Trustfire Battery Issue

[Ziran Le]

Im sure there are, but US doesn't like for people to discuss it's competition on the forums.  Just look around.  Or order online and eat nachos while you wait.

[Daishi]

What do you use to shock it? I've attempted it with copper wires, as well as cutting out a 9v snap connector from a smoke alarm, and alligator clips but I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

Only a few times have I manged to actually get it to heat a little and even get it to charge for a short period of time before dying outright again, what do people normally use to shock a AA size battery with a 9v?

[kav2001c]

Be careful with 3rd party vendors
Alot of Chinese batteries are fake (writing higher mAh than what battery actually is)
This plagues cell phone markets as well

[Nowhere]

Be careful with 3rd party vendors
Alot of Chinese batteries are fake (writing higher mAh than what battery actually is)
This plagues cell phone markets as well

yeah, i bought some knock off batteries accidentally. they work alright, just not for very long. its not worth the chance. trustfire works. i'm sticking with them.

[MilleniaMan]

This thread has been a good read... Very informative!

A few things I would like to cover for all of you... I've done some extensive testing of numerous batteries available from Ultra Sabers and others. I researched the manufacture of these Li-Ion batteries and discovered there really are only two Chinese companies that make them. They are actually branded by the selling companies.

I'm finding a failure rate of about 5% straight out of the package, and in most cases, it's due to a bad PCB (Protected Circuit Board). I've had the best luck with TrueFire 900mAh 3.7v and UltraFire 1200 & 1500 mAh 3.7v batteries.

In my experience, buy and use your sets in PAIRS! Literally MARRY them! If one goes bad, if shocking doesn't revive it, replace them as a pair and get rid of both. I've discovered on more than one occasion that when you replace just one, it eventually takes out its new partner or "dies" on its own shortly after and continues on this cycle repeatedly. BUY AND USE YOUR BATTERIES IN PAIRS ONLY!

I posted on another thread about voltages and amp hour ratings... Put simply, voltage will determine brightness and proper function of of your product, lower is much safer than higher, BUT try to stick to the recommended 3.7v.

The supplied TrustFire batteries are 900 mAh rated and last me slightly more than three hours straight run time in my Dark Arbiter (Blazing Red with v3 obsidian sound).

The higher the mAh rating, the LONGER your charge will last. I mentioned three hours on the provided TrustFire batteries. I'm getting FOUR and a half plus on my UltraFire 1200 mAh ones and just short of SIX hours on my 1500 mAh ones!

I have a BS in Physics and use only the best test equipment to go with my understanding of the electrical workings of these simple devices. Have fun!

[Dauntless Seven]

MM.  Thanks for this battery info.  Appreciation point earned. 

[Groovidad]

Millenia Man, being a member of the scientific community, I appreciate your thoughtful and tested review!  Getcha' point for technical prowess!

[RiskoVinsheen]

Yesterday I finally got my Flamberge v2 (Blazing Red in all three blades and Obsidian Sound) and a friend's Manticore (no sound, Guardian Blue, but with Li-Ion setup) that I had ordered from the May the Fourth sale.  Naturally we took them out to the park to have some fun with them.  As things were winding down we noticed some issues with both sabers and came to the conclusion it was (hopefully) an issue with the batteries.  I found it odd that both sabers used two Trustfires instead of the one that my Bellicose RGB with Obsidian sound from a few years back used (with a dummy cell).  The Flamberge made sense since it was running three LEDs plus the sound, but the Manticore was just the one LED.

First it started in my friend's Manticore.  As he was spinning it the blade suddenly cut off and wouldn't come back on until I popped one of the batteries out and back in, at which point it lit up like normal, but even without moving the saber or battery at all it would cut off again after a short time (less than a minute, maybe 30 seconds at most).  My Flamberge had been working fine all day.  I had absolutely been messing with it for much longer than he had.  I decided to try swapping the batteries from the Manticore into my Flamberge and sure enough after a short time the Flamberge just cut off.  No deactivation sound or anything.  I swapped the batteries back and then within 10 minutes of messing with my Flamberge it started having the same issue (despite using the same batteries it came with).  I figured maybe it was just that the batteries needed to be recharged.  I plugged the batteries into the charger over night but this morning after turning the saber on and letting it sit on my bed, again within a minute or so it just cuts off.  Removing one or more battery and popping it back in allows it to turn on again for less than a minute.

I've never had this issue with my Bellicose or its Trustfire+dummy cell setup despite knowing I haven't properly taken care of the Trustfire (leaving it in the saber for months on end).  Were these batteries just faulty straight out of the box?  Is this something that can be easily fixed?  Or am I going to have to send both sabers back to US for repair?

[Groovidad]

I would send your post to US for diagnosis.  From your description, it sounds like both you and your friend may have gotten bad batteries.  There is a post by Deep, I believe under "Technical questions", on how to short the batteries out using a 9V battery.  Once that has been done, recharge and test in your saber.  DO NOT perform this function until you read and fully understand the process, else you will screw them up even worse than what they are now.  Good luck and...MTFBWY!

[RiskoVinsheen]

I would send your post to US for diagnosis.  From your description, it sounds like both you and your friend may have gotten bad batteries.  There is a post by Deep, I believe under "Technical questions", on how to short the batteries out using a 9V battery.  Once that has been done, recharge and test in your saber.  DO NOT perform this function until you read and fully understand the process, else you will screw them up even worse than what they are now.  Good luck and...MTFBWY!

I've emailed US, awaiting a response.  Figured it wouldn't hurt to post here, too, to see if someone here had answers that could help.

I'm hoping it's just faulty batteries.  That would at least be simple enough to fix.

[Racona Nova]

Yeah, it sounds like a bad battery. I'd try the 9V shock procedure and look if this revives it. If not, you have to replace it or you may purchase the VP1 charger which is capable of reviving dead batteries without the risky shock procedure...

Just out of curiosity: Which version of the Obsidian sound board does your RGB Bellicose have? It's quite unlikely that an Obsidian sound board and the LED both work with a single 3.7V cell...at least that's true for the v3 and v4 sound boards. I don't know the specs for the older Obsidian v2, though...

[RiskoVinsheen]

Yeah, it sounds like a bad battery. I'd try the 9V shock procedure and look if this revives it. If not, you have to replace it or you may purchase the VP1 charger which is capable of reviving dead batteries without the risky shock procedure...

Just out of curiosity: Which version of the Obsidian sound board does your RGB Bellicose have? It's quite unlikely that an Obsidian sound board and the LED both work with a single 3.7V cell...at least that's true for the v3 and v4 sound boards. I don't know the specs for the older Obsidian v2, though...

I don't know how to tell which version board it has.  I got it in December 2011.  It runs off the one battery, though.  It came with one battery and one dummy cell in the saber and another battery separately (though I'm not sure where I've put the extra battery... I know it's in my room *somewhere*.)

[Racona Nova]

Your board must be a v2 or v1 then. I think I've read that the v3 came out in February 2013 and the Obsidian intro vid on Youtube is from June 2011, so I'm quite sure it must be one of the previous versions.

[Schtuperman]

Battery Test & Results:

Last week I replaced the Li-ions in all of my sabers as they were over 2 years old.  I bought (40) UltraFire 1200 Mah Li-ions from ebay for $39.96 delivered.  Seemed like a good deal.  All of the batteries worked.  Today I did a runtime test.  All 20 sabers had just been charged.  All have Obsidian & all were fitted with fresh UltraFire 1200s except my new Emerald Menace CE which came with a pair of TrustFire 900s.  

** Ignited all sabers @ 4 pm this afternoon and let them sit static idling during test.

** By 4:20 most of the sabers were showing various degrees of dimming.  Violet & Yellow blades were red.

** By 4:25 the Hot Pink was red.  Several saber blades had turned off but AV was illuminated & sound was still on.

** By 4:30 ALL of the UltraFire sabers had no blade illumination.

** NONE of these sabers turned off automatically because, despite the wrapper claiming these cells contain Protected-Mode PCBs, they obviously don't!

**  At 4:50 the Menace CE, with its TrustFire 900s, shut down automatically due to low power.  The blade remained fully lit until the shutdown (set for Guardian Blue).

Right off the bat you can see the 900 Mah TrustFires lasted more than twice as long as the 1200 Mah UltraFires.

I charged all cells in a pair of external xStar XC4 Digital chargers.  These chargers are nice because they show how many Mah each battery takes during the charge cycle.

**The UltraFire 1200s ranged from 360-450 Mah....about 1/3rd of their stated capacity!

**The two TrustFire 900s took 795 Mah & 805 Mah respectively.  The 900s accepted TWICE the power of the 1200s!

[Groovidad]

Battery Test & Results:

Last week I replaced the Li-ions in all of my sabers as they were over 2 years old.  I bought (40) UltraFire 1200 Mah Li-ions from ebay for $39.96 delivered.  Seemed like a good deal.  All of the batteries worked.  Today I did a runtime test.  All 20 sabers had just been charged.  All have Obsidian & all were fitted with fresh UltraFire 1200s except my new Emerald Menace CE which came with a pair of TrustFire 900s.  

** Ignited all sabers @ 4 pm this afternoon and let them sit static idling during test.

** By 4:20 most of the sabers were showing various degrees of dimming.  Violet & Yellow blades were red.

** By 4:25 the Hot Pink was red.  Several saber blades had turned off but AV was illuminated & sound was still on.

** By 4:30 ALL of the UltraFire sabers had no blade illumination.

** NONE of these sabers turned off automatically because, despite the wrapper claiming these cells contain Protected-Mode PCBs, they obviously don't!

**  At 4:50 the Menace CE, with its TrustFire 900s, shut down automatically due to low power.  The blade remained fully lit until the shutdown (set for Guardian Blue).

Right off the bat you can see the 900 Mah TrustFires lasted more than twice as long as the 1200 Mah UltraFires.

I charged all cells in a pair of external xStar XC4 Digital chargers.  These chargers are nice because they show how many Mah each battery takes during the charge cycle.

**The UltraFire 1200s ranged from 360-450 Mah....about 1/3rd of their stated capacity!

**The two TrustFire 900s took 795 Mah & 805 Mah respectively.  The 900s accepted TWICE the power of the 1200s!

WOW!  Brother, you certainly are a seeker of the truth!  Well done!  I have read about higher mA batteries being falsely advertised.  You just took it to the next level!  I tend to follow folks advice on these type of issues YET, you have verified it!  I wish I could give you 1000 points of your choice!  For now, enjoy a well deserved point!  Thank You!