moldyoldy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Not sure if I have this entry in the correct forum. Moderators please move it to whereever more appropriate.
In the special issue of Forbes regarding "energy + genius", there is an article on "The Saudia Arabia of Lithium" - a Chilean lake bed at 1.4 miles above sea level some 700 miles north of Santiago, annual rainfall of a few millimeters. bad climate for bare skin... At any rate, this single location is where 27% of the world's lithium supply comes from. As the consumer demand for higher density batteries sharply increased to include especially Li-Ion batteries, the demand for the metal has skyrocketed and predictions are for a double digit annual sales growth for lithium carbonate at least thru 2012. China has another 23% of the lithium carbonate production. The original source of lithium was from a mine in the town of Kings Mountain in N.Carolina and was developed for the US H-bomb program. By the mid-1970s, that location was producing 2900 tons of lithium per year. lots of bombs.... hmmmm.
Attempting to ignore the increasing politics over any source of lithium carbonate, both Honda and Toyota declined to convert their respective hybrid cars from a Ni-MH battery system to the Li-Ion battery system claiming that the world's supply of lithium was insufficient for cars. The production Tesla and the new planned Chevrolet Volt use Li-Ion cells, as do just about any laptop computer.
Getting to the point of my entry for CPF: After a long initial "get acquainted" time period with CR123 and RCR123 cells during which I spent far too much money on various brands of RCR123 cells and chargers, I am moving away from the CR123 format back to the AA/AAA Ni-MH format. In doing so, I am also progressively moving over a couple dozen flashlight users in several institutions back to AA/AAA celled flashlights as well. When I am asked for my advice on flashlights by a tradesman or emergency worker, the request nearly always begins with an AA/AAA format flashlight. Sometimes the user likes the small size and goes with the CR123 size - until it comes to battery replacement time. Even if I give them the website address of a good CR123 source, they do not want to purchase in any bulk, and the shipping costs for a couple batteries are prohibitive. Ergo the user might actually purchase a retail CR123 package once or twice, and then the flashlight sits unused. Eventually I see them carrying around a mini-mag AA light or something AA/AAA-based from Walmart or Target. The CR123 system is really questionable for non-flashaholics.
Yes, the energy density and voltage output of a lithium-something cell provides a bright flashlight in a small package. But there are simply too many conditions for rechargeable lithium-ion cells to be recharged and used correctly - and too many incidents are still being reported. And, there are far too many variations on lithium-xxxxx cells in an attempt to develop a "safe" rechargeable lithium-something cell. Lithium batteries had a very bad reputation in the flight industry for starting fires in the emergency radio beacon were they were used. All of this leads to why individual rechargeable lithium cells with rechargers are not carried in any retail consumer stores. Compare that with the glut of Ni-MH cells and rechargers on the market.
Regarding the AA/AAA format: Now that Ni-MH cells are generally available in the low-self-discharge formulation, the primary usage difficulty for use of Ni-MH cells seems to have been addressed. no more dead flashlights or toys when needed. Not only that, but over time, and especially noticeable with the latest LED-Q4/5 lights such as the Eagletac LED flashlights, the output of an AA-based light is really not all that different from a comparable CR123-based light. Example: for a tradesman yesterday I compared an Eagletac P10A 1xAA light to a Fenix P1D-Q5 1xCR123 cell (both on highest output with fresh batteries) and illuminated a heating fixture on the ceiling of an industrial "high bay". There was not much difference in illumination on the heating fixture. His Mini-mag AA flashlight did not have a chance in that competition.
Yes, flashlights on the CR123 format do have their niche, but only for "afficiandos" and flashaholics, or emergency workers and spec-op types....
In the special issue of Forbes regarding "energy + genius", there is an article on "The Saudia Arabia of Lithium" - a Chilean lake bed at 1.4 miles above sea level some 700 miles north of Santiago, annual rainfall of a few millimeters. bad climate for bare skin... At any rate, this single location is where 27% of the world's lithium supply comes from. As the consumer demand for higher density batteries sharply increased to include especially Li-Ion batteries, the demand for the metal has skyrocketed and predictions are for a double digit annual sales growth for lithium carbonate at least thru 2012. China has another 23% of the lithium carbonate production. The original source of lithium was from a mine in the town of Kings Mountain in N.Carolina and was developed for the US H-bomb program. By the mid-1970s, that location was producing 2900 tons of lithium per year. lots of bombs.... hmmmm.
Attempting to ignore the increasing politics over any source of lithium carbonate, both Honda and Toyota declined to convert their respective hybrid cars from a Ni-MH battery system to the Li-Ion battery system claiming that the world's supply of lithium was insufficient for cars. The production Tesla and the new planned Chevrolet Volt use Li-Ion cells, as do just about any laptop computer.
Getting to the point of my entry for CPF: After a long initial "get acquainted" time period with CR123 and RCR123 cells during which I spent far too much money on various brands of RCR123 cells and chargers, I am moving away from the CR123 format back to the AA/AAA Ni-MH format. In doing so, I am also progressively moving over a couple dozen flashlight users in several institutions back to AA/AAA celled flashlights as well. When I am asked for my advice on flashlights by a tradesman or emergency worker, the request nearly always begins with an AA/AAA format flashlight. Sometimes the user likes the small size and goes with the CR123 size - until it comes to battery replacement time. Even if I give them the website address of a good CR123 source, they do not want to purchase in any bulk, and the shipping costs for a couple batteries are prohibitive. Ergo the user might actually purchase a retail CR123 package once or twice, and then the flashlight sits unused. Eventually I see them carrying around a mini-mag AA light or something AA/AAA-based from Walmart or Target. The CR123 system is really questionable for non-flashaholics.
Yes, the energy density and voltage output of a lithium-something cell provides a bright flashlight in a small package. But there are simply too many conditions for rechargeable lithium-ion cells to be recharged and used correctly - and too many incidents are still being reported. And, there are far too many variations on lithium-xxxxx cells in an attempt to develop a "safe" rechargeable lithium-something cell. Lithium batteries had a very bad reputation in the flight industry for starting fires in the emergency radio beacon were they were used. All of this leads to why individual rechargeable lithium cells with rechargers are not carried in any retail consumer stores. Compare that with the glut of Ni-MH cells and rechargers on the market.
Regarding the AA/AAA format: Now that Ni-MH cells are generally available in the low-self-discharge formulation, the primary usage difficulty for use of Ni-MH cells seems to have been addressed. no more dead flashlights or toys when needed. Not only that, but over time, and especially noticeable with the latest LED-Q4/5 lights such as the Eagletac LED flashlights, the output of an AA-based light is really not all that different from a comparable CR123-based light. Example: for a tradesman yesterday I compared an Eagletac P10A 1xAA light to a Fenix P1D-Q5 1xCR123 cell (both on highest output with fresh batteries) and illuminated a heating fixture on the ceiling of an industrial "high bay". There was not much difference in illumination on the heating fixture. His Mini-mag AA flashlight did not have a chance in that competition.
Yes, flashlights on the CR123 format do have their niche, but only for "afficiandos" and flashaholics, or emergency workers and spec-op types....
