Zebralight and green Panasonic NCR18650GA

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

Hello everyone,

I would like to buy replacement batteries for my Zebralight H600Fc MK4 and my SC64c LE.

So far I have always used red Japanese Sanyo NCR18650GA.

I then bought a green NCR18650GA as a replacement battery. My thought was “okay, I can distinguish them better with the other color”.

When the green NCR18650GA arrived here, I was suspicious. The positive pole of the green NCR18650GA has a much smaller diameter. Can this cause problems?

If you compare the diameter of the positive pole, the red GA cells have 8 millimeters. The green GA cells have a contact surface with a diameter of only 6.5 millimeters.

When I look into my H600 lamp, I see five pins on the positive pole that are arranged in a circle. I am concerned that the pins may require a larger contact surface than 6.5 millimeters on the positive terminal of the battery.

If the contact surface on the positive pole of the green GA cell is smaller than the diameter of the positive pole pin circle in the lamp, there will inevitably be problems with the lamp or the battery.

I have no way of measuring the inside of the lamp. The green GA battery works in the lamp, but I’m worried about possibly damaging the lamp or battery. The performance of the lamp can also suffer due to poor electrical contact.
My impression is that the green GA cell has the smallest positive pole of all 18650 flattop cells on the market.

Does anyone use the green NCR18650GA in Zebralight?

Does anyone know the minimum size of the positive terminal on the battery so that there are no problems with Zebralight lamps?

Thank you very much

Best regards

2

Welcome to BLF minibip

6.5mm is fine :

20231030_210246
20231030_2102461920×1433 282 KB

2 Thanks
3

There is only one possible way to protect your light. Give it to the funwok protection service and we will take care of it for you! :smiley:

4

Thanks. The picture is very helpful. I really appreciate your commitment.

The way I see it, 75 percent of the pins rest on the flattop contact surface. This isn’t ideal, but it probably shouldn’t cause any damage.

The greater contact resistance is probably on the spring at the negative pole.

Best regards

5

You would be right, the tail spring in the SC64 is about 23mΩ uncompressed and this sort of pogo pins are usually rated at 20mΩ max, typically less, so 4mΩ max.
In the H600 it’s about 50mΩ which is pretty bad for the current drawn on H1 (5~6.3A)

1 Thank
6

Thanks for stopping by, minibip!

1 Thank
7

Thank you.

I’m assuming the resistances add up, right?

Then a red GA would be better in the H600.

I could then put the green GA cells in the SC64.

Nevertheless, I would have liked more information from Zebralight. The manufacturer should definitely specify not only the length but also the diameter of the positive pole in the flashlight specification. The 8 millimeters of the red Japanese GA cells are perfect. The green GA cells work, but still have a bitter aftertaste.

Best regards

8

In my opinion there will be virtually no resistance difference between a 6.5 and 8mm pole, so I wouldn’t bother with that.

2 Thanks
9

Thanks for your assessment.

Which Zebralight model type do the pins you took the photo of come from? Thanks

10

Hello, one more question for you:

Can the pogo pins be mechanically damaged if I use green Panasonic GA cells?

Since the pins do not rest 100 percent on the positive pole when using the green cells, the mechanical pressure is distributed unevenly. what do you think about that?

Could that cause damage?

Thanks