multi mode/single mode?

Well i finally drained my batts enough to see the mode shift from multi to single on my 445. but the beam/bar profile seems the same when focused to infinity. but when spread out at like 5 feet you can clearly see 3 bar profiles and then it switch to 1. i measured it at about 20 feet and both measurments were almost the same. i don't really have question. this is just an observance. but it was pretty neat seeing it switch from multi to single. and in my particular set up i measured the batt voltage and it read about 2.89-2.91. this also was the first time i have had to recharge an 18650, boy it takes for ever!!!!!!


michael

Depends on the charger ;-)
BTW, keep those Li-Ion above 2.6V. I've also heard it's bad for them to be below 3.7V, though not AS bad. Not sure what that's worth....

Edit: Yep, PBD's right. What I've been told is that it's best to recharge if they're under 3.7V, and it's to the recyclers if it goes below 2.5V.

I don't believe I'd drain my battery that low. Still safe by what I can tell, and the battery would like cut itself off for protection at ~2.5V or so, but you may be hurting the lifetime of the battery. These things like to stay between 25 and 75% full, so top it off frequently.

The Li-ion stuff isn't like the old NiMH or NiCd stuff that was better to drain all the way before recharging. Li-ion likes to stay topped-off, so go ahead and charge it whenever you're not using it. You can look up how to best prolong battery lifetime in hundreds of places on the net.

As far as the modes, it is pretty cool. You can see the same effect by increasing current very slowly, from below threshold. That was what some people I've talked to liked the most about it: it's cool how you can watch threshold where the light kicks in at the limit, and then even cooler how you can watch modes turn on as you increase the current slowly.

Interesting....

Was the switch to single mode (~2.9v) very noticble or did you just happen to know the dot shape?
I'm currently looking for a good way to easily tell when my Li-ions are getting too low.
They don't have over-discharge protection and I don't trust the LEDs on my arctic.

Does the driver in the Arctic have a low voltage cutoff?

thanks for the batt info pbd.. always a great help... and to laserbeam... i had been playing with it for a while and had never recharged my batts. so i had the laser focused for burning and the profile on the wall from five feet was about a 3-4 foot pattern very bright. you could easily see the 3 bar profiles the the light started to dim the the side bars cut of and i was left with one. so i took the batt out to check voltage to make sure it wasnt an over heating driver. i am running 1600 ma. it was not a bad driver, i had a fresh 18650 on hand.

michael