Help Understanding Discharge Rates

[Inliner]

AW "C" cells have a max cont. discharge rate of 5A. Will 3 of them in a Maglite mean that I can power a bulb drawing up to 15A or am I wrong there?

The GE 347118 bulb I will use likes about 8A @ ~11V according to LuxLuthor.

Will I be ok with these or do I need to look at Li-FE-PO4 cells with higher discharge ratings?

Thanks!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Inliner,

If you add cells in series, you add voltage, but the capacity stays the same.

If you add cells in parallel, you add capacity, but the voltage stays the same.

So, if you have a 5000 mAh 3.7 volt cell, 3 cells in series would give you 11.1 volts and you would have 5000 mAh of capacity. If the cells are rated at 5000 mA current draw, the you can draw 5 A.

On the other hand if you have the same cells and put them in parallel, you would end up with a voltage of 3.7 volts and a capacity of 15000 mAh. This means that you can draw 15 amps at 3.7 volts.

Tom