using L.I. 14500's in a d10

[bigfish5]

Well after seing my buddies eagletac destroyed by alkaline batteries, i am thinking maybe i should get some lithium ion's for my d10. Here are a few questions that i was hoping for some awnsers on. Will my d10 work ok with 14500's? Will it be brighter? Does anyone know of a good deal on 14500's?

I already have a charger for an 18650 that should charge them , what are your thoughts.

 

[ky70]

Hello BigFish5,

I'm currently running my D10 on a 14500 (I alternate between an AW and a blue label trustfire). The ligh operation works as it should on the 14500. I can not confirm if there is an increase in output using a 14500 (vs NIHM AA), I think I see a slight increase but I'm really not sure. I have seen folks that say yes there is an increase in output and folks that say no there isn't. But there is suppose to be an increase in runtimes when using a 14500 battery...which leads me to believe that there wouldn't/shouldn't be much of an increase in output.

 

[entoptics]

Here's a video of my D10 Tribute running an UltraFire 14500 side by side against a Rayovac 4.0 LSD NiMH (~2000 mAh).

As you can see there is essentially no brightness difference but run time is 1/3 longer on the 14500, which is consistent with the manufacturers specs.

Using high capacity NiMH like the duracell 2650 mAh will get you pretty close to 14500 run times for considerably less money, but will self discharge relatively quickly.

The main advantage of the 14500 in the D10 would be "shelf life" and cold weather performance with a moderate gain in run time over 2000 mAh LSD NiMH.

The 14500 also has a tendency to go dead without any warning while NiMH will fade over the course of 10 minutes or so.

 

[ky70]

I forgot about this wonderful video :twothumbs.

Entopics, did you use anything to keep your light cool during your test on the 14500? I've only did run time tests for 30 minutes but the light was extremely hot and I ended up wrapping it in a cool, slightly dampened hand towel to cool it down.

 

[entoptics]

I forgot about this wonderful video :twothumbs.

Entopics, did you use anything to keep your light cool during your test on the 14500? I've only did run time tests for 30 minutes but the light was extremely hot and I ended up wrapping it in a cool, slightly dampened hand towel to cool it down.

Mine gets warm, but by no means "hot". In all of my testing, the surface is probably no warmer than ~100° F (~40°C). Similar to nice bath water to the touch.

 

[ky70]

Mine gets warm, but by no means "hot". In all of my testing, the surface is probably no warmer than ~100° F (~40°C). Similar to nice bath water to the touch.

That's interesting because mine gets hot to the touch (on 14500) if I let run on high for 10 minutes tailstanding...when I pick up the light, I can only hold it for 5 or so seconds befroe passing it to my other hand because it's too hot to hold until it cool down. I have the SP R2 version, how about you?

 

[entoptics]

Mine is the Tribute R2 from battery junction. I'm also quite surprised that yours runs so hot, as mine never gets anywhere NEAR too hot to hold. From what I understand, they are identical in all ways except the modes/UI.

 

[DeadButAlive]

I've used a 14500 in my D10 lights, but I found that there's not as much difference in output between it and NiMH batteries as there is in some other lights. I've gone to running NiMH in the D10 and saving the 14500 batteries for light where it makes more of a difference. I have found that sometimes the longer protected 14500 cells (like the blue Trustfires) don't leave enough room to actuate the piston without some modification (I've not had this problem with AW cells) - yet another reason to stick with NiMH.

 

[skyfire]

Well after seing my buddies eagletac destroyed by alkaline batteries, i am thinking maybe i should get some lithium ion's for my d10. Here are a few questions that i was hoping for some awnsers on. Will my d10 work ok with 14500's? Will it be brighter? Does anyone know of a good deal on 14500's?

I already have a charger for an 18650 that should charge them , what are your thoughts.

My D10 there is a BIG difference in brightness when i switched from using alkalines and energizer ultimate lithiums to aw14500.

ive never tried NiMh rechargeables.

go for the AW14500, its only about $10, and you already have a charger too. after using my d10 with a 14500, i cant really go back to using primaries. but if you are using alkalines, i highly suggest you take them out of your lights, and use energizer lithiums.