> battery is unprotected but have been told that the Astrolux has built in protection
if true, all good
> Would having a protected battery reduce the risk further
no
> what would happen if I accidentally switch the flashlight onto turbo
sudden darkness as the current demand would trigger the protection and trip the fuse on the battery. It will read 0 Volts on a meter after that happens.
> what causes a li-ion battery to over discharge?
falling asleep with the light on, in a light that has no overdischarge protection while using an unprotected battery
basically, lights with built in overdischarge protection, can use higher drain rate batteries to get higher outputs, using UNprotected batteries, so they dont shut off suddenly
at more modest, sustainable, output levels, a Protected battery, with much lower maximum drain rate capability, will power a light used at indoor brightness levels, just fine.
There are lights that can use both primary batteries and LiIon… the primaries operate at lower voltages. The dual fuel lights, do not have Low Voltage protection. Instead the operator is responsible for choosing Protected LiIon, when they dont use Primaries…
there is also a subset of LiIon users, who choose to run Unprotected batteries in Unprotected lights… that requires some diligence, including checking battery voltage by hand, and not falling asleep with the light on
btw, respect for you doing your homework… enjoy your lights