Protected 18650s

[admin]

Hi all!
So I’ve been using my TN12 for a little over a year with old laptop 18650s. Yesterday I finished charging one and put it in the flashlight and went off into the night with the light strapped to the handles of my bicycle. Had it on 280lumens (actually lower since the cells I have are old and don’t hold a charge too well). After 3 hours of cycling, it started blinking, showing me the cell was pretty much empty.

Now my question is about protected cells: I’ve read somewhere that unprotected cells have to be monitored as to not to let the voltage go too low. But if the flashlight already tells you that it’s empty, why need protected cells? Protected also have inverse polarity protections, but so do most flashlights today. What’s the need really?

Just a pic of my TN12
IMG_0180 by Gilatabar Glabu, sur Flickr

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