recharable vs primary

[wicky998]

which is your preferred battery type , in what lights and why ?

i only use rechargables in my edc lights but the ones i have on backup use primaries . mainly bc i dont want them sitting to long without charging or me forgetting etc.

 

[Zak]

All rechargeable all the time. Mostly unprotected Li-ion or low-self-discharge NiMH, both of which will have at least 80% of their capacity in most cases sitting unused for a year.

 

[fivemega]

For regularly and often using devices, rechargeable (LSD) is more economical but for emergency and less often using devices, lithium primary (AA or 123) will serve better. Also good for low drain devices such as clock and remote control.
Never use alkaline batteries unless device is cheaper than alkaline battery.

 

[peter yetman]

Rechargeable in everything.
Why? One word - Environment.

P

 

[mcm308]

Surefire A2 with primaries is my EDC.

Streamlight Ultra Stinger rechargeable is my truck light.

Surefire M4 with 16650 is my go to HO home light for when I gotta light up the yard.

And then I have some emergency home lights that take AA for when the power goes out.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Candlepowerforums mobile app

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Of course, rechargeable. The only conditions where a primary can beat a rechargeable, is if you need extremely long storage (20 years), or operation in extremely cold weather (-40 degrees), in which case lithium primaries are the way to go if cost is no concern). Otherwise, Eneloops are the perfect replacement for alkalines, and lithium-ion for high-capacity and power. Both types will maintain a charge for years.

 

[bykfixer]

Mostly primary.
Some rechargeable.

 

[RetroTechie]

All rechargeable all the time. Mostly unprotected Li-ion or low-self-discharge NiMH

Same here. For multiple reasons:

* Rechargeables are designed to last longer than throwaways, and therefore usually built better. Which translates into: less likely to leak & destroy equipment they're in. Logical if you talk eg. AA's down to around $0.10 /piece vs. NiMH around $1..2 /piece. Despite the price there's lots of similarities in construction. Therefore NiMH's (or Li-ions) provide a higher margin that manufacturers can use to build a better battery.
* (throwaways) Since you don't want to discard half-empty batteries, to ensure you don't run empty means carrying spares. And change batteries halfway - sometimes @ a very inconvenient time or place. Rechargeable: top up before use, and you know there's full batteries inside each time you go out. Often enough that you don't need to carry spares or change batteries halfway.
* No need to order (and wait for delivery) or go to a shop because you ran out of batteries. Once you have a rechargeable & it's empty, just... recharge, put back into device, done. Always spares ready but without the need to stock up a 'multi-year' supply. This should be an important point for the "prepper" peeps among us (but let's not go there ).
* Decent NiMH's perform better than alkaline in high-drain applications.
* At today's prices, often a low number of recharges (for example <10) is enough to justify rechargeables. Lower overall cost + environmental aspects are the cherry on top.

Funny thing: I use some non-important devices to burn leftover alkalines. But somehow I seem to get batteries tossed in my lap in various ways. Almost enough that remaining stash of alkalines seems to last foreeeeever...

 

[jsoto]

All rechargeable all the time. Mostly unprotected Li-ion or low-self-discharge NiMH, both of which will have at least 80% of their capacity in most cases sitting unused for a year.

Battery Noob here. If it's going to just sit around for a emergency, either I charge it full and use the light every once in a blue moon just to exercise it. And or charge it to 3.9'ish if the light will just sit unused.

I suppose there is a certain balance of how -full- once keeps a battery in storage for when the SHTF versus just leaving it a full 100% SOC

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Battery Noob here. If it's going to just sit around for a emergency, either I charge it full and use the light every once in a blue moon just to exercise it. And or charge it to 3.9'ish if the light will just sit unused.

I suppose there is a certain balance of how -full- once keeps a battery in storage for when the SHTF versus just leaving it a full 100% SOC

I find 4.1v (or about 90% charged) to be a good compromise for cells that are sitting around as spares to use within a few weeks. I keep about a dozen 18650's at that charge, and rotate through their use. Longer term (months or longer), 3.75v it is.

 

[xxo]

Lights that get stored long term for possible emergency use and/or may be subjected to extreme temperatures, get lithium primaries (ultimate lithiums or surfire CR123's). Everything else, gets rechargeables if at all possible. Alkalines get put away for power outages and the like, though it would need to be a long one for me to run though all of my rechargeables. BTW I recently went through my stash of alkalines and found that a bunch of them have started to leak in their packages even though they are not expired.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Everyday and heavy use lights I go rechargeable. For standby and rarely used lights I go with lithium primaries. I only use alkaleaks in throwaway lights as I'm tired of cleaning up alkagoo. There is several advantages of going rechargeable.
1) ability to top off battery so every time you start to use it you know how long it will run
2) ability to use it ALL THE TIME, not worrying about costs in use adding up once you have enough rechargables
3) no leaks, higher power output than cheap primaries. no worrying about running out of batteries
4) money saving... spend $10 on batteries and $20 on a charger and recharge them 300 times for 10 cents a use, cheaper if you have more devices and more batteries.

 

[Grijon]

I use my flashlights "for real" maybe 2 hours a year; I play with my flashlights about 3 hours a day. So for me it's almost exclusively rechargeables.

I keep a flashlight in the glovebox of each of my vehicles; these have lithium primaries because of the temperature range of -20 to 140 degrees F. I've never had to use those lights yet, but change those batteries out once a year anyways.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I use my flashlights "for real" maybe 2 hours a year; I play with my flashlights about 3 hours a day. So for me it's almost exclusively rechargeables.

Lol. So true!