I’m not a die hard ‘flashaholic’, but do like to invest in quality lights/batteries, etc. that will be used on a regular basis. No shelf queens collecting dust here… Anyway, first question is regarding some Eneloop Pro AAs that I use in a handful of lights as I like the form factor, ease of maintenance, long life, etc. I’ve had 16 of those AAs for going on 5 yrs. now and charge now/then as needed and every 3 months or so I put them through a refresh/analyze cycle on my Maha Powerex charger. The ‘min mah’ listed on the label is 2450 and mine are still averaging 2400 and 1.46 volts after the 1000/500 charge/discharge refresh/analyze cycle. I stick with the default settings for that as it seems to get the job done. Recently thought about replacing them, but those numbers seem quite good and I don’t put the lights through crazy hard use so the cells are never pushed that hard. Think based on my explained use/numbers they should be good a few more years?
Also, over the last 6 months I’ve picked up a great headlamp (Fenix) and another flashlight (Eagletac) that both use an 18650 cell and both have onboard charging. I really have no intention of utilizing various lithium cells and don’t plan to keep large numbers of cells on hand. In this case I’m assuming the onboard charging should work great keeping the cells in good shape, fully charged as needed, etc. Was for a brief moment thinking of something like the SkyRC MC3000, but having the Powerex for AA/AAAs and the onboard capability of the flashlight/headlamp I guess there’s no real practical reason to buy another multipurpose charger. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Depends how high-strung the lights are. If they’re not handheld curling-irons (imagine especially not the headlamp; that’d hurt), you can get by with higher-cap cells like panny-Bs or sanny-As that’re good to about 3A or so. If they are rather high-strung, 30Qs are my go-to cells (and they’re 3000mAH vs 3400mAH or so for higher-cap cells, so you can go all-30Q just fine).
Hell, I got headlamps and low-stress lights that I’m still using laptop pulls to fuel ’em.
Most times, laziness prevails and I’d just toss a cell into a light that has onboard charging, vs dragging out a “proper” charger. Test the light first, make sure it doesn’t overcharge, and if everything’s kosher, you can use that just fine.
Eneloops are the best you can get in nimh. No surprise they’re fine after all that, esp if you take care of them (proper charging is critical for long life).
As far as li-ions, there is some maintenance involved. Proper charging is even more important. On board charging is great and as long as your lights have low voltage, overcharge/overdischarge protection you’ll be fine leaving them in the light. I recommend getting good quality, genuine cells to get the most out of your headlamps. Even laptop pulls if properly maintained in good condition are good for low-drain to around 2.5 amps since most are name-brand. I prefer Sony vtc6 for high drain and Sanyo 18650GA for capacity. Samsung 30Q are good too, but beware of fakes.
As the two others have said, Eneloops are the best.
Li-Ions don’t have memory issues.
But if you are going to let the light sit for a long period of time, it might be a good idea to use the light until the battery is down in the 3.6v-3.7v range.
Then pull the battery.
Some lights have a parasitic drain that could sneak up on you over time.
All the Best,
Jeff