Eneloops in the car in the summer?

adamjh3 · Jun 3, 2010

Hi all, I did a few searches that yeilded over 1500 different topics, I certainly didn't read them all, but the ones I did peruse through made no mention of what I'm looking for.

Aside from my job on the ambulance, I do stand-by work as an EMT for the local school district, basically running the Band-aid for Boo Boo stations at various sporting events, school fairs, dances etc. For this reason, I carry a small jump bag in my car which is basically a first aid kit, some lickies and chewies, and some different supplies for if I get broken down on the side of the road. As far as lights I have a small energizer head-lamp with a lithium primary in it, an incan mag solitaire with a lithium primary, and I'm considering throwing my Olight T15 in there.

I run my Olight on an Eneloop, and the bag stays in the car, are there any issues with keeping the light with the battery in the car? I live in inland San Diego, and it can get quite hot here, especially in the summer. Would the heat speed-up the self discharge rate of the battery? Make it leak? Possibly damage my light? I don't really NEED it in there, but I think it would be nice to have a little back-up in case I forget my Eagletac at home, or a friend needs a light to borrow (I'd feel bad making him use the solitaire

).

Thanks ahead of time for the help, everyone

-Adam :thumbsup:

StarHalo · Jun 3, 2010

Heat does speed the self-discharge of any battery; NiMHs do okay in temps up to 120F, but it can and will get warmer than that in a vehicle. Ideally you should use lithium primary only for an in-car light.

netprince · Jun 3, 2010

I have stored 4 eneloops in the car for about a year now. I keep them in one of those cell-phone emergency usb chargers. Yes, they do self discharge some, but I have never had them leak or damage anything. Whenever I have gone to use them, they have worked fine.

You can probably worry less about the self discharge if you cycle them once a month or so.

march.brown · Jun 3, 2010

adamjh3 said:
Hi all, I did a few searches that yeilded over 1500 different topics, I certainly didn't read them all, but the ones I did peruse through made no mention of what I'm looking for.

Aside from my job on the ambulance, I do stand-by work as an EMT for the local school district, basically running the Band-aid for Boo Boo stations at various sporting events, school fairs, dances etc. For this reason, I carry a small jump bag in my car which is basically a first aid kit, some lickies and chewies, and some different supplies for if I get broken down on the side of the road. As far as lights I have a small energizer head-lamp with a lithium primary in it, an incan mag solitaire with a lithium primary, and I'm considering throwing my Olight T15 in there.

I run my Olight on an Eneloop, and the bag stays in the car, are there any issues with keeping the light with the battery in the car? I live in inland San Diego, and it can get quite hot here, especially in the summer. Would the heat speed-up the self discharge rate of the battery? Make it leak? Possibly damage my light? I don't really NEED it in there, but I think it would be nice to have a little back-up in case I forget my Eagletac at home, or a friend needs a light to borrow (I'd feel bad making him use the solitaire ).

Thanks ahead of time for the help, everyone

-Adam :thumbsup:

Do you carry a light attatched to your keys ? ... I can recommend the iTP range of lights ... I prefer the iTP A2 which uses a single AA , but I now have an iTP A3 on each keyring as it is very small and uses an AAA battery ... I was using an Eneloop AA in one of my car torches but the glove compartment gets hot and this would increase the rate of self-discharge ... I will be using an AA Lithium in the car torch from now on as it is more tolerant of the higher temperatures (up to 140 F) ... I will keep a couple of spare AA Lithiums in the car , just in case.

I will also leave a couple of AAA lithiums in the car , in case my key-ring iTP A3s need a replacement when I'm not at home.

I also keep a Romisen RC-U4 ( uses a 18650) in the car , but I'm not too happy when the car gets hot as I don't carry a spare 18650 in the car.

I always carry an iTP A2 clipped in my pocket , and this with my keyring torches should be sufficient even if the two car torches fail ... Good job the iTPs are tiny torches.

I don't normally lend torches to people , but if I did , I would buy another iTP A2 just in case ... All my family have at least one torch each and it would be easier just to give them a spare lithium AA battery from my car stock if theirs failed.
.

.

adamjh3 · Jun 3, 2010

It looks like I'll be putting a lithium primary in it. Maybe swing by Lowes? Heh.

I do have a keychain light, it's just a little freebie that I got with an order from battery junction. I had considered using a AAA light as a keychain light, but, while small, they are just too bulky for me in my pocket, and I hate wearing my keys like a janitor.

I also had an ITP SA1, it was my first "real" flashlight, not too long ago, and it failed on me, it wouldn't kick in to high mode and I found the strobe a little annoying. I sent it back and I decided against getting another one, even though I liked the UI. The light failing within a week of receiving it left a kind of sour taste in my mouth, even though ITP has an awesome reputation on this forum.

I've considered getting a CR2 light as a keychain light, but I'm not sure if I want to make the leap into more "specialized" batteries, which would require a new charger, etc. Though I am thinking about going to lithium-ion after reading so much about the benefits.

I'm rambling now, so I'll go to bed and sleep on it.

Thanks for the help!

-Adam :thumbsup:

JWP_EE · Jun 3, 2010

The self-discharge rate will double for each 10 degree C rise above 20C.

http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/sanyo_eneloop.html

Scroll down towards the bottom to "A response from SANYO".

Lynx_Arc · Jun 3, 2010

I would just keep using eneloops in it and have a set of lithium primaries stored in your kit for backup power and recharge the eneloops a little more often due to the heat. nimh get plenty hot charging so I doubt the heat would hurt them unless left out in direct sunlight.

LitFuse · Jun 3, 2010

adamjh3 said:
an incan mag solitaire with a lithium primary, and I'm considering throwing my Olight T15 in there.

-Adam :thumbsup:

What? A Mag Solitaire?! :hahaha: :barf:

You absolutely need to replace that "flashlight" with an ITP A3 EOS!

Peter

Lynx_Arc · Jun 3, 2010

LitFuse said:
What? A Mag Solitaire?! :hahaha:

You absolutely need to replace that "flashlight" with an ITP A3 EOS!

Peter

the only thing an incan mag solitaire is good for is removing the bulb and using it as a AAA battery carrier

adamjh3 · Jun 4, 2010

LitFuse said:
What? A Mag Solitaire?! :hahaha:

You absolutely need to replace that "flashlight" with an ITP A3 EOS!

Peter

It's actually in my kit for a reason. I'm not going to check someone's pupil reactivity with an LED as I've heard it gives off rays similar to a laser that could potentially harm them. So no, it's fine right where it is. Thank you, though.

bstrickler · Jun 4, 2010

adamjh3 said:
It's actually in my kit for a reason. I'm not going to check someone's pupil reactivity with an LED as I've heard it gives off rays similar to a laser that could potentially harm them. So no, it's fine right where it is. Thank you, though.

Incan's aren't much better when it comes to that. They emit more UV and IR radiation than LED's do (unless you get IR or UV LED's).

The sun gives off more harmful UV, IR, X-rays, and all kinds of other rays in a few seconds than a few seconds of LED exposure will in a few minutes.

~Brian

Lynx_Arc · Jun 4, 2010

adamjh3 said:
It's actually in my kit for a reason. I'm not going to check someone's pupil reactivity with an LED as I've heard it gives off rays similar to a laser that could potentially harm them. So no, it's fine right where it is. Thank you, though.

nonsense
there are LEDs on ambulances, police cars, third brake lights, and buses and truck brake lights and screw in bulbs for your lamps and under counter lights and consumer flashlights and lanterns and light bars to display moving text and even backlights for tv sets and computer monitors and have been in indicator lights on everything electronic for the last 30-40 years. LEDs are just as safe as incans at the same lumen output levels with the exception of LEDs that are designed to put off UV and IR frequencies specifically and I don't see people upset about infrared remotes pointed at them either as the output level is probably lower than the sunlight coming in through the window in daytime.

BatteryCharger · Jun 4, 2010

adamjh3 said:
It's actually in my kit for a reason. I'm not going to check someone's pupil reactivity with an LED as I've heard it gives off rays similar to a laser that could potentially harm them. So no, it's fine right where it is. Thank you, though.

Well, I don't know about anything "dangerous" with LED light, but, I'd rather have you point a solitare in my eyes than a big LED light!

The last time I got pulled over the cop was shining his big carry light in my eyes saying "why do your eyes look so weird?". I said "because you're pointing your damn flashlight in my eyes!" :laughing:

Mr Happy · Jun 4, 2010

I don't think it would be any problem to keep an Eneloop in the trunk of the car in the summer. Someone wrote here about doing the same thing in Houston where the summer heat is insane and the Eneloops worked fine.

march.brown · Jun 4, 2010

Mr Happy said:
I don't think it would be any problem to keep an Eneloop in the trunk of the car in the summer. Someone wrote here about doing the same thing in Houston where the summer heat is insane and the Eneloops worked fine.

Unfortunately if you leave an Eneloop (or similar) in the car for long periods of hot weather , You don't know whether the torch is actually going to work , or for how long ... At least with a Lithium primary the manufacturers say that it will be OK in temperatures up to 140 F ... You have a fighting chance with Lithiums.

I assume that you will also have your EDC (or EDCs) with you as a back-up anyway.
.

Mr Happy · Jun 4, 2010

march.brown said:
Unfortunately if you leave an Eneloop (or similar) in the car for long periods of hot weather , You don't know whether the torch is actually going to work , or for how long

In the case I recall someone left some Eneloops in the car for the whole summer and when tested afterwards they still had the same charge as some Eneloops kept indoors. The heat had not affected the self-discharge at all.

march.brown · Jun 4, 2010

Mr Happy said:
In the case I recall someone left some Eneloops in the car for the whole summer and when tested afterwards they still had the same charge as some Eneloops kept indoors. The heat had not affected the self-discharge at all.

I'm not certain of the working temperature range of Eneloops , but the lithium primaries seem to be a maximum of 140 F ... Other posters on CPF do generally seem to favour the Lithiums to leave in the car forever.

I suppose the answer is to keep two torches in the car with Eneloops in one and lithiums in the other.
.

adamjh3 · Jun 4, 2010

Well, it looks like the answer is going to be Lithiums in all car torches. I suppose I should mention that I also carry a spare charged eneloop in my pocket for my EDC, so it would seem I'm over-thinking this battery thing. Look what you guys have turned me into! :ohgeez:

Thanks for all the useful info, guys lovecpf

-Adam :thumbsup:

Mr Happy · Jun 4, 2010

Here is the link to the earlier thread for your reference:

Eneloops Left In Car For 1 Year - Results

It would seem from that test that Eneloops are good for year round use in cars.

adamjh3 · Jun 4, 2010

Mr Happy said:
Here is the link to the earlier thread for your reference:

Eneloops Left In Car For 1 Year - Results

It would seem from that test that Eneloops are good for year round use in cars.

Thanks for the link, looks like they handle it very well.

-Adam :thumbsup:

Eneloops in the car in the summer?

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