Storage of li-ion light in cars?

I wish to keep my new li-ion 2 battery Trustfire light in my car for emergencies. However, here in NYS the temps inside a car can go from 110F to –20F. Is it OK to keep a high power light in a car year round?

Thanks.

Joe C

I keep my GPS in the car, and the temp here can reach 70C inside there.

There's a big difference in capacity after 6 months - nowadays I can hardly use the GPS for 5 minutes before it needs to be plugged in. So, at minimum, I think extreme heat will damage the battery capacity.

The Nissan Leaf battery packs in hot areas haven't done very well.

A flashlight might suffer too, but I don't think it'd be as bad because you wouldn't use it often and probably wouldn't use it at the extreme ends of that temperature range.

Non-rechargeable cells tend to do better at very low temperatures than rechargeable ones. Heat above 60C is Not Good for lithium cells - it isn’t good for people either.

Problem solved :wink:

car refrigerator cooler - warmer when needed refrigerator cooler

Heat while fully charged causes degradation in Li-ion permanently reducing capacity. Cold also negatively affects Li-ion more than it does lithium primary cells. It’s kind of the worst of both worlds. For a stick it in the car and forget it until you suddenly need it something stashed with primary CR123s or Energizer AA lithiums tends to work better. They aren’t reusable but then you aren’t using it all that often.

Or set yourself a routine, once a month cycle out your cells, then you know your cell is a max of a month from last charge. Were lucky in the UK, we don’t get those high temps. I have an ultraok in the glove box, its an xm-l, takes 26650/18650/AAA in a holder. I keep eneloops taped into the 4 x AAA holder and a king Kong in the light and check it once a month for volt level.

I’m also not inclined to eliminate the blinkies. Since it throws pretty well, it can serve not only to investigate the fault but as an additional hazard warning light. Best thing is, its damm cheap off of eBay, the thread is in the 18650 forum and keeps popping up in the recent posts section.

Hang on……

There you go, best of both worlds. :bigsmile:

Living in Canada I know batteries have a short lifespan being kept in a frozen car. For a car light I prefer lithium primaries . Freezing doesn’t hurt them. Either CR123 or lithium AA primaries in a selection of 1.5, 3.0 or 3.6volts.

Good thread. Informative. I have been wondering this myself.

I don’t keep Li-Ion cells in the car. The heat is a killer for them in the summer and the light may not be very bright after several weeks of hot days. I use a single AA Duraloop NiMH cell in my car light and swap it out every month in the summer to ensure it gets cycled with my other NiMH cells and no issues in the summer or winter. While the heat will cause faster self-discharge, it’s not a big issue with Eneloops as they hold their charge longer and they can be recharged whenever you want. Cool conditions for NiMH is not much of an issue.

I carry a Li-Ion 18650 based light in my daily carry bag and that doesn’t see much heat or cold for any lengthy periods, so it works well for me.

It gets up to 159,376 degrees F where I live in the summer and my lithiums (primaries) do just fine!

Are lifepo4 similar to li-ion as far as temps go?

LiFePO4 are much, MUCH better under -+ temp conditions.

Not tried LiFe cells at low temperatures. I’ll break out the hobby charger and charge up a couple of them then put them in a pair of U20’s. (XP-G R5 single AA light.)

Then one goes in the freezer overnight and one stays in the kitchen. The cell should stay cold for a minute or so.

My freezer can only hit –25C (13F) but it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Edit:

I see this is my 6000th post.

As far as I know LiFePO4 shold stay ok until –30. At lower temp they should lost some capacity.

Big up Don! :slight_smile:

Good to know about LiFe cells. I might go that route for the car.

I am just as concerned with heat as I am cold. Do they do better than li-ion in high temps?

If its for a emergency I would just get a RC-G2 or similar AA flashlight and plastic case with some OEM Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. Then you are good for the next 10 years or so. Or even just some LSD AA’s if you want, if you are feeling rich you could keep a PA40 in there with AA’s.

Yup. Lithiums are definitely the safest backup. For non-flashtards they are the only way to go.

Funny you mention the PA40…. my old lady’s car carries my old streamlight propolymer 4AA loaded with energizer lithiums.

This is what I do, I keep my Aurora C6 in the car with 2 extra 18650’s. Every month or two I check them with a multimeter and if needed, charge them or swap them out. In Canada I have to worry more about the low temperatures in the winter than the high in the summer. Of course you’re much more likely to need the light in the dark cold winters.

If I am traveling a long distance though I always pack another light or two with a bunch of extra batteries.