flashlight gets hot

[porthos]

i have a OLIGHT brand flashlight thet gets very warm, almost hot. it uses 2 cr123-a batteries. never had a flashlight that takes this battery. still, i don't think that it is normal for it to heat up? comments?

[Recycled bullet]

If it's the light emitter or lens it may be normal.

If it's the batteries you should stop using it. A battery failure can be like a volcano in your pocket. Usually the rechargeables get weak as a failure mode before dangerous short to ground can happen, excepting exciting defects.

I use stream light hl stingers for my work and the lenses are bright enough and get hot enough that it could burn you if you held it against your skin.

[CastingFool]

I have a divers flashlight , real bright, throws a very focused beam, but if used out of the water, battery life is only like 6 hrs. And it does get warm.

[MT Gianni]

10 years ago the cr-123 battery lights could start a fire if left unattended.

[kerplode]

It's normal for high performance LED lights to get hot-ish.

[Alex_4x4]

The batteries you use contain lithium. Under certain conditions, these batteries can spontaneously ignite.

If the lithium battery starts to heat up, it must be disposed of. There are many things in lithium batteries, including cobalt.

[tunnug]

Maybe the proper people to ask is Olight, they would/should know.

[Alex_4x4]

Maybe the proper people to ask is Olight, they would/should know.

This is the best variant. By giving the wrong answer, they will take responsibility for any negative consequences.

[Milky Duck]

they get hot...and DO NOT put battery loosely in pocket with ammunitions...friend recently had .223 round go off by doing this,heck of a fright and small amount of damage to his pack (possibly soiled underwear too) but he was lucky.
my good torch will only run on full beam for 2 minutes before shutting down.

[Kestrel4k]

As long as the CR123 batteries are US or Japan-mfg, they contain a solid state thermal shutoff device which is very reliable.
China-mfg CR123's may or may not have this; and have been shown to be less reliable overall.
I only use SureFire CR123's which are produced by Panasonic in Georgia IIRC.

[porthos]

my batteries say CR 123A. would that be same as CR 123??

[kerplode]

my batteries say CR 123A. would that be same as CR 123??

Yes

[porthos]

checked the batteries in the olight. made in china. ordered panasonic batteries on amazon. still going to call olight tomorrow to question the heat. will also make note to them that they sell a expensive flashlight and install china batteries. I SO HATE ALL THIS CHINA STUFF!!! it is not china. it is the american manufacturers who use it!

[kerplode]

I hate to break it to you, but Olight is a Chinese company.

[Hannibal]

What is the output of this light in lumens?

If it's a high output light it's going to produce a fair amount of heat and be hard on batteries.

[porthos]

800 lumes. i didnot know that it was a chineeeese company. i bought 2 olights at an estate sale, dirt cheap. the other is a eternal 2 made of copper

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Is it the Olight M1T Raider Plus, 800 Lumen LED Flashlight ?

I found a couple customer reviews:

Light lite
Great for pocket and clip works well too. If anything it is too bright. Only possible downside is how hot it gets....but thats an upside in winter!

Great flashlight
Awesome flashlight but will eat up batteries if you use it a lot.

[Hannibal]

Is it the Olight M1T Raider Plus, 800 Lumen LED Flashlight ?

I found a couple customer reviews:

Light lite
Great for pocket and clip works well too. If anything it is too bright. Only possible downside is how hot it gets....but thats an upside in winter!

Great flashlight
Awesome flashlight but will eat up batteries if you use it a lot.

Here's your answer. Nature of the beast.

[GregLaROCHE]

Will we ever get weaned off China’s low grade products?

[Hannibal]

Not unless manufacturing returns to the US. With all the government red tape? The answer is NO.

[MaryB]

Nature of the beast no matter who or were it is made. High output LEDs draw a lot of current and that generates heat as a byproduct. Even my tiny little Olight I2R eos gets hot and it is a keychain light(I use it a LOT!). For a keychain light it will easily light up an object 100 feet away outside.

My Olight Warrior X Turbo 1100 lumen light gets hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold close to the lens.

I build my own 24 volt backup lights for my solar system. Every one is built on a heat pipe computer CPU heatsink with fan to dissipate heat. They are around 800 lumens... enough to brightly light a room while only drawing 24 watts or so...

[porthos]

well MaryB ; i think that you are way above the skill level of most of us. good for you

[Iron369]

My more expensive lights get hot too. The thing about Olight is that they are so cheaply made that they can’t withstand the excessive heat of cr123’s in series for long.

[elmacgyver0]

Will we ever get weaned off China’s low grade products?

That all depends on politics, I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you.

[Hannibal]

When you have the ability to increase the voltage you can reduce the amount of current required but the load, in this case lights, must be capable of enduring the increase in voltage also.

Hand held flashlights have an obvious need for a limited area for batteries. Thus those batteries are not going to last long because they are being drained of energy very rapidly. Low voltage and high current draw.

Thus the comments about the Nature of the Beast.

[Good Cheer]

I have a divers flashlight , real bright, throws a very focused beam, but if used out of the water, battery life is only like 6 hrs. And it does get warm.

Yeah, used one that would melt down self destruct if used out of water. :D

[alfadan]

On a side note, my cheap 500 lumen 4aaa lights seem to get dimmer after being on awhile. If I shut it off for about 10 seconds or so, the come back on brighter for a little bit. Anybody notice this?

[MaryB]

My more expensive lights get hot too. The thing about Olight is that they are so cheaply made that they can’t withstand the excessive heat of cr123’s in series for long.

Cheaply? Hardly! All of my Olights are machined aluminum housings, sealed with o-rings to keep dust and water out, and ZERO have failed due to heat. I had one of the AAA freebie lights pop, they replaced it no questions asked and told me they got a bad batch of capacitors that caused an entire lot to fail. I have a dozen Olights, 2 keychain ones, a headlight, bunch of small rechargeable AA sized that are scattered around the house, and the Warrior X Turbo I use to spotlight coyotes. I wouldn't hesitate to buy more from them!

[MaryB]

On a side note, my cheap 500 lumen 4aaa lights seem to get dimmer after being on awhile. If I shut it off for about 10 seconds or so, the come back on brighter for a little bit. Anybody notice this?

Non rechargeable batteries will recover a little in voltage after a heavy current load is turned off. But that gain will rapidly deplete, way faster than a new battery.

[Recycled bullet]

I've seen a you tube advertisement about a flashlight supposedly banned for being too powerful, they show the light beam cutting trash bags. Claims that it's the militaries brightest lamp?? Or somesuch. Unfortunately it's all lies. The name of the company escapes me.

I do have a cheap laser pointer that runs off 18650 cells. It will light matches and pop balloons, beam is visible at night so for thousands of feet, with a fully charged cell.

[GregLaROCHE]

I've seen a you tube advertisement about a flashlight supposedly banned for being too powerful, they show the light beam cutting trash bags. Claims that it's the militaries brightest lamp?? Or somesuch. Unfortunately it's all lies. The name of the company escapes me.


I do have a cheap laser pointer that runs off 18650 cells. It will light matches and pop balloons, beam is visible at night so for thousands of feet, with a fully charged cell.

I’ve seen that same ad a couple of times and thought BS too.

[MaryB]

One of the Googan Squad members(Rob?) did a review of it... scam to the max.

[porthos]

don't know where anyone got that cheaply made crap. must have pulled it out of--------. got new panasonic batteries today, made in indonesia, not georgia. installed them and they also get hot. i have a olight eternal 2 with 1 larger lithium ion rechargable battery that does not get hot. so it is what it is. lets move on to something else.

[David2011]

Every LED light I've owned gets hot when run at maximum brightness. The heat is coming from the driver electronics in mine rather than the batteries. Battery life is typically 20 minutes for an 18650 battery. On the low setting they run cool and battery life is projected to be 20 hours. I typically use then on low because bright is just too bright most of the time.

BTW, there are many types of lithium batteries and most including Lithium-Ion are far less likely to combust than the more dangerous Lithium-Polymer (LiPo). We use LiPo batteries in radio controlled electric airplanes and they deserve HEALTHY respect. Good computer controlled chargers are mandatory and they're still not without risks.