I was wondering if it is acceptable to leave the 18650 battery in the flashlight when not in use for long periods.
I got the light only for emergencies and will probably only use it once every quarter or so.
Thoughts, please.
No parasitic drain (unless it’s a lit tailswitch), so it won’t get run down by parasitic drain, but you don’t necessarily want an 18650 for that.
If for emergencies and infrequent/rare use, get a light that can take a pair of ’123s and use that instead. They (’123s) have 10yr “use by” dates which really means they drained to 90% capacity or so, so there’s 20yrs or more of useful life in ’em.
The light is operated with a tailswitch but does not light up.
I already purchased the light and a 18650 battery.
I use S2+ for my glove compartment lights. No parasitic drain but you should lock out the tail cap to be doubly sure and check them every once in awhile. Gives me something to do while the wife shops.
Lock out the tail cap = loosen it?
Yes. About 1/4 turn or so.
Got it. Thank you.
The S2+ does not have any parasitic drain. You can leave it loaded and there won’t be any problems with that.
+1 on loosening the tailcap though. I loosen both tailcap and the head, and I set last mode memory to low on various lights.
Learned this one the hard way. I burned a hole in my sleeping bag once time from an accidental turn on. This was with a modest 500 Lumen headlamp. A brighter light would have been far worse.
I was lucky nothing caught on fire at night in my tent. Fortunately it was my synthetic, would have been a royal PITA if it were my down bag.
Yea, I’m trying to avoid any mishaps. Thanks for the heads up.
You might want to test the lockout. The last two S2+’s I bought do not lock out when loosening the tail cap. I have older units that lockout, but not the most recent.
Sure, any time. Other BLF’ers have called me anal retentive for posting this practice… so be it.
In cold weather its a common practice for backpackers / campers to stowe butane-propane fuel cartridges in their sleeping bag at night to prevent cold temperature issues in the morning. I do this all the time, so you can understand where I am coming from on this matter. Not just for my personal safety, but the safety of others around me. The entire western half of the US is a giant tinder bundle in the summer months. The warm air is so dry and gusty… it just doesn’t take much to start a fire anymore.
Ok, I just tested it. I had the light switched on and loosened the tail cap slightly and it turned off. When I re-tightened it, the light came back on.
All good?
1 Thank
Cheers bud. Thanks again.
It’s not a problem leaving a cell inside of a light with a physical switch, or a well designed driver with an electronic switch.
Unscrewing the tail cap is only for lights with electronic switches since they has a small drain when they are off. You dont need to do this with lights that have a mechanical switch. When the switch is off, the battery is completely disconnected. As for accidental activation, IMHO, as flashlight users, we need to be aware of these risks. Its the same thing when operating any potentially dangerous equipment or tool.
Ok, thanks gents.
I stick to lithium primaries for glovebox duty. Here in Michigan those temps can range from below 0F to over 120F on a hot sunny day (in the car). Don’t trust li-ion for that. My preference is actually a multiple AA light loaded with L91 but of course CR123 works well too.
Just to be sure: you have not by accident reversed the body of these last lights?
The “C” of “Convoy” should be pointing to the front side of the light (reflector).
The front side of the body has bare threads, the back side of the body has ano threads.