How many prefer AA battery powered flashlights?

[moon lander]

YUP IT'S SET.. "most" ppl prefer AA over 123! hahha whoo hoooo!!

I must respectfully disagree. i just think the lithium peoples arent posting here. Anyhoo, heres why i think lithium is better:

1. 3.6-3.7 volt batteries are ideal for powering 3.7v leds, you can direct drive them or regulate, and one rule about regulators is the greater the difference between the battery voltage and the led voltage, the less efficient the regulator.

2. Lithium is the lightest metal we have

3. since the internal resistance is so low, you can direct drive leds to higher currents than most lights use. thats why most of the really bright lights use some type of lithium battery. take the modded elly light for example, its brightest when direct driven off a 14500 lithium cell, much brighter that with a AA and boost/regulator.

4. to summarize, you can run lights off of AA, but if you put some lithium's into the same lights, they will be much brighter (or explode- for example the 14500 cells destroy the elly's reg board, but in this case your better off without it). and yes lithium's are proprietary, but arent AA? you cant exactly plug them into a wall socket i love AA and have lots of nimh AAs for my camera and some lights but if you want to build an led bikelight or something lithium is the way to go

 

[cage]

AA batteries are cheap, commonly available and safe. Which is why I prefer using them.

 

[Delta447]

But can't you buy AA's in lithium? They still only drive at 1.5V, but they last 3 times as long as the alk's. That gives you the flexibility of running what you can find in any convenience store, or use long running lithium batteries or use rechargeable ni-cads, or if you own a Fenix or Jetbeam, a 14500 rechargeable cell.

I must respectfully disagree. i just think the lithium peoples arent posting here. Anyhoo, heres why i think lithium is better:

1. 3.6-3.7 volt batteries are ideal for powering 3.7v leds, you can direct drive them or regulate, and one rule about regulators is the greater the difference between the battery voltage and the led voltage, the less efficient the regulator.

2. Lithium is the lightest metal we have

3. since the internal resistance is so low, you can direct drive leds to higher currents than most lights use. thats why most of the really bright lights use some type of lithium battery. take the modded elly light for example, its brightest when direct driven off a 14500 lithium cell, much brighter that with a AA and boost/regulator.

4. to summarize, you can run lights off of AA, but if you put some lithium's into the same lights, they will be much brighter (or explode- for example the 14500 cells destroy the elly's reg board, but in this case your better off without it). and yes lithium's are proprietary, but arent AA? you cant exactly plug them into a wall socket i love AA and have lots of nimh AAs for my camera and some lights but if you want to build an led bikelight or something lithium is the way to go

 

[SuperNinja]

Others have posted on this forum that, in the event of some major disaster, all the AAs vanish from the stores, so it makes sense to have other format lights. Everyone should have at least one D cell, long-running LED around the house.

I have found that it's the D's that run out the quickest in the stores (before/after a hurricane)

 

[rotncore]

I have a good supply of both (see my sig for lights). I like the juice that a CR123 provides, and the shelf life is a nice perk. I face more danger leaving my apartment in the morning than I do from an exploding cell, so I don't worry about that. I think each of us have risker things in our lives than to worry about an exploding cell.
AAs are handy in that you really can find them everywhere, overseas, gas stations, wherever.
I keep a healthy stock of each, but I can't stand AAA. I wish all my headllamps were AA/CR123

 

[peskyphotons]

I do have a preference for NIMH AAs, but I also have a HDS B42. And I also have NIMH AAAs, Cs, and Ds. I think the NIMH and in particular the AAs are well suited to a workhorse roll. 2 AAs have a roughly similar energy capacity to a single 123 cell so when size and weight is a factor the 123 wins hands down. When that does not matter as much, the versatility of AA, alkaline (low cost), NIMH, lithium, is very nice. I have not yet used my lights in a very cold situation where lithiums have an advantage. My L1P CE is quit amazing, it has more output than a 3D mag. What a great time to have this hobby.

Alex

 

[Erasmus]

I prefer AAA or AA powered flashlights. AAA/AA alkalines are widely available in most places if I run out of rechargeables.

 

[howl of the yeti]

4. to summarize, you can run lights off of AA, but if you put some lithium's into the same lights, they will be much brighter (or explode- for example the 14500 cells destroy the elly's reg board, but in this case your better off without it). and yes lithium's are proprietary, but arent AA? you cant exactly plug them into a wall socket i love AA and have lots of nimh AAs for my camera and some lights but if you want to build an led bikelight or something lithium is the way to go

I thought besides weight, one of the deciding factors for lithiums was that they held a charge in extreme temps and would fit ok in anything. Is the only danger in having mismatched sells or is there danger in adding lithiums in old lights like minimags, cheap leds, etc?

I added lithiums to my trunk emergency flashers because of the temp extremes. Should I rethink this?

 

[ken2400]

I like AA or larger. I have gone to NiMh and a BC900 since I want to be green. I think super caps will be the way to go some day. Fast charge and hopfully less damage to the env if they get tossed out a window.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

I have always liked the AA lights as its easier to get Cells, now
with the new 1AA CREE lights it makes life so much better

 

[D@rk Messenger]

They're the only type of light I will buy, lol...aaa's are OK...but why have chicken when you can have steak, lol

 

[magnum70383]

I have always liked the AA lights as its easier to get Cells, now
with the new 1AA CREE lights it makes life so much better

+1...+1

 

[magnum70383]

They're the only type of light I will buy, lol...aaa's are OK...but why have chicken when you can have steak, lol

YESSS... they're the ONLY type of light I buy!...

 

[yekim]

I like them both.

I have not been thrilled by any of my recent AA light purchases lately though.

 

[TCW 60]

With the C-LE I have the first AA light and I'am impressed.

 

[moon lander]

I thought besides weight, one of the deciding factors for lithiums was that they held a charge in extreme temps and would fit ok in anything. Is the only danger in having mismatched sells or is there danger in adding lithiums in old lights like minimags, cheap leds, etc?

I added lithiums to my trunk emergency flashers because of the temp extremes. Should I rethink this?

i think rapid discharge is also dangerous. protected lithium cells cap the output at around 2 amps.

 

[Flash-addict]

cr123's are just too expensive. So in that case, I'll stick with and will only buy AA lights or lights that come with the li-ion batt and charger like the streamlight strion I have been eyeing.:rock:

 

[paulr]

For real? I cant see any wrong at all with using lithiums for cellphones. I had a Alcatel (can remember the model nr) way back, that you could run AAs in an emergency, but the runtimes we're as expected lousy (albeit it was on alkas). And it's not like that you buy a new lithiumcell every week for your cell, most people buy a new phone before they change their batteries anyway. And AA are way too thick for modern cellphones, even the larger smartphone models. There are AA-powered emergency chargers that you can buy for some cellphones, if that's the reason you prefer AAs, for emergencies.

Yes, for real. I don't want AA's "for emergencies", I want them for normal operation, 24 hours a day, NO LITHIUM. Typical small lithium phone battery is 700 mah 3.6 volts, about the same energy as one NiMH AA, so a phone powered by 1AA or 2AA would have plenty of runtime (alternatively, 3AAA). Yeah, the tiniest phones are too small for AA's, but midsized phones are big enough and I have no problem with them. And why do people change their phones every year? Because the lithium batteries are so darn expensive! My phone was 39 bucks brand new, and a replacement battery for it is 29 bucks retail! It's almost cheaper to buy a new phone. Maybe part of the expensive battery scam is that it keeps us buying new phones. There's nothing wrong with my old phone except the battery needs replacement. So if all I had to do was swap out a pair of 2-dollar AA's, I'd have no reason to think about changing phones.

Yeah cheaper batteries are available on ebay but that leads to the usual ebay dealer hassles (I'm trying to resolve a dispute now, idiot dealer got my money and sent a battery but somehow his checkout software didn't log the payment and it reported me as nonpaying).

And while I don't have to do this every week (they last about a year), why should I have to do it once a year? Why should I have to do it EVER? It's just too big a pain in the neck. And you can't count it as a once a year operation if you have multiple phones (I have several) since they ALL need periodic battery replacement. If you have a lithium powered digicam (I got rid of mine and replaced with an AA powered one) THAT needs it, if you have a portable music player with an ipod-like internal battery, that's even worse (difficult to replace and hard to find replacement battery).

I'm doing everything I can to eliminate lithium ion batteries from my life. They're sort of tolerable in my laptop computer because the weight savings for such a large pack really are significant (NiMH would weigh an extra pound or so) and I mostly use it plugged in anyway. But an extra 5 grams or whatever in a cell phone, I can deal with.

 

[Lobo]

Yes, for real. I don't want AA's "for emergencies", I want them for normal operation, 24 hours a day, NO LITHIUM. Typical small lithium phone battery is 700 mah 3.6 volts, about the same energy as one NiMH AA, so a phone powered by 1AA or 2AA would have plenty of runtime (alternatively, 3AAA). Yeah, the tiniest phones are too small for AA's, but midsized phones are big enough and I have no problem with them. And why do people change their phones every year? Because the lithium batteries are so darn expensive! My phone was 39 bucks brand new, and a replacement battery for it is 29 bucks retail! It's almost cheaper to buy a new phone. Maybe part of the expensive battery scam is that it keeps us buying new phones. There's nothing wrong with my old phone except the battery needs replacement. So if all I had to do was swap out a pair of 2-dollar AA's, I'd have no reason to think about changing phones.

Yeah cheaper batteries are available on ebay but that leads to the usual ebay dealer hassles (I'm trying to resolve a dispute now, idiot dealer got my money and sent a battery but somehow his checkout software didn't log the payment and it reported me as nonpaying).

And while I don't have to do this every week (they last about a year), why should I have to do it once a year? Why should I have to do it EVER? It's just too big a pain in the neck. And you can't count it as a once a year operation if you have multiple phones (I have several) since they ALL need periodic battery replacement. If you have a lithium powered digicam (I got rid of mine and replaced with an AA powered one) THAT needs it, if you have a portable music player with an ipod-like internal battery, that's even worse (difficult to replace and hard to find replacement battery).

I'm doing everything I can to eliminate lithium ion batteries from my life. They're sort of tolerable in my laptop computer because the weight savings for such a large pack really are significant (NiMH would weigh an extra pound or so) and I mostly use it plugged in anyway. But an extra 5 grams or whatever in a cell phone, I can deal with.

Hm, there might be a difference over there, both with prices and network(draining the batteries harder). Cause here most people buy a new phone cause they get it cheap with their network provider after 1-2 years, not cause of the battery not working. And I have my cellphone on 24/7, and I have never bought a new li-battery to any of my phones, and I keep mine longer than the average (at least 2years), and the battery still performs roughly the same as in the beginning. Only time my battery performance dropped rapidly was with an nimh(maybe due to abuse, I wasnt that aware of battery techonology then), but I got a VERY expencive lithium-battery(new technology then), but fortunately it was covered by warranty.

 

[cgfitzp]

Love # AA LED lights, I have Gerber LX3 it's a good reliable light. I use a light at least a 1,000 times each month and the twist end cap to turn on is bullet proof.