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.
Lots of info for you here
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?
thanks,
Robby
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.
okay, latest is intellicharger i4, 2 efest 10440’s and a 4 pack of eneloop AAA’s.
can i just use this little battery tester with the eneloops and the 10440’s? i just want something simple.
looking forward to not having to buy bulk pack AAA’s from costco anymore 
Robby
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.
This is what I was referring to. Works on any cell 2.5 –30V. Cheap. MtnE usually stocks them but is out tight now.
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
got presents this week to try with my ITP A3 EOS keychain flashlight.
bought a nitecore intellicharger i4
- efest IMR 10440-just one to try out
- panasonic eneloop AAAs
first question… does the efest 10440 come fully charged? i tried it in the ITP A3 - HOLY CRAP that thing is bright!
i have a battery voltage tester coming, but it’s not here yet. if the 10440 comes fully charged, then fine… i assume there’s no serious harm in putting the battery in the intellicharger it SHOULDN’T CHARGE the 10440 if it’s fully charged, right? just curious.
tried the AAA enelooops… meh… about the same brightness as a new akaline AAA, which is what is expected, eh?
next up, researching a “real flashlight” thinking of a convoy X3, but they seem to all be out of stock currently?
thanks,
Robby
Batteries are supposed to be shipped ~ 3.8V so yes, throw it on the charger.
Be careful using the 10440 in I3 that you don’t discharge it too far and ruin it.
Really need to monitor voltage on the battery as the light will give you no warning.
…. also that 10440 is rated for 300mA max charge rate, prefer 150mA rate.
I believe your charger will charge them much faster than this
Just read the nitecore instructions… It says I should never charge just one 10440. There’s too current voltage for 1 battery. Wtf? That was the whole point of the charger!
I only have 1 efest 10440.
Should I put an AAA eneloop in there in the slot next to it?
The eneloop is already charged though.
The amperage will be halved if you use slots 1&3 or 2&4 together.
Do you have any other 3.7 volt batteries?
If so, insert one of those in the other alternate slots. 375 mAh is close enough to the 300 mAh recommended.
Do not know what will happen if you use one of the Eneloops in the other slot.
HTH
Keith
375mAh is 25% higher than 300. And 300 is already the max recommended fast charge. 150mAh is recommended and what your suppose to aim for. When you push it you degrade your battery, reduce its capacity and life.
So this seems a bit disconcerting… Seems I pissed money away on the nitecore i4. Needs two 10440s… And even 375mh is a bit high or will this thing be fine if I charge two 10440s ? What if one charges before the other?
Will it zap the 10440 still charging with 750mh?
Can I put 1 10440 in with 1 charged eneloop AAA? Reason being to get the current halved. Or is that useless because the current won’t be halved if the other battery us already charged.
Gah, this stuff is frustrating!
Why I recommended the Xstar MC0 charger. Inexpensive and good for all the small cells from 10440 up to 18350.
Edit- you’ll just have to get an 18650 light to go with that nice charger. The learning curve in this hobby pretty much guarantees this sort of inefficient use of funds. For some reason it doesn’t ever seem to get better.
OK, but his choices are 750 mAh or 375 mAh, so here we are. Lesser of 2 evils, doesn’t make it perfect but it is what he apparently has for choices at this venture until he can acquire a low powered charger.
Bottom line, it is a $3.35 battery.
Yes, he needs to get a nice low powered charger, I have been happy with the XTAR MC0 and it only costs like $6.
On low it puts out 250 mAh.
Who makes an inexpensive quality 150 mAh charger?
Driving an LED at twice it’s recommended amperage will no doubt lessen it’s lifetime, yet we do it everyday.
It’s all relevant.
Thanks,
Keith