The Lounge 2018

[blah9]

Thanks for your thoughts, Vinh. You're making me doubt the idea of giving a USB charging light to my sister's boyfriend (which I already did). Hopefully it will be ok though! It's always interesting to hear about your experiences.

 

[MAD777]

I have always charged outside of my lights. A built-in charger has never appealed to me. I don't have any data, but it intuitively seemed wiser.
I never leave a charger completely unattended either.

 

[twistedraven]

Eh, usb charging is a very simple implementation. It's no more prone to failure than an external charger. However I don't like rubber flaps or extra doors on my flashlight, so I still prefer external charging for that reason.

 

[trailhunter]

My take on built in USB charging and dedicated charger:


I never charge my cells in a light unless I have to. I do not trust small built in charging circuits as a dedicated charger with a Fan and more advanced voltage management. Even without a Fan a dedicated charger is also more beefy to handle the load extensively. Yes I know cellphones are tiny and they have very reliable charging circuits too but there are much more investment going into those charging circuits VS our lights. But do note that there are many cell phones fire accidents while charging as well. I also can charge the cell outside of a light at a safer location than I can with the cell inside the light. Like outdoor in a garage for example. Cant trust leaving my expensive light out there. Also a bad built in charging circuit can hurt the light electronics and putting my expensive light at risk. I have worked with hundreds of lights with USB charging circuits and I have seen them failed multiple times on all different brands. I also sell many many chargers and have no returns so far. I have only broke 1 charger but that was my fault. Dedicated chargers in general are safer and more reliable from my experience. I would strongly recommend sticking with them and only use the built in charging when there are no other options. I am not lazy to remove the cells and drop then in a dedicated charger. Just my personal take.

How do you charge olight batteries where its dual polarity on the negative side without charging in the light (such as the r50)?

 

[Skylumen]

Most USB ports are excellent. I wouldn't worry about it. I work with so many lights so it's just a personal preference after seeing lots of failures. But that's only because I work with hundreds and hundreds of Lights . And yes the concept of charging circuit is a simple one however I just don't trust the quality control 100% and do not want to induce extra complications when not necessary.

 

[blah9]

Makes sense. Yeah chances are that it will be ok for him.

 

[cclight]

trailunter, just put an insulating tape on the outer ring so that it doesn't make contact. No need to wrap it all around, just 1 piece of tape is enough. Then make sure that part goes in the charger.