Another false claim, excellent.
The problem is that it makes the cell a non-standard size that can’t be used in all flashlights or chargers anymore.
Also means you can’t USB-recharge your cells that don’t have that circuitry built in.
And yet another false claim, you’re on a roll!
USB C will not be around forever. This light sounds like it can withstand the the test of time.
Hmmm…
USB charging is a very nice feature for a flashlight.
Unnecessary?
No, because batteries run low and need to be recharged, so it’s never unnecessary.
Less fuss because you don’t have to remove the battery, place it in a charger and remove it from the charger and place it back in the light again.
Would you want your phone to have only external charging?
(Okay, our phones need charging daily, they make them too flat to house a decent capacity (like 10+ Ah) LiIon cell…)
There’s usually some kind of USB charger and a cable where ever you are, nowadays.
(only now they decided to introduce USB C so you may have bad luck with the cable…)
USB carging only adds 2mm of length to the light.
They all use the same dedicated chip nowadays.
Just as fail safe as a driver, probably even more fail safe.
The only problem i can think of with USB charging flashlights is that USB slot collecting dirt and dust.
I agree rubber flaps are not ideal, although they can be pretty well implemented too.
Having to unscrew parts of the light for access partially defeats the benefits of internal charging i.m.o.
Might as well take out the battery in stead…
Zanflare did a very good job with their covering ring, though.
That’s the best way to do it as far as i’ve seen.
It’s a good light too, when you change the LED to a low Vf one.
BUT, you have to switch it “ON” with the tail switch to charge it…
Uhm… What was this topic about anyway? 
I remove built in chargers, toss them or fix them up with magnets to use with a battery bank in an extreme case scenario. I also push extreme amps in virtually all of the over 200 lights I own… a charger between my cell and my driver virtually always interfere’s with extreme current draw.
Pipe bomb doesn’t sound good to me, so charging inside the light is just something I do not do. I know people that have had cells vent, outside of the light, sure wouldn’t want it enclosed in a 7075 pipe in that instance!
Y’all, of course, are absolutely free to do as you please, but I do not use built in chargers personally and usually remove them from the light.
The argument that there are charging bricks all over the place is a silly one. You will need more than a simple cable to carry around, or you are taking your chances finding the “right” brick for the job at hand. The flashlight charging port is typically based on a computer output USB, right? But charging bricks come in all sorts of variants, from excess voltage to under voltage, excess current to very slow charge rates. What are the odds you’ll find the right one? Does the “wrong one” increase the odds you’ll find out what happens to your light when a cell vents? Are you so willing to, for the sake of leisure, find out? I’m sure not… phone chargers vary a lot, to assume a phone charger will be available to charge your USB flashlight is really a risk not worth taking. (especially on your expensive smart phone. No, phone chargers do not all have the same output.)
Well IMO there’s plenty of room for improvement across the charging board.
Magnetic charging is still one of those debatable frontier areas at least in its current state of technical affairs for flashlights.
Definitely room for improvement. Butt likely cableless is the wave of the future. Cables are prolly the biggest potential point of failure in the overall scheme of things. Built-in charging or batt port charging. Same essential fault points. The cable. And cables are a PITA not to lose.
So let’s start ‘cutting the cord’ shall we?
PS. All this debate and ultimately I will always still carry a spare batt while flashing around in dicey situations. I don’t care if they eventually develop/release a Tesla atmospheric charger. Just call me Spare BattMan. :laughing:
PSS. Back to the original premise. If I were Vinh for this particular extreme duty flashlight I would stick with……‘Less is More’.
Vinh, I’m interested in one. Looks good so far.
What are you talking about 
Oh oh oh! GB has Folomov A1s on a flash-sale for 5bux a pop. Magnetic stickies, folds up to next to nothing, reeeeeeeeal easy to carry in a bag or pocket. I just stocked up.
So that’ll handle everything from 14500s to 26650s and everything in-between.
There… now you don’t need usb charging, do ya? :laughing:
Yeah I like their idear here. Butt ya still need a WAY to charge watcha got. So….it’s either spare batt or powerbank. Unfortunately capable powerbanks are heavy. I’m going with the spare batt butt I think I’m gonna buy one of them Folomov’s. Ya convinced me. :money_mouth_face:
But they’re not in between.
They’re parallel to the cell and the driver.
I agree a pipe bomb is not a good idea.
But i don’t see the connection between a pipe bomb and a built in charger of 1 Ampere maximum.
I only use decent cells and never had one vent.
I agree, if it happens, it better not happen while in a light.
And not so much because of the danger of explosion, but rather the mess it will make of the other parts inside.
It depends.
When it’s done with that linear regulator chip they all use nowadays, i see no problem or increased risks over external charging.
Maybe it’s actually safer to have a flashlight contain the fumes when a cell vents (if that were to happen at all) rather than blow toxic gasses into your room when in an external charger.
There’s a ‘better’ charger chip out there too. (i would have to look up the name and number) which is used in buck converter charging boards.
Less power burnt off, wider range of input voltage, they usually come as dual chemistry boards (LiFePo and LiIon).
Preferable when charging from a power bank.
They’re also max. 1 Ampere.
My question is, why do people here trust their phones’ built in chargers, but not that of flashlights or batteries with a charging PCB?
And how about Nitecore TIP and lights like that?
“My question is, why do people here trust their phones’ built in chargers, but not that of flashlights or batteries with a charging PCB?
And how about Nitecore TIP and lights like that?”
’Cause Apple and Samsung don’t make real thin flashlights yet? Oh, wait…… 
PS. My kids use their IPhone flashes ALL THE TIME. I haven’t seen them pick up a ‘real flashlight’ in friggin’ YEARS. 
I mean it’s basically they look at one of my many many flashes and they kinda like have this quizzical WTF look on their faces.
All this talk of charging ports probably warrants its own thread, since we know it won’t happen on this light anyway.
My thoughts are that any light I spend good money on, like this light, I look at as a tool that ought to last 15-20 years at least. USB ports are for phones and such that become obsolete at a much faster rate, and even then frequently the charging port is the first point of failure on a phone after 4 years or so. That’s mostly micro usb though, and supposedly usb-c is better for durability/longevity. Plus most of us wouldn’t be recharging a flashlight every day like you would with a smartphone so maybe it’d be fine.
Any USB charger will do.
It’s gonna take longer on a 0.5 Ampere wall wart, of course, but it’ll work fine.
No. Or at least, more often than not a computer USB port is rated only 350mA (i.i.r.c.)
I don’t see the problem you see.
The typical linear charging circuits we find in flashlights and USB ported cells nowadays are basically a Voltage regulator set to 4.2 Volts and a current regulator set to 0.5 to 1.0 Amperes.
They also cut off at full charge, of course, and switch the indicator LEDs.
The current probably decreases by itself when you approach 4.2 Volts.
Didn’t HKJ do any tests with these charger boards (either in a USB rechargeable battery or not)?
Either way, they work with 4.5 Volts input too.
May take a little longer to top off, i don’t know, maybe not.
They will get a little warmer on 5.5 Volts, but nothing to worry about.
Wasn’t the whole idea behind USB wall warts that they’re universal?
You’re right.
So it’s wise to have plenty of cables.
They break, so you need spares.
Less is more $$ apparently… 
I guess when 2/3rds of Vinh’s thread is about usb ports. Maybe he should start a new thread about his project, and change the title of this one “usb charge port argument”.
If your logic was sound, smartphone manufacturers would have built phones without usb charging and expect you to take out the batteries each time to charge, but to date I have seen no such phone. The built-in charger of the dozen or more smartphones I’ve used never failed on me. If it is well designed/built, why should it fail? To me, this is like people complaining and criticizing lights for having turbo modes that are not sustainable. The point is you don’t have to use it if you don’t like it but for others, it is good to have.
For the extreme cases where someone needs to use this flashlight for a mission critical purpose, I still don’t see why having usb charge as backup along with extra batteries is a bad thing? If you want to use the flashlights “without an extended interruption”, it’s very simple and obvious; just bring extra batteries. Also, we are only asking Vinh to consider a “future” version with USB. For those that don’t like it, you can just buy this version without USB. Many others prefer to have the convenience of usb charging so why decide for them simply because you don’t want it.
The usb charging circuit can be independent from the driver like on the Nightwatch NA40, where the flashlight head houses the driver and the battery tube houses the charging circuit. Even if the charging circuit fails, the light can still be used. Vinh can offer two battery tubes, one with built-in USB charge, and one without. Customers can choose to pay more for the USB version.
I do not see batteries with built-in usb charging is a substitute for flashlights with built-in usb charging. For me, the beauty of built-in usb charging into the host is that it is clean and simple. The user does not need to expose the threads and remove the batteries. I very frequently take lumen readings and I use to wonder why so many of my lights drop in output over time. Until I realize that handling the batteries with your hands, or getting thread grease on the battery and contacts can SIGNIFICANTLY reduce output. E.G., my D1S output dropped to 600 lumens no matter until I cleaned the springs and battery with rubbing alcohol where it went back up to above 1,200 lumens. Some of my flashlights couldn’t get into turbo or mode changing stops working correctly until I clean out the contact points. I don’t see any signs of dirtiness on the contact points even with these extreme cases. The average person will not even consider cleaning contacts would be a solution. Most will just wonder why their lights are not as bright as they used to be.
For lights that I use on a daily basis like my current Tiara C1 Pro with 4xE21A that I ceiling bounce every night while watching TV, I charge it everyday using the usb charger because unscrewing and screwing the tube frequently will cause mechanical wear and tear in the long run.
Again for these extreme cases, why would you only rely on usb charging? Anyone in their right mind would bring extra batteries. The usb charging in this case should only be considered an added backup for car charging or through portable solar powered usb chargers. Some of the higher quality solar powered charges actually charge pretty well if there’s enough sunlight.
I think it’s relevant to his project in general. I’m fairly sure he’s listening. Just that this separate feature is debatable for this platform. . Butt the bottom line is that it appears he’s not gonna have built-charging in this flash anyway so yeah you’re right it’s prolly moot.
Of the other features he lists though I’m actually more interested in its tail button configurations and for me especially grip ring facilitation. Other than that I really like that he’s trying to make it as bullet-proof in tough unforgiving environments as economically practical.
SVV89 said….
“Again for these extreme cases, why would you only rely on usb charging? Anyone in their right mind would bring extra batteries. The usb charging in this case should only be considered an added backup for car charging or through portable solar powered usb chargers. Some of the higher quality solar powered charges actually charge pretty well if there’s enough sunlight.”
Hellooooooooo hellooooooo helloooooooo. Big echo.
Man, haven’t ya read watt I’ve been ranting about? Ya know about the extra batt thing?
I’m primarily a Spare BattMan! All this other charging jazz chatter is just that. Chatter at least for this particular platform ’cause it ain’t gonna happen anyway according to Vinh.
PS. It’s kinda ridiculous IMO to compare typical flashlights today to cellphones and try to argue in logical constructs supporting this or that charging design. One has typically non-replaceable batteries (much more common today than in the past) and the other typically uses replaceable batteries.
I’ll let ya figure out the sound logic rest of the story. 
Yeah, a Lamborghini is budget too then…