Lithium Thionyl primary 14500

[VegasF6]

http://www.powerstream.com/p/ER14505M.pdf

Interesting specs on this battery. As you can see, it is rated for much higher current draw than the typical thionyl chloride cell. At a 1 amp continuous draw they got an honest 1 hour, and the voltage stays within operating ranges for most any led light the entire time. Pretty flat discharge curve. Anyone know of a 2x14500 light to try it in?

*edit*
Here is an 18500, more or less. But, it is quite fat at 18.5mm max, and run time is less than LICO, unlike the above cell which could potentially outperform a LICO.
http://www.powerstream.com/p/ER18505M.pdf

 

[kongfuchicken]

I'm intrigued by the numbers on that pdf.
I always thought lithium thionyl chloride cells were designed for less than 100mA applications and would lose over half of their capacity if drained anywhere close to a useful rate...

 

[paulr]

According to those graphs, that cell does in fact lose more than half its capacity at 1A compared with 1mA. At 1A the total capacity is lower than a cr123a which is about the same volume.

 

[VegasF6]

Yes, it does. But, it's higher than a rechargeable 14500. Just thought it could make a potentially interesting light. Something in a 2AA form with a true buck boost circuit for potentially running 2xAA nimh or these primaries. I dunno that it would have all that much commercial potential or not, but it would avoid chargers, battery maintenance and potential explosions. They are a safe chemistry.

 

[paulr]

They are pretty exotic, expensive, hard to find, and hazmat for disposal (thionyl chloride is quite poisonous). Capacity at 1 amp is comparable to an L91 lithium AA so if you have a buck boost converter and want to run on AA sized primaries with higher capacity than nimh, you may as well use L91's.

 

[kongfuchicken]

I'm pretty sure these are not rechargeable if that's what you're implying.

As paulr said, if you want to run primaries, l91 would sound like a better idea.

 

[balou]

....except if you plan to use your light (or battery-needing stuff) at -50°C

thanks for the link - I do have some plans to use such cells in high altitude weather balloon project. and above 20km height it gets quite cold, so lithium thionyl chloride is about the only viable option

yeah sorry, I think I'm getting offtopic

 

[VegasF6]

Not off topic to me. I just wanted to point out an interesting cell, and if someone can find a use for it, wonderfull. Yah that cold weather performance thing is a definate plus.

And it was quite clear to me they are not rechargeable thats why I put primary in the title.