Strange Malfunction X6 / Astrolux S2 with INR batteries ! ?

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

Short : Turbo , and other higher modes don’t work with fully charged(4.2V) samsung INR 13Q cells but does work with a partially run down (~4v) one AND works fine with all my other ICR batteies at 4.2V

Long : Received aluminum Astrolux S2 xpl hi neutral from bang good on 5/25/2017 I only had ICR 18650s (mostly Pulled cells) . Trying it out and going through the UI everything seemed fine and I was happy with my new purchase . But then I got curious about increased performance with higher drain cells . I went to lowes to buy a $10 Kobalt battery and found a Ryobi 40volt in the bin . Found 15 fully charged cells inside and 5 DOA .

So I go to test it out and :frowning: trying to medium press shortcut to turbo results in a quick flash and then reverts to low .
Also most of the higher modes are similarly not working , 543, 813 ,858 , and 688 both on group 5 and muggle refuse to function with a fresh INR cell . Also thermal management mode glitches out when it steps up to high .

Oddly these problems get “fixed” as the INR battery voltage runs down starting with the lower high modes at ~4.15v then “allowing” full turbo / 1400 lumen mode at ~4v . Tactical Strobe is the last holdout and does not work until around 3.9v-3.8 volts (weird) .

I tried everything I can think of with the settings to see if there’s a fix but no luck . Tried factory reset , and thermal settings (with ICR to access them ) and trying different mode groups

I have several different types of ICR cells (red,green,teal,beige :smiley: ) and they all function fully in the S2 , I had time to play around alot .

Also I have a Shining Beam Blaze and it takes either type just fine with no complaints.

Both lights seem to get hotter faster with the INRs

So there it is the only variable is INR vs ICR 15amp rated (13q) vs ? ~6amp

Btw does anyone know what the max draw is for Turbo with this light ? , I had some concerns with running the ICRs on turbo but no problems yet

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I think this is a known problem with that driver. To summarize, I gather that the problem is the configuration and selection of driver components causes a high voltage spike which resets the MCU. It is caused by high current which is why it only happens with a mostly-charged high drain cell.

The solution is either get a similar FET driver from mtnelectronics, which doesn’t have this problem, or if you’re handy with a soldering iron there is a fix you can do. I or someone else can point you towards that fix which is documented on the forum.

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to fix this you need a 4.7Ohms resistor

4

It would seem that bang good is knowingly selling defective torches with bad drivers , or am I missing something ?

It looks like my recourse is with them , hope it turns out ok .

5

this is a known issue with high drain cells and cheap driver layout and components

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This is my fix for the drop out of turbo problem: What did you mod today? - #2183 by djozz

It is more that Banggood does not really know what they are selling.

Their Astrolux brand flashlights lean heavily on the BLF-developed A6 and X5/X6 drivers, that they produced with relatively cheap components. These drivers were not perfect (improvements were suggested after the use in the A6 and X5/X6 lights) and were fine-tuned by BLF-member Toykeeper for a specific 1-led flashlight and then used (stolen may also be a proper way of saying) by Astrolux and Manker for high-drain triples which started causing these problems.

The engineers at Astrolux (a Banggood brand, the manufacturer behind it seems Mateminco) thusfar lacked the expertise or will to develop or adjust these drivers for the specific flashlights they make, they just used the driver as is, but that may change. A hopeful sign is that they have now made an e-switch version of the BLF-A6 driver, so some expertise is present now apparently.

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Old thread, but did Astrolux fix the turbo issue in the latest S2 that they are selling? Thinking of getting one.