I'm sure I read this somewhere, but I cant find it right now.
Well, I've always been concerned about lights using multiple cells in series, all the hassle with checking voltages, danger of reverse charging and so on.. but there are lights with parallel cells which, for my limited understanding, should be safer. Is that correct or just a misbelief?
I do think its correct because I'm very sure that I've seen a thread about someone paralleling an empty cell with one or two full cells.. initially there was a flow of more than 6A but that sagged pretty fast and leveled out to under 2A (considered safe) in less than a minute. If anyone knows what I mean and has the link at hand, please post.
Anyway, am I just being weird about multi cells or are parallel setups really almost as safe for dummies as single cell lights are? Or both? :D
Parallel setups can only be unsafe in case of user error; serial setups can be unsafe without any user error.
That’s quite a major difference in my opinion.
Reversing the polarity can be equally disastrous in either situation, no way around that.
Inter-mixing charged with depleted cells can be hazardous. Although my understanding is that “in theory” its less hazardous with a parallel arrangement. “In theory”, the fully-charged cells will “try” and charge the depleted one and eventually the cell voltage will equalize. Now, if you add a current draw condition on top of that provided by the DC-DC circuit, it will take longer for the cells to equalize. I am not so sure what happens then.
Its ALWAYS best to meter, measure and fully understand what your cells are doing… and how they’re doing. There are no short-cuts here, and anyone who tries to convince otherwise is wrong.
