I have an iTP A3 EOS Q5 Upgrade Edition I use as a keychain EDC. I like the light. I want to test a change from AAA alkaline/Eneloop to lithium 10440 batteries (not recommended by the manufacturer, but apparently works if you are careful with the heat produced). My understanding is that protected batteries generally won't fit in this light, so I have to use unprotected ones. How do I know when to take out the 10440 batteries and recharge them, given that they and the flashlight won't have a voltage protection circuit built-in. Do people really check the voltage on them every few days to prevent them from going under-voltage and getting ruined? If so, that seems like a fairly big hassle, so I might just shelve this idea if so. What will happen if I accidentally leave them in the light too long? Would I be risking life and limb to carry such a light in pocket?
Would an IMR 10440 be safer? From my reading, those seem to be safe(r?) for people who might over-discharge, but I'm not certain on that.
Simple. I know that with the typical 10440 (300mAh or less) you get ONLY 10 minutes runtime on HIGH, about 50 minutes on MED (old version) and many hours on LOW.
Taking that into account is simple. OR charge it each time you use it several minutes on HIGH or MED
NOTE: avoid overdischarguing them below 3,6 volt or the lifetime will decrease a LOT!.... below 2,75volt is dangerous to re-recharge
Dont worry if you keep the light too much switched on. Simply you will ruin the battery. The problems will arise when you try to recharge it, it may explode
it is what it is ..trying to ask it to do something more isn't gonna make anyone very happy ..it's a tiny little bright light ...why anyone would need more horse power from it doesn't make sense to me .
get another light if this one isn't enough . I think it's output is huge for it's size ..It's like asking a baby to play basketball
First , I have one , Maratac , that exclusively runs 10440 , it starts on medium , then goes low , and then high ..
On medium it puts out 80Lumen , same as the AAA on high , so I never really need to go on high , I just run it , MEd-Lo .
If you run med - lo , it should offer good run time for the output return .. I charge mine around 3.9v and charge to 4.15v
These little cells having such small capacity , can be really hammered hard by running high a lot .. Also if you drain them to much or try to force to much charge into them , the cells can degrade faster .. I have 2 chargers that charge around 300mA , I use these to charge the little 10440 [ Ultrafire WF-188 and GTL ]
There are a couple of comparisons. Its the same Flashlight (LED). The main difference between them is the appearance. The i3: tailstanding, longer and an other clip attached by screws . Its up to you to decide what you prefer. In some reviews the A3 is a little bit brighter, in some other its almost identical. I bought my a3 from shiningbeam.
I am not sure the i3 and A3 uses the same circuit. The i3 has some sort of temperature control, this is something that first recently has shown up in flashlights.
The last generation of A3 might use the temperature regulation (I have never checked them), but I doubt that there is any temperature regulation in the older A3. I believe much of the temperature regulation in lights today is due to 4Sevens, especially on his own lights an Olight.
In my review of the i3 it reduced the led current and keept the temperature of the light at 40 degree centigrade:
Usual there are no reason to do any measurement twice. I only do it if there is something strange or unusual with the result and often I wary the conditions a bit.
With the i3 I was worried about how hot the head would get in high and started with a heat test at 1.2 volt:
It did not get hot at all and it looked like the current was reduced. Next try was with 1.5 volt:
The temperature rises fast and then stabilizes as the current is reduced.
As the last curve I did 1.7 volt and used that in the review.
I also have an ITP A3 EOS Q5 Upgrade Edition that hangs on one of my key chains. Ive ran it exclusively on 10440's for about 1.5 years without incident. When on high mode, the led starts to dim quickly around 3.5V, so time to recharge. When it gets to hot to hold, I shut it down. Beyond the lack of mass to help dissipate heat, I find that it operates the same on lico's as my A1 and A2.
I check the voltage of all my batteries before and after recharging.
Hmm.. methinks I should have got the preon 1 instead. Slightly taller but seems to be win in every other respect (more modes.. maybe uneccessary.) costs more, but looks better on a keychain (more stylish.. doesn't have that grippy thing). Any reason that this or the Olight i3 os better than the preon 1?
