I’ve got an original Olight Warrior X coming in the mail today. New in box, but that is a 4-year-old product, so the cell could have been sitting for quite some time.
I plan to test it with my DMM before putting it in my XTAR MC1 Plus. From what I have read, the cell must test at 2.8v or higher to be safe to charge.
Anything else I need to be aware of?
2.5 volts is okay too, even 2.0 volts can be no problem.
…in fact, when i replaced the 18650 cells in 2 battery packs for 2 ‘forgotten’ e-bikes of my neighbour, 8 out of the total of 14 (2 × 5P7S packs) 5P sections still had just over 1 Volts remaining, the other were 0.0 Volts and were obviously toast.
So i decided to recharge the 8 sections and they turned out to be okay.
I built a 10P3S battery and a 10P1S powerbank for solar charging purposes and they work fine.
Probably less capacity than new and as 10P sections probably still only good enough for up to 20 A , but they’re free 20 Ah (approximately guesstimated) batteries.
I’ve also had a “1200mAh 10 Amperes” 18350 that was completely drained by an e-switch light i forgot about.
0.0 Volts.
This was still a newish cell (unlike forementioned e-bike cells) so i decided to try to recharge it.
It seems there was a short circuit in the cell’s internals, it didn’t want to get charged.
So then i though screw that, and i pulsed it with 12 volts from a lead acid battery with a number of very short taps.
Obviously i did this outside.
But to my surprise the thing came to life again,so i stuck it in my charger and it charged like it should and it still had at least the same capacity as before and the internal resistance is the same too.
I’m still using that cell without any problems.
Of course these extreme cases involved high quality cells, not cheap CrapFire cells or something.
But as allways, YMMV and be careful and avoid risks etcetera.
Hmmmm I realize now I forgot to buy the fireproof charging bag I’ve been meaning to get for years…
Another thing you want to watch for —- taking too long to terminate charging and how hot it gets towards the end of the charge —- If the cell is below 2.5 volts — recycle it — cells are cheap — houses and lives aren’t
I would do a capacity test if you have an opus or something similar. If it was below 3.4 volts I doubt I would even use it because cells are cheap. They’re supposed to be shipped around 3.5 or 3.6 volts. So it was below 3.4 that means it’s lost too much voltage.
Furthermore, unless it was 3.5 or 3.6 I would just get another cell. I would want a brand new cell in there instead of wondering if this thing’s worthwhile.
The light’s LVP kicks in at 2.8 volts, according to some reviews. Unless strongly suggested otherwise, that seems like a reasonable minimum safe value.
I’ll probably go pick up a surplus ammo can to use as a charge box too.
What does the low voltage protection have to do with the health of the cell? Nothing. You can put a brand new cell that meets its capacity or one that doesn’t it’s still going to go off at 2.8 volts. That’s not determining the health and capacity of the cell
Assuming the cell arrives in a state above the LVP that it would regularly see in normal operation of the light, wouldn’t it be likely ok?
It may be safe to use but I wouldn’t use it. Receiving a cell that low. The only way to find out the health of the cell is capacity test and IR Test and if it seems okay, see how it acts when you use it.
But as chops said I said earlier , cells are so cheap I wouldn’t bother with a cell that sat for 4 years and is received well under the normal 3.5 or 3.6 volt shipping voltage.
Safety is first but to me it’s also a matter of how much capacity the cell has and how it will perform. Very unlikely It will perform as well as a brand new one.
My mind sent may be a little different. 90% of my flashlights are modified. Nothing but the best cells.
Reasonable enough. I’ve got a KeepPower 18650 in an open tab in case.
Testing it determines the health of a cell.
You have a point in saying it should hold its factory charge for years if it’s not used, but if it has dropped a Volt over several years it doesn’t necessarily mean the cell is toast, let alone that charging it is dangerous (unless it’s a CrapFire cell of course).
Accidents happen with crappy batteries and crappy chargers that don’t shut off at 4.2 Volts or exceed 4.2 Volts or with way too much charging current or with way too much discharge current.
Trying to revive an Olight cell with 500mA is no problem when it’s still abovev2 Volts.
They use Japanese brand quality cells.
Sure, you can buy everything new, but this is still the budget light forum. 
Good luck. Keep us informed. I’m curious as to what the voltage is once it arrives.
Maybe you’ll get lucky and I’ll put a brand new cell in that box and take the other one out!
I understand. What would rather have a new flashlight that performs well with a healthy new battery or one that doesn’t perform that well because you want to use an older weeker battery.?
All about preference, choice and our expectations!
If you have no expectations stick with the older battery!
That’s excellent advice. :+1:
They’re not that cheap, you can not recycle them and they won’t burst into flames either.
What do you mean you cannot recycle them? You can’t do that in your country? Several places to go near where I live.
You can get a good cell in the United States for $5 or $6. I’m talking a Sanyo/Panasonic for a simple flashlight.
That’s where the op lives.
You can turn them in (get rid of them) at a depot or battery bin at the supermarket but that doesn’t mean they are actually recycled.
Recycling them is very tedious and expensive, costs a lot of energy in the process too.
Not unlike solar panels.
So they get ‘stored’ somewhere until ‘further notice’.
Yeah, in today’s joke of an economy that’s probably as cheap as a loaf of bread in the US.
I don’t eat bread. But I Googled it and the average price is $2.50 American dollars.
You get two loaves of bread for one good 18650 cell! They’re still cheap. But it’s all determined by where you live.
For you guys in Europe it may not be cheap. But like I said the OP lives in Utah which is in the United States of America.
And it’s out the box at 2.73v. The light turns on for a split second before LPV shuts it down again.
Judging by Jerommel’s replies, I should be okay to put this in my XTAR MC1 on a 500ma USB supply and bring it slowly back up to operating voltage.
Also the Olight 18650 that comes with this is a rewrapped Samsung 30Q with an added protection circuit so the quality should be quite good.