Still 8 cells, just larger to allow 2170’s to fit. There was a lot of debate early on about which to go with, we had gone with 18650 due to being worried about 21700 making the body to big and heavy. This was before they added the handle to the light, after that I said they could switch to 21700 they just never informed they did it.
Honestly I have not used any 21700 in a high drain light, I only have 1 cell I was given and it is a protected cell I use with a low drain light.
I am basing my opinion on the discharge curves from HKJ and prior experience with high drain cells. In the past I always ended up gravitating to the 3500mah cells over 3000mah high drain cells. I found the difference in output was hardly noticeable to the naked eye but the runtime difference was easily noticed.
I mean if 30T’s gave you an extra 500-1000 lumens on this light, I can say that you will not notice it without measuring equipment for sure, so might as well get 33% longer runtime with the 40T’s which you will notice quite easily.
Also they will have a kit which includes 21700’s and they asked for my opinion on which cells to include. I suggested the 40T’s for the above reasons. Like I said, I don’t have any personal experience with 21700’s as I simply have not had a need for them up to now and have 18650’s floating around.
If someone knows of a better cell for the job please let me know. They will be ordering the cells tomorrow I think.
Here is an early access to the code for anyone that can’t wait lol I will post an offical GB thread once I have the rest of the details ironed out to my liking.
I won’t know until it shows up for sure but the 18650 prototype weighed a bit under 7lb / a bit over 3kg fully loaded. I expect the final version to be a bit heavier.
Depending on the store, Samsung 40t’s run anywhere from $6-$8/pc. Do you foresee them being cheaper with the kit?
Any recommendations from anyone on a 4 bay 21700 charger? Currently utilize a um2 for just the few I have but would prefer a 4 bay since this runs 8 cells. Could get the um4 but curious if there’s any cheaper options that are just as good.
The kit prices have always been pretty good with Neal, he is still looking into options right now, supposed to let me know what he finds tomorrow or the next day. He is trying to find some button top 40T’s as they are required for this light. He plans to include a charger as well with the kit.
Charger wise, I just use some basic Lii-500 and opus bt-c3100 chargers myself, never got around to getting anything nicer and these do the job. Although not sure if they will fit 4x 21700, never tried it. He usually includes a pretty nice charger with his kits as well.
Already ordered one using the code from Martin’s post above. I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time - lots of lights today are as bright or brighter but this one appears to be the best for sustained brightness without active cooling.
I didn’t notice that until you mentioned it. Good thing it’s supposed to work with 18650’s too as I was planning to share a set of batteries between the GT90 and GT4. But longer term looks like I’ll have to find a set of 21700’s.
If it does work with 18650 you will never get close to rated output even with same cell rating. Size difference is too big in a light like this and the springs surely wont have firm enough contact on a short 18650
Watch that review that was posted earlier, the carrier is a really neat design that was designed with this in mind. It adapts to the cell length and should work just fine with either 18650 or 21700.
Now the 18650 will be less powerful naturally. Also a spacer is also a good idea just to keep the cells from rattling around.
Looks like getting unprotected button top 21700 batteries is a problem. According to google only Skylumen has them in stock, but he only ships batteries with a light. Otherwise, protected button tops and unprotected flat tops are readily available, but high drains cells can only be found in unprotected flat top form.
So unless one has 8 such cells on hand, the only options seems to using 18650’s, using magnetic spacers, or modding cells. None of which are great.
Yes, you can remove the protection PCB, although I would recommend solder blobbing the cell over this option as removing the protection PCB opens the possibility to put a battery in backwards and that would be bad news.
Plus they still need to be able to have good contact “end to end” and not all batteries can do that. In fact, none of my Sony or Samsung 21700’s can do that. The only one I have that sits proud enough is molicel.