Reccommendation for long term rechargeable house and car lights

Long term storage rechargeable cheap house and car lights?

Hello all! New requirement, I need a dozen or so identical flashlights, so price is important. . Trying to top out at $25 or so, but if there is something perfect for a little more…

The idea is that I have the same flashlights for emergency use in my cars and house. Something to put in place and forget until needed. I hate grabbing a light and finding it’s dead, and I don’t want to have to remember to change batteries out.

So I figure a plug in rechargeable is the way to go. The lights will be stored, left plugged to a power source at various indoor locations or in cars.

Light, runtime, and throw levels, the more the better. Likely uses in order of frequency- household use during power blackouts, tire changing, night vehicle recovery, search and rescue. Maybe an occasional one hour walk.

I am no expert, lithium ion battery? 26650? 123? I’m completely ignorant, you experts tell me.

Size- I want a good, hand filling light. Mag Lite 3 D cell size is just fine, down to about Streamlight Stinger size. I don’t want a pocket light. Aluminum or steel, not plastic.

I prefer no modes, just on and off. Bad past experiences with inadvertent activation of strobe. So if there are modes, deactivatable would be nice.

Tail cap switch or both side and tail cap.

Have at it!

For emergencies, stock up on AA lights and Energizer lithium primary cells.
Storage life of many years; don’t leak; work when very cold; don’t catch fire; don’t blow up; don’t go suddenly dead when they get weak.
Back those up with AA Eneloops and chargers; top up Eneloops while the dust settles and switch your lights to them when the Energizers are getting weak.

There are no chargers you can safely leave connected indefinitely, in this way. See Lygte-info.dk — you’ll also find his reviews here, same information.

Hank’s advice is very good, and adding some of these will make AAA batteries work in all of your AA flashlights,— https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001913/1137300-translucent-aaa-to-aa-type-battery-converter

One thing that I would say with conviction, is don’t order your lights until you spend a few weeks researching this.

Looking at your original post, it is clear that if you spend a couple of weeks on this, that you will make some huge adjustments in your thinking, so don’t rush in just yet, to buy everything.

Well I was sort of hoping not to do weeks of research so I asked. :slight_smile:

This is pretty much what I want-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NiteCore-MH25-Hybrid-960-lumen-LED-Rechargeable-Flashlight-w-Charger-Battery-/190817502102?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6d9c0396

but it’s beyond my price goal.

What’s wrong with something like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2500-Lumen-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-Flashlight-Rechargeable-Torch-18650-Battery-Charger-/141370915071?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ea5cf8ff

if I can find a tail cap switch one? Or this

http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_161677.html

if there’s a version that plugs in?

Thank you!

There are no chargers you* can safely leave connected indefinitely.

  • you meaning you, for your purpose here.
    It can be done — satellites have chargers permanently connected to batteries, so does hospital equipment, emergency fire and police and military gear, etc.

> what’s wrong with this one?
Well, see, you can go on asking that question for quite a long time, pointing to one thing after another.

If you don’t study the basic info readily available here, someone will be glad to sell you whatever you’re sure you want.
It won’t take you an hour to read the whole section on chargers at lygte-info.de.
It would be an hour well spent. You’ll be able to ask much smarter questions with that background, and you’ll have answered a lot of your own questions.

While I’m obviously all too susceptible to falling into recreational typing, I’m going to sit this one out.

On my way to there to read over it!

P.S., small world, my sister lives in Kobenhavn.

In the house and garage you can buy any decent flashlights and headlamps because you will be at home and have plenty of back ups and fresh batteries. Sipek 68s are good lights for scattering around the house, and they run about $5.00.

For the car, I like to have good quality lights and batteries, to me the car flashlight is for walking and for working on the car, so it doesn’t need to be big, just high quality and one that cannot fail me.

This Fenix E12 lists at $27.00 and is all the flashlight and run time that you could need for the car, throw in a two pack of lithium batteries, or a switch out of eneloops every 6 months, and store it all in the trunk, and you are good to go, especially with a headband that will turn it into a headlamp.
Fenix E12——- Fenix E12 V2.0 AA LED Flashlight for Everyday Carry – Fenix Store
High - 130 Lumens (1 hour 30 minutes)
Mid - 50 Lumens (6 hours 30 minutes)
Low - 8 Lumens (40 hours)

Nite Ize NPO-03-01 Headband/Hands-Free Flashlight Holder——- Amazon.com

Do you carry a flashlight on your key chain? If you carry one that is good enough, like a Fenix LD02 100 Lumens Mini Pen Light LED Flashlight w/ 1xAAA battery and a Lumen Tactical key chain light, then you are covered for a car break down and tire repair, and it will fit into that headband.

I must have failed to make myself clear.

I don’t want to have to switch out batteries on a schedule.

I don’t mind changing them after use, but being able to leave the lights unused for 2 or 3 years and still have them work when needed is the key element.

So buy lithium batteries, like I said.

Although the Eneloops still have 70% of juice left after five years.

Lithium ion will lose capacity and be possibly dangerous to leave fully charged in a hot car, so don’t do it. High heat and fully charged will hasten their demise dramatically leading to the problem you want to avoid.
I keep a Crelant V21A with 2 eneloops in the car, a year later it was 80% charged (i capacity tested them). Not the best 2AA light, but its what i had handy.

The eneloop battery powered light is the best, and the lithium primaries may also be good (but i don’t know much about them so i can’t recommend them, though someone else above says they are fine for your purpose).

DON’T use alkaline batteries, they will leak under high temps and destroy your light (and have no juice when you need them).

If i were you i would look for a 1-4AA light with good reviews and in your price range, and buy one to test before buying more.

!!

AA Lithium primaries stand up well to the rigors of life inside a car and have a very long shelf life. Just dont store it in direct sunlight.

You could wait for these to be back in stock @ $22
www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_79494.html

Or one of these is $40

Considering youre in the US, you could buy local for $30
http://www.illumn.com/armytek-partner-a2-xm-l-330-led-lumens.html

or this for same price

http://www.illumn.com/jetbeam-dda20-xp-g2-285-lumens-2-x-aa.html

As someone said above, car lights tend to be for close range stuff mostly so any would suit that purpose.

IMO you need a light that runs on lithium primaries like the CR123A cell. They have a 10 year shelf life and are very safe when used in single cell lights. with 3v they perform nearly as well as a 3.6v Li-Ion rechargeable.

You do NOT want to use 18650 or any Li-Ion rechargeable because they self discharge after a few months or so and when you need it the chances are it will either be dead or too low for prolonged use. They need regular maintenance which you said you don't want to do. Your only option is to use lithium primaries and the CR123A has a 10 year shelf life which makes them ideal.

You our can easily get a good light that you can stow and forget until you need it and it won't cost much. Check out the Trustfire Mini-01 for under $13. Great durable little light. Get a box of cells online and you will be all set without breaking your budget.

So the 123 or AA lithium PRIMARIES are the ones that can stay in the light, in the car, for years without losing charge, NOT the lithium ion rechargeables?

The lithium ion RECHARGEABLES when left plugged in over a long time may overheat and burn? Does a using a “protected” lithium ion 18650 prevent these problems?

What about this phenomenon I read about where some lights draw current from the batteries even when turned off? How can I find out whether a light does this?

Thank you! I’m sorry for my ignorance.

Lithium ion your correct, they lose capacity and are more dangerous at high temps. Protection will not affect this problem, protection prevents over discharge, reverse charging and too fast current draw.
Lithium primary i don’t know much about so others who do will have to advise
Lights with electronic switches (typically side switches) will draw small amounts of current, and some lights its a high draw, the way to prevent this is to pick a light that has such low draw it takes years to affect things (check reviews or ask us) or better yet pick a light with a mechanical switch (most of our lights, ask if unsure), as they are mechanically separated they won’t draw current to keep an electronic switch functioning.

ONE lithium primary can stay in the light. Not two in series.
https://www.google.com/search?q=CR123+explosion
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?340028-Flashlight-Explosion

All the explosion articles I’ve seen say that the problem arises with mis matched cells. Am I wrong, is the explosion risk the same even if the cells are from the same lot and brand new?

I ask because it appears- correct me if I am wrong- that two CR123 primaries are about the same size as one 18650 rechargeable, and so two CR123 primaries could be used in a light that takes an 18650. Assuming it was a 6 volt capable light.

I like the convoy L4, nice and big with the added tube, but not rated for 2 cr123s!

typically yes, mismatched, but having seen many news stories of exploding li ion cells (many single cell examples), i can’t accept the risk of leaving a light in a hot car unattended with hundreds of heating and cooling cycles a year because this increases their risk of explosion dramatically and cars are extremely flammable collections of gasoline, plastic and rubber, its just not a smart thing to do, so i highly recommend against being a test subject. Especially when you can just use eneloops which are cheap, very effective and much more reliable. I have read of stress testing where they were hooked up directly to A/C power or 30Amps of juice and still did not explode. 4AA can easily give 12 hours of bright enough light to do any car repair, or 1000 lumens (a car headlight) for over 1/2 hour, so the way i look at it is why take unnecessary risks when safe and effective alternatives (and not expensive) are available. You can even leave an extra pack of batteries in the glove box, or buy more batteries at any corner store, so its a superior form factor for automotive use.

Some lights do come that way, i have an Olight S20 that can take 1 18650 or 2 CR123s, and there are other lights that are the same, i still would not leave in in a baking hot car with batteries.

Alright, I’m convinced that AA primary lithiums are the way to go. But they are all little lights! Are there any larger, like mag lite 3d or even down to stinger, high lumen, aluminum, tailcap mechanical switch size AA lights? Maybe with 4, 6, or 8 batteries?

If you want a bat buy an LED MagLite 3D or similar and converters for AA.

Or if you just want the reflector size increased theres the Sunwayman D40A, but you wont find it often under $50 (occasionally it is though). Its 4 x AA, very bright with good spill and a very good unit. Probably 4 times the width in reflector and body of a 2x AA, half the length. No mechanical switch. Theres some variation on this from other makers too, I think Thrunite does one, and the Nitecore EA41 but its not got a good heat management design, I seem to recall someone testing it and it drops lumens quicker than the others.

XinTD X3 runs on 3 x AA or unprotected 18650/26650. Large head and would be under $30. (apparently not, $50 at Intl Outdoor with nice AA holder, and $36 at FT with plastic AA holder).

But I think a 2 x AA will do more than youre expecting it too, although not necessarily all you want it too. I have an XPG 2 x AA Nitecore MT2A and its great out in the sticks for locating letter box numbers etc that might be a good 80 feet away. Id see anything near the car so changing a tyre would be more than bright enough.

If I can get HKE to discount the price, Ill probably buy a Thrunite XPL 2 x AA. I dont expect the throw of the XPG2 but Im hoping for better spill and good throw.