first post here. i’m sure it’s been discussed before, but would the below link work well enough for an ITP A3 keychain light? are the 10440 batteries a drop in replacement for the ITP A3 flashlight?
yeah, i know the below link isn’t the best of the best as far as the batteries and charger, i just want to know if the setup will be serviceable for urban use (i’m not some psycho outdoors man).
i just want something that fits and works decently. what do “protected batteries” do? what’s their advantage? are the batteries in the below link decent enough? or what would you suggest for 10440 batteries WITH a charger (i want to buy both at once).
as far as the safety of using 10440 batteries with the ITP A3, i doubt i’ll use more than the medium setting, but it’s nice to know i can rock 200 lumens for a few moments, if necessary. i do unfortunately have vision issues with one eye, and it has pretty crappy sensitivity to low light.
plus i’m getting sick of the ITP sucking AAA’s dry to where i only have enough power for the 96 lumen setting for like a week or two before the battery can’t muster the voltage for the highest setting anymore.
and if unprotected 10440 batteries prove to be too big of a hassle (like risking them catching fire in the charger), what’s the best AAA batteries/charger combination (meaning i just want to buy batteries and charger all at once).
do rechargeable AAA’s risk catching fire in the charger to? or just the 10440?
i’m just sick of the thing sucking enough life out of a fresh alkaline AAA to where the highest setting only works for like the first two weeks.
though a 10440 would be fun to just freak people out with so much light coming from a little keychain light
I wouldn’t waste my money on the ones in your link, for a start they won’t be 600mah batteries and you’ll be disappointed when they don’t perform well.
Also a cheap *fire battery with a cheap protection circuit IMH option is more dangerous than an unprotected quality one, as it often leads to a false sense of security
I’d buy some efest 10440 cells, in fact I have
As for a charger do a search in the battery and charger section and see what’s been reviewed and recommend
Worth spending a few more £ on some quality batteries and a good charger for peace of mind
if you can find them. led lenser has protected 10440
lcr battery and usb charger
edit: check thickness first, they might not
fit due to protection circuit strip in the side
Most commercial chargers won’t overcharge your 10440s. Jetbeam/Nitecore Intellichargers are pretty inexpensive and seem to work well. Protection circuits also usually prevent over-discharge and shorting. You can prevent over-discharge and shorting by paying attention to what you’re doing.
Any 10440 that claims more than 350 mAh is lying. The Efest IMR 10440 is one of the best on the market, but I think it only comes in flat-top and may not make contact in all flashlights. My local Interstate Batteries store stocks button-top 10440s for $2 each. They seem to be ok.
Running 10440s in that light should be fine. It may shorten the life of the LED some, but it will be decades before you notice. It may get hot; don’t leave it on high unless you’re holding it in your hand to absorb the heat and monitor the temperature.
as far as how long i leave them in the flashlight. when should i recharge them? can i just use the light “here and there” for like a month… mostly on medium setting. perhaps a few high bursts to freak out some friends?
how vigilant do i have to be about making sure to NOT let the batter get too weak before recharging?
i’m assuming good quality unprotected batteries like elfest plus the intellicharger should “shut down” if the batteries start to pull too much current… like they are gonna burst?
i’m assuming even rechargeable AAA batteries could burst too, right?
Anybody know if flat top 10440s will fit in an itp a3 eos?
how careful do I have to be with unprotected 10440s? I mean if I use the intellicharger and the efest batteries? Can I just leave the battery in for a month? I’d probably average like 5-10 minutes a day on the medium setting. If even that.
How do I know when to charge the battery? I’m there’s there’s a FAQ on the interwebs.
I wouldn’t use unprotected Li-ion in that light. It will drain the battery dead before you have a clue it is happening. Just get some AAA eneloops and a ni-mh charger for it. These will work so much better than the Alkaline you are using.
Those are the right batteries but that charger only charges batteries in pairs. (1&2, 3&4 together)
You really should get a charger the charges each battery separately. Much better for the batteries and since you have a single cell light.
An unprotected lithium-ion battery will not drain any more in almost any flashlight that’s turned off than it would sitting on the shelf.
You don’t have to be very paranoid about over-discharge. If you notice it getting dimmer, that’s time to charge the battery. If you don’t use it a lot, turn it on high once a month to check, or just put the battery on the charger monthly regardless of apparent performance.
Eneloops hold about 1 watt-hour. Efest 10440s hold about 1.4. If they were supplying equal power to the light, the Efest would last longer. They’re not; at the higher voltage, the 10440 supplies more power. Medium with the 10440 may well be similar to high with the AAA with longer life, depending on how each mode of this light responds to those particular batteries. High with the 10440 will be very bright and drain the battery very quickly (my 1-mode 10440 light lasts 15 minutes).
Leaving the batteries in the Nitecore charger should be safe, as it turns off when it detects the batteries are charged. I’d still probably take them out if we’re talking about weeks instead of a day or two.
Unprotected batteries do not shut down when too much current runs though them, as in a short circuit. The Efest 10440 can put out a steady 3 amps at around 4 volts for about 5 minutes. That’s enough to start a fire. Don’t short them.
wow, lots of info! i’m thinking 10440s are overkill for my purposes and there’s always be a part of me worrying about using unprotected li-ions.
as far as eneloops and chargers, what about this one then. and how do the panasonic pro eneloops compare to the regular 4th gens? or pretty much teh same?
i mainly just want to be able to use the 96 lumen high setting on the ITP A EOS more than just the first few weeks of a fresh alkaline before the battery no longer has the juice to power the flashlight’s high setting.
is there a problem with my previous link of using the cheapie tandem chargers (need to charge two batteries at once). or will the cheapie charger wear the batteries out or possibly overcharge them?
Cheapie chargers and cells don’t last. You end up buying new ones and the whole point of rechargeable cells is avoiding replacement. All my radio shack nimh’s are dead and none of my Efest 10440’s have failed though several ultrafire cells have. Eneloops have a good reputation but I prefer the higher output capability of liion so my recommendation would be a couple Efest 10440’s and an MC0 charger from Mtnelectronics (plugs into any USB) so you can charge it anywhere you can charge your phone. Your choice in the end and not wrong either way but I don’t think you’ll hear many voices recommending the cheapest options of either type.
Okay, I think I’ll buy a nitecore intellicharger, 4 Panasonic eneloops and two efest imr 10440s to play with. If I don’t use the 10440s for a year, will they take out my house?
No, self discharge rates are low but check them once in awhile with a voltmeter. Best to store around 3.7V. I find it handy to have one of the small led voltmeters to check cells.
That battery tester looks like it’s just a voltmeter, so I’m guessing yes. It says it supports 1.5 volt and 9 volt batteries, so it probably works with 4.2 volt batteries too.
Be aware that some AAA lights will not accept protected lions. I just one of my iTP A3 lights, and a protected Ultafire was too long, and would not fit. I remember a thread maybe a year ago that showed how to modify a light to take the protected 10440’s, but could not find it.
I just use unprotected batteries, but normally prefer eneloops.
Jerry
