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Solareforce Charger


cameronpatrol

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Gday

Got my torch today in the mail looks good.

But Im unsure on the charger settings for the batteries I got for the torch,

The charger has a switch for 3volts or 4.2volts.

The batteries I have are 3.6V So i put it on 3v and the green light just stays on like its showing fully charged I assume.

I switched it to 4.2 V and the light go red assuming it means charging.

I left it on 4.2v for a while but thought id better google and find info which I cant find. just in case im toasting the batteries.

they didnt get hot just the charger got warm.

Anyone shine some light would be greatly appreciated

Cheers Cam

 

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Does the light work with the supplied batteries?

If so just use the torch for a while and then recharge at 3 volts and see how it goes. 

Cam, you could always read the instructions, sometimes it helps.^_^ Best I could do for a tongue in cheek emo.

Grant.

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Need more info and specs/type of batteries and charger. Sounds like different lithium (eg LiFe) if they are labelled with 3.6v because normally a LiIon is labelled with 3.7v so don't charge them at 4.2 until you find out. The strange thing is 3 is a bit low though, even LiFe need higher to charge... Do the batts have a label to say what type of lithium they are?

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Thanks a lot for the help

this is the package i got.

http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/categories/ready-to-go-set

And this charger is what came in the kit

Looks like its the only charger they have

Lucky I had a nikon charger to pinch the power cable lol

http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/products/solarforce-multi-battery-home-charger-18-c-for-16430rcr123a18650

 

Edited by cameronpatrol
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The website doesn't say anything about the charger in terms of 3V vs 4.2V switch (according to the website it doesn't have a switch, it only does Li-ion batteries, which need 4.2V for full charge).

Anyways, it's a medium speed charger so the 18650 batteries shouldn't get hot, if they get too hot take them off charge and measure their voltage with a multimeter. They should take about 4 to 8 hours for full charge and they should end up in the 4.15V-4.20V region ideally (assuming they are in good condition). If you are storing them for a long time without using them, make sure you don't store them flat or fully charged, somewhere in the middle is good. If in doubt, better to store them charged or top them up every few months rather than let them run flat, because running them below 2V or 2.5V (can't remember which one) can permanently damage them or reduce their capacity.

 

What do you think of the flashlight? Are you running it with 1 battery or do you have the tube extender to run 2 batteries? If not, get one, it works better and brighter with 2... I have one of their older models that takes 1 or 2 and it works better on 2.

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36 minutes ago, Alf said:

The website doesn't say anything about the charger in terms of 3V vs 4.2V switch (according to the website it doesn't have a switch, it only does Li-ion batteries, which need 4.2V for full charge).

Anyways, it's a medium speed charger so the 18650 batteries shouldn't get hot, if they get too hot take them off charge and measure their voltage with a multimeter. They should take about 4 to 8 hours for full charge and they should end up in the 4.15V-4.20V region ideally (assuming they are in good condition). If you are storing them for a long time without using them, make sure you don't store them flat or fully charged, somewhere in the middle is good. If in doubt, better to store them charged or top them up every few months rather than let them run flat, because running them below 2V or 2.5V (can't remember which one) can permanently damage them or reduce their capacity.

 

What do you think of the flashlight? Are you running it with 1 battery or do you have the tube extender to run 2 batteries? If not, get one, it works better and brighter with 2... I have one of their older models that takes 1 or 2 and it works better on 2.

Thanks a sh!tload for the help

I'll wack them on charge on 4.2

Well i havnt really played with yet yet too much, it looks like it should go brighter with a full charge.

It came with the extra tube which ill use instead of the single battery setup.

Going to take it away this weekend camping so might throw the 22 or 204 in the car just in case there's a few fury critters about.

I did look at the next model up but it wanted 3 batteries and outright cost more.

they rekon the other one will beam out to 800m, at the end of the day im not going to be shooting out that far and i think the m9 with 500m should be fine.

whether they actually go out that far is another story.

either way it should be good I hope.

Still have a small cree torch thats pretty good I scored for nothing from some web site.

Plenty powerfull enough for chasing bunnies with the 22.

Thanks again for the help, I'll let you know how the batteries come up.

cheers cam

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No problem. The m9 has a max input voltage of 9v so it can only take up to 2 cells max but some of their other lights take 16v so they can go up to 3 or 4 cells. If it's just on a .22 I reckon 1 batt will be fine but on the 204 I'd def go 2 batteries... 

 

The distances you quoted are probably marketing hype, but I haven't done research on the m9 yet so it might be true. But I reckon it's marketing, so it's probably the distance you can get a few lumens out to, which won't help you for hunting because  realistically if you need to ID your target through a scope, I reckon it's to be half or quarter that distance (depends on scope too, intended game size and colour, mist/fog/glare etc...), but you won't know till you try. Let us know, will be interesting, I've put off upgrading for a while, maybe I should get one too hahahaha

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14 hours ago, Alf said:

No problem. The m9 has a max input voltage of 9v so it can only take up to 2 cells max but some of their other lights take 16v so they can go up to 3 or 4 cells. If it's just on a .22 I reckon 1 batt will be fine but on the 204 I'd def go 2 batteries... 

 

The distances you quoted are probably marketing hype, but I haven't done research on the m9 yet so it might be true. But I reckon it's marketing, so it's probably the distance you can get a few lumens out to, which won't help you for hunting because  realistically if you need to ID your target through a scope, I reckon it's to be half or quarter that distance (depends on scope too, intended game size and colour, mist/fog/glare etc...), but you won't know till you try. Let us know, will be interesting, I've put off upgrading for a while, maybe I should get one too hahahaha

Yeah that's what I'm thinking just a marketing bluff.

maybe light up a cats eye on the road distance.

well I won't be going out to huge ranges that's for sure even in daylight 200 max

and a big one is ID plenty of times I know it's a fox but I won't shoot until I see the body and head 100% sure it is what it's meant to be.

goin to take it away with the family so see how she's goes.

cheers

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Yeah I got the m9, definitely doesn't reach out to 500m. I tested mine against my lightforce 170 striker and i rated it better around the 100m mark as it's a white light. But it couldn't pick out a big tree at 300m where the lightforce could. I think it's good to around 150-200m from memory

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk

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1 hour ago, billygoat-gruff said:

Yeah I got the m9, definitely doesn't reach out to 500m. I tested mine against my lightforce 170 striker and i rated it better around the 100m mark as it's a white light. But it couldn't pick out a big tree at 300m where the lightforce could. I think it's good to around 150-200m from memory

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk
 

Ok Fair bit off 500 lol

150-200 sounds good enough for me.

How long do you get out of the batteries roughly on flat out? or are the specs pretty close for the times?

Cheers

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Yeah the specs are pretty good for run times. I don't know if it makes a difference with battery brands or not though. I got a couple hoursworth on full power only turning it off once or twice for a couple minutes. Still didn't run dead flat as it flashes when the batteries are getting low as a warning so I just turned the brightness down.

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk

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On 26/09/2016 at 6:32 PM, cameronpatrol said:

Gday

Got my torch today in the mail looks good.

But Im unsure on the charger settings for the batteries I got for the torch,

The charger has a switch for 3volts or 4.2volts.

The batteries I have are 3.6V So i put it on 3v and the green light just stays on like its showing fully charged I assume.

I switched it to 4.2 V and the light go red assuming it means charging.

I left it on 4.2v for a while but thought id better google and find info which I cant find. just in case im toasting the batteries.

they didnt get hot just the charger got warm.

Anyone shine some light would be greatly appreciated

Cheers Cam

 

You want the 4.2V setting mate. 18650's are a nominal 3.7V but will hit 4.2V fully charged. The 3V setting is for RCR123 batteries.  18650's can take a long time to charge if they are below 3V, can take several hours.

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On 1 October 2016 at 3:32 PM, fenring said:

You want the 4.2V setting mate. 18650's are a nominal 3.7V but will hit 4.2V fully charged. The 3V setting is for RCR123 batteries.  18650's can take a long time to charge if they are below 3V, can take several hours.

Thanks mate

i charged them on the 4.2

it did take a good few hours.

 

tried the torch out bush over the weekend

bit hard to just distance as there wasn't a open area but I beamed it across the river and up the hill.

pretty bloody good.

not like I was expecting though.

i had the thoughts of it being like a narrow laser beam sort of thing. The center point was sweet and long but it has a big hallow which will be good for lighting up around the area I'm aiming.

pretty happy with it overall.

keen to get it on the rifle and find an open area or fringe to get onto some furys.

cheers

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