A Hong Kong based ebay seller with good feedback. I guess I'll just wait and see what it comes with, and if necessary pick up a suitable UK 12V 100mA adapter to feed it.
Spec me an LED Torch
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A Hong Kong based ebay seller with good feedback. I guess I'll just wait and see what it comes with, and if necessary pick up a suitable UK 12V 100mA adapter to feed it.
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the charger is stamped cc/cv on the back. the site refers to the charger being
Three-phase (TC.CC.CV ) charging
just charged my spare set of trustfires 18650 up to confirmed 4.16v
if you end up with the american 2pin transformer a travel adaptor will also work as the transformers voltage is 100-240v i.e.
http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/fused-uk-travel-power-adapter-with-switch-100v250v-p-998
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Deleted member 66701
Deleted member 66701
Yeah, what's written on Chinese chargers is always the truth
It's not a cc/cv charger - it does make a pretty reasonable attempt at faking it though -it's certainly leagues above the wf-139. Don't think I'l be chopping in my Pila IBC any time soon though.
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It'll be an everyday torch used for walking, etc.
I'm not bothered about which batteries it uses.
Ideally want it to be small/medium in size.
I'm not bothered about multi mode.
Throw is more important.
Budget is up to ~ £30.
I find it really odd that there are bad chargers about that are potentially dangerous. Do electronic goods that run off these cells e.g laptops, have the same technology as the cheaper chargers? Or are they more like the Pila?
Also, my Dewalt tools run off Lithium ion batteries and it says in the instructions that they should be left charging for 24 hours for the first charge and then every so often to condition the cells. Does the Pila have this feature? or are the Lithium ions cells in my tools different to those sold separate? They claim they have 'nano' technology, whatever that is. Supposedly they can be charged up to 2000 times.
Also, my Dewalt tools run off Lithium ion batteries and it says in the instructions that they should be left charging for 24 hours for the first charge and then every so often to condition the cells. Does the Pila have this feature? or are the Lithium ions cells in my tools different to those sold separate? They claim they have 'nano' technology, whatever that is. Supposedly they can be charged up to 2000 times.
Deleted member 66701
Deleted member 66701
If you want throw then you need a reasonable size torch - at least one with a decent size head. something like:-
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-219/mg-P-dsh-rocket/Detail
If you're willing to sacrifice a little throw for compactness, this is probably the best smallest sub £25 2xCR123/18650 light out there atm:-
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-152/ShiningBeam-S-dsh-mini-XP-dsh-G-R5/Detail
User 'CPFuser' as a voucher code on that website for 6% off.
Laptops and mobiles have their own safety circuits/charging circuits built in - which are always true cc/cv.
For the record I don't think that the Xtar WP2 is a dangerous charger - it just isn't ideal, mainly due to the fact that it will take longer to charge than a true cc/cv charger and it wont charge batteries to their full capacity. It will also potentially shorten the cycle life of batteries, but probably only by 50 cycles or such. If you can't afford a Pila or hobby charger then the Xtar WP2 is the next best thing.
Dewalt are talking a load of carp - no need to condition Lithium based batteries - they probably haven't updated their manuals since the days of NiCad!
18650 or 2xCR123
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Caporegime
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My torch has arrived, currently powered by some 60p Tesco Value battery (so I know it works).
Can anyone recommend one of those special battery that is rechargeable with a charger?
Can anyone recommend one of those special battery that is rechargeable with a charger?
The Xtar WP2 and WP2 II are not true CC/CV chargers, but they're reasonably close to it, close enough that they won't damage the cells when charging, especially due to the undercharging.
Laptops and mobile phones, being very expensive devices, usually have quite sophisticated charging electronics to manage the batteries. that said, many cheap "consumer" laptops have shockingly poor charging circuits (overcharging when left plugged in, etc) which do cause substantial premature damage to the battery packs.
Re. your Li-Ion drill packs, i honestly couldn't say. it could be that on first charge the charger charges them extra-slowly, but i doubt it, they'll probably have at least 2 cell-cycles on them from the factory's testing.
The thing probably just tells you to "condition" the cells every now and then because this is what was required with Ni-Cd batteries, and old habits die hard.
Updated results, the laptop 18650s did not trip, I don't even know if they are protected though (easiest way to check?), what did happen after 1hr 16mins though is that the BC40 started flickering slightly. At low brightness mode it was fine though. Voltage reading showed one cell had discharged quicker than the other.
Resetting the Ultrafire 2400 showed it had discharged near enough the same as the other cell, all good there I guess, apart from the trip!
Edit* Thanks! the 2.69 of the laptop battery confirms the 2.7 cutoff for the over-discharge note you quote above.
Edit2* I will charge my batteries at 300mA from now on, just to charge them safely, even if it takes longer!
Laptop-cells are never protected. they're simple dumb cells with nothing but the lithium chemistry and maybe a PTC-unit to cut them off if they get too hot (like if they're short-circuited). otherwuse, there's nothing to stop you from discharging a laptop cell all the way down to 0V
I really should stress that when using unprotected cells, you Absolutely must check the cell voltage frequently.
If you've used the light for a while and it's on your desk, pop the cell out and check it. if it's around 3.7 or lower, swap it out for a fresh one and charge it up.
I would also say that any cell that doesn't get to at least 4.1V after charging should be discarded. the low "charged" voltage indicates that the cell has aged internally and will have a high internal resistance. these cells are at a substantially higher risk of failure than fresh cells.
Personally speaking, I would also discard any cell that was discharged to less than 3.5V, but that isn't essential.
Remember, a Li-Ion cell at 3.5v has a remaining capacity of 0%, and discharging it further damages the cell.
Additionally, the top few tenths of a volt indicate a lot about the charge status of a cell;
4.20v = 100%
4.10v = 90%
4.00v = 80%
3.95v = 70%
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Thanks for the replies guys. The battery packs say Nano phosphate lithium ion. The batteries cost about £75 each and the charger is about £50, so I thought they might use some new technology that isn't available in other batteries.
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Damn this forum, i just bought a XM-L T6! lol
No reason, except it would be fun lol
No reason, except it would be fun lol
Caporegime
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Oh it will be more than fun, especially on Bonfire night
I also put in a bid for a XTAR WP2 II charger too
Just found this: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/start.html?pg=9
http://www.a123systems.com/technology-core.htm
Seems its not just marketing. I wonder if these will ever be available in single cell form?
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I believe that the protection circuits cut in at about 3.45v
The WP2 is known for not fully charging cells, but the tradeoff against marginally shorter runtimes is dramatically increased cell lifespan:
the number of charge-discharge cycles you'll get out of an 18650 may be as few as 250 if charged to 4.2 and discharged to 3.45, but if you charge to 4.15 and only discharge to 3.55v, you may see around 2000 charge-discharge cycles.
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I believe that the protection circuits cut in at about 3.45v
apparantly the protection circuits on my trustfire 18650 cuts in at a very low 2.30v
at least with these batteries in the bc40, i believe the torch circuitry cut them off at circa 3.40v-3.45v
sounds like your trustfire cells have faulty protection circuits or are unprotected entirely. considering chinese manufacturing practices, this isn't surprising.
You really shouldn't be draining your cells until the protection cuts them off, that's a recipe for ruined cells and possible venting situations.
If you've drained your Trustfires down to 2.3v i'd throw them away.
You really shouldn't be draining your cells until the protection cuts them off, that's a recipe for ruined cells and possible venting situations.
If you've drained your Trustfires down to 2.3v i'd throw them away.
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i believe they are rated to cut out at 2.75 but actually cut out at 2.3v according to other users comments.
i have only had these down to 3.40 whilst conducting the bc40 830lumen run test (with mrk) and i won't be running the batteries like that again.