Nitecore hc30

[blindedbythenight]

Anyone know if the hc30 only works on protected button top 18650s?

 

[Bdm82]

Button top only, as will all other NC headlamps I've come across.
Pics in this review show the polarity protection inside the tube that necessitates the button top.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/412251

 

[blindedbythenight]

Button top only, as will all other NC headlamps I've come across.
Pics in this review show the polarity protection inside the tube that necessitates the button top.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/412251

Cheers mate...I did suspect as much but wanted someone with a bit of knowledge to confirm.

 

[Woods Walker]

I just tested mine with this:


18650 Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh High Discharge Flat Top


https://www.illumn.com/batteries-ch...r18650ga-3500mah-high-discharge-flat-top.html

It worked but for some reason I needed to tighten the cap on and off a few time before it would accept the battery. Working flawlessly now.

 

[blindedbythenight]

I just tested mine with this:


18650 Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh High Discharge Flat Top


https://www.illumn.com/batteries-ch...r18650ga-3500mah-high-discharge-flat-top.html

It worked but for some reason I needed to tighten the cap on and off a few time before it would accept the battery. Working flawlessly now.

I may have another try with my flat tops then...

 

[Woods Walker]

I may have another try with my flat tops then...

I think the issue is the length of the battery. The HC30 has a sensitive lockout aka easy lockout via tailcap twist. The spring is fairly small compared to the AT wizard. So all of that makes me think battery length is the issue aka protected button top battery is a bit longer. I just tried again and failed but then pulled the spring a little bit and presto it worked.... again. Try that!

 

[StorminMatt]

Don't know anything about this light. But I DO know that, for my Eagletacs (which require button tops), UNPROTECTED button tops (available at Mountain Electronics) work fine.

 

[Mkduffer]

I run unprotected cells in my HC30. Some work, some don't. My unprotected cells are all pulls from battery packs. The cells I currently have are either Sony or Moli.

I've tested about 6 Sony SF US18650GR and all of them worked. I also tested 2 Moli FSPE.80043.1377 ICR-18650H and they didn't work.

Looking at the batteries, they are VERY close dimensionally. If anything the Sony's are a hair shorter. Yes, according to my calipers, the Sony's are 64.9mm where as the Moli's are 65.0.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but the positive terminal on the Sony's measure 7.9mm across. The Moli's have more of a rounded cross shaped terminal and at it's widest spot, measures close to 9.7mm.

I've measured the distance from the center of the positive contact in the head of the HC30 to the gold plated bar which serves as the reverse polarity protection. It's slightly more than 4.5mm, which means that the Sony batteries will not contact both the center terminal and the bar, but the Moli will. I think this means that the reverse polarity setup on the HC30 assumes that the positive pole of the battery is smaller than 9mm (give or take), but the negative pole of the battery is considerably larger, large enough to make contact with both the round and bar contacts. I suspect that if the battery completes the circuit by touching both contact, the RP protection kicks in and prevents current flow.

In checking the datasheet for the Sanyo batteries that Woods Walker mentioned, it shows a max dimension of the positive terminal as 9.0mm. I think that it's possible that when he initially put the battery in, there was enough play for the terminal to short both contacts. Upon readjusting the tail cap, the battery may have shifted to break contact, disabling the RP protection circuit.

 

[blindedbythenight]

I run unprotected cells in my HC30. Some work, some don't. My unprotected cells are all pulls from battery packs. The cells I currently have are either Sony or Moli.

I've tested about 6 Sony SF US18650GR and all of them worked. I also tested 2 Moli FSPE.80043.1377 ICR-18650H and they didn't work.

Looking at the batteries, they are VERY close dimensionally. If anything the Sony's are a hair shorter. Yes, according to my calipers, the Sony's are 64.9mm where as the Moli's are 65.0.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but the positive terminal on the Sony's measure 7.9mm across. The Moli's have more of a rounded cross shaped terminal and at it's widest spot, measures close to 9.7mm.

I've measured the distance from the center of the positive contact in the head of the HC30 to the gold plated bar which serves as the reverse polarity protection. It's slightly more than 4.5mm, which means that the Sony batteries will not contact both the center terminal and the bar, but the Moli will. I think this means that the reverse polarity setup on the HC30 assumes that the positive pole of the battery is smaller than 9mm (give or take), but the negative pole of the battery is considerably larger, large enough to make contact with both the round and bar contacts. I suspect that if the battery completes the circuit by touching both contact, the RP protection kicks in and prevents current flow.

In checking the datasheet for the Sanyo batteries that Woods Walker mentioned, it shows a max dimension of the positive terminal as 9.0mm. I think that it's possible that when he initially put the battery in, there was enough play for the terminal to short both contacts. Upon readjusting the tail cap, the battery may have shifted to break contact, disabling the RP protection circuit.

Wow...can I employ you to investigate all my ponderings? Haha that's brilliant, very concise and informative, thank you. I have to admit I am running protected button tops and have no issues and as the unprotected cells I have for into my convoy c8 and s2+ I can cope. But thank you again for the info.

 

[Sphinxxx]

Wow, thanks for this posting. I never thought to try my Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GA in the HC30. I am amazed that they work. They even work in my MH20. Hmmmm. If they work in the P30 i just ordered, that charges everything. I thought just the length of the battery would rule it out.

 

[Mkduffer]

Wow...can I employ you to investigate all my ponderings? Haha that's brilliant, very concise and informative, thank you. I have to admit I am running protected button tops and have no issues and as the unprotected cells I have for into my convoy c8 and s2+ I can cope. But thank you again for the info.

Glad I was able to shed some light on the subject! Thanks for your kind words of praise. Is your C8 one of the new clear annodized ones with the upgraded firmware and lighted tail switches? Been jonesing to get one of those, but I need another light about as much as I need another hole in my head. In fact, my wife's even hinted that should I purchase another light, she might add another hole in my head. All kidding aside, she's surprisingly tolerant of my hobby and I take every advantage to point out how lucky she is whenever there's a power outage. Guns, knives and lights...She's thankful that I don't collect cars. :devil:

 

[blindedbythenight]

Glad I was able to shed some light on the subject! Thanks for your kind words of praise. Is your C8 one of the new clear annodized ones with the upgraded firmware and lighted tail switches? Been jonesing to get one of those, but I need another light about as much as I need another hole in my head. In fact, my wife's even hinted that should I purchase another light, she might add another hole in my head. All kidding aside, she's surprisingly tolerant of my hobby and I take every advantage to point out how lucky she is whenever there's a power outage. Guns, knives and lights...She's thankful that I don't collect cars. :devil:

Haha. No sadly it's the old school C8...still a nice bit of kit though. My wife thinks one light should do the job and doesn't understand the need for more...I'm not deceitful by nature but I've found that to the untrained eye if you get all your lights in black you can persuade your love ones into thinking you have a lot less than you actually do...it's evil but it's necessary haha.