Zebralight Batteries

[Perrin713]

Just picked up a H600C zebralight. Bought some 18650 batteries off their website. Very impressed with the light and the brightness of the lamp. However the battery life seems terrible. I ran the lamp this morning goose hunting for roughly 30 minutes and the battery was already drained. My question is what is everyone using for batteries? I hope there is something out there that lasts longer than 30 minutes.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Something is wrong. Get ahold of them in the morning and discuss your situation. It’s not right. Light or battery, something isn’t kosher.

I used my Zebra light for four nights on the original charge last week with zero issue. Maximum output and the next click down. I used it every evening throughout the winter last year for months doing chores. Thirty minutes to an hour daily and may charge it once a week prophylacticly

 

[cornfedkiller]

As the post above says, something is wrong.. you should have way more battery life than that.

With that said, I run Panasonic NCR18650B batteries. They are a kinda mint green color, made in japan, no PCB, and should be like $13 or so on ebay for a 2-pack. I run button-tops because I have a flashlight (different brand) that requires that and the headlamp works with either.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Which 18650 batteries did you get off of their website?

 

[Perrin713]

Welcome to ZebraLight, Inc. -

Bought those due to recommendation from zebralight. Said they’d preform better in cold temps.

 

[Tod osier]

Are you running it on high/high all the time?

 

[Perrin713]

Are you running it on high/high all the time?

First click on. Which I believe is high. However I’d like to assume the battery should last longer than 30 minutes before it drops down to the lower setting. The lower setting just is too dim for my eyes to see.

 

[Tod osier]

If you are running on high/high, then I’m not surprised you are draining the battery (it could also be overheating). Turn it on with one click like you have been and then double click it, that will put it on high/low (the second highest setting). It will have a lot more life there (hours) and be plenty bright for most things. It will automatically come on at that level next time you turn it on with one click. I consider high/high emergency blast mode and only use it for a second or two to light something up.

They are complicated lights, but I love mine.

 

[Hathcock]

If you didn’t charge it before using it they typically don’t ship fully charged. That’s a good battery and as long as you purchased it from zebralight it should be fine. There are lots of knockoffs on batteries that you need to be careful with. I wouldn’t buy from amazon or eBay for batteries.

If you look at the zebralight page they give expected run times based on output level. There isn’t enough thermal mass to run these lights on high for very long so they should be stepping down pretty quick. Medium levels should be able to be maintained for awhile.

As mentioned above I would reach out to zebralight because it could be an issue with the light but it could just be an expectations issue or misunderstanding of how these work.

If you want real bright for a long duration you will need to go handheld for thermal and battery characteristics.

 

[Perrin713]

I charged the batteries soon as I got them. Charged showed them at full capacity before throwing them in the lamp. If I’m reading their site correctly they claim High/high is 2.5 hrs.
I’ve emailed them on Sunday afternoon and haven’t gotten a response. Was able to find their number to give them a call but no one ever picks up.

 

[cornfedkiller]

When you were running it on high, was the battery actually dying or was it just dropping the level down to a lower level?

 

[Tod osier]

When you were running it on high, was the battery actually dying or was it just dropping the level down to a lower level?

That was what I was thinking, even though the battery has enough juice to run the light on high/high for 2.5 hours doesn't mean that you can run it straight for 2.5 hours on that setting.

 

[Mike Islander]

I have about 15 ZLs. 30 minute on H/H is about right. Full high on that light is an amazing 1600+ lumens. If you review the specs on the ZL site, you'll see they list runtime on H/H as "PID, 2.5 hrs". That means you start at HH and then the light steps down to a lower setting after a certain amount of time or after reaching a specific internal temperature.

The runtime graph will look something like the red line on this graph. It will start on highest lumens then drop down to about 50% of that for over two hours.

 

[camelcluch]

Something does seem off. I use the streamlight batteries that have the usb charging port. I get about the rating on each level.

 

[Mike Islander]

Just picked up a H600C zebralight. Bought some 18650 batteries off their website. Very impressed with the light and the brightness of the lamp. However the battery life seems terrible. I ran the lamp this morning goose hunting for roughly 30 minutes and the battery was already drained. My question is what is everyone using for batteries? I hope there is something out there that lasts longer than 30 minutes.

When you say the battery is drained, do you mean the light shuts down, or it just steps down to around 300 lumens? Stepping down is normal.