18650 flashlight to use and leave in car

If your light can take 6V then you could use 2x CR123s which have a 10 yr shelf life and safe for long term storage. A number of US sellers stock 123s for under $2.50 each so you could buy a small stock and have them on hand for a long time.

Great, thanks for all the advice. Any recommendations for high output flashlights (500lm +) that run on conventional aa or aaa, even cr123as, that are <50?

Actually, use LSD just in the summer, and Li-Ion spring, fall and winter. It’s just in the hot months above room temp (70’F/20’C) you want to avoid Li-Ion. I have a single AA cell LSD flashlight in the car all year for emergency backup, which gets a fresh cell spring/fall (unless it gets some decent usage). And I keep an 18650 flashlight in my daily carry bag for general use. The backup is really for my wife if I’m not with her or for some reason my carry bag isn’t with me or my main light fails.

As for buying AA cell lights, you’re not going to get a truly bright light (500) from single or double cell AA lights. You can expect about 100-150 for single and 200-300 lumens for double AA cells using NiMH rechargeables. For more light, you need more voltage and/or more current with todays LED emitters. I’m sure you can find many lights that advertise 500, but they can’t truly deliver that kind of output as AA cells just don’t have the current flow.

And as for brightness, 100 lumens of out the front (OTF) light in a dark place is actually quite bright. For typical night time tasks like taking the dog out, walking to the mailbox, looking for something I dropped, whatever, 10 lumens is plenty. To see what that bunny hopping around under the backyard table is doing, 80 lumens is plenty. To find out what’s making those growling noises 200 feet away in the bushes, well that’s when you want 400 or more.
:bigsmile:
To be honest, my 18650 light produces about 425 actual lumens at max, but I rarely use that much light. I use low/med at about 10/80 lumens most of the time to cast enough light for many tasks. For roadside emergencies, 100 lumens is lots, and 10-20 is enough to see what you’re doing to change a tire on a dark road, or look for the baby soother on the floor or something in the trunk. You don’t really need hundreds of lumens for emergency backup in the car. It’s nice to have higher modes with more output, but in practical terms, you don’t really need it.

Personally I’d go with a 502b host and either find or make a dropin that could handle 2 123s.

I’d probably also make it an OP with a diffuser and go with an XP-G2 or an XML T-6

Another option (and probably going to be contested) nebo redline, 3x AAA, you can pick one up at basically any gun store they are cheap and have a magnet in the tail to mount while working.

Also has my favorite implementation of FTT

While ago when I researched laptop batteries (Liion of course), experts mostly aggree that temperature is death for Li-ion cells. It ruins their capacity.

BTW, regarding storage of Liion cells, some measutestsrements were made, and result was that its best to store them 40% full.

I would advise, because car is moving thing, to have some light that cant be easily turned on (and undervoltage proteciton would be great too :slight_smile: all this what other said)

Haha, I actually go driving in the mountains a lot. Me and my buds like to stop at the vista point late at night to chill and relax. It’s practically pitch black there, and the possibility of a wild animal lurking in the bushes isn’t impossible. :wink: Plus, if one of our cars were to break down, etc, having a really bright light that can light up the whole area is really useful.

Jetbeam PA40 is close to 500 lumens, you couldn’t tell the difference with your eye. If it was to be left a long time without use I would use Energizer Ulitmate Lithiums in it, but if I was to use it now and then I would go with eneloops.

Also you could get a Solarforce L2 (or something similar) and use 2 cr123a batteries provided you get the right voltage drop in.

Usually I have at least one edc, many times 2 (main and backup), so that's more effective than leaving a flashlight always in the car. Easier to find on my belt, and sure I know if they are charged or not. Left forever in the car I'm gonna forget when I charged and would end up unusable when needed most.

Anyway I would not trust a rechargeable left alone in the car, because of high temps ruining the cells in the long run, plus the self discharge of cells gets worse with extreme temps (hot and cold). I think primaries are better for this, due to the lower self discharge rate, but anyway one would have to adhere strictly to a routine of swapping them annually with new ones.

so, how sensative to temps. are cr123a?Does high temp. effect the shelf life? And by how much?Are they safe to store at 125F?

The ShiningBeam Blaze is a little more expensive than a 502b, but I can wholly recommend it. You can feed it 1x18650 or 2xCR123, and it’s super bright with none of the heat management issues common to lights in this class, as it’s reasonably driven at 2 amps and the pill is securely mounted inside the head. The streamlined UI stays out of your way, the build quality/finish is exceptional, and the seller ships wicked fast.

I got my Blaze as a ‘blemished’ model (I found a tiny nick in the anodizing when I got it) back in June and I’ve put it to work almost every night at my summer job. I’ve dropped mine on rocks and concrete and got mud in the cooling fins (a dunk in the lake took care of that). The thing looks brand new aside from two small chips in the anodizing.

The UI lets you click away on the switch without changing modes, which is taken care of by loosening and tightening the head. Only thing I don’t like about it is the strobe, but the UI makes it easy to live with. It throws well for the reflector size and the 1A tint bin has won me over- it’s free from blue and green hues that plague many CW lights. The Blaze is a superlative light in the do-it-all 1x18650 class IMO.

-S.P.

Well, not that CR123 are happy about that hot in the car, but in the worst case the safety vent will bleed some pressure and keep them safe.

Cannot get for you any number, but have read that primaries do self discharge less. When you buy them there's always the shelf life stamped on.

From SureFire’s website,

“Wide Temperature Tolerance

Lithium batteries greatly outperform alkalines over a wide temperature range, providing a working output from –76º to 176º F (–60º to 80º C).”

So, they ought to be fine for the car unless you leave you car parked in Death Valley 8)

Wow that seems like a really nice light. I love the battery indicator. However, it’s a little more than I’m willing to spend on a flashlight at the moment…

hey Slim. are you sure about the Blaze and RCR123’s? I can very easily test that right now…If you want to forward a 32$ replacement fee!Just kiddin’ but I thought it said not to use RCR’s in the blaze. Anways, RCR are LIion like 18650, so the temp. issue is still there as per the OP.I do agree about the Blaze…a great light to travel with!I took mine to Maine 2 weeks ago to Boothbay.Must say though…could have used a dedicated thrower across Nickerbocker lake on the very foggy nights/mornings!I was happy to be there with 75-78F highs when it has 85-90+ in MD.

Thanks pointing that out, Raw, I’ma edit my earlier post. I remember the Blaze’s product page specifically mentioned not use them, at least before Bryan took it down from his website the first time earlier this year. For some reason the pages for both the Blaze and S-minis lights now say the V-in range is 3-8.4V. The caveat is they don’t list 2xRCR as a battery configuration. I’ll e-mail Bryan and see what he says. Disposable 3V CR123’s are good to go for sure, though.

We're glad that you joined, fengstar!

Heat does reduce li-on capacity, but it’s really not an OMG deal. If the cell loses 30% over a year, after two years it’s still only a “loss” of half a $5 bill or so (trustfires).

Some stats.

Thanks for the warm welcome :D.

I’m not really worried about replacing batteries, I mean what’s $5 per year right? I’m more interested in the safety aspect of leaving such batteries in the car.

If you’re really concerned about the safety of storing Li Ions in the car put the light and batteries in the trunk, otherwise use lithium primaries for long life storage conditions.

You can get one for $20 less than official dealer prices :slight_smile:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370640063870