Yep, coldest March for 50 years or so. Should get warmer next week, apparently, so presumably that means more rain.
I have a charger with a 3.6/4.2v switch. After forgetting to reset the switch and charging LiFePO4 cells to 4.2 once, I epoxied a LED display to it. However you don’t really notice it is too high until after it’s too late. Since installing that voltmeter to it I have accidentally overcharged LiFePO4 cells 4 times. Although a convenient solution for those pedantic enough to never make a mistake, I have come to the conclusion that for absent minded people such as myself, the chargers with switches are not such a good idea as I have to consider the possibility that the damage I have done to the cells is now more expensive than what buying a dedicated charger would have been.
Some time ago I was searching for AA LiFePO4s, and came across Coolooks on eBay. The price was good, and I got 4 Coolook LiFePO4, 4 Coolook dummies and a Coolook charger. I have been very happy with the purchase.
I charged up my Coolooks and the Soshine. For a test I placed one into my Spark SD52 with a dummy cell and ramped it to high then activated Turbo mode and started the stop watch. The Soshine ran for about 24 minutes. The Coolook’s ran for 30 minutes. I assume the draw was a bit more than 1A, so the results are probably similar to the discharge test, perhaps the the Coolook’s do a bit better than the Soshine at the higher discharge rates, or I may have received a few sub par Soshines. I still have one that I did not unwrap yet so will have to try it as well.
I get the impression there is not a huge amount of interest in LiFePO4 generally in BLF anyway, and I suppose the low capacity may be the main reason, talking run times of 25 minutes is probably not going to get people’s heart rates elevated.
I’ve added 0.1A graphs to the first post.
Although, for Coolook, I’ve used 2nd battery from a pair - first one has died after couple 1A discharges (lost massive amount of capacity) 
I’ve discarded 2 Coolooks now, so it looks like a pattern is emerging. I’ve got quite a few of them, most still not unwrapped, so will keep an eye on them.
I have four Coolook dummies, and they’re just the same as the day I got them. :bigsmile:
This thread is timely, for me, because I’ve been considering getting some LifePO4 14500s to test (the same 3 Coolook, Soshine and Powerlion), so keep us posted on the Coolooks?
Also, BTW, TSellers, even if you keep your eye on the non unwrapped ones, I can guarantee that they’ll remain not unwrapped :)…
Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one :)…
Jim
Did you mean “how did you buY”? If so, they’re all on FastTech.
Jim
I see what you mean! The unwrapped one were ostensibly for others to use in their VHF radios, so the plan was to hand virginal items over to them, maybe I need to rethink that.
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001850/1208603-coolook-14500-lifepo4-rechargeable-lithium-batteri
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001850/1134100-powerlion-aa14500-32v-650mah-rechargeable-lifepo4-
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001850/1157200-soshine-aa14500-32v-700mah-rechargeable-lifepo4-ba
What precautions do I need to take using lifepo4? Do I need to check voltage? I am going to use only one cell per device.
I have the Coolook and often use them in my AA/14500 lights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_lithium_ion
Hope this helps :) ......
So seems 2.5 volts is the lowest it should go.
Pretty much. I know that I have gone down to 2VDC on my cheapie AA/14500 lights and that does shorten life. They were my first 14500's because of cost but what I like about them, albeit lower voltage, is that they will stay constant much much longer than a typical 14500 but the typical Li-ion 14500 IS brighter. Sometimes it just does not matter when the darn light does not put out but 200 Lm :) (FYI - those are my cup holder lights).
Please, please just do not fool yourself....it is a battery and ALL batteries can have bad consequences.
Edit: A quality 14500 light that does not use AA will shut down before you get to 2.5VDC
This is just to draw the attention of Shadowww, the discharge graphs are gone, let's hope he/she can bring them back up.
Cheers ^:)
In the meantime, my unwrapped ones are still going strong….
Old thread I know, but I have always wondered why they couldn’t make 3 volt LifeP04’s in AAA? AA’s exist.
They do exist, Streamer. At FastTech there is this:
- LiFePO4 (AAA/10440 category) search.
- Authentic Soshine AAA/10440 3.2V 280mAh Rechargeable LiFePO Battery (4-Pack)
Whoever made the Soshine 4-pack listing forgot the “4” ending digit. :-)
Just don't expect those capacity claims…
Cheers ^:)