I have a Nitecore D4 and it is really rare to ever insert a cell into it that reads less than 3.90v.
No good, if it’s not good to go:-)
Thanks,
-Chuck
Both Dale and Chuck are correct about this light and the LVP. Once you get accustomed this light and its output there is no way one will stand for waiting for the LVP to kick in because it will feel too dim. That is the way these DD drivers are.
This does not apply when staying in the lower regulated levels - only when using the upper more powerful modes...where I usually am :)
FWIW, I usually try to keep my cells somewhere in the middle of their charge. Discharging too far can damage the battery, overcharging can damage the battery, and even resting unused at 100% charge for long periods can permanently reduce the capacity. I hear the recommended storage voltage is about 40%, to maximize the number of years a cell will last.
So, I generally charge a cell to 4.18V (picked a charger on purpose which stops a little early), use the light for a while until it’s down to one or two blinks, then switch to a different light and repeat the cycle. This way I get to use all my lights, and I avoid the conditions which reduce cell life.
The LVP functions should work reliably, and are intended to let you get the last few drops of power out of a battery without actually getting into dangerous territory. Draining a cell that far will use up its lifetime-in-years faster, but it won’t actually destroy the battery.
Quoting a guide from Texas Instruments… “Another easy way to destroy an Li-Ion battery is by discharging it too far. The Li-Ion cell should never be allowed to drop below about 2.4V, or an internal chemical reaction will occur where one of the battery electrodes can oxidize (corrode) through a process which can not be reversed by recharging. If this occurs, battery capacity will be lost (and the cell may be completely destroyed).”
A 2.8V cut-off is a balance between using as much power as possible and avoiding cell damage. There’s only like 2 or 3mAh left at that voltage, so you’re not missing much. It also provides a longer window for the operator to react and click the light completely off.
The way it behaves in testing is:
- While the light is on high, voltage slowly drops to 2.7V.
- LVP kicks in and drops the output to medium.
- The battery recovers to 3.0V and runs for a while.
- Voltage eventually drops to 2.7V again, so LVP activates and puts the light into low mode.
- The battery recovers to 2.9V and runs for a while.
- Voltage drops below 2.8V again, but there is no lower level to drop to. LVP shuts the light off and enters deep sleep mode.
This has mostly been tested on a bench power supply though, since I have no 3.0V cells to test with and don’t want to regularly inflict this kind of abuse on my 3.6/3.7V cells. Plus, it makes testing a lot easier and faster.
If the light was in a blinky mode when LVP hits, it’ll “step down” to medium then proceed normally. You can also bump the mode back up if desired, but it will probably step itself down again within a few seconds.
Can somebody put some pics to compare the body diameter with the EE X6 SE, please?
Seems to me the EE X6 is thinner? So, the A6 is little bit “fat” ? 
Thank you very much for your work!
The two lights have the same dimensions for their body tubes, and they are actually interchangeable. The X6 has flat areas cut down to show a bigger logo though, while the A6 is round.
Ah, that’s why it seems more “fat”, you are right!
Thank again, TK, you are so nice (and fu*g fast to answer me :bigsmile: )
Use Samsung ICR18650-28A or other 4.35 volt batteries and charge them to 4.2 volts.
Works in medium drain devices.
This gives ~85% of capacity and ~2.8 times the normal charges.
Capacity drops as time passes anyway so it’s all approximate.
For Dale’s lights you’ll need something else :bigsmile:
Gives info on charge voltage vs capacity and charge cycles if anyone is curious.
I like to soak my high discharge cells in a Tequila-Habanero mixture before charging the first time.
So no vegan certified organic lights for you DB?
Before your name change I actually kept reading your name as DB C-stim, and wondered what a C-stim was
Me too. If available unanodized, add another NW for me.
They can be had as bare un-anodized aluminum. Not sure how to implement that except for making a selection on the page. I am also not sure if they can be stocked that way or ordered as they are requested...requiring more time.
That was an interesting test, i had been wondering if i could gain even more power by charging them even higher than 4.25v, but at least this test on this tiny cell indicate that you get almost all the benefits already at 4.25v. But i suspect that high drain IMR cells could react differently.
But these kind of tests also mean that if i charge them to 4.25v i lose a third of the cycles, BUT if i only discharge them to ~3.8-3.7v or where the high Vf makes a high drain cell lose a lot of output. I should get back maybe all those lost cycles.
And so far i haven’t encountered a cell that seems to degrade rapidly by charging them to 4.25v or anything like that.
FWIW, the battcheck mode will blink 5 times if a cell is above 4.20V.
I also calculated the error margin just now and, based on the samples I’ve seen and calibrated, I think the light’s measurements should be accurate to within about +/- 0.04V. This seems to be about the same error margin as a Nitecore li-ion charger.
(there are 50 different ADC values/buckets from 3.00V to 4.20V, so each one covers 0.024V… and I’ve never seen a sample more than one bucket off from another sample, so I’m estimating about 1.5 buckets worth of error margin, or 0.036V)
My guess on Brand X….
ThorFire?
Well it is a hope more than a guess, I have been liking their stuff a lot as of late…
I want NO naked lights please. I like the anodizing, what can I say, when it wears it is the tan-lines of the machine world… Accentuating the good parts….
Can you reduce my number from 3 back to 2?
Hi, quick question.
Would people prefer that the first “hidden” mode is turbo or battcheck? In other words, if you do a series of medium presses (go backward) from the lowest mode, should it go like this…
- Moon -> turbo -> strobe -> bike flasher -> battcheck -> moon
… or like this?
- Moon -> battcheck -> turbo -> strobe -> bike flasher -> moon
I’m wondering because a couple people have mentioned that they’d like battcheck to be easier to get to and they don’t care about instant turbo access as much. But I’m looking for more input before deciding anything.
Moving battcheck to the first slot would also improve readings a little since it wouldn’t have a turbo burst right before taking measurements. However, it would mean taking one more action to get to what I call “impress mode” — maximum output for demo purposes when demonstrating the light to other people. (unless, of course, you enable mode memory, which means it can come on in whatever mode you want)
Batt Check doesn’t mean a thing to me. - Not even needed.
Thanks,
-Chuck
I think the second option makes more sense, but really, it is like having a first world problem. It will be fine either way.
Moon -> turbo -> strobe -> battcheck -> bike flasher -> moon
I’d like turbo to be quick to access. And if strobe isn’t quickly available then it’s pretty pointless to have it there at all imho.
ToyKeeper,
I would rather have Turbo, a spare battery is a good battery check for me anyway, so the battery check function is minor for me in the UI. Turbo is major…
“hey guys, look at my new light, hang on, the blinky lights tell me how much battery I have left”
or
“hey guys, look at my new light…. why are all of you sunburned?”
I like the second one better…