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Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 5:50 am
by jbhubbell
I seriously doubt it but since they came out last year i have been using all 3 of the 18650 versions and have yet to have an issue. Ive also searched google for problems and came up empty. If anyone has had an actual failure on a newer ZL please let me know so that i can try to avoid the same problems.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 9:52 am
by caver.adam
The new version doesn't work with all oversized batteries. Only issue I've heard of.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 7:03 pm
by rlboyce
Not perfect, but as close to perfect as you can realistically hope for.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 3, 2014 12:30 pm
by Lava
Does anybody know what the converter is in the H602? I have a friend who just bought one and is using it with two CR123As. He says it seems to work just fine. Given that Zebralight doesn't spec the H602 to handle those cells, I'm not convinced he won't see poor efficiency or even burn the light out eventually. But I suppose it's possible the chip can handle 6V, and that the reason for leaving CR123As out of the spec is entirely mechanical. I'd like to find out which it is, because if the chip can handle 6V I'd like to use CR123As myself.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 3, 2014 3:03 pm
by Moff
Lava wrote:Does anybody know what the converter is in the H602? I have a friend who just bought one and is using it with two CR123As. He says it seems to work just fine. Given that Zebralight doesn't spec the H602 to handle those cells, I'm not convinced he won't see poor efficiency or even burn the light out eventually. But I suppose it's possible the chip can handle 6V, and that the reason for leaving CR123As out of the spec is entirely mechanical. I'd like to find out which it is, because if the chip can handle 6V I'd like to use CR123As myself.

Lava, 2 fresh CR123s will give 7.2 volts.
I've also heard someone was using 2 123s in old Zebras (non MKII).
But do it on your own risk. Putting it on H1 will most likely burn the driver.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 3, 2014 3:19 pm
by Lava
Thanks! I emailed Zebralight; if I get a response I'll post it here.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 8, 2014 10:26 am
by Lava
Got a reply from Zebralight:

One of our designers told me that at least one chip in the SC600/H600/H602 has a working voltage up to 5.5 Volt. We don't know what would happen with a 6V power source, since it's over the specs of the chips. It's not that difficult to raise the working voltage range a little bit in the future. We are however very concerned about two cells that may not be perfectly match at H1/H2 levels.

As suspected, it's a bad idea to put two CR123As in an H602. Although the comment at the end about matched cells doesn't make sense in this context as the cells are in series.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 8, 2014 1:54 pm
by Moff
Lava wrote:Got a reply from Zebralight:

One of our designers told me that at least one chip in the SC600/H600/H602 has a working voltage up to 5.5 Volt. We don't know what would happen with a 6V power source, since it's over the specs of the chips. It's not that difficult to raise the working voltage range a little bit in the future. We are however very concerned about two cells that may not be perfectly match at H1/H2 levels.

As suspected, it's a bad idea to put two CR123As in an H602. Although the comment at the end about matched cells doesn't make sense in this context as the cells are in series.

Thay want to say that if you dont't match polarity of two cells or if you put two unmatching cells (different make, different voltage e.g. half-empty & full) they may explode or burn.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 9, 2014 11:38 am
by Lava
That still doesn't make sense, because CR123A primary cells do not suffer from any overdischarge issues. Two CR123A cells with differing voltages would simply register to the light as a single added voltage, and presumably the light would turn off at the low voltage limit of an 18650 cell. Maybe they are worried about people using rechargeable RCR123As?

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 10, 2014 1:51 pm
by potholer
Lava wrote:That still doesn't make sense, because CR123A primary cells do not suffer from any overdischarge issues. Two CR123A cells with differing voltages would simply register to the light as a single added voltage, and presumably the light would turn off at the low voltage limit of an 18650 cell. Maybe they are worried about people using rechargeable RCR123As?

There are various reports (including on candlepowerforums) of flashlights failing specifically with primary CR123 cells, seemingly due to mismatched cells where one cell was overdischarged (possibly polarity-reversed).

If CR123 cells were actually immune to such issues, it's at least interesting that that doesn't seem to be a meaningfully argued point on threads such as:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... ting-links
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... t-Explosio

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 10, 2014 3:18 pm
by trogman
:hijack:
Getting back on the original question, I am pretty pleased with mine thus far. Time will tell, but no issues yet.


Trogman :helmet:

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 11, 2014 11:20 pm
by Lava
potholer wrote:If CR123 cells were actually immune to such issues, it's at least interesting that that doesn't seem to be a meaningfully argued point on threads such as:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... ting-links
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... t-Explosio


Thanks for the great links, I stand corrected. Hadn't ever heard of CR123As venting fire; only 18650s in laptops. Would love to see a comparison of fire incident frequency between the two batteries.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 18, 2014 5:09 am
by Telehubis
Also happy with my H600w.

Want to buy H602w for the better spill.

But are you guys using zebras as main or backup?

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 23, 2014 7:39 am
by jbhubbell
Want to buy H602w for the better spill.

But are you guys using zebras as main or backup?[/quote]

I have 2 zl's solid mounted as 1st and 2nd sources and a 3rd zl in my pack as a backup or waterproof batt holder.
I have only spent $300 on all my lighting needs which is less than most "real caving lights".

https://m.facebook.com/home.php?refsrc= ... 3379200310[quote="Telehubis"]Also happy with my H600w.

Re: Is the new generation Zebralight perfect?

PostPosted: Apr 23, 2014 12:42 pm
by caver.adam
I'm also using 2 zebra's for my primary and backup because they are so light. I generally run them on 65 lumens (~90% of the time) when in crawling passage and kick it up to 300 lumens (~9% of the time) when in large borehole with interesting features, with occasional kicks up to 1000 lumens (<1% of the time) when I want to see something clearly. I've never had to change batteries on a trip including several that were over 15 hours.