Anybody use lithium AA's in their Inova X1's?

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
Picked one up today on a whim and I really like it. Hope it doesn't develop any problems. Anyways, does anyone here use lithium AA's in theirs? I'm wondering whether or not it's a good idea.
 

Planterz

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
1,162
Location
Tucson, AZ
I'm sure it'd be fine. The slightly higher voltage of the lithium battery might shorten the lifespan of the 5mm LED from 10 years constant on to 9 or something insignificant like that.. It can't be driven any harder than the LEDs in the Photon Micra or Arc AAA.
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
I'll bet it has a heck of a long runtime on an AA lithium.
ooo.gif
Not to mention lightweight. Don't know why I overlooked this light for so long...
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
It's got quite a darn angry blue tint though, I should mention... on the other hand, I can't believe how much light the single 5mm LED puts out.


Yea, I guess if the LED burns out, I can always mod it with another one.
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
The dark lense of the old version reminds me of those old people glasses. :D There was like 2 or 3 or them left at Target and about 4-5 of the new ones.
 

chumley

Enlightened
Joined
May 23, 2003
Messages
269
Location
Minneapolis, Mn.
I just replaced the alkaline AA with a lithium in my new X-1. It doesn't seem to be any brighter or bluer, so I don't think it will hurt the led. The X-1 is noticebly lighter in weight, I would expect increased runtime.
 

rider

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 16, 2006
Messages
189
InfidelCastro said:
It's got quite a darn angry blue tint though, I should mention... on the other hand, I can't believe how much light the single 5mm LED puts out.


Yea, I guess if the LED burns out, I can always mod it with another one.

I've got several of these, and found while I haven't seen a bad tint, they definitely vary. One has a bluish tint and is "extremely" bright, one is a beautiful white with the slightest cream colored tint to the hotspot, but with what I would consider to be 20% less output. These are two extremes; most I've seen are somewhere in the middle. I saw one really blue one at Target, but I cherry picked my way around it.

FWIW, I've been in about 10 Targets in the past few weeks and have not seen a single X1 or X5 on the shelf. A month ago, every Target I wandered into had a good 40-50 X1s + x5s on the shelf.

I wonder if demand has outstripped Inova's production capabilities on these lights?
 

HonorKnight

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 27, 2006
Messages
100
Location
I may not know where I am, but I'm not lost.
Use of either rechargeables or lithiums voids their warranty. Apparently the X1 depends on the slower chemical reaction in an Alkaline battery. The higher draw potential from rechargeables or lithiums can burn out the already overdriven LED.

Inovalight:
" The specs for our products are based on the use of the recommended alkaline AA battery, and another type may affect the output of the light, and will void out the limited lifetime warranty."
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
rider said:
I've got several of these, and found while I haven't seen a bad tint, they definitely vary. One has a bluish tint and is "extremely" bright, one is a beautiful white with the slightest cream colored tint to the hotspot, but with what I would consider to be 20% less output. These are two extremes; most I've seen are somewhere in the middle. I saw one really blue one at Target, but I cherry picked my way around it.

FWIW, I've been in about 10 Targets in the past few weeks and have not seen a single X1 or X5 on the shelf. A month ago, every Target I wandered into had a good 40-50 X1s + x5s on the shelf.

I wonder if demand has outstripped Inova's production capabilities on these lights?



Yea, mine's definately got the angry blue thing going on. But I'm pretty happy with it. The Target here has had pretty much the same stock they've had since last fall. They still have about 3-4 River Rock lanterns.. they had about 8 or so last fall. I cherry picked this X1 also, basically looking at cosmetics and for a centered LED. All of them had the blue tint and it's pretty hard to tell which is 'slightly less blue' when it's in the package in a well lit department store. I wanted a titanium and there was only one other, don't remember why I picked this one, I think they both looked fine actually, maybe the other one was slightly less centered.

I also picked through about 6 Maxfire LX's before I found one with a bulb that was centered. There were three others I didn't look at, might pick up one of them if they're ok.
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
HonorKnight said:
The higher draw potential from rechargeables or lithiums can burn out the already overdriven LED.


Interesting. And I was just reading a comment on how someone was saying "omg, Inova underdrives their lights so much doood!"

Makes sense to me though. I have a hard time believing that rechargeables or even lithiums could cause serious short term damage though. I'm sure they're not as nice to the LED, but if it burns out in five years, hey the angry blue LED will probably be about 4 years obsolete anyways.
 

HonorKnight

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 27, 2006
Messages
100
Location
I may not know where I am, but I'm not lost.
InfidelCastro said:
I have a hard time believing that rechargeables or even lithiums could cause serious short term damage though. I'm sure they're not as nice to the LED, but if it burns out in five years, hey the angry blue LED will probably be about 4 years obsolete anyways.
I burned one out on rechargeables in a week. I was only using energizer 2300 mAh. That's why I emailed Inova to ask them about it.
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
HonorKnight said:
I burned one out on rechargeables in a week. I was only using energizer 2300 mAh. That's why I emailed Inova to ask them about it.


Thanks for the info. I guess I won't be sticking one of my 2500mAh rechargeables in it. Did it seem brighter with rechargeables? Or about the same? Usually it seems like most lights are dimmer on rechargeables. But yea, like you said with the faster chemistry and all of lithium and NiMh's. Kind of sucks if it's an alkaline only light.
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
HonorKnight said:
The light was fine using the rechargeable battery until I put a freshly charged new battery in it. (one I had never used up until then)


Hmm... weird... should still only be just over 1.2V if it's a freshly recharged NiMh...
 

HonorKnight

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 27, 2006
Messages
100
Location
I may not know where I am, but I'm not lost.
InfidelCastro said:
Kind of sucks if it's an alkaline only light.
I agree. It does say in the instructions "The Inova X1 requires one AA alkaline battery." They seemed to think that was enough. I would have liked them to add one more line "Warning: use of other types of batteries may damage the light and voids your warranty." Maybe I'm not too bright, but I didn't catch that when they said "requires" they were refering to the "alkaline" part.
 

InfidelCastro

Banned
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,266
Location
USA
HonorKnight said:
I agree. It does say in the instructions "The Inova X1 requires one AA alkaline battery." They seemed to think that was enough. I would have liked them to add one more line "Warning: use of other types of batteries may damage the light and voids your warranty." Maybe I'm not too bright, but I didn't catch that when they said "requires" they were refering to the "alkaline" part.


I just measured this with a new alkaline... I can't believe this light draws 250mA. Wow. That's more than my River Rock 2AAA .5W.
 

Delvance

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
964
Location
Sydney, Australia
Freshly charged as in hot off the charger ? Hot off the charger NiMHs are around 1.4V.

Funny how my one hasn't burnt out then. It's on it's 2nd lithium battery and the output is definitely more than a normal alkaline.
 

Nyctophiliac

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
2,427
Location
Buckinghamshire, UK
I have always run my X1's on NiMH 1800-2500 rechargables or lithiums. Anything from shop spec or modded LED - no problems so far with any.I suppose I use an X1 everyday, it's the No:1 last check before bedtime light in my house (don't want to wake the kids with my SF C2!!)

Didn't notice any brightness issues with either, it just seems the same as with an alkaline cell.

Love the X1's, though. Looking forward to getting my hands on the new model when they become available in the UK.
 
Top