What kind of sorcery is this?

Yeah, but without the battery, because apparently the tube and spring add 1.3 Volts to it, so you should measure the voltage over tube and spring.
So if you can, stick the (+) probe inside the tube touching the spring.
It should read 1.3 Volts somehow.

Speaking of LSD, maybe there’s some acid in the bottom of the tube, maybe from a leaky alkaline?
I don’t know what voltage aluminium and chrome produce, but that could be it.
Does the light work properly?

If there is acid, that would explain the doubling of voltage; acid is the same as LSD, hence its voltage value must be identical.

Looks like you are taking the second, higher, reading with the cell installed and the head off. Looks like the driver is not in the head but in the body and is boosting voltage so the LED can light up. This is the only way a NiMH or AA can work in a flashlight with a single cell. Pretty much everyone who posted before me knows this as well so I must clearly be missing something here. In the second pic are you measuring at the tail with the tail cap off or at the front of the battery tube with the head off? It’s really hard to see exactly what you are doing.

Not possible, because the (+) is not connected to the assumed booster in the tail, which incidentally isn’t there…
It’s just a tube with a spring.

You nailed it!! Acid from alkaline battery that came with it and leaked inside. :+1:

You posted before I could get my edited post saved. So this light has the cell reversed with + in the back like the S1?

Wow. Impressive how solution was found. Kudos.

I have my moments…
But it had to be either that or indeed sorcery. :smiley:
Pretty amazing though that it adds a measurable 1.3 Volts.

hehe…
Took me several attempts to get this as I have no one here to help me take this photo but here it is.

incredible

Obviously it’s not sorcery; it’s all accountable with science.

(picture taken with floating camera)

LOL :smiley:

Captured with drone :smiley:

With voice or gesture command function.

Jerommel, do you think this magic can power the LED on this flashlight (i3s) if connected without the battery (of course I have to use some sort of dummy AAA)?

Asking this because the flashlight wont turn on with this 2V+ but when I use different i3s battery tube, the head is fine.

OMG Manker started producing batteries? Wonder though……what would be their 18650….prolly 10.5 volts or somthing

Probably not. Capacity is extremely limited. When you connect to head and try to switch on, you will get extreme voltage sag; it is not able to deliver power.
The driver does however recognise this voltage bump, so therefore it’s not working.

Amazing finding Jerommel! I’ve never thought of this before. Reminds me of Lemon battery back in my elementary grade

I think it’s probably because the impaired spring and tail connection won’t allow the needed current to pass through, there are salts between them (due to acid and metal chemical reaction).
You will probably measure very very low voltage when you put a load on it.
An analogue VU multimeter would probably read much less than 2.6 Volts due to that.

You’ll have to take out the spring and clean everything with soap and scrape off the mess and then re-assemble.

All modern volt meters, cheap or otherwise, have a very high input impedance. They can “see” a voltage thru very high resistances. As others have stated, and then reversed themselves, this volt meter is reading the boost voltage from the driver, even though there is no “connection”.
But actually there is, thru the voltmeter.

EDIT:
I base my assumptions on that it looks to me like the voltage reading is taken at the LED side of the light. The shirt clip is pointing down.
Even if that is the tail cap, I think the meter would still see the voltage thru the LED even though it is not on.