable output and run time. It's a bit more fiddly than I'd like, but acceptable for the gentle use cases I currently have. It's not like I'm caving with this light or even going on industrial site inspections.

Bill

Hi Bill, not sure if I'm allowed to post where, or if you found a Canadian source for Olight batteries, (H2R) but I found a place you can order from in Canada. J2ledflashlight out of Ontario. ( I have not used this dealer yet myself )
This is my first post, so if I'm not allowed to share the dealer, please delete.
I am having problems with my H2R, so holding off on a spare battery, until its returned for a different brand (if possible) or sent in for repair. Hopefully know tomorrow.

Olight H2R Battery Experiments

Kitchen Panda

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ven

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Kitchen Panda

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ven

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Father Azmodius

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Kitchen Panda

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Bigsplash

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Deadcell

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