# Test - Zebralight SC600 XPH50 Mark IV Plus



## jscott36 (Nov 21, 2010)

This evening I placed my Zebralight SC600 XPH50 Mark IV Plus outside in the cold for a test. Both the battery and flashlight were at room temperature to start.

The nighttime outside temperature was 9 degrees F and I used a fully-charged Orbtronic 3500 mAh 3.7v H-IMR battery.

Results: Exactly 30 minutes run-time on the highest setting.

The flashlight then stepped down to a much lower setting- at which point I retrieved the light, brought it back inside, and turned it off.

How does this compare with other lights/batteries. I'd be interested in hearing about other's experiences.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Lights/batteries are all going to have the same issue. Any other battery that size (18650) is going to respond the same/worse to the cold.

Any flashlight is going to basically do the same exact thing. Loose a large amount of its run time.

There is no real way to "compare". Too many flashlights and battery combinations.

The brighter the light means the more the run time will be effected.

The lower the capacity of the battery the less run time regardless of temperature.

This is why multi cell battery packs are almost required for winter time night riding. Small flashlight style lights loose a major portion of their run time and nothing can be done about it. Flashlights are giant heat sinks so any heat they would generate is rapidly lost to the outside air.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## Rod (Oct 17, 2007)

+1 on what RaKC said. I went out the other day with my 4 cell pack and was in the red, light was on high, but most of my losses was due to the cold. This was after an hour or hour and a half of riding.


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## znomit (Dec 27, 2007)

jscott36 said:


> How does this compare with other lights/batteries. I'd be interested in hearing about other's experiences.


It's a single cell single LED light putting out 1500+lm. Not much to compare with.

You can mess with the PID cut in setting to increase runtimes or brightness.

_PID Thermal Regulation Temperature Programming for three highest output levels
Turn off the light from H1 and then turn back on to H1
Press and hold to cycle from Low to High 6 times
On the 7th (or more) cycle, release the switch
when High, to add 1 degree C (up to 5 max)
when Med, to revert back to the factory default
when Low, to subtract 1 degree C (up to 5 max)_


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## jscott36 (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks guys. This is very helpful. I figured something was up when I used my bike helmet and this light when using the snowblower the other night. The flashlight seemed to have a significant lower runtime - and it was about 26 degrees F at the time.

I'm wondering if there is a non-flammable type of insulator that I could put around the flashlight to help keep the battery warm. Of course, then I might be concerned about overheating. If the light did catch fire I would probably enjoy that brief extra boost in illumination coming from the helmet on top of my head 

Seriously though, if I did try an insulator of some sort in those temps what's the worse that could happen? [and please, I'm not going to go out and but a multi-cell battery  Just having fun with what I have to work with. Thanks.]


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

jscott36 said:


> Thanks guys. This is very helpful. I figured something was up when I used my bike helmet and this light when using the snowblower the other night. The flashlight seemed to have a significant lower runtime - and it was about 26 degrees F at the time.
> 
> *I'm wondering if there is a non-flammable type of insulator that I could put around the flashlight to help keep the battery warm. Of course, then I might be concerned about overheating. If the light did catch fire I would probably enjoy that brief extra boost in illumination coming from the helmet on top of my head *
> 
> Seriously though, if I did try an insulator of some sort in those temps what's the worse that could happen? [and please, I'm not going to go out and but ( buy ) a multi-cell battery  Just having fun with what I have to work with. Thanks.]


If you insulated the battery tube on the torch it might get you another 10-15 minutes of run time depending on the outside temp / wind chill factors. Then again it may really do nothing. As long as the head of the torch which houses the emitter is not covered I don't think it will cause a problem as long as you are moving. Always keep in mind that cooling is mostly done by air that is moving over the the parts that do the heat sinking.

I wouldn't worry about something being flammable. You might try going to your local hardware outlet and pick up some tubular foam insulation that is designed for PVC tubing....or ....if you have some old thin foam insulation of the type used to pack T.V.'s, you could cut a piece of that and wrap it around the battery tube and hold it in place with some tape.

Your torch is using an emitter I'm not too familiar with. That said I have no idea how much current is being provided to power it when on high. The listed starting output on high is 2300 lumen with run time listed by Zebralight as 1.8 hrs. To me this seems rather long for such a high output but since the torch also incorporates a thermal regulation circuit, that may help explain the listed longer run times if you assume the output is being tapered as the torch begins to heat up @ normal room ambient temp. As for your shortened run time; Could be the torch was cold enough that the thermal reg. never cut in to taper the output. If you got a full ( unregulated ) 2300 lumen for 30 minutes from a single 18650 cell I wouldn't complain too much. Just carry more cells when going out in cold weather.

Looking ahead a bit, I'm hoping that somewhere along the line that the manufacturers will start to build more torches with Cree XPH series emitters and then decide to provide a battery tube that uses the 5000mAh 26650 cells.

On Friday night, with record cold temperatures in my area ( Md. ) while driving in my work vehicle I saw a guy riding a Mt. bike on the side of the road ( around 6:30pm ). With wind chill factor near -7° I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. Guy must of really wanted to ride. :shocked:


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## jscott36 (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks Cat-Man-Do - 10-15 minutes more out of the light by using insulation material sounds pretty good. I tend to ride at night when its cold (usually not below 30F) so it would be interesting to see what type of effect any insulation would have in those temps as well.

Although it might sound like I'm complaining about the shorter run times in the cold, I kind of expected that. I have 4 batteries to work with because I plan to swap them out whenever needed.

I must say, though, that it is kind of a bummer to have to stop the snowblower at night to change batteries when it comes time. It's been brutally cold and i just wanted to get the job done 

Overall, very happy with the light. Now that I know what to expect regarding run times I should be okay.


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## GJHS (Jul 10, 2013)

I thought to try with something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Por...Gloves-Foot-Knees-Mouse-Pads/32776319390.html though this model seem underpowered. I am building an electric skateboard that uses 40 18650 batteries (10s4p) and range is affected the colder it gets. When I get the enclosure together I will report my findings


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## jscott36 (Nov 21, 2010)

That sounds like a wild setup. Will have to see this skateboard GJHS!


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## jscott36 (Nov 21, 2010)

duplicate post


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