I just received my Manker E02iii and I noticed strange behaviour with a NiMH AAA cell (generic cell from Amazon).
The light behaved correctly at first, but after a while, it wouldn’t turn off. First after using strobe, but then from any mode. Or rather, it turned off, but roughly 0.5s later turned back on in General mode at the most recently used brightness (as though the switch was single-clicked).
If caught during the brief off period, holding the switch did enter Moonlight or Lockout modes. While in Lockout the LED did stay off. But otherwise it would turn back on in general mode.
Is this expected behaviour with a partly discharged, lower quality NiMH cell and if so can someone maybe explain the mechanics of it? I can see how voltage sags could cause erratic behaviour but it’s not clear to me why it appears to work fine in every mode other than “off”, or what would cause it to consistently behave as though the switch was clicked once.
It seems to work fine with a Li-ion cell. I have not tried others. I don’t have any higher quality NiMH cells (e.g. Eneloop) to hand.
All that, and the same with the cells you put in. When I stick a cell into a light, I always give the anode and the kathode a 1sec rub against my shirt.
So I should not be concerned, it’s a low quality power supply quirk rather than a fault?
I am still intrigued to understand the mechanics of what is going on. As in, what is causing the MCU to behave as though the switch is clicked shortly after turning off? I hope someone can shed some light.
does the problem go away with a fully charged battery?
fwiw, when a light behaves erratically on a low battery, think of that as a Low Voltage Warning, and charge the battery
do you have the ability to measure the Voltage so you know how low the charge level is.. ?
if yes, make a mental note to charge before it gets that low
fwiw, Strobe uses high power levels, it is normal that could cause a problem if the battery needs charging
Although I first noticed it with strobe, it then happened with every mode including moonlight, and even after disconnecting the cell and allowing time for it to rest.
I did measure the cell voltage, I unfortunately don’t remember exactly (and have since charged it!) but it was between 1.25V and 1.3V IIRC. So not particularly low I think. But also a cheap cell with probably unstable output under load. I don’t have a way to test this.
Aside from the weird “off” behaviour, all the modes continued to work including High, Strobe, etc without noticeably stepping down or shutting off.
I expect I will use 3.6V cells most of the time so not too worried, especially as everyone here seems to agree it’s just a symptom of low/fluctuating cell voltage.
But do you have any theories though as to what physically was triggering to go to the general mode? I am assuming the switch on a light like the E02iii is connected to an IO pin on the MCU rather than being in the power path, so I am trying to understand why a low cell voltage would lead to behaviour as though the switch is clicked. Not so I can do anything about it, just as an academic question.
