[Review] Olight S1R Baton II

When I saw that “knurling” I knew I was a goner, and put the time of the flash sale on my calendar.

I tend to only use my Batons as backups, for short periods of time (duh) , and turbo mode in short bursts, so I’m willing to put up with their short runtimes because I love the form/cute factor.

Some of my lights that I like the most also have some serious shortcomings, so this one might fit nicely into that group.

Thanks for the update rookiedday, you addressed some battery questions that were fermenting, without me having to ask.

As far as I know, ALL Olight RCR123As/16340 batteries have been protected, and/so prior Batons did not have low voltage cutoff built into the light. I’ve seen debate about the later on the intenets, but have never personally tested any of my Batons, just always used protected batteries (generally not a problem at these low current draws).

Outstanding review!

Thanks.

Is there a way to lose/destroy the magnet so i can hang the light to nu keychain without the light sticking to nu keys.

If you get a chance to check, I would be curious to know at what voltage the S1R v2 Built in OverDischarge Protection turns the light off?

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True, those are Protected ICR chemistry (low drain, they wont give max lumens in the S1R)

the S1R lights use UNprotected IMR batteries (high drain, required for max lumens in the S1R models)
I do not recommend using S1R batteries in other Olight models that, as you said, have NO OverDischarge protection built into the light.

imo, the UNprotected IMR batteries are best used ONLY in the S1R not in other Olights that have no built in OverDischarge protection in the Light itself.

Note also that the latest S1R v2 battery cannot be charged on flat contact chargers… they are intended to be charged IN the S1R v2

I don’t think so. If I recall correctly, the S1R I used to have came with a protected Olight branded 2.0 Wh 550 mAh RCR123A ORB-163C05 battery with markings indicating it was for “HIGH DRAIN DEVICES” and “BUILT IN CIRCUIT BOARD PREVENTS OVER CHARGING, OVER DISCHARGING AND OVERDISCHARGE CURRENT”. Although I gave a couple of spares away with the light, I still have more because they’re also use in other Olights and I just checked their labels.

If my ex S1R had had some other Olight battery in it, I think I would have noted it at the time and ordered some of as spares, and I didn’t.

I do remember trying some unprotected AW cells (the red ones) in the S1R to see if the supplied Olight cells were current limiting the light, and the output bump was very slight, within the realm of statistical noise. Olight 650 mAh ORB-16306 batteries will definitely current limit an S1R and reduce output though.

Do you have an Olight part number off one of the unprotected IMR S1R batteries you referred to?

2018.09.24 Small Discharge Testing Update:

  • One significant runtime difference between S1R Baton (Turbo S) and S1R Baton II is S1R Baton (Turbo S) will switch off on ORB-163C05 Low Voltage (battery Over-discharge) Protection kicks-in, while the new S1R Baton II will turn itself off when ORB-16C05-10C is at ~2.4V (underload). In other words, this new S1R Baton II has battery Over-discharge Protection built-in.
  • When S1R Baton II battery Over-discharge protection kicks-in, the protection can be reset by connecting S1R Baton II to the MCC II. At ~3.5V, it will be reset as you can start the light back on.
  • The S1R Baton II battery Over-discharge Protection can be bypass (highly not recommended, unless you absolutely urgently need some lights) by loosening the body and tightening it back on, you should be able to get Low and possibly Medium Mode. However, note that the in-light Over-discharge Protection may not be activated as can be acknowledged via the non-functioning of the battery level indicator at the electronic side-switch.
  • If you go the bypass route, do take note that your battery, in this case, ORB-16C05-10C will be discharge as low as possible. I stop my discharge test when it reaches 1.8V underload to not risk further damaging the battery.

btw, just in case you are wondering, Olight has taken away the "feature" to light FIRE using steel wool in this new S1R Baton II. The exposed contacts at tailend has limited current, measured at ~2.4mA on my meter.

. -. -.. / --- ..-. / ..- .--. -.. .- - . ...

Hi jon, see my updates above for additional discharge information. Basically S1R Baton II built-in battery Over-discharge protection kicks-in at ~2.4V underload.

The older version of S1R depends on the ORB-163C05 battery's own LV protection. So that IMR battery is in fact a protected battery.

I was just wondering…this battery won’t even charge on the Olight UC Magnetic charger, will it? :expressionless:

I have no reason to doubt the S1R and S1r v2 use IMR batteries. The part numbers are posted by rookiedaddy in the first post…

a search of this thread for the keyword IMR, shows rookiedaddy used the term no less than 3 times, before I posted:

he goes into more detail further down:

Thanks for the details rookiedaddy
My prior reading of your posts left me to believe I should treat the IMR in the S1R v1 as unprotected

According to Olight, they are… well, somewhat. The specification table I received says that the Olight IMR battery has a max constant discharging current of 2.75A, and a protective discharging current of 5A. However, I would still treat them as unprotected regardless.[/QUOTE]

Maximum Discharge Current is not the same as OverDischarge Protection. So, now that Im totally confused about the use of the term Protected, I think I will simply avoid the S1R v1 and V2, so I dont have to deal with a unique, proprietary battery, that may or may not be protected, and may or may not be IMR, and may or may not be chargeable outside the light, which may or may not have built in OverDischarge Protection…

harrumph… Im taking my ball and going home to play by myself… LOL

Just curious, can the V1 (slower) MCC be used with the V2 light? I prefer slower charging at the rates these batteries are being charged at.

BTW, nice review :beer:

Also curious to see how this protected vs unprotected battery discussion plays out.

Yes, the S1RII is compatible with the MCC1, and the dock too

:+1:

very interesting flashlight, olight USA sept 28 –25%. At when a discount code for us BLForumer?

you could do a test with your S1R v1 battery to prove or disprove whether it has OverDischarge Protection

Put the S1R v1 battery into one of your UnProtected Olights, such as an Olight S Mini, and run it down until the light shuts off, or voltage goes below 2.5v…

IF the light shuts off, AND the S1R v1 battery reads 0 volts, then that IMR battery has built in OverDischarge Protection…

from what rookiedaddy posted of his test of the S1R v2 battery going down to 1.8volts, it clearly does not have OverDischarge Protection built into the battery. Otherwise the S1R v2 batteryt would have gone to 0volts when OverDischarge Protection kicked in at 2.5v, which is not what happened.

So, IF the S1R v1 battery goes below 2.5volts, then it is also UNProtected, the same as the S1R v2 battery.

I don’t think the cable determines the charging rate, it only supplies 5 V, right?

The S1R charger is not just a cable, there is a blue charging disc on the end, that has different electronics inside. Version 2 cable charges at a higher rate, and the Version 2 IMR battery has double the maximum Discharge Rate as well. Version 1 Battery says 5C, Version 2 battery says 10C on the label:
you will find these details mentioned in the first post:

I believe I would still be carrying my ugly beam S1R to this day if it was not for one (for me) fatal flaw. The battery, make that the proprietary battery, that makes it possible to charge inside the light with the MCC, does not do well with high loads at COOL, not even cold, temperatures. I experienced this a few times on evening walks with my wife, as noted in this thread. The final straw was on a camping trip this past May, when I had the light off in my pocket at night and tried to see something away from the campfire using the 600 lumen mode and it stepped down to medium or low after a few seconds.

I am wondering if you could do a cool temperature test with the new battery to see if it is at all improved. The Olight (and most 16340) cells do better at full charge, but at less than full the sag is bigger, and the voltage change required to cause the S1R to step down to lower levels is smaller.

Would be nice if olight could use a design that doesn’t require proprietary batteries, like nitecore does on many of their rechargeable lights.
It would require having the charging circuit in the head.
Maybe they could make it USB-C compatible too, even better.

Same here. It seemed my S1R “Turbo” Baton was always stepping down to ~300 lumens before I thought it should, while my S1, S Mini and S1 Mini Batons seem to be able to hold their 550-600 lumen high setting for a more usable length of time, so I still have and use them.

Although I still have several other tailcap charging Olights, that feature has lost a lot of its initial appeal. I’d rather have spare batteries ready to go when a light needs them, rather than having the light tied to a charger that won’t let me select current or tell me where the battery is in the charge cycle.

Even so, I’ll probably try one of the new S1R IIs since I got an email from Olight today saying they were extending this Fridays 2 hour flash sale by 24+ hours (running through Saturday), which is way too long for me to resist that kind of temptation.

Oh you’re right, I forgot about the proprietary battery having both contacts at one end. I was thinking about the Rofis magnetic chargers.


I believe you could try using a strong demagnetizer/degausser to remove the magnetism from the tailend. Do not use heat, because the heat may damage components at the tailend.


LOL! jon, I like the way you put it... bwahahaha... :D
The older model ORB-163C05 IMR battery does have protection, but they removes it from the new ORB-16C05-10C IMR battery due to the 10C discharge requirement.


Don't charge S1R batteries, ORB-163C05, ORB-16C05-10C using the Olight UC Magnetic charger, it may create a short. In fact, don't use Olight UC Magnetic charger on any of Olight's proprietary "dual-polarity" batteries.


I did a quick test, but I'm in the opinion that my test is inconclusive due to my method of simulating the cold environment. I put the fully charged S1R in the freezer compartment of my fridge for 10 minutes. Before starting the test, measured temp at 10°C, switch-on the S1R Baton II, Medium mode, double click to bring it to Turbo mode, Turbo can sustain for more than a minute.
I then close the freezer door with S1R Baton II inside, left it for another 11 minutes, ran the same test again, same results. I can still run Turbo normally.
It's a known issue with LiIon/Alkaline battery that in colder temperature, the battery will have higher IR until it's "warmed-up", and a common solution (that I learnt from frequent hiker) is to use our body heat to keep the light/battery warm enough to power up the device. As such, my S1R Baton II ability to run Turbo at "relatively" cold temperature does not discount your experience nor claim that Olight's newer light/battery is better at running in colder temperature. I still think testing in real environment is essential to confirm, but since I lives in an equatorial country where it's hot and humid throughout the year, I'll have to leave such test to other reviewers.


if cold temperature is not a factor, then the battery is due for a refresh. I had the same thing happened to me even when I'm sure the battery is fully charged. I refresh the ORB-163C05 by discharging it until protection kicks-in, and then I use XTAR SV2 with 0.25A charge rate to charge it back up, then I repeat the discharge-charge cycle again. And the battery is back to normal performance.
another possibility is the ORB-163C05 has aged and should be replace.


wholeheartedly agreed. frankly, I'm still waiting for their first 18350 light.