Lithium or rechargeable?

[Uncle Alvah]

My most used flashlights are three PrinctonTec Blasts(xenon) and a PT Attitude(LED).
All take AAA batteries, the Blasts take two, the Attitude, four.
The Blasts are almost unbelieveably bright for their size, and eat batteries up chop-chop.
The LED is considerably easier on batts, as would be expected.
I was a little taken back at the price of AAA lithiums, 4-$10.
I'm wondering if maybe rechargeables might be a better bet for my use.
"Cold weather performance" of lithiums is hardly an issue for me, so only a greatly improved run time would seem to justify the cost.
Not sure what rechargeables cost, plus, obviously, I need a charger unit as well. Going to check them out at the story later today.
Opinions appreciated.......

 

[Gator762]

LSD (Low Self Discharge) rechargeable NiMH batteries like Eneloops. It's like they were almost designed for flashlights.

IIRC they perform better in the cold than alkalines. Lithiums are reserved for emergency cells.

 

[Mr Happy]

Eneloops are the gold standard when it comes to rechargeables. They don't have the highest capacity numbers you will see on labels, but in terms of robustness, consistency, ability to hold their charge, number of charge cycles without degrading and power output they are the best.

If you read around you sometimes find other cells that are Eneloops in a different wrapper, and there are competitive brands like Rayovac Hybrids that are similar to Eneloops but not quite as good.

When looking for a charger, steer clear of the 15 minute and 30 minute chargers. A charger that takes from 2 to 6 hours is typically the best kind to get. Also avoid chargers that take 10 hours or more as they most likely have a simple timer and don't have intelligent charge control.

I always recommend people to the Duracell Power Gauge or Mobile chargers as they have good features at a reasonable price and are readily found in shops like Target.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

You can use rechargeable AAA but you will notice that the initial brightness of the xenon bulb will be lower, but will maintain that initial brightness for quite awhile. Can you substitute a higher current xenon bulb at same or lower voltage, for more light output with the rechargeable AAA's?

Bill

 

[mdocod]

you can use the attitude with lithium's if you would like to extend useful runtime and performance in XtrEmE conditions. However, I would not recommend the use of the lithium primaries in the Blast as it will very likely cause premature lamp failure with the higher initial operating voltage as compared with alkaline cells.

However However! I agree with the suggestion to try some AAA eneloops and a charger, I think you'll get much more enjoyment from both lights this way as you'll never have to feel guilty about cost of operation, in fact, you'll be MORE likely to want to use the lights to help offset the initial cost of the rechargeable setup, but it will pay for itself if you use these lights a lot. Also, the slightly lower initial output of eneloops on the blast will likely be more than acceptable, and will actually help increase bulb reliability.

Eric

 

[chewy78]

duracell precharged cells (duraloops) with the white top will work too.