The There Are No Stupid Questions Thread

A couple questions about batteries:
I do not vape or make my own powerwall etc so much of the information on 18650 cells seems conflicting or not relevant.

1_
I have 4 unprotected button-top Samsung 30Q used just for the BLF Q8.
I just purchased these KeepPower IMR button tops to use when the 30Q are charging.

Are they protected? Are they a good/OK choice for the Q8?

2_
I have a few protected cells that came with lights such as Sofirn, Thorfire, Folomov, etc. 2600-2800 mAh. I lend and gift these sort of lights to co-workers and family (adult children) when they show a genuine interest and a willingness to charge a light.
I am running out of those but I have some Panasonic flat tops NCR 18650B 3400mAh that are unprotected. Would you trust a muggle with an unprotected cell and the cheap usb chargers that usually come with a bundle?

3_
I opened two laptop batteries from ones with broken screens and found:
Sanyo UR18650A rated at 2100mAh- I have been using in a Convoy S2+ (6x7135) and they work fine.
Panasonic CGR18650C rated at 2150mAh- I have been using in a Thorfire VG-10S and they do not last as long, or get as bright, but seem OK.

I would like to get a way to discharge/analyze them so I know the resistance and capacity, but for the price i could buy the Convoy L2 I have been eyeing with two 26650 batteries.
I am just using them and assuming they have half the rated capacity which is good enough for my everyday needs with these lower drain lights. I will never use them in series or in a high drain light such as Emisar D4. Any issues?

Stick with the 30Qs for the Q8, as they work very well.

If the light itself has LVP, why not? Nb: some lights just warn of low-voltage, but donā€™t turn off, so make sure of that first.

Cheap chargers might at worst shorten the life of the cell if it overcharges, but donā€™t expect it to burst into flames or anything.

Not really. Iā€™m not paranoid about Li-cell safety, just practical, but I still use laptop pulls that are half their rated cap, or less, and never had an issue.

1. The 5000K has the ugly yellow corona

2. Slicing the Xpl2 5000K with a razorblade gives the exact beam pattern of the XPL hi, but it reduces output dramatically (30% or so) the 5000 K shifted to approx 3700 K

Picture shows xplhi 4B vs DD sliced xpl2 5000K

How do I post an item for sale? Imalent DX80?

Thank you.

Why can't manufacturers machine one more slot in their 1AA's so the clip can be reversed?

I'm really partial to the 1AA for general EDC. It's convenient to be able to reverse the clip if needed to attach a light to a cap's bill.

It's aggravating that many, otherwise great lights, can only orient their clips in one direction.

slmjim

Here is one for you :beer: and you donā€™t need to reverse the clip, itā€™s a 2 direction clip :beer:
https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-88061-ProTac-Professional-Tactical/dp/B01G75P1SC/ref=br_lf_m_zy8t93emdb2b8g6_ttl?\_encoding=UTF8&s=hi

I know what ZWB2 does. What I want to know is what it means. Is it an abbreviation?

I am having issues with PMā€¦ I responded toa PM but after sending, I donā€™t see my reply in the PM conversation threadā€¦what gives??

Now that my laptop has been restored to good working order, my PMs are posting fineā€¦ head scratchā€¦ what a weird day.

Recent update from Windows 10 (Friday June 8th) bricked my laptop keyboard and touch pad driversā€¦ now Iā€™m stuck using the touch screen keyboardā€¦

Hereā€™s how it went:
10;30 pm while watching shows on Netflix with the kids, the windows update popped and ask for install and restart now or laterā€¦ i chose restart laterā€¦ finished Netflix, got too tired, went to sleep (closed the folded the screen down)ā€¦ woke up to check email at 8am Saturdayā€¦ no Windows log-in screenā€¦ no cursor on screenā€¦ keyboard keys and touchpad all unresponsiveā€¦ had to log in with touchscreen keyboard (sucks crazy) and connect an external usb mouseā€¦ i checked the hardware drivers and it has issuesā€¦ keyboard driver (ps/2 keyboard driver) has a code 10 issue and touch pad pointing device has a code 39 issueā€¦
i have a Lenovo Flex 2-15ā€¦
tried uninstalling both drivers and rebooting several times to no availā€¦ yes i tried rolling back the drivers, tooā€¦ holding off on widows restore as a last resortā€¦
Anybody have these issues, if so how did you fix?

Switch to Linuxā€¦

Naw, the damned thing kept ruining a work laptop, killing wifi completely. Know what a laptop is without wifi? A brick.

Kept rolling back, uninstalling drivers, etc., and that eventually got wifi working again, but slooooooowly. To finally stop its insistent attempts, I found the dir where it starts dumping new files in preparation for mangling the OS beyond recognition, ā€˜windows10upgradeā€™ or some crap like that, created a file with that name, and turned off all attributes, especially admin, to make it untouchable.

For a while Iā€™d get popup boxes citing an ā€œerrorā€, as in not being able to create or write-to the dir, and it made me feel good. It eventually stopped trying.

You can try updating drivers with this: https://sdi-tool.org/

I use it often when repairing peopleā€™s computers and it works great.

On the fenix rc40, there are two holesā€¦ anyone know what are there for?

1ā€¦ lowest modeā€¦ i kind of see yellow spotā€¦ after lowest mode, no yellowā€¦
2. All my xpl dedome have hint of greenā€¦
3. I dont know.

ā€œLightUpTheDarkā€ If you can get to the ā€ system Restore ā€ do that first. If that works, disconnect the internet immediately, find the Windows update and turn it off, reconnect the internet. You need to have a restore point saved when you are done and you need to be prepared in advance for those PITA updates.

ā€œNewlumenā€ I see pictures for a Shoulder Strap Mount on Google search. :beer:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rc40&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj24qfSocrbAhXPzlkKHTN4CWYQ_AUICygC&biw=1280&bih=707

Thank you all for your inputs.

I did the restore to a previous point via Lenovoā€™s (or maybe windows 10 safe mode via delete/F2 during startup) and restored to Thursday June 7 restore point and it fixed everythingā€¦

After windows reloaded with working hardware keyboard again, created a new restore pointā€¦

BLF for lifeā€¦

Donā€™t forget to turn off Windows update, or it Will happen again.

@CNCMan, I would not advise doing this.

Do updates on specified hours.

Or do, as I do, and only use Windows for gaming, and use Lubuntu for everything else, except for Excel too.

Lubuntu, compared to even Windows on an SSD, is crazy fast. It boots in like 2 seconds, and there isnā€™t any lag in the system, unlike Windows sometimes.

Thanks CN and endermanā€¦