For an emergency use or little use which type of battery should i use?

another vote for CR123 as “set it and forget it” batteries.

i have four CR123 emergency use only flashlights.
twice a year i turn them on just to make sure.
once a year i check the charges and check for leaks.
no leaks and the oldest are still good at 11 years old.

9v cells. I remember someone said during a hurricane, he went to the store to get batteries for his lights, all batteries are gone except for 9v.

dealgrabber2002….that is right!

i had the same experience
after an ice storm.
what are some modern 9V flashlights
that are not the lantern-type?

I think too many people are overthinking too many things nowadays.

I bought some nice looking/fitting Zoomies yrs ago 18650.
Self charging socket in the side of.
One in each car.
Every “whenever”” I remember them I stick the dash charger into them for a coupla days.
One was on for around 2 months. LG Laptop pulls. 22600.
Never missed a beat, they still reading 3.6.(Whoops 3.9 - 4.1v on multi,)
I keep 98% of my torches in area of computer desk. Go through all my installed battery’s every coupla months and recharge.
Come to think of it. ALL my lights with battery installed. Apart from a coupla AA/AAA sized that don’t allow rechargables. Have Li-Ion and Li-Po installed…

All controllers, mouse etc run Duracel Ultra.

Climate. warm to Hot mostly. Queensland Sub Tropics. High Humidity (some say. I don’t notice )
Our winter means a light cover over a sheet in bed. for maybe 5 to 7 weeks (Intermittently) of the yr.

From a test I ran a while back.
113F official high, 115F on my car thermometer.
Coolest: Under front seat - 126.3F = 52.4C
Middle: Dash Glovebox - 138.5F = 59.2C
Hottest: Center consul - 146.6F = 63.7C

I vote for 123s, I’ve never had any leaks from then and they seem to last forever.
Next I would go for Lithium non-rechargeable.
After that, a cheap 2xC maglight (or?). and change the batteries every 2 years.
C batteries seem to be less prone to leaking that the AAA-AA flavors.

As far as pocket lights, almost all are too big for EDC use as far as I’m concerned.
I like the Nitecore TUBE.
Small as a USB thumb drive, rechargeable, electronic lockout, 45 lumens on high.
Easy to hold in the mouth if you need both hands.
Best of all - about $9-$11
Some have found that the internals fail after a while.
The problem seems to be the battery rattles around inside and eventually strain hardens the wires and they fail.
The fix is to open it up an put a tiny dot of double sides tape in there to keep the battery from moving around.
Be sure to allow room for the battery to expand and contract.
All the Best,
Jeff

2C Mags run great on L91 AA ultimate lithiums. L91’s will handle 140F, have a 20 year self life and won’t leak.

CR123A = shelf life is like 15 years = even then they do not leak

NOT aa or aaa, they leak, they do it worse in heat

not really li- ion, they run down in a couple years, plus capacity goes down in cold

wle

Okay, just some accrued wisdom over the years…

Never ever ever ever ever keep alkaleaks in any light. Unless, of course, you hate the light and want a reason/excuse to throw it out.

Alkaleaks are inherently evil. It even says so on the packaging, right under the “Hecho en Chine” part. Their aim in life and death is to ruin every device they’re placed in, if given even the slightest chance to do so.

CR123As are long-shelf-life almost-leak-free cells that can be used in quite many lights. They also withstand heat/cold extremes quite well. A box of ’123s found in a pyramid in Cheops still had enough juice in them to light a P60.

Lights that can take a pair of ’123s might be a good compromise. Check the light’s maximum voltage first.

eneloops are also good all-weather cells, but are limited to lights that can take NiMH. amaloops used to be as highly-rated, but I’m not sure about the latest ones. Not sure about LADDAloops, either.

No matter what the cell(s) used, keep them and any spares outside the light and in separate baggies. Yeah, even ’123s if you want to be safer.

Pak-light or search eBay. Plenty cheapy. Don’t recall seeing any high end 9v lights. Pak-light is good.

i would say double AA or even AAA would be the best for emergency situations. plenty enough lights coming from such flashlights.

Yup, AA’s and AAA’s are easy to scrounge out of things like clocks, remotes and toys and are easy to find on the road for a light kept in a vehicle. Plus energizer ultimate lithiums are just as good if not better than CR123’s for long term storage and performance in extreme high and low temps.

alkaline and carbon-zinc -> leak

energizer ultimate lithiums -> i have had odd results with them, mostly they do not seem to have a high current drain capability
they will shut down at random
no, i was not using during extreme heat or cold

The L91 is rated for 2.5 Amp continuous load and a 4 Amp pulse load which is lower than typical Li-ion and NiMH cells, but higher than what a CR123A cell is rated for - 1.5A continuous/3.5A pulse.

what i have seen is, they test ok on a battery tester, meaning that they can deliver 100ma ok but in a camera or something they don;t work

maybe what is going on is, my particular cell was almost dead but for some reason still indicated a high open circuit voltage, as well as delivering 100mA ok, but the max current has fallen off, and the tester just can;t test for that…

Sounds like you were using dead batteries. Ultimate lithiums should have open circuit Voltages of 1.79-1.83V fresh out of the package and when they get below 1.70V they are dead. If you are using a Voltage based battery tester intended for alkalines, they will test “good” long after they are dead.

wonder if they passivate like cr types?
you just run them a bit and they recover.

[quote=xxo]

[quote=wle]

oh!
good to know
they don;t exactly publish that info!!

wle

as for 9v lights make one from a dead 9v.
tear it apart for the connector.
2 white leds and a 100 ohm 1/8w resistor makes a decent light.
can use 1/4 &1/2w too but i ordered 1/8w since i build these 100 at a time for preppers.
2 leds in series with the resistor.
clear 5 minute epoxy,hot glue,ect to protect it.
extra credit for using yuji or other high cri leds.
no switch just snap it on.

With outdoor temperature ranges of 0 to 100F, –18 to 38C, I keep multiple flashlights with 18650 battery’s in all vehicles. Charge typically to 4.1V, never in the vehicle. I also keep battery operated tools in the same conditions. If I am slightly shortening the battery life, then so be it.

In all of my cars you’ll find 9v PALights. Their continuous glow makes them easy to find and is a reminder that the battery is still functional. I’ve never had a problem with storing 9 volt batteries in the car, even in Florida. And as others have mentioned, in an emergency 9 volt batteries are plentiful when everything else has been exhausted.