It starts off a bit under 4A and drops to around 3.4A, showing that the cell is responsible for the initial lumen drop, not the light. There may be better cells out now that would not voltage sag as bad.
I am using some 600ma cells I got from mtn some time back. Windyfire or something like that? They were reviewed pretty well at the time and I have never had a need for anything better. I only owned 1 14500 light before this anyways.
The cells you have should be ok I would think since higher resistance cells will not pull as much power.
my nitecore 650 mAh (black yellow) make 3,9A on the GT micro (and 3,8A on a BLF X5)
my shockli 660 mAh (yellow) make 4.95A on the GT micro (and 4.1A on a BLF X5)
unfortunately i fried something (i think a 7135) when using big wires in the head from my bench power supply
the led ia always on (230mA) , but ramps up to high (~2A) above that and also jumps to turbo.
The Windyfire are good mid-high current cells (for their size) according to HKJ tests. They have a discharge curve almost exactly like Efest Purple 650mAh cells which are known around here for being good cells. The new high capacity Vapcell 1000mAh cells lag a lot more (but last longer at the end).
If the higher modes work fine then your first guess sounds good to me, the 7135 fried. This can happen as the ripple from the power supply combined with the long leads can lead to massive voltage ringing. The first thing to go is usually the 7135.
Not totally sure, they have not exactly been giving me regular updates.
The prototype they sent me looks pretty much ready for production though save for the wire change. So I am guessing that production will be started after CNY.
I am going to use THESE, by Windyfire …. because I have them. But mostly because they are great cells. They come flattop or button top… I have some of both.
. Windyfire 14500 IMR 600mAh - Flat Top
Unprotected, flat top. This is one of the best “high drain” 14500 cells available, outperforming even the venerable AW and Efest 14500 cells—check out the discharge comparison picture!