No, obviously it is charging in 3S config with no balancing leads. But so far in my experience in charging in 3S with my Solarforce V2 and Sanyo 2600 unprotected, no issue they charged and discharged ok.
Real life experience, once in my DRY, one Solarforce V2 cell dived to 2.8V and protection cut in. The other cells 3.2V unloaded. So i guess still pretty close, due to the way the DRY discharges (HARD) and the way the voltage dives at that region (check the graphs), ie not much more juice. Very very limited chance that it can reverse charge.
I guess this is still way too advanced even for an intermediate flashaholic to play with, esp if he does not own any discharging and measuring equipment. Measuring is really part of the hobby man....
And the way I see on youtube or forums with members using Ultrafire unprotected cells that comes with the flashlights on ebay, it can really POOF... that's why you see the misconception that 2S or 3S is way dangerous. Of course at that level it is dangerous. In fact on youtube i saw one vid of the Sky Ray SR3800 with the member slotting in the batteries the wrong way round and the light not working! (WTF?)
Can you imagine with a 4/3S flashlight, 1 is inserted the wrong way, and 3 or 2 the right way, effectively making it a 1 or 2 cell light. In a TF-3T6 that would still work, but creates unnecessary strain.
But the thing is, this is all very very basic in the RC fraternity.
Yes, for those who are careful, and with individual cell protection, its not as bad, but still fundamentally a problem with overcharging/discharging in a 3S setup. Im very comfortable with 3S setups (all my planes are 3S, and I don't mind 3S setups, however these cells are charged with balancing equipment, or individually.
My concerns are long term use, there is nothing to correct these differences in charge balancing. Sure the protection can kick in and stop current flow for the whole torch, protecting the lowest charged cell, however when you charge it back up, there are NO mechanisms to balance charge, so the lower cell never reaches full charge, and the highest charged cell gets over-charged, and this will continue on and on. Sure this won't be an issue in the short term, but if this prolonged state of having a slightly lower charged cell, and always having a corresponding over-charged cell cannot be good for cell life, and would also contribute to the risk of complications.
2.8V vs 3.2V is not a big difference in capacity at the low end when the protection kicks in, however the tolerances for these circuits are pretty wide but this is acceptable. Its at the high end where the same circuit cutoff tolerance isn't as safe, where we feel queasy when we leave cells on a charger to float up to 0.05 volts higher, up to 4.25V. The question is, would you feel safe about having that over-charged cell constantly living life full of energy on your charger sitting on 4.30V, which is before protection has kicked in.
Its the sitting on the limit, with no means of correcting itself that I'm concerned about. Protection circuits can protect from serious voltage swings, but because of its design tolerances, it won't stop chronic floating voltages, so I don't feel safe relying on a $2 circuit with to save my cells from chronic over-charging/discharging.
Yep, okwchin, as i mentioned in my above post the only way to correct what you have pointed out is via measurements, to self-balance manually. Any DMM is better than no DMM. For those too high, you just need to self-discharge till the same voltage. My method is to measure voltage while the cell is inside, and the short the 2 probes together so as to make the light work.
Usually for a XM-L I can get say 4.23 down to 4.18V within 20-30s after which it will float back up maybe 0.01-0.02V. So not time consuming at all.
So maybe it boils down to the external cradle not being such a good idea after all, as it promotes "laziness" and that is not good, even the experts can get complacent.
Id just take the cells out, and charge 3 of them individually (one at a time on the same charger) over a night or two every couple of cycles or so. Its probably the most practical way to do it, but the point is, there is opportunity for a problem to exist, and users need to be pro-active, (its like asking people to floss their teeth.. omg...)
If I was to be buying this torch, I would forgo the cradle (to save cash to buy myself another set of 18650s), and we would be back to exactly where I am now with my 3S 18650 torches anyway haha. Yes I would agree that this cradle promotes "laziness" which to those less aware of its potential hazards a device which increases risk of complications.
Seems more fitting? lol! Yeah its just a little crazy
Many don't realise the importance of flossing, especially when there are many teeth - Many don't realise the importance of cell balancing, especially in multi cell setups.
Flossing should be done more often - cell balancing should be conducted more often
Not flossing can result in gum recession and even loss of teeth - Not balancing can result in loss of cell performance and even loss of cells
Brushing alone isn't enough, need to floss to maintain good oral health - Charging cells on a cradle charger isn't enough, balancing is required for cell health.
Most people can't be bothered to floss due to lack of perceived benefits - Not balancing can't be that bad.
So far the only gripe is the lack of anti-roll when lying sideways, which the M60R had been able to achieve to some degree.
The M60R looks pretty slim now next to the V60C, both have Exactly the same diameter head, and the same length. At least the heatsink is now more serious, even though the M60R really needs it more than the V60C!
From what i have seen in a comparison between V60C and T40CS, it seems to be just wee bit below the STL-V6. I have the T40CS and STL-V6. In real life, i don't think you can tell the diff.
Thing is, I´m supplying some hunters with throwers.
STL got them pretty interested (one guy had it, others want also replace their LL´s etc. you know it...).
I know this light has the "party piece" in _proper_ runtime. A general not-so-flashaholic user would also like this maybe because of easiness in charging and simple UI.
BUT: since it´s charging batts at 3S, I´m not so very sure.
A definite decision is, the least for batteries in this setup would be Xtars.
Output is really powerful, on a reflected ceiling bounce it is same as my T40CS and Crelant 7G5.
For throw, unfortunately you can see that it is a bit dimmer than the M3X, 7G5, T40CS, the corona is more brighter than the others and has a larger spot. The hotspot size is more or less the same. I got 38.5k cd.
For comparison, M3X is 52k. STL-V6 is 46k. Have not tried 55m, which might push it a bit up. Coz when i measured the STL-V6 at 55m i got 50k. Same goes for my TK70 and DBS aspheric.
This is the same as what i calculated in my first post, 39k cd. Distance 8.2m.
Very well made flashlight. Much better in feel and quality than say the Olight M3X.
Only thing is that the minimum output is about 10 lumens OTF as measured. Not dim enough, but still dimmer than any of my budget light (except the N-Light ST50 which is about 3 lumens OTF).
Hi rikr, actually all the lights are pretty close to one another. Built quality as in the cut and anodising finish is really high for the V60C. My SWMs are the highest in the feel and built quality. There is absolutely no battery rattle for the V60C, and coupled with the mass of 3 x 18650 inside and 360g empty weight of the host plus the small "concentrated" form factor as opposed to a long tube with high polar inertia "drag", this V60C feels extremely good to use. A compact powerhouse.
That said, the CQG Extreme runtime is also very good too, which has T6 3C. The CQG battery carrier is 90% of the battery carrier quality found in the V60C (surprise surprise).
Actually all the figures are up there already. In a ceiling bounce, should such a need really arise, the T40CS, V60C and 7G5 are literally neck to neck. The tints are very similar, so that is not a variable.
It's not widely mentioned, but the V60C is not black but a dark gun-metal colour. The T40CS is black, this is gun-metal. Just realised this when i viewed the light in the day time.
