Interesting: NITECORE TIP Parasitic Drain Thread

LED Flashlights – General Info
19

Ok… you guys are NOT going to believe this… it is just plain STUPID!! No other word to describe this.

Got my Tip from AA today, ordered gray and got black, no big deal as it looks good to me. Turbo mode is impressive for this size and the light feels great overall. I like it. But that’s about it, because when I opened it up, unsoldered a battery lead and took measurements with my DMM, I got a nasty surprise.

Moonlight is nice and low as it should be… 4.34mA

But when you enter lockout… 6.49mA!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Oh by the way… normal standby current draw? 0.00mA, so low my DMM doesn’t even read it. But I suppose it has to be around 0.1-0.5mA

20

Thank you for the Science Based info!:slight_smile:

21

So essentially, turning on lockout is like leaving the light turned on in moonlight mode nonstop? No wonder it’s dead after a few days.

22

Why are you complaining? That’s the new feature Nitecore was talking about! lol…Seriously, that’s completely unacceptable. I hope we all get replacements.

23

Nitecore site says the Tip can last up to 46 hours on Low of 1 lumen
Above photo shows 1 lumen draws 4.24mA
Lockout consumes 6.49mA, or 50% More than the Low mode, or as if the LED was producing 1.5 lumens of power drain.
Theoretically, Lockout should take 30 hours to drain the battery, but Ive seen reports of it lasting twice as long before going dead… :confounded:

24

What a lovely feature :expressionless:

I’ve had mine in the pocket and out of lockout for 6 days now. So far NO accidental turn ons and battery check light still gives three blinks. :+1:

Now that we know. :confounded:

25

dont hold your breath…
repeat after me There IS No to Lockout

dont despair, you can get a replacement with the same wonderful design

Now That’s good to hear, seriously :slight_smile:

26

Y ou betcha….that was the final test for me. If it turned on in pocket (like that dammed TUBE) back it would go.

27

this is actually Very Good Info!
I was wondering exactly that, whether the exposed buttons on the Tip were stiff enough to prevent premature activation…
Since There IS No Lockout… :wink:

28

That’s some good, (bad :person_facepalming: ); info will34! Your descriptive word pretty well sums it up too. :+1:
Reckon what they were thinking when they did that :open_mouth: … Never mind, they weren’t thinking obviously…… :wink:
I have a DMM just like yours too.

29

I read at other places where some TIP users said it turned on erroneously numerous times for them. But I don’t know if they were fumbling with it or what. Mine is on my keychain EDC…so far (6 days) it’s been 100%.

30

I measured 6.49mA for a solid 20 seconds, does it drop after a while? probably, it was tricky to mantain the DMM lead steady in that position. Maybe I’ll take it apart once more and solder wires for a longer measurement.

31

If I had to guess, it could have been them trying to rush the TIP to market, so proper and thorough testing wasn’t done. I remember there was confusion early on about the TIP CRI, whether it came in just one color temperature or two. It also could have been someone making a last second design change to the circuitry or whatever thinking it wouldn’t introduce any problems, so no thorough testing was done again.

But yeah, someone wasn’t thinking at Nitecore - they took a shortcut somewhere and ended up with a messed up lockout mode.

32

What do you mean “100%” Streamer?? That it did not turn on accidentally in your pocket??
:slight_smile:

33

Correct. No turn on in pocket. And charge is holding great at 3 blinks still with Minimal daily usage just to check its working.

34

Needless to say, I’ll NEVER use Lock Out mode again :exclamation:

35

But you did say it anyway :slight_smile: I’ll say it too. I WILL NEVER USE THE LOCKOUT MODE! BTW, did you get your USB covers yet?

36

Not yet,should be tomorrow or Saturday though

I’ll say it again I WILL NEVER USE THE LOCKOUT MODE AGAIN !

37

What did you say? I didn’t hear you!

38

I’d love to see someone do a YouTube on “Hitler locks out his NiteCore TIP” There are already some other funny Hitler subjects on that Channel.