TENAVOLTS AA Lithium 1.5V rechargeable cells

Got a battery powered: nose trimmer, beard trimmer, 2xAA Sonicare travel toothbrush? Really perks up devices like that, small motors that are kind of laggy, especially as the batteries get old.
The only lights I put them in are small 2XAA or 4xAA motion lights I have all over the house. Some of them that I want to keep brighter and are harder to change out seem to do a bit better with these.

A minor point, but important to me, is that the battery grip in some of those lights is damn aggressive. I can shred the top edges of the cell prying it out, or break a fingernail (ouch!). Some cells I actually need a tool which can cause even more damage. The Tenavolt are a tad smaller diameter, much nicer and harder skin/wrap than any other battery I know (including Eneloops), and slipperier. They go in and out nicely. For a permanently mounted light near the ceiling I like that a lot.
The best cells I had for those particular lights were some REALLY old RayOVac 4.0 and Eneloops. They are getting tired and need replacing anyway. They have hundreds of cycles. Those old ROV have actually been amazing. Manufactured in 08/2011, I beat the snot out of them and most of them are still OK, not great, but still buzzing along. Good enough for stuff like that.

BTW, thanks for the efficiency explanation. Didnā€™t think about the multiple conversions going on. That would not help out at all.

After finding out the hard way just once, Iā€™d stick a thread or thin string under the cell to help yank it out later if wedged-in.

But yeah, things that directly take 1.5V are what these cells are best suited for.

Well, thatā€™s a [DUH!] moment. They put those in devices. I guess I could too. :person_facepalming:

The Tenavolt cell I took out of a xeno eo3 after it shut off running on high read 0.24V fluctuating wildly to about 0.60V. The tenavolt ran this light more like a 14500 than a eneloop - brighter with a lot more heat and shorter run time. In direct drive lights, the Tenevolts are great. The run at full brightness until they are almost dead when they start to dim and flicker. In most fully regulated lights, Tenavolts seem to run pretty much like standard eneloops.

Hmm, odd. Mine was going full tilt and then just shut off without warning. Try turning it on, nope, nothing. No flickering nor dimming.

Iā€™d like some kind of indication, in fact. Thatā€™d at least give me some warning.

Alkaleak, lit right up. 14500, lit right up. Tenavolt, nope.

Recharged it, lit right up.

Have you not seen the completely flat discharge curves posted by HKJ? :slight_smile:

Oh, Iā€™ve seen ā€™em, but still wish thereā€™d be some kind of warning. Itā€™s a bit disconcerting to be shaving your face and have the beastie just upā€™nā€™die as if you switched it off. Bad enough NiCd cells would do that over 5sec or so. Having it happen instantly is definitely a ā€œWhoa, what happened??ā€ moment.

The Xeno just shut off - I think the protection circuit kicked in.

Running tenavolts in a couple of flashlight/lanterns combos, a energizer weatheready 2AA and a life gear 3AA is where I got the dimming/flickeringā€¦ā€¦thought it might have something to do with the multiple cells, but I had the same thing happen with a inova X1 which suddenly dropped from full brightness to a few lumens and soon started to flicker. Iā€™m not sure what is going on, but this is what happened.

I think there may be some variation in cut-off. Iā€™ve got some that simply go to 0v, and others that do kind of what you are saying. But, when itā€™s flickering, itā€™s done.

Could be chuggle. Ie, voltage under load when itā€™s spent drops too low, the circuit stops functioning, load drops to near-0, voltage rises, it kicks in ever so slightly for a ā€œflickerā€, then the cycle repeats ā€™til the cellā€™s so spent that it doesnā€™t come back on again at all.

Neighbor whose yard abuts mine has an idiotic spotlight in his yard, where the sensor must be in the beam or at least catching enough light from it. Turns on, sensor thinks, ā€œOoh, itā€™s light out!ā€, then shuts off 5sec or so later. Then, ā€œOoh, itā€™s dark out!ā€ and it comes back on another 5sec or so later. And the cycle repeats.

All.

Night.

Long.

Think of the ā€œflickerā€ as a very fast and thankfully very transient effect like this.

Is this still accurate for an Xtar X4? I put four in my charger before I read this thread and it seems to workā€¦.
I still have the proprietary charger so I can use that if itā€™s warranted.
Sorry for the necrobump

No, it doesnā€™t work. It mayā€¦ā€¦seemā€¦. to work with ā€¦ā€¦someā€¦ā€¦ chargers. You will get some charge, but the chargerā€™s termination capability will be thwarted by the internal electronics. They are in control.
Tried what you are talking about with a number of multi-chargers. Nope.
Works fine with the proprietary charger.

I havenā€™t been impressed with my set of 4 Tenavolts cells. One would not hold a charge worth anything, and the others donā€™t provide much longevity per charge.

Wow. I sooo appreciate the info. I put them in the tenenvolt charger and the primary indicator was green.
I assume they are chargedā€¦? They will go back into the bathroom radio until ā€˜deadā€™ and then back to the factory charger. Tanks again!

Huhā€¦ they work fine for me. You MUST use the come-with charger. They need 5V full USB voltage, NOT 4.2V thatā€™d charge Li cells. The latter almost certainly wonā€™t charge the internal cell worth a damn.

In my Xeno, an alkaleak will gradually dim to the point of being useless. A Tenavolt will maintain full 1.5V brightness (ie, dimmerā€™n a 14500) right up to the point where it drops dead without warning. Decent runtime, too.

I agree with @Lightbringer. I have a dozen, all working almost continuously for a year+. No, they donā€™t have mega capacity, most being in the 1600mAh range. They donā€™t have mega amp output, being limited by the circuitry to ~ 1.5A output. But they do put out a pretty solid 1.5v until they drop dead. That is very useful for ā€œsomeā€ applications. Mostly not needed though. Understand what you are buying.

Only worth the price on a GOOD sale, which I have not seen in ages. Current price is simply way too high.

+1

My Harmony remote loves them because of the steady 1.5V output. They last about 6 months in it on a single charge.

I do see the attraction however at $35 for 4 (Amazon,) thatā€™s just too much. Thatā€™s over 3 x as much as eneloop which is already the most expensive rechargeable battery.

Yeah, I think most of us got them when they were $12 for 4 + charger. At the regular price, there is nothing interesting about them.

Yeh, thatā€™s more in line with what I recall paying for ā€™em.

Theyā€™re great in things that donā€™t like eneloops/amaloops, that need that higher voltage.

I recall some remotes that would stop working with NiMH cells. Alkaleaks that were down to 1.2V with no load were pretty much spent anyway, so youā€™d get decent life out of ā€™em (before theyā€™d start leaking), so in that case the Tenavolts would be perfect.

But yeah, no, no way would I pay almost 9bux per cell.