Hi all,
Super short version: Today I found out my acebeam EC35 Gen ii can use (some) Olight 18650’s, both for light, for usb-C charging and for discharging as a powerbank. My question is: is there any danger in using these? I assume that, if the negative terminal on the top end of the battery does contact something on the acebeam it will just shut off – my working assumption is that this is covered by the ‘reverse polarity protection’? So is that the worst case scenario? It doesn’t work? I guess I would just like to get a vibe from anyone who knows more about this sort of thing if there’s any theoretical way this could lead to an overheating / explosion situation?
Bit more detail:
Olight’s batteries have a negative ring around their positive button at their head (Seperared by a bit of black plastic) as well as on the normal rear end. This means they usually aren’t compatible with normal 18650 flashlights.
My Acebeam EC35 Gen ii is also a powerbank flashlight and I already knew it was very ‘accepting’ of 18650’s – it can take flat tops, button tops even super long ones with built in USB charging – I’ve never found one that couldn’t go in.
I already know Olight 18650’s can go in some bay chargers, such as my fenix and nitecore ones (I would only ever try this with a trusted brand) as long as the bay can make contact with the positive button and nothing touches the negative surrounding section.
Today I tried one in my acebeam, and out of three, two worked just fine, and one did nothing. I can also charge and discharge them in the acebeam as if it’s any other 18650.
I’ve noticed the Olight 18650’s are a bit varying in design, with some having a thicker plastic seperator between positive and negative, and more or less ‘revealed’ negative sections (for some the plastic wrapper comes further up). This might be why one didn’t work – maybe with the slightly different layout, the negative section was touching something in the acebeam – this is what gives me some faith that if this happens with the others then they will also just stop working.
Thanks so much,
Stephen