18650 bateries do not work in Surfmaster 1.2 kit

[eagle52]

18650 batteries 3600mAh do not work If I use 8AA batt. it works Is there any special way to wire in I use 3 -batt. holder .?
Could any one help me out.?

[Daren]

I'm using surf pi 1.2 with 18650 x3 and it works fine. Maybe batteries current protection kicks because of the spike of current to initially charge caps?

[eagle52]

Can you explain this in plain English ? I am not very good w electronics
Thank you.

[eagle52]

What holder are you using and how are the batt. wired in it ?

[Daren]

I'm using surf pi 1.2 with 18650 x3 and it works fine. Maybe batteries current protection kicks because of the spike of current to initially charge caps?

I think some 18650 batteries have current protection build in. If the circuit takes too much power the protection circuit of the battery activates and cuts off battery to protect it. When you first turn on surf pi 1.2 the big capacitors are corrected directly to the 18650, it will create a current spike until they are charged.
One way to test this would be connect your AA batteries for few seconds, disconnect and quickly connect your 18650; if you are quick enough 1~2 seconds the surf pi should start. I have one 12 V battery pack that refuses to power barracuda PI. 18650 x 3 work just fine.

Verify also that you getting around 12V on your 18650 battery holder.

[eagle52]

Thank you !

[eagle52]

ALL it was one almost dead cell

[Daren]

occam's razor strikes again

[Koala]

Lithium Batteries will not charge again if they go too flat. Better to use protected batteries there little circuit in them that will cut them of when the battery gets too low. Will not give the maximum detecting time though. Also they are sometimes slightly longer.

[eagle52]

This was protected one but I bought them from China and one out of 7 batt. turn out to be bad I used six of them for over a year and all good except one
Thanks for advices
Jan

[sinclairuser]

i have tried the lithium cells in another project, but i did not see any real benefit over standard rechargeables, and to be honest any cell that has power that cannot be used is not efficient.
charging issues and fire hazzards whether real or imagined dont help, and to cap it off there are too many dodgy ones too.
i have tried allsorts of types, and for detectors i like hi quality AA alkalines, i can get 24 duracell for £8.99 so use them, the only exception is my barracudas which both have two nickle metal rechargables in them, they are generic 400mw true 9v ones and give me between 4-5 hours on a charge.

[Koala]

i have tried the lithium cells in another project, but i did not see any real benefit over standard rechargeables, and to be honest any cell that has power that cannot be used is not efficient.
charging issues and fire hazzards whether real or imagined dont help, and to cap it off there are too many dodgy ones too.
i have tried allsorts of types, and for detectors i like hi quality AA alkalines, i can get 24 duracell for £8.99 so use them, the only exception is my barracudas which both have two nickle metal rechargables in them, they are generic 400mw true 9v ones and give me between 4-5 hours on a charge.

They have one big advantage in that they still work in minus temperatures. I use them in my torch for winter climbing.

Certainly have more capacity for weight if you buy a proper brand ones. Problem is on ebay to sell more the higher the capacity and that's just a printed label

Don't loose much if left for long periods. So ready to go ideal for a torch left in the car say.

For a detector you normally not detecting in minus conditions and normally charge up just before you go detecting so not much of an advantage in using them.

[bernte_one]

just slay an old Notebook accu to get some good 18650 cells