Ended

discovered a possibly dangerous flaw & fire/explosion hazard with this T1 lantern. Measured the inside battery tube temperature of 67 degrees C+ ( read post #11 >> DBSAR Lantern Mini-Review: -Zanflare T1 (UPDATE: Second T1 failed! - #11 by DBSAR

Yeah guys. Do not buy the Zanflare T1 anymore!

Regular <10A capable cells are not rated at more than 60°C operation.

Going above that temp is dangerous not only for big cycle life degradation, but also safety.

Samsungs, and perhaps other cells, are rated up to 75degrees Celsius

quote:

9.4 Heating test
Test method: To heat up the standard charged cell at heating rate 5℃ per minute up to
130℃ and keep the cell in oven for 10 minutes.
Criteria: No fire, and no explosion.

That does not mean it is good for capacity degradation.

Also, high drain cells can tolerate higher temperatures than low drain cells.

Laptop type cells/very high capacity cells are only rated up to 60°C.

You will lose capacity a lot faster.

Oh well, personally I wouldn’t lose sleep over a $5 cell nowadays by fearing capacity loss in that case.

I can’t hold my Acebeam K60 when in Turbo mode till the 4 cells can no longer sustain it as its scorching hot. Human hands are lot more not resistant to heat compared to these electrical/electronic components.

Not everybody will have that go as safely as that. ( as on my you tube channel i force-vented various 18650 cells using a propane torch, some took a lot of heat & time, while some of the older weaker ones let go in seconds of heat contact. I was testing my T1 earlier with a older panasonic 3000mah cell, and after a hour running on high W/W mode, i began to notice the sweet-smell of death from it. i took the cell out and it was gassing that sweet smell & extremely hot. (tossed the battery outside in a metal pail.) 18650’s and high temperatures are not a good mix regardless if its a new or old cell. it shortens the life of the cell, and if its a damaged cell or an unstable one then its a hazard in this lantern. To have the battery in a metal tube that is directly a heat-sink for the LEDs is a bad idea in the first place regardless of the argument.

This is true, but this lantern probably won’t go beyond the temp you have tested, just well below a good cell’s temp limit.

Repeat from DSBARs thread:

No one should be jumping on the bandwagon until they get all the facts first.

We need to hear from the manufacturer about their thermal limit tests. It’s possible DBSAR has a malfunctioning unit. Probably not, but we need to gather up all the facts and data before condemning a product.

It is actually not that bad of a design seeing as most flashlights are made similarly. If you leave a flashlight running long enough the heat near the LED will travel down through the length of the battery tube and it will heat up the battery just the same. I guess the big difference between a flashlight and this lantern is that one has an exposed battery tube so that the surrounding air can pull heat away from it. The lantern doesn’t have any way to circulate the air around it’s battery tube.

It’s quite possible that this entire situation can be fixed/corrected by using a simple insulating sleeve around the inner battery tube to prevent a battery from touching the metal walls and absorbing that heat.

A long-term solution would be for the driver design to be tweaked to step down the brightness at a certain temperature.

Yeah, that’s a pretty big jump. I’ve only had my Note 4 for 3 years. I bought it right before the Note 5 came out. I didn’t like the 5’s lack of features.

Were you as shocked as I was to find out they don’t subsidize the cost like they used to? In exchange for a 2 year commitment I only paid like $250 for the Note 4. Now you have to pay the full price. Sucks. :confounded:

I guess I’ll be getting a Note 9 as well. What is up with these terrible stylus colors? You have to choose between an ugly yellow and an ugly lavender. I just want basic black. Lol

I see it as a two mode lamp:

1) is constant cool white and you can choose your brightness

2) you can choose the brightness and the color temperature. Default is WW

Operation:
A single tab switches between 1) and 2)

When you hold you can set your brightness.

A double tab sets 2) to WW and with hold you can set the temperatur. You must confirm with a single tab.

Sorry Jason, I just realized I misspoke…… I meant I upgraded to the Note8. I guess I said Note9 because of the current talk. Im not one that gets a new phone every couple of years but I really like the Note8. Ive heard the 9 is not much of an upgrade from the 8 but big things are predicted for the 10.

I think this is a very good explanation.

You also have to be fast with the dbl taps.

Yeah, 8 and 9 are pretty similar, unfortunately the 8’s are not any cheaper now that the new model is out. Same full price. :confounded:

In my case it was a used older cell that overheated & began to gas fumes due to the battery tube being hot from the LED that are attached to it inside. It may not happen to all 18650 cells, but its still a potential risk with a weak, older, cheaper, or damaged cell in the lantern. When it comes to lanterns in particular, i focus on all safety concerns and potential hazards. No doubt that most who have this lantern may never have a problem, but the risk is there because of the flaw in that design using the same battery tube metal as the LEDs direct heatsink. My personal feelings on this lantern is that Zanflare either reduce the maximum mode amp load, or re-design the LEDs to be on a separate sleeve with an air-gap from them to the battery tube.

About 400pcs sold for the past 2 months, thank God, I have yet to heard any serious injury or complaint so far. I recalled that one or two member did express their concerns when tailcap felt hot (40°C+ range) during usage.

3xAAA adaptors are much bigger than 18650. In lights that can use 3xAAA either the 18650 rattles around inside or a plastic sleeve adaptor is used around the 18650. So unless a device is designed with 3xAAA in mind, it will not fit in place of an 18650

Lured away? Cohorts? Ha, that’s laughable.

You should go to DSBAR’s thread where we are discussing his problem in more detail.

Ps, I’m pretty good at juggling conversations. I usually have 30 or so going at any one time.

In your situation, have you considered running it without a battery? I think you would need a 90° micro USB cable. Even then it may not sit flat. If hung from the handle, any usb cord would work.

Running it direct from USB with no battery limits the max output, but should be more than bright enough for a “night light”. There is no excess heat and no battery to cause a problem. Plus it will run forever.

If I’m still interested in the lantern should I wait for you to PM me a code or should I buy from the flash sale while there is still stock left?

If they made the base out of aluminum it should fix the overheating issue, maybe add a few mild fins to the base as well. Although this would increase the cost.