True 1.5v AA and AAA batteries

[vicv]

I tried a lot of putting higher wattage bulbs in lights, but I've never been a fan of overdriving LEDs or lamps.
An exception is turbo modes for brief use. That was never a thing on any hot wire light I've used.

3V vs 2.6V, say, is extremely different as far as bulb life-span. But, sure, it's your bulb! That is a reasonable level of overdrive. IDK how many hours you'll get, but it's not going to pop it, and I doubt it would melt anything. I'm... just perfectly happy with alkaline or NiMH in minis. Back in the 80s, I thought it was uber cool to use 600mAh red & yellow Sanyo RC car AAs in mine. Albeit, they died in <2h.

And, I agree, if you're going to use your alkalines for <2h before (i hope) using them for some less demanding use, then, alright, that's probably about the same thing.

Oh, the other use: remote controls. You ever had a remote that cares about 1.5 vs 1.2? Mine all seem to work exactly the same, but the battery reviews seem to say that 1.5 is a godsend for some remotes.

Agree that eneloops are fine in almost all devices. The only issue I've ever had was a thermostat.
Yes, it is a bit of overdrive, but I don't think it's as much as some think. While alkaline do sag, it's not immediate. Maglites were Actually pretty decent with fresh cells. For a few minutes. Then they went orange. So for that first couple minutes, it was close to 1.5 V per cell. So I don't think it's that much overdrive. I have about five hours on one bulb, with these regulated cells. So far so good.
Also, in my minis, I am using eneloops. The only light I'm using these regulated cells in, is an ml25it. It is another to cell light. But it is using cells. So the bulb draws about an amp. Instead of the 300ma the mini uses.

 

[radellaf]

Agree that eneloops are fine in almost all devices. The only issue I've ever had was a thermostat.

Gads, yes. The new one craps out at about 1.4V! Just use 3 cells if you need more than 2.2V.

My old thermostat ran a decade without asking for batteries. I didn't even know it had a (leaking) set of alkalines in it until I replaced it. I assumed it was wall-powered. Really should open my furnace and connect that wire... But, it has run over a year (two?) off ultimates, so I may not bother.

I have about five hours on one bulb, with these regulated cells. So far so good.
Also, in my minis, I am using eneloops. The only light I'm using these regulated cells in, is an ml25it. It is another to cell light. But it is using cells. So the bulb draws about an amp. Instead of the 300ma the mini uses.

Sounds about right. In the ballpark of 25% lamp life. Not for me, but not unreasonable for "us folks"
Quickie Google says 25% life (and 140% lumens) at 10% overvoltage. 3.0 vs 2.5 (alkaline avg?) should be 5% life, but I'm not sure how well the data I found applies to minimag bulbs. They're certainly not the most common size/rating, and they're xenon vs what they may mean by "gas filled". And, IDK what mag's spec is, vs most 2 cell flashlight bulbs being 2.4V.

I only use incandescents for nostalgia's sake, and I buy 2700K LEDs when they're an option, so 2.4V mini mag light color is perfectly to my taste.

What seems irrational, for myself, is buying the bulk (40?) pack of minimag lamps last time I ordered from maglite ML150LR (the wall-mount Li rechargeable). It is possible they'll discontinue the part, but I'm, at the very least, set for life at this point.

 

[vicv]

Gads, yes. The new one craps out at about 1.4V! Just use 3 cells if you need more than 2.2V.

My old thermostat ran a decade without asking for batteries. I didn't even know it had a (leaking) set of alkalines in it until I replaced it. I assumed it was wall-powered. Really should open my furnace and connect that wire... But, it has run over a year (two?) off ultimates, so I may not bother.



Sounds about right. In the ballpark of 25% lamp life. Not for me, but not unreasonable for "us folks"
Quickie Google says 25% life (and 140% lumens) at 10% overvoltage. 3.0 vs 2.5 (alkaline avg?) should be 5% life, but I'm not sure how well the data I found applies to minimag bulbs. They're certainly not the most common size/rating, and they're xenon vs what they may mean by "gas filled". And, IDK what mag's spec is, vs most 2 cell flashlight bulbs being 2.4V.

I only use incandescents for nostalgia's sake, and I buy 2700K LEDs when they're an option, so 2.4V mini mag light color is perfectly to my taste.

What seems irrational, for myself, is buying the bulk (40?) pack of minimag lamps last time I ordered from maglite ML150LR (the wall-mount Li rechargeable). It is possible they'll discontinue the part, but I'm, at the very least, set for life at this point.

No, that bulb that has five hours on it is still going strong. It seems perfect still it has not burned out. Actually, I have not burned out an incandescent lamp in a long time. I don't even worry about it anymore. They seem to last forever. I probably have about 25 hours on a six sell magnum star. I'm running it on two high drain lithium ions. And I like to keep the cells topped up. So that bulb is getting over 8 V. And it's still going. I want it to burn out so I can replace it with a little bit stronger tad customs bulb, but it won't die

 

[radellaf]

No, that bulb that has five hours on it is still going strong. ...

Interesting. I googled further and it's all like 5% life at 20% overvoltage. That lamp must be different. It does have a REALLY short filament.
~8.2V to a 7.2V bulb? 14% overdrive. Yeah, I think the charts are for 12V indicators or 120V illumination.

I'll have to try it. Weird I never have. I'm curious to probe the lamp's pins and see what kind of voltage drop there might be. Even 0.2V drop would make a big difference.

 

[alpg88]

Some bulbs take overdrive better than others. I had 2 oem bulbs burn in 6d using li ion 1.5v cells. it was not an instaflash, but they barely lasted 2 ch/dch cycle of batteries, I can not say I saw any noticeable increase in brightness. iirc correctly krypton bulbs take overdrive better than magnum star xenons. Ms are made to be brighter, so their filament is thinner and burns hotter, basically on the edge of burning out.

 

[radellaf]

Measured at the pins, xenon minimag, fresh alkalines or Hixon 1.5V: 2.65-2.70V. So 10% overdrive, not 20%, and that's assuming it's a 2.4V lamp, which it may not be. Nor do I know at what point the "4-5 sets of batteries" cutoff voltage or time is.
Bonus, the aluminum body shields all the RFI. I can put the MM right next to an AM radio.

I'm not sure I like the full-voltage whiteness when it's more for nostalgia than utility, but hey, TIL: minimag is a good use of 1.5V AAs.

 

[alpg88]

OTOH, some bipin halogens take overdrive like champs, and we used to use it back in incandescent era. 90w 12v osram bipin takes 20v around 200watts, and about 2x as bright. so do long life mr16 take 5 li ion cells burn twice as bright.

 

[radellaf]

I've discovered my new favorite "1.5V Constant Voltage" AAs actually have a slowly decreasing voltage. I guess to make battery gauges in equipment somewhat useful, more so than the ones that drop suddenly to 1.1V as a low battery indicator. The selling point for me is how cute the charger is. You put them positive-end down in little green LED lit holes and the light turns orange while they charge. + and - are on the + end so the negative end just sticks up in the air. And, far as I know, you shouldn't try charging them using the negative terminal in a normal 1.5V Li charger. It's adorable. I didn't notice the voltage curve until I observed it on my LED candles, 2 with these, 1 with the blue Hixon 3500 batteries (no low-level indicator at all).

A little hard to find, and just available as a 4xAA 4xAAA charger kit for about $30. (vs $35-45 for other AA 8pk of similar types). Models are "ST5" AA and "ST7" AAA but no luck searching for those now.
ASIN: B0C6PFGQTL "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6PFGQTL?tag=cpf0b6-20

So... if you don't recharge them immediately, they only hold 1.5 for the first 25%. By 75% use, they're down to fresh NiMH 1.3V. MiniMag bulb would last longer, yet still be brigher than alkaline or NiMH.

Another factor is fit. My white XTAR are too wide. Blue or orange Hixons fit easily. These EBLs are almost a tight fit. They slide out, they don't drop out. Haven't tried my red EBLs or the XTAR with low voltage indicator.

 

[letschat7]

XTAR 1.5 v Lithums are trustworthy as far as quality goes but I couldn't get them to work in Led Lenser type lights that are multicell AAA. They aren't for every application but neither is lithium AAA or nicad AAA or carbon zinc AAA.

 

[aznsx]

I've discovered my new favorite "1.5V Constant Voltage" AAs actually have a slowly decreasing voltage. I guess to make battery gauges in equipment somewhat useful, more so than the ones that drop suddenly to 1.1V as a low battery indicator. The selling point for me is how cute the charger is. You put them positive-end down in little green LED lit holes and the light turns orange while they charge. + and - are on the + end so the negative end just sticks up in the air. And, far as I know, you shouldn't try charging them using the negative terminal in a normal 1.5V Li charger. It's adorable. I didn't notice the voltage curve until I observed it on my LED candles, 2 with these, 1 with the blue Hixon 3500 batteries (no low-level indicator at all).

A little hard to find, and just available as a 4xAA 4xAAA charger kit for about $30. (vs $35-45 for other AA 8pk of similar types). Models are "ST5" AA and "ST7" AAA but no luck searching for those now.
ASIN: B0C6PFGQTL "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6PFGQTL?tag=cpf0b6-20

So... if you don't recharge them immediately, they only hold 1.5 for the first 25%. By 75% use, they're down to fresh NiMH 1.3V. MiniMag bulb would last longer, yet still be brigher than alkaline or NiMH.

Another factor is fit. My white XTAR are too wide. Blue or orange Hixons fit easily. These EBLs are almost a tight fit. They slide out, they don't drop out. Haven't tried my red EBLs or the XTAR with low voltage indicator.

I'm not currently in the market, but this is good info to know, and I'm sure it ain't in the specs;-)
Thanx.

 

[Bryan-ba]

Rayovac used to sell a "rechargeable alkaline" that behaved much more like a regular alkaline and started at 1.5v, but the they have been gone a while. They are discussed here along with some "Pure Energy" rechargeable alkalines that I have no experience with.


I had some of the Rayovacs back in the day and I thought they worked well at the time. These days I am generally an Eneloop user, too. I have also found Watson MX and CX to be good. Rumor is the MX are rebranded Eneloop Pros (black) and the CX are rebranded Eneloops (white). The specs are the same and they have been interchangeable for me. At one time Amazon had an "Amazon Basics" battery that was made in Japan and rumored to be rebranded Eneloops, but I believe they are all made in China now. I have also had good luck with Powerex Precharged and Ansmann Low Self-Discharge, but I prefer Eneloop/Watson.

 

[vicv]

I remember as a kid, rechargeable alkalines. I don't know, but now but back then they were absolute garbage. They only had about 10% of the runtime that alkalines dead. To the point where they weren't worth using.

 

[fivemega]

"REACHARGEABLE" alkaline does not mean you can recharge them 10 or 100 times.
"REACHARGEABLE" alkaline does not mean they will be reliable just like new one.
"REACHARGEABLE" alkaline does not mean they will perform just like new one.

Voltage of any battery does NOT mean anything unless measured under certain and stated current load.