Variations in battery lengths

I am a frustrated guy who bought a Xeccon D3 flashlight which takes three 26650 batteries and I then bought Keygos 4800mAh 26650 batteries (flat top) to power the light. Problem is that since I purchased it I have never been able to get it to work reliably-beautiful light, great workmanship but so far just a pretty lump of metal. The problem appears to be that these batteries are too long-they measure 70mm but the specification of 26650 batteries is 65mm. This means that when you insert the batteries and screw the end cap on, the aluminium disk inside the end cap which is supposed to touch the end of the flashlight barrel's threaded section is not touching it so switching the light on and off by twisting the end cap left and right achieves nothing because there is a gap in the circuit.

One solution that I found is to place a circle of solder inside the end cap to bridge this small gap but the solder wears out really fast. Have other users experienced this same frustration? Is there no enforcement of standard length on these batteries?

Here is some info that may help.

The first set of protected batteries that I bought were also too long, I guess they all are longer, at this point we have to learn a way around our problems. In my case I broke the charger trying to get them to fit. I am really, really getting sick of Chinese junk and non-standard, sub-standard manufacturing. They are capable of doing better, i.e. the IPAD.

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (April 16, 2012) called "The China Myth", interesting reading.

Aloha and welcome to BLF MAVRIC!

Yeah.... thats the nature of the beast with protected cells, and with 2 or 3x cells stacked up it can be a difference of ~1-1.5 cm length. Its one of the reasons I generally prefer to use unprotected cells. I can always stretch the springs or solder in longer ones. in one of my lights I made a copper ring and pressed it into the tailcap. it presses against the battery tube to close the circuit.

MAVRIC:

Hello and welcome to BLF. Sorry to hear about your issues with the batteries, I know it can be frustrating. Can you post the link to the Keygos you bought? I suggest you look at some alternatives and it looks like you are going to have to settle for unprotected cells as the protection circuit adds 2-3mm to the cell length, maybe King Kong INR86650E. According to China Quality Goods, these measure 26mm x 66mm. Unfortunately, most vendors don't list the dimensions. Here's a thread for you to look at that might help in choosing another battery: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7473

Another alternative is to use case reducers with 3 18650 cells, at least until you find some bigger batteries that fit. If you can't wait for these to ship, take both batteries to a hardware store and try to find some PVC plumbing pipe that will work.

Hey, MAVRIC, welcome to BLF. I was going to go with a Top Gun wise crack to break the ice, but since you spelled Maverick "wrong", it kinda took the wind out of my sails. :p

Maybe next time.

this coming from cone (the Jester)... Wink

HAHAHAHA! Kudos, BetweenRides, kudos! Looks like we got our Top Gun reference after all. I hope I stop laughing before dinner otherwise it could get ugly. I love hanging out here! I just hope that ChicagoX doesn't show up saying, "Yeeha, Jesters dead!" JK, Chicago, JK.

Gents-many thanks for the warm welcome and the helpful tips-much appreciated indeed. The fact that I am experiencing these sorts of issues is, I guess, why I'm on the BUDGET light forum as pointed out by some of you kind folks! Cone-my old man is a boilermaker by trade and he couldn't spell "Maverick" hence the name. His spelling still hasn't improved despite him being 64 this year! Oh well, at least it's unique.....

Hi Between Rides, here is the link for the Keygos batteries:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-KEYGOS-IMR-26650-3-7V-4800mAh-Lithium-Li-ion-Rechargeable-Battery-Charger-/350524058455

Welcome to BLF Mavrik. I know a girl called Lean, supposed to be Leanne but her father filled out the birth certificate form wrong. We call her lean (like skinny or "lean" against a wall- lol)

but exactly the other way around. I have a TR-J12 and I use three MNKE IMR-26650 in it. Well, they are to short, so I made a spacer out of a rod of stainless steel and a rim of black PE around it. It looks pretty much like a 6mm long battery. I made the stainless part on a lathe, so one end has a nipple like batteries do. then I made a rim of plastic and pressed the stainless slough into it.

But by thinking about our opposed problems, we would maybe better swap our batteries and everything would be fine.

It's good to have you here, MAVRIC.