I’m not a fan of the 14500. I sometimes use them in a couple of older Zebralight SC52’s, just to give them a bit of a pop. But, they’re still plenty bright enough on an Eneloop, so the 14500 isn’t really necessary.
If I need higher output, I’ll go with 18650, which gives some reasonable run-time on a bright level. 14500 just doesn’t have enough juice.
Some other (non Zebralight) AA lights I have really do benefit from a 14500. Many 1xAA lights can be pretty mundane with a AA, but turn into nice lights with a 14500. The problem is those lights often get too hot with a 14500. Okay for brief use, but not so good for more than a couple of minutes.
Yep. I once propped up a SK68 with a 14500 to light up under the house while I was doing some repairs.
It had become scary hot by the time I picked it up again.
Love the 14500:
Sofirn SF14v2.0, SF12, SP10A & SF10
Lumintop Tool AA2.0
ThorFire TG06S
Enogear AA Stainless Steel (AA/14500)
and most recent, Wuben E05
Favorite? Wuben for top lumen, Tool AA for accessories, Enogear AA for tint, Sofirn for budget and ThorFire ’cause it was my 1st 14500
Got just now interested in AA/14500 FLs and noticed many (most?) of them are not really optimized for Li-Ion operation, not even taking protected cells. Pulled the trigger on a Lumintop EDC05 due to many positive reviews.
Not only that but the drivers don’t seem to be optimized for Li-Ion. I’ve tried a lot of these combo AA/14500 lights and I find that the regulation isn’t as good for the higher Li-Ion voltage as it is for the AA battery that has a boost driver. Seems that a lot of manufacturers go with some type of pulsing or PWM when they detect the higher Li-Ion voltage. Most of these inexpensive AA/14500 lights don’t seem to have a buck-boost driver. The only AA/14500 light that I didn’t mind with a 14500 was the Fenix LD11 which is now obsolete but you did have to pay a little more $$ for that one than these sub $20 lights.
Thus my attitude with them is that I buy a AA/14500 light for the AA ability and not the other way around. Interestingly enough, I don’t see the driver issue with the CR123A/16340 lights. And that my have to do with the fact that both of those batteries are closer if not above the Vfwd of an LED. For Lithium ion, I like 18650 and 16340 and not so much the 14500 .
I was all about 14500 cells when I bought my Quark AA in 2009, but it turns out that I have very little need for the increased output enabled by using a 14500 instead of a NiMh cell. Also, since I have a house full of kids that I didn't have in 2009, the risk of someone taking a 14500 cell and putting it in something that expects a regular AA is very real. As such, I no longer have any 14500 cells in the house.
If I want the benefits of Li-ion, I will use 16340, 16650, or 18650 cells in the appropriate lights.
