Hi.
Do any of you guys/girls have VTC5D cells that get 4.3 blinks when battery checked in your lights after a full charge?
This cell is new to me, and it’s a beast, but I’m concerned about the whole 4.3 blink battery check.
Xtar VC4s charger. No other cells register at 4.3.
Is this a thing of concern?
I don’t believe in blinks. I check the actual voltage.
Even in lights that have built—in charging, chargers with only “bars” to show the voltage or just red/green to show it’s done, etc., as soon it’s finished charging, I immediately pull it and check the voltage on a meter.
Do that a few times and see if you can trust the light/charger.
I see. I have tried the cell in other lights that are all consistently reporting the same thing, and they all report 4.2 with 30q cells.
I just thought maybe VTC5D might be different. It’s definitely a higher performer.
You have to use a DMM. Don’t rely on blinks to depict actual voltage.
As said above without a test meter so you don’t really know where it was at. 4.22, 4.26, 4.28? Was this the first time charging it? I have seen a battery go to 4.3 on the first charge. It was in a brand new light with micro USB charging on board. The light and battery charged in the same light or other ways or other batteries in the same light never did anything funny like that again. It was a (edit) Wowtac A6 with a rewrapped 2600mah battery. Was it the charge circuit, the new battery or some combination thereof I don’t know. I was using a micro USB tester to watch the amps going in and I saw it was very little amps towards what should have been the end but the light was still red. I pulled the battery out and it was at 4.2 I put the battery back in and it continued to draw low amps. I pulled it again 5 or 10 minutes later and measured at around 4.25. I put it back in the light and plugged it in again and it continued to draw very low amps till it finally shut off (green light) and I pulled the battery again and measured at 4.3. I think that combination now typically shuts off at 4.15.
I’ll grab a meter after work. Seems to be the consensus.
Silly question, does 4.3 volts damage a light (D4V2 XP-L Hi)? Assuming it really was at 4.3.
It’s not going to hurt the light.
That’s good news. It turns out my Xtar VC4s is charging that cell to 4.22.
I wonder why just that one cell. I tested a 30q alongside it and that cell got an exact 4.2. Am I splitting hairs/making mountains of mole-hills here? Probably.
Your flashlight battery check could be out as well, you may see 4.2v blinks, but the cell may only be 4.10v.
Many external chargers use a termination current that’s too high, so as soon as it finishes it drops down to 4.13 - 4.16v. If you use a slow charging current it tops off the cell and usually stays at 4.20v. Some cells behave differently, my 30Q’s voltage drops lower than it does with a 40T.