I prefer protected cells. I have 3 lasers that are 2x 26650 hosts. Current draw is tame, 5 amps max.
The cells I bought can deliver up to 15 amps so the protection circuit is not stressed @ my usage level.
My BLF Q8 also has protected cells in it. I bought a SkyRC MC3000 charger as an upgrade over my Efest V4 LUC.
I also have a Fluke 87-5 meter to make sure everything is up to snuff. I don’t really like Li cells…I view all of them as
potential bombs…so I use panasonic/sanyo cells built with protection from Orbtronic. They cost more than unprotected
but they work wonderfully for me.
My stepson vapes. His cell handling appalls me. On the upside, he only uses panasonics. Of course, they are unprotected.
Thank God that we can debate this up here to coax different opinions and for this site.
When LEDs were less efficient and could only be driven so hard this discussion was far less contentious. If any of you were involved in the motorsports industry over the years, you know full well that we are about to go through this exact same type of debate with electric powered everything in both battery design/safety and mind numbing launch/travel speed from a dead stop.
If safety isn’t our top priority as the world progresses we might as well all invest in flower shops as our families will either be devastated ourselves or be expressing condolences to others sooner rather than later.
Our kids deserve to witness these debates play out so that hey can simply copy, paste and live them rather than taking the time out of their precious lives to argue who has the baddest anything or when he is going to do himself in piloting it on a JoeSixPack budget.
Take it from an old geezer: A lot of fun can be had relatively inexpensively at the upper design levels of where we are at in 2018 and well before while being safe doing it. Lighting in general today pretty much proves this point in terms of output, power and our basic even overkill needs given the myriad of options currently available.
Thank you, Lord for allowing this old man the blessing of living long enough to witness technology in its most basic and advanced forms and your saving grace involving (evidently) a bit of a different perspective regarding safety.
I don’t get it… why are you trying to spread so much FUD about unprotected cells? Almost everything you are trying to scare people about unprotected cells, also applies to protected cells. If you really think you’re holding a hand-grenade in your pocket and a thin protection strip is all that separates you from death, then don’t use lithium-ion batteries!
Newbies should start with Eneloops. After that, protected or unprotected lithium-ion really doesn’t make much difference. Far more important is the quality of the battery and the quality/features of the light.
Saying a 21700 cell is safe for kids because it has a protection circuit is a lot like saying a 3000 mW laser is safe for kids because it’s throttled down to only 1000 mW. It can still cause quite a bit of damage in less than a second.
Yesterday I had a wire turn into smoke from an accidental short using less current than a protected 21700 cell puts out.
It’s usually pretty easy to find child-safe flashlights at local retail stores, if that’s the goal. But for enthusiasts, those lights are unappealing for precisely the same reasons they’re safe for kids. AA and AAA batteries make great training wheels… but it’s nice having the freedom to take the training wheels off and play with hot rods.
It seems a bit strange though, asking hot rod manufacturers to install engine governors. It kinda misses the point of the product they make.
I’m not sure why exactly ZebraLight stopped supporting protected cells, but I suspect it was probably a combination of factors:
To make their lights smaller. “Small” is a big part of their brand.
To make their lights brighter. “Bright” is also a big part of their brand.
To eliminate customer complaints about the light being defective because it shuts itself off on the high modes. The protection circuit trips and makes it seem like the light is broken… which can be anywhere from inconvenient to dangerous, depending on the situation. Resetting the protection circuit typically requires sticking the battery in a charger, which isn’t going to happen while changing a tire in the middle of the night.
I generally wouldn’t recommend giving kids any li-ion flashlights until they know how to be safe. But if you do, you should probably at least make it a relatively weak light, like a 3x7135 Convoy shorty with 18350 or 16340 cell. Definitely not a maximum-power “wow” light like a 21700 direct-drive multi-emitter nut roaster. That’s just asking for trouble.
Nobody said that any cell is “safe for kids”. Using protected cells in combination with LVP circuits is simply what children should be taught when a battery powered market in general is flooded with non household name brands manufactured in places with less than stellar records concerning just about everything under the sun not to mention zero regulation. Teaching kids basic standards of safety (today) is more important than ever.
The only legitimate “hot rod manufacturers” in the history of this planet have previously produced time tested proven quality manufactured safe products sporting legitimately earned worldwide reputations.
The above was EARNED (first) by primarily excellent customer service (first) defined by direct interaction with customers versus corner cut in a manner resembling…well…let’s just leave it there.
The discussion point seems to be the location of protection.
A protected cell is an unprotected flat top cell with a 3rd party circuit (and possibly button top) added. It isn’t inherently safer than an unprotected cell in combination with a light with on-board protection. Separately, are there any protected cells that are manufacturer produced or authorized?
I’ve become interested in lights with LVP and thermal regulation in combination with unprotected flat tops. Ironically, this is due to the use of a protected 14500 in a TH20 headlamp, which you recommend. The light crushed my cell such that I’ve retired it last week with little use. I’m concerned about physical failure due to the extra length of protected cells. Real danger, here.
I don’t understand your position that the location of protection affects inherent safety. My one safety concern actually involved the use of a protected cell.
