QMiniAA on 14500

I recently jumped on the Lithium rechargeable wagon. The 18650's seem to work fine in my P60 based lights so I am happy with that. What I was not prepaired for was when I dropped a 14500 in my Quark MiniAA. WOW that little thing is crazy bright! So much so that I was concerned that I would end up killing it. Ended up taking it out :(

My question is has anyone destroyed the MiniAA by using the 14500?

On a side note I put a 14500 in my Akoray/Nkoray K-106. Fried something because AA's no longer work BUT it works better than ever on the 14500, flickering & mode changing have gone away and I actually like the light now

No, you just have to be careful. Running it more than a few minutes is a big no-no (WAAY too hott for that tiny body)

I've it, and I only use it with 14500's. It's a nice pocket-rocket I just don't use it in high for more than a minute, or when I feel my fingers are on fire. It still works with NiMH. I've seen in Youtube that the brightness with 14500 is the same than the Qmini 123 with rechargeables 16340 (all the Qminis have the same 0.9-4.2V driver)

Well then I guess I'' start running the 14500. What kind of run times can I expect on Medium?

It should last about 3.5 hours on medium, 35-40 min high, and I'm not sure about low.

1x 14500 750mAh AW Protected
High 262 Lumens
Medium 51 Lumens
Low 3 Lumens
High Spot 2420 Lux
High Spill 120 Lux
Medium Spot 470 Lux
Medium Spill 23 Lux
Low Spot 26 Lux
Low Spill 1 Lux
1x AA 2000mAh Eneloop
High 77 Lumens
Medium 23 Lumens
Low 3 Lumens
High Spot 708 Lux
High Spill 35 Lux
Medium Spot 208 Lux
Medium Spill 10 Lux
Low Spot 25 Lux
Low Spill 1 Lux
1x 14500 750mAh AW Protected
High N/A (dangerous to test)
Medium 03:12 to 50%
Low ~2.5 days
1x AA 2000mAh Eneloop
High 02:10 to 50%
Medium 05:28 to 50%
Low ~2.5 days
http://www.light-reviews.com/4sevens_quark_mini_aa/

Wow thanks guys for the responses. Looks like I'll run the 14500

%&$# On 4sevens webpage I found in specs that this light is AA (1.5V max) only. Wish I knew that it works with 14500 also. D'oh! :tired:

Quark MiNi AA: Basic Specifications
LED: CREE XP-G S2
Max Output: 70 ANSI lumens
Material: Type-III Hard-anodized Aircraft-grade Aluminum
Lens: Optical-grade glass lens with anti-reflective coating on both sides
Water resistance: IPX-8
Battery: One AA (1.5V max)
Seven Output Modes:
Low: 4 lumens, 39 hours
Medium: 21 lumens, 6.2 hours
High: 70 lumens, 2 hours 15 minutes
Special (hidden) modes:
Strobe 4 hours
SOS 12 hours
Beacon (Hi) 20 hours
Beacon (Lo) 100 hours
Dimensions:
Length: 3.0 inches
Diameter: 0.70 inches
Weight: 0.67 ounces (w/o battery)
Included accessories: Lanyard, split ring for keychain attachment, spare o-ring.

I saw that as well. The regular Quark AA seems to be fine with 14500 though (One AA Battery (0.9V~4.2V))

According to David Chow the circuitry in the Qmini series of lights will handle 4.2 volts, but he has also stated that they have too little mass to sink the heat and that is why they are only specified to run 3.0 volts. The accepted way to run RCRs in these lights is to only use low and medium for extended use and reserve High for the wow factor.

I run RCRs in all of mine, but I seldom need or want to use the high setting. When I do want high I use LiFePO4 cells because their lower nominal voltage generates less heat.

i've had one for almost a year now, and i carry it everywhere with me.

i've only used it with a 14500. one person used it on high til they couldnt stand to hold it in their hands anymore.

and it still works fine. but maybe i'm just lucky?

a welding spark hit the lense, so now there's a small imperfection in the lense which affects the beam :(

I've seen this topic come up many times, but it is bit of a grey area. Officially 14500 are not supported by 4sevens. Unofficially david chow (4sevens) has said it can be used with 14500, however it will get hot fast and the head may damage the components. He did imply 14500 would be safe to use if you only had it on for a few minutes.

From what I have noted on threads... a lot of people seem to run 14500 fine in the mini AA with no short-medium term issues. I have also noted a couple of cases where people have said their mini AA has failed, in which they feel the cause was running it on 14500 batteries.

So in summary you can use 14500 batteries in the mini AA, but do so at your own risk. If it breaks, you have been warned. If you don't want to take the risk, don't run it on 14500.

I see people say that frequently, but I don’t recall the cases. Also, who is to say that the failure is the result of using a 14500.

I have had a couple of days to play with it running on the 14500. The amount of light this little finger sized light produces on high is unbelievable. I can definately see how an extended run (5+ min) could destroy it.

Really really impressive

Um..... Its callled overheating? It damages the emmiter and blues it.

Well I haven’t seen a report of that. All anybody says is “died” not overheated. I don’t doubt that putting a 14500 in a mini AA, turning it on high, and setting it on the table will result in damage. I want to know the circumstances and the results.

I'm almost getting curious enough to attempt a sacrifice myself. :p

Damn it, just do it and report back, and don't cry when its dead.