# My Spark SD6 is pressing so much the battery



## Changchung (Feb 17, 2012)

In some lights I leave the battery inside, this is what I find yesterday, with almost a month with the battery inside, was a LG 2600 unprotected. This is dangerous? Can the battery exploid???








SFMI4UT


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## TooManyGizmos (Feb 17, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*

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Yes ... I agree , that is not good !

Can you cut and remove some of the spring ?

What part is causing it to be so tight ? Are your cells too long ?

What cell size does that light call for in it's specs ?

~


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## Changchung (Feb 17, 2012)

Well... Something ago I post in the SD thread that some of mine 18650 like a gray and blue trustfire dosent fit, so, I start to use unprotected, in this case is a LG 2600mha. In this case I think that the size is not the problem, is the spring is so hard, and I leave the bezel lose, I dont know what can happen if I dont it... Anyway I think that this light cant handdle protected batteries without make a spring mod... Cut it like you say...


SFMI4UT


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## Changchung (Feb 17, 2012)

The size of the battery is 6,5cm almost 6,6cm

It is short...


SFMI4UT


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## skyfire (Feb 17, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*

wow ive never seen any of my lights do that to a battery.
cant imagine what that would do to a protected 18650.


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## Changchung (Feb 17, 2012)

Know I dont want put any expence battery in this light... 


SFMI4UT


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## TooManyGizmos (Feb 17, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*

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I think I'd be contacting the maker of the light .... with questions .

~


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## Changchung (Feb 18, 2012)

TooManyGizmos said:


> ~
> 
> I think I'd be contacting the maker of the light .... with questions .
> 
> ~



I will do...

Any others user had this issue or similar???

What batteries are you using???


SFMI4UT


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## varuscelli (Feb 20, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*

That's just incredible. 

It looks more like someone took a hammer and a punch to the battery. I can't imagine how a tailcap and spring could put the kind of pressure on battery lo leave such an indentation.


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## Changchung (Feb 20, 2012)

Yes, and the tailcap was loose... I send a mail to Xyber already...


SFMI4UT


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## TooManyGizmos (Feb 20, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*

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What exact light did that ?

What did you mean when you said your " SD light " ?

~


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## Esko (Feb 20, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*

This surely seems quite incredible. No flashlight spring is strong enough to do that, except maybe when fully compressed. But SD6 is made of very thin materials and the other spring in the other end is directly attached to the circuit board. Surely the light should break a lot easier.

When my SD6 was new, I also was able to compress one cell very lightly. But it was a pretty long Redilast 2900mAh, it was the notched positive end of the battery and I was using way more power I would have wanted to use. Later I felt happy that I didn't break the circuit board, and have been using some shorter cells in it.

Have you tested the cell? Could it be possible that it has vented and expanded slowly inside the light, and later compressed back to normal size? Does it have parasitic drain (not sure, but I believe someone complained about it in his/hers version somewhere)? Sounds pretty unlikely, but it is the only explanation I could think that is even remotely possible.


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## varuscelli (Feb 20, 2012)

*Re: My SD light is pressing so much the battery*



TooManyGizmos said:


> ~
> 
> What exact light did that ?
> 
> ...



I'm pretty sure Changchung is using an SD6 (based on other threads)...although I could be wrong. 

Changchung, it would probably be a good idea to go back and add information about the specific headlamp to your first post so forum members will know which one. I think that would help this thread greatly.


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## Changchung (Feb 20, 2012)

TooManyGizmos said:


> ~
> 
> What exact light did that ?
> 
> ...



A Spark SD6-500CW

The two springs are strong... I have to add that the piece for the screw to attach the mag take some extra room inside...

Like I say before... Some owners of this light say that their use protected... I dont think so... I try two differents brands and the tailcap dosent close, and look what the light do to a unprotected that is small...


SFMI4UT


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## Changchung (Feb 20, 2012)

Esko said:


> This surely seems quite incredible. No flashlight spring is strong enough to do that, except maybe when fully compressed. But SD6 is made of very thin materials and the other spring in the other end is directly attached to the circuit board. Surely the light should break a lot easier.
> 
> When my SD6 was new, I also was able to compress one cell very lightly. But it was a pretty long Redilast 2900mAh, it was the notched positive end of the battery and I was using way more power I would have wanted to use. Later I felt happy that I didn't break the circuit board, and have been using some shorter cells in it.
> 
> Have you tested the cell? Could it be possible that it has vented and expanded slowly inside the light, and later compressed back to normal size? Does it have parasitic drain (not sure, but I believe someone complained about it in his/hers version somewhere)? Sounds pretty unlikely, but it is the only explanation I could think that is even remotely possible.



Incredible but possible... I have no reason to lie about this...

The two spring in this light are strong, more than any of my others lights, zebralight inclued...

No parasitic reason because the tailcap was loose and the light storage in the original box...

I dont know if the battery vented and expanded slowly inside the light. If the batt do it how much expanded??? 3mm or more??? Like I say before... The tailcap was loose... 


SFMI4UT


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## Changchung (Feb 20, 2012)

By the way... No responce yet from Xyber...


SFMI4UT


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## Esko (Feb 20, 2012)

Changchung said:


> Incredible but possible... I have no reason to lie about this...
> 
> The two spring in this light are strong, more than any of my others lights, zebralight inclued...



Of course, I am not suggesting anything. The springs are strong but naturally nowhere near that strong. On the other hand, the adapter protrusion under the spring might of course cause that (and now that I took a second look, I can see the end of the spring "printed" in the middle of the damaged area).

I don't know how much a cell could expand without breaking. Probably not much. But that kind of damage requires quite a lot of brute force, and since you didn't apply it, I didn't have any other explanation how this could happen. I know I used rather much force when I tried my light with that Redilast 2900 cell and managed to screw the tailcap to the end. Even then it didn't do anything to the negative end of the battery. Neither to the light - it seems to be well built. Some of the longest protected cells were too long (at least when the light was first released), but most work fine. And even that Redilast cell worked in some other people lights. Factory tolerances, I guess (either the light, or the battery). Maybe you got a light that is out of those tolerances but managed to pass the QC. I believe Xyber will sort it out.

And yes, I wouldn't use that battery any more, or store without a protective bag in my house, either. Some quick tests like the remaining charge/voltage might be interesting though.


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## Changchung (Feb 20, 2012)

Esko said:


> Of course, I am not suggesting anything. The springs are strong but naturally nowhere near that strong. On the other hand, the adapter protrusion under the spring might of course cause that (and now that I took a second look, I can see the end of the spring "printed" in the middle of the damaged area).
> 
> I don't know how much a cell could expand without breaking. Probably not much. But that kind of damage requires quite a lot of brute force, and since you didn't apply it, I didn't have any other explanation how this could happen. I know I used rather much force when I tried my light with that Redilast 2900 cell and managed to screw the tailcap to the end. Even then it didn't do anything to the negative end of the battery. Neither to the light - it seems to be well built. Some of the longest protected cells were too long (at least when the light was first released), but most work fine. And even that Redilast cell worked in some other people lights. Factory tolerances, I guess (either the light, or the battery). Maybe you got a light that is out of those tolerances but managed to pass the QC. I believe Xyber will sort it out.
> 
> And yes, I wouldn't use that battery any more, or store without a protective bag in my house, either. Some quick tests like the remaining charge/voltage might be interesting though.



The strange here is that this happen with the light storaged, with the tailcap loose and trust me, I never tight the tailcap looking that the battery dosent fit causing a possible damage of the light or the batt.

I just think that I receive a first batch of the light with no room enought to hold protected ones.

I have too say that I have no problems yet with the use of non protected batts, I have three lights that dosent fit protected so that is not a problem. But non of this do that to a bettery.

I have the battery in a safe place, let me test the voltage for you...


SFMI4UT


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## Changchung (Feb 20, 2012)

I just test the battery, 3.66volts

I dont want to touch it again...


SFMI4UT


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## TooManyGizmos (Feb 21, 2012)

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ChangChung ,

You may not know How , When or Who did it , but I would like to suggest the possibility that your SD6 got Dropped or stopped quickly with that cell inside it .

I don't see how that could happen with the cell inside the light , just sitting in the box . That could only happen if the light came to a sudden stop at rapid decelleration , causing the spring to fully collapse under the weight of the battery. Then the stationary internal parts would dent the neg. end of the cell .

Were you using it as a weapon or slinging it around by the strap when it hit something and came to a sudden stop ?

Who else has access to your lights ? A violent action had to cause that . (IMO)

~


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## Changchung (Feb 21, 2012)

TooManyGizmos said:


> ~
> 
> ChangChung ,
> 
> ...



Hi Gizmos, no dropped or similiar accident, I leave the box with my others lights, I have no chilldrens, just my dogs, wife and me at home...

For me is more strange that you think... I always see that the battery fit very tight inside...


SFMI4UT


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## TooManyGizmos (Feb 21, 2012)

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Well then ........ your light box must be Haunted .

~


KRHD3JB ........... and BR549


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## Changchung (Feb 21, 2012)

TooManyGizmos said:


> ~
> 
> Well then ........ your light box must be Haunted .
> 
> ...



And this ghost had a hammer... Hahaha


SFMI4UT


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## Changchung (Feb 21, 2012)

I think because previuos experience that I will receive a responce from Xyber or somebody from Spark, but not, two days waiting and no responce...

I think that I finish with spark lights...


SFMI4UT


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## double L (Mar 13, 2012)

Changchung, just curious, have you been able to resolve the battery fittment issue for your Spark SD6 with Xyber or Spark?


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## Changchung (Mar 14, 2012)

double L said:


> Changchung, just curious, have you been able to resolve the battery fittment issue for your Spark SD6 with Xyber or Spark?



Hi Double, I sent it back for a replacement, I am not sure if this issue is because I buy the very first batch of this lights... I hope that the new one accept protected batteries, what I send back dont...


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## cajunhunter (Mar 14, 2012)

I just got a Spark SD6, and yes the springs are tight. I have marks on my batter but no indentations. I do think that the springs are very strong and they start engaging the battery prior to the threads in the cap so that means that you have the entire thread of the cap of pressure on the springs and battery. I do like the light.


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## Changchung (Apr 18, 2012)

cajunhunter said:


> I just got a Spark SD6, and yes the springs are tight. I have marks on my batter but no indentations. I do think that the springs are very strong and they start engaging the battery prior to the threads in the cap so that means that you have the entire thread of the cap of pressure on the springs and battery. I do like the light.



It is a nice light, BTW, are you using protected batteries?

Update, I send the light back time ago, it is in my way already, I hope that I can use protected in this one...


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## Diatom (Apr 24, 2012)

The second time I unscrewed the tailcap of my Spark SD6, a spring fell out. The spring used to connect the negative pole of the battery to the tailcap. 

Earlier, I screwed on the tailcap for the first time. The battery tube was not aligned with the spring which was attached to the tailcap. When the rotating spring made contact with the battery, the spring would not have touched the centre of the disk at the negative pole of the battery. The spring may have been displaced sideways by the battery. The spring may have even slipped into the large gap at the side of the battery. 


When the Spark SD6 was designed, the battery tube was unusually moved to one side of the Spark SD6. The tailcap was too wide and was not aligned with the battery tube. A narrow tailcap should have been correctly placed on the same side of the Spark SD6 as the battery tube. The narrow tailcap should have been aligned with the battery tube. Then the tail spring would have made contact with the centre of the disk at the negative end of the battery.


I used an AW battery in my Spark SD6. There were 3 tiny projections on the disk at the negative end of the AW battery. Since the battery tube was not aligned with the tailcap, the projections might have made contact with the spring. I wondered if AW batteries were unsuitable for the Spark SD6, because of the 3 tiny projections which might be pushed against the rotating spring?


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## Changchung (Apr 25, 2012)

Diatom said:


> The second time I unscrewed the tailcap of my Spark SD6, a spring fell out. The spring used to connect the negative pole of the battery to the tailcap.
> 
> Earlier, I screwed on the tailcap for the first time. The battery tube was not aligned with the spring which was attached to the tailcap. When the rotating spring made contact with the battery, the spring would not have touched the centre of the disk at the negative pole of the battery. The spring may have been displaced sideways by the battery. The spring may have even slipped into the large gap at the side of the battery.
> 
> ...



Another one with this kind of issue... I think that the principal problem here is the small space inside and hard springs that dont leave room enought to fit protected batteries, some peoples say using protected without any issue, I dont know how can even close. I try just one and I not even try to close it seeing how tight it was...


SFMI4UT


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## Diatom (Apr 25, 2012)

Changchung said:


> Another one with this kind of issue... I think that the principal problem here is the small space inside and hard springs that dont leave room enough to fit protected batteries
> 
> 
> SFMI4UT


 I think so too. I think Spark should slightly lengthen the tube into which the battery fits. I put a ruler inside my Spark SD6-460NW in order to measure the depth of the tube. It was 68mm deep. My AW 18650 protected cell was between 66 and 67mm long. My AW 18650 cell sank 1 to 2 mm below the open end of the flashlight. 

I wonder if the Spark factory has ever varied the length of the tube into which the battery fits? If the factory has varied the length, it might explain why some of us have Spark SD6 flashlights with tubes which are too short, while others apparently have Spark SD6 flashlights with tubes of adequate length.


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## Changchung (Apr 25, 2012)

Diatom said:


> I think so too. I think Spark should slightly lengthen the tube into which the battery fits. My AW cell was between 66 and 67mm long. I wonder if the Spark factory has already varied the length of the tube into which the battery fits? If the factory has already varied the length, it might explain why some of us have Spark SD6 flashlights with tubes which are too short, while others apparently have Spark SD6 flashlights with tubes of adequate length.



For that reason I send mine back, maybe I received next week, I will see if that one had more room inside, like you say, they have to fit that and make it big to fit large batteries like the H600...


SFMI4UT


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## Changchung (May 2, 2012)

Update, I receive the light, my protected batteries fit a little better, tight yet, well, I will had to try the small 18650 in the market... BTW, still waiting for the reflector, I must received it with the light but was not sent...


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