night.hoodie
Enlightened
My computer is 9yo, my flashlight even older, my car is beyond classic status, so please take with a grain of salt that IMHO I think you're living in the past... fyrstormer, back in the day, men were men, and Li-ion cells had protection strips, but it isn't 2016 anymore. I cannot more strongly recommend, based on my own experience, that unprotected IMR are very decent in safety, capacity and performance, and even though I have destroyed a handful (idky with 14500, I just could not catch the knee, killed 5 fantastic and expensive and no longer available AW cells in six months), most that I used are still in use. I think what occurred is what I would call voltage training: I know what 3V light output looks like, compared to 4V light, or 6V light, or 2V light. It just sort of happened. IOW when my 3.7V lamp powered by a 4.2V IMR appears it is being powered instead by a 3V CR123A, I can just tell and swap cells. It gets trickier when my 6V lamp is being powered by 2x NiMH, because the light output considerably lower and far steadier, but I still know the brightnesses between full cells and empty to catch the NiMH around 1.15V to swap them. As I admit, I did ruin 5x IMR14500 cells, and further, my only solution was to stop using them... saved the last 3 I have for careful future use, and glad I did because recently I needed the format in another light.
Adding a protection circuit yourself is possible, assuming you have tools and steady hands. I think it was rare but not uncommon practice for some ancient CPF members to do this, and if not mistaken, there is a tutorial in CPF archives. Strikes me now as odd we never saw a cell sheath product with protection that could be reused for unprotected cells. Also, it is a shame flashlight manufactures that make/sell Li-ion lights which utilize IC drivers (a computer!) did not universally adopt a standardized low-voltage cut-off. Kind of obnoxious, actually, that low voltage cut-off is more often missing from modern drivers, even today.
Good luck with your quest.
Adding a protection circuit yourself is possible, assuming you have tools and steady hands. I think it was rare but not uncommon practice for some ancient CPF members to do this, and if not mistaken, there is a tutorial in CPF archives. Strikes me now as odd we never saw a cell sheath product with protection that could be reused for unprotected cells. Also, it is a shame flashlight manufactures that make/sell Li-ion lights which utilize IC drivers (a computer!) did not universally adopt a standardized low-voltage cut-off. Kind of obnoxious, actually, that low voltage cut-off is more often missing from modern drivers, even today.
Good luck with your quest.