The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

sprite1275

Does anyone know if 750mA is too high for charging xtar 18650 3100ah batteries ? looking at xtar chargers they seem to charge around 500mA, so just wondering if 750 is a bit high :?:

alibabameister

HI,
Can I get a better battery for this torch other than the 3 x aaa adapter that it currently uses ?
Just thought that somehow I could use it on the helmet in addition to the one I am awaiting delivery of.

The battery adapter measures 23mm x 60mm and kicks out 4.5 volt with new batteries in, not sure how many amp hours though.



Oh and how could I attach it to my handlebars?

Thanks

AL

supersonic

That may work off a 18650 cell.

alibabameister

I thought the 18650's were 65mm long?
Would the light perform better with a different battery etc ?

supersonic

The adaptor looks at least 60mm, though may be an illusion!

alibabameister

The adapter measures 61mm including the connection on the + end
Will the 18650 make the torch perform better?

supersonic

If it works you will get more runtime.

diy

supersonic wrote:

If it works you will get more runtime.

and more lumen if you compare with rechargable AAAs which are 1.2v * 3. The drivers for these things are normally simple things.

sprite1275 wrote:

Does anyone know if 750mA is too high for charging xtar 18650 3100ah batteries ? looking at xtar chargers they seem to charge around 500mA, so just wondering if 750 is a bit high :?:

No it will be fine as long as its a proper Lithium Ion charger. I charge 2700mah at 1A.

concorde

Most of mine came back today. 2 501b torches, all the batteries and charger etc. The torches are bright, well happy. The attachment recommended in the sticky looks pretty shit to be honest, can't see that holding the torch over anything remotely bumpy!

Batteries have charge as they're working in my torch... Question, will they be fully charged or should I charge them on a 4hr timer?

Cheers

Ouija

Concorde wrote:

Most of mine came back today. 2 501b torches, all the batteries and charger etc. The torches are bright, well happy. The attachment recommended in the sticky looks pretty shoot to be honest, can't see that holding the torch over anything remotely bumpy!

Batteries have charge as they're working in my torch... Question, will they be fully charged or should I charge them on a 4hr timer?

Cheers

Li-Ion batteries are under quite a strain when charged up to 4.2v, which is why you should charge the battery immediately before use rather than leaving it at that voltage for any period of time. Manufacturers know this and the recommended storage charge for Li-Ion is 40%. This is what most batteries come pre-charged at from the factory.

It's also worth noting that non-protected cells don't lose charge over time but protected ones do (the protection circuit drains the battery a little).

concorde

Ouija wrote:

Concorde wrote:

Most of mine came back today. 2 501b torches, all the batteries and charger etc. The torches are bright, well happy. The attachment recommended in the sticky looks pretty shoot to be honest, can't see that holding the torch over anything remotely bumpy!

Batteries have charge as they're working in my torch... Question, will they be fully charged or should I charge them on a 4hr timer?

Cheers

Li-Ion batteries are under quite a strain when charged up to 4.2v, which is why you should charge the battery immediately before use rather than leaving it at that voltage for any period of time. Manufacturers know this and the recommended storage charge for Li-Ion is 40%. This is what most batteries come pre-charged at from the factory.

It's also worth noting that non-protected cells don't lose charge over time but protected ones do (the protection circuit drains the battery a little).

Ok, so I'll leave the torches on for a bit til they go dead and then charge them before I go out next yeah?

Cheers

Ouija

No. Never let a Li-Ion battery go dead... ever. They have an operating range between 2.9v (ish) and 4.2v. Above or below and they simply stop working. Most chargers wont charge them above 4.2v and most protected batteries will cut the power before they are allowed to drain below 2.9v. But obviously, unprotected ones don't (i have no idea which you've got).

Your probably thinking of NiMh batteries, which HAVE to be completely drained before you should recharge them.

concorde

Ouija wrote:

No. Never let a Li-Ion battery go dead... ever. They have an operating range between 2.9v (ish) and 4.2v. Above or below and they simply stop working. Most chargers wont charge them above 4.2v and most protected batteries will cut the power before they are allowed to drain below 2.9v. But obviously, unprotected ones don't (i have no idea which you've got).

Your probably thinking of NiMh batteries, which HAVE to be completely drained before you should recharge them.

Ok, well I don't know if mine are protected or not. I doubt it, they're the Trustfire ones. So do I put them on for 4 hours before going out, or as they shuld be at 40%ish only put them on for about 2 hours?!

Confused!

Ouija

Concorde wrote:

Ok, well I don't know if mine are protected or not. I doubt it, they're the Trustfire ones. So do I put them on for 4 hours before going out, or as they shuld be at 40%ish only put them on for about 2 hours?!

Confused!

Doesn't your charger automatically stop when the battery is charged?

concorde

Ouija wrote:

Concorde wrote:

Ok, well I don't know if mine are protected or not. I doubt it, they're the Trustfire ones. So do I put them on for 4 hours before going out, or as they shuld be at 40%ish only put them on for about 2 hours?!

Confused!

Doesn't your charger automatically stop when the battery is charged?

Don't think so, it's a cheapo one from Hong kong too. Been advised to put it on a timer plug and set it to go off after 4 hours. Fine with that, just wondering for this first occasion?

Cheers

bartimaeus

If it's one of these then it will stop when the battery is charged. I think that the advice on timers is in case something goes wrong... if the charger fails to switch to trickle/no charging when done and you leave it on for the next 12 hours then you will have a problem. I've got two of these - one of them seems to work with only one bay now so I don't trust it and don't use it... but the other has worked perfectly for the last two and a half years.

concorde

It's very similar to that yes, ok cheers, will just charge them and stick the timer on just in case.

Cheers

sprite1275

sprite1275 wrote:

Does anyone know if 750mA is too high for charging xtar 18650 3100ah batteries ? looking at xtar chargers they seem to charge around 500mA, so just wondering if 750 is a bit high :?:

No it will be fine as long as its a proper Lithium Ion charger. I charge 2700mah at 1A.[/quote]

Cheers DIY. The charger I'm thinking of getting is The Intellicharge i4 http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20SysMax%20i4%20V2%20UK.html
It will charge at 750mA or 375mA. Not sure how long they would take to charge at 375mA, prob quite a few hours.

KokaKona

Ouija wrote:

It's also worth noting that non-protected cells don't lose charge over time but protected ones do (the protection circuit drains the battery a little).

Pedant's corner here: relatively speaking you may have a point re: drain rate protected vs not, but in actual fact batteries of all chemistries self-discharge to some extent over time. Which is another factor to support your point about charging just before required.

KokaKona

sprite1275 wrote:

DIY wrote:

sprite1275 wrote:

Does anyone know if 750mA is too high for charging xtar 18650 3100ah batteries ? looking at xtar chargers they seem to charge around 500mA, so just wondering if 750 is a bit high :?:

No it will be fine as long as its a proper Lithium Ion charger. I charge 2700mah at 1A.

Cheers DIY. The charger I'm thinking of getting is The Intellicharge i4 http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20SysMax%20i4%20V2%20UK.html
It will charge at 750mA or 375mA. Not sure how long they would take to charge at 375mA, prob quite a few hours.

Well if the 3100mAh capacity claim were true, then the longest it could take to charge @ 375mA is 3100/375 = about 8 1/4 hrs

diy

Concorde wrote:

Ouija wrote:

Concorde wrote:

Ok, well I don't know if mine are protected or not. I doubt it, they're the Trustfire ones. So do I put them on for 4 hours before going out, or as they shuld be at 40%ish only put them on for about 2 hours?!

Confused!

Doesn't your charger automatically stop when the battery is charged?

Don't think so, it's a cheapo one from Hong kong too. Been advised to put it on a timer plug and set it to go off after 4 hours. Fine with that, just wondering for this first occasion?

Cheers

Charging on a timer switch is a precaution in case the charger fails or the cell fails. There is no thermal protection in the cheap chargers hence you want some basic fire precaution. I.e charge in a fire proof environment on a time switch.

There is no memory effect either so you can top your cells up as you like

Ouija

Concorde wrote:

It's very similar to that yes, ok cheers, will just charge them and stick the timer on just in case.

Cheers

Here's a few pointers on Li-Ion batteries

How can I make my Lithium-Ion batteries last longer?

Lithium-Ion batteries are very different from Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries
and must be treated differently. Notebook batteries deliver an extremely high
current (similar to a power hand tool) and so the batteries are stressed much
more highly than a low-current battery (such as that used in a mobile phone).

Lithium-Ion batteries begin to degrade from the moment the battery cells are
made by the battery cell manufacturer. This is due to a chemical reaction that
gradually causes the internal impedance of the cells to increase and in time,
and reduces the ability of the battery to deliver its charge. All chemical
reactions are affected by heat. Each 10 degrees Centigrade rise in temperature
will double the rate of this reaction. For this reason, it is very important to
keep you battery as cool as possible at all times, especially when it is
charging.

The other main factor that can drastically reduce your battery life, is if it is
left in a fully discharged state for any length of time. If a Lithium-Ion
battery becomes too 'flat' it will refuse to be charged up again (even though
the battery cells are probably good). If this happens you will need a new
battery. For this reason do not store the battery for more than a week or so in
a fully discharged state.

Under ideal conditions, after just 1 year, a Lithium-Ion battery will probably
hold about 80% of the original capacity of a new battery. Even if you keep your
battery as cool as possible, it can only be expected to last for 2-3 years at
the very most. If a battery is often kept warm/hot, it may only hold around
50%-60% of its original charge after 1 year.

Also checkout this and this.

inkz

ok I messed around with my Torches again last night, and got to know them a bit better. It's not the length that is causing me problems, I'm getting the same issue directly connected to the driver, but I didn't understand how it was working before when I tested it.

I Emailed Torchy and he replied very quickly with the following:

I am guessing the torches don't have regulated current and are tripping the pcb.
You would be better with unprotected, or high discharge protected batteries like SenyBor.

The batteries operate the torches fine when on medium, it's just high or the flashing modes they trip. I'm only going to be running them on medium anyway so I think I'll just put up. I've finally managed to find some laptop batteries with juice in and these operate all modes fine, so can always use those if I need to. Another option I suppose would be to remove the PCB's from the Torchy batteries, but that scares me.

A bit annoying because I spent 12 quid to get decent batteries and I'm prob going to be using free ones in the end anyway.

I've edited my original post so people don't buy those batteries with that torch.

diy

I think the second part of the reply is more telling. Did he tell you what the amp limit was for the pcb? My guess is that it has a 2A limit and is therefore junk. its quite east to get the pcb out, you'll just need some scissors and some insulation tape to re seal it after:

http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/battery%2 ... %20UK.html

It is odd because he sells protected cells
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Torchy-280 ... 0793145434

and recommends you don't use them.

islwyn

Just bought these Moon Comets and they're AMAZING.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moon-comet-light-set/

They're a lot sexier in the flesh, they are extremely bright and 6 settings, 3 for beam and 3 for flashing - superb, and best of all - USB charged.

Perfection.

Ouija

Mmmm..... Hardly call 100 lumen bright? A bit weird looking too. Where do you mount them?

diy

Agree 100 Lumen is no good for MTB night riding

Probably not enough for the road either, unless its urban.

RandG

Islwyn wrote:

Perfection.

Perfection for what ?

I bought front and rear led's out of Aldi's a month or so ago for £3 that are better than them.

-Archie-

RandG wrote:

Perfection for what ?

Looks like perfect example of how wrong one could spend his money, perhaps?

jairaj

prob make a good commuting light, though still expensive, but this is the MTB forum so not much use for us.