I’ve got a 3 month old AW Protected 17670 cell that has been EDC’d, but not abused. It’s been run down to the protection level a couple times, but usually recharged at about halfway. It gets used a little bit each day, so it never sits at 100% for too long either.
This week the light started behaving erratically, not always turning on into max mode, but sometimes, low mode, and sometimes neither, etc… I was thinking it was the light head until I found another weird thing. The battery has become ultra sensitive to physical shock. Shaking the light while on will turn it off and require a power cycle OR wait ~10+ seconds in order to restore service. Setting the light roughly down onto the desk in a tailstand (while on) produces the same effect. I wouldn’t have even realized it was the battery except that I just got a couple more AW Protected 17670’s in the mail today and lo and behold, that fixed it!
So my question is:
1) Have you ever seen this in a relatively young lion cell (or at all)?
2) I am assuming the battery is fubared and I should discontinue use immediately before something goes POOF?
Sounds like a bad connection between torch and battery … Weak (or dirty) springs etc ? … But if you are using new identical batteries , that ruins that theory.
When you shake the torch can you feel or hear the battery moving about ?
Any problems with charging the battery ? … What happens when charging if you tap the battery ?
Yep - identical batteries. Slight difference in contact wear, but purely aesthetic, nothing that makes a difference electrically. I cleaned off the contacts good. No rattle when shaking. Battery is being used in Quark 123^2 tube with a Low Voltage X head, so it fits in there pretty snugly as is
Battery is at 3.94v. Placed it into an Intellicharger i4 alongside one of the new cells. Gripping the batteries firmly, I gave the charger a healthy tap. Bad battery immediately went dead (like the protection circuit was activated) and lost connection with the charger. With a little coaxing it eventually came back to life (I haven’t found a solid pattern to restoring it yet). Repeated the test with a “shake” rather than a “tap”. Same results.
Protection circuit sounds like a likely culprit…. just seems like odd behavior… A shake will kill it, but usually just time will fix it, without ANY further movement (tested).
This cell might have to be “un-protected” if only to see whether it really is the protection circuit … On the other hand , have you contacted the seller ? … There may be a problem with other cells that he has sold.
Does the cell come back to life when you press the bottom (protection circuit) fairly hard ?
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Pressing on the bottom does not seem to have any effect one way or another. AW cells are typically some of the best available, I had not contacted the seller yet.
