Just interested to see if most people use normal or lithium batteries in their smaller torches. The lithiums obviously have more power / brightness but at the cost of run time and battery expense.
I’ve just bought a little Coast HP1 and the difference between the 2 isn’t massive which makes me query if it’s easier just to use normal AA’s although I also have one of the small Cree Q5’s which it does make quite a bit of difference with …. the Cree also has a low mode so if you want the battery to last longer between charges and don’t need the constant higher power you can switch it to low for a longer run time.
I have a couple to a few AA and AAA capable lights. If I need any to be brighter then I will use a Li-ion but if I truly need bright I have my lights equipped with DD driver and Tk's firmware.
In short I usually keep Nimh in those lights except my Olight S15r which will use AA in a rare pinch
Lithium cells ARE normal here. Run time is like gas mileage — it all depends on how you use the throttle. One of my lights will run for 30 days in moon mode (but only a half hour on turbo).
I’m inclined to have Alkalines, Eneloops and 14500 lithiums available for all my AA lights. Total flexibility. The same is true re my AAA lights, Alkalines, Eneloops and 10440’s. But for all others its lithium rechargeables only as there is no other choice really.
I go with LiIon for daily performance with a more storage friendly alternative for my approach. Right now that is alkies since I have bunches of them with a couple Li primaries for long-term-stored lights. My few NiMh’s are old and decripit. Going to get new NiMh’s soon, Eneloops are highly regarded for that but Tenergy is also said to be good. The condensed basics of different cell types:
*LiIon likes to be used, doesn’t like to store with a full charge.
*NiMh LSD’s will store well and have good high-discharge characteristics for powerful lights.
*Standard NiMh’s have high-discharge characteristics but don’t store well.
*Li primaries store well but do not have high-discharge output capability.
*Alkies are cheap but can leak.
You need chargers which will cope with each type you plan on using. Some chargers do all well but those aren’t cheap. If you settle on LiIon and NiMh you can get 2 good chargers (one for each type) for a similar price and have redundancy if one charger fails. That’s my plan to be implemented after releases my finances again.
I avoid alkalines, and prefer NiMH usually Japanese such as Eneloop. I’m not keen on lithium secondaries, I’d rather have zero worry. Lithium primaries cost too much. These days NiMH are so good you can store an emergency light for years.
Exactly. Even cheap NiMH are far better and almost as cheap. I am surprised we do not have laws to forbid the sale of alkalines, or at least add a huge landfill tax.
Is the only difference between alkaline and NiMH that they can be re-charged, certainly I’ve used Eneloops for anything that has quite a bit of use ad requires regular replacement
If the light I’m using will work with LiIon and I might need the extra lumens then it will have one in it :bigsmile: Once back to storage, no cells in it (or back to a lithium primary if it’s a light for storage) It’s like having a big engine in your car- you can still take it easy but if you want performance it’s there. Plus rechargeable. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t care for lights that can’t use LiIon, even AAA/10440 size. I like the ability even if I don’t use it.
Of course it will vary for everyone, and as long as you’re using good cells in good lights I’m on your side!
Run time is like gas mileage — it all depends on how you use the throttle. One of my lights will run for 30 days in moon mode (but only a half hour on turbo).
releases my finances again.