Streamlight 4AA Luxeon and rechargable batteries?

What type of rechargables are best for the lights I recently aquired?
I've just joined this FORUM and have aquired the following.

• Craftman 1 watt 3 AAA tool light , (OK)
  
• SL propoly Luxeon (brighter!)
  
• MINIMag with Nite-ize. (ho-hum but good run time.)

They all use AAA and AA. I would like to save some $ and at the same time would like them to be as bright as possible.
Also getting the New PR2-SMJLED Bulb (from TruBlue's sale) soon for future mod (possibly C and D MAGS). So I would like to get a charger which can handle C and D sizes also. Although I do have older chargers that handle AA and AAA's for now, they are just cheap old chagers that don't have any intel in them.

I'm already broke as it is and if some of you can help out with finding good deal, I appreciate it.

TY.

Regards.
Newbie!!:huh:

Newuser01 said:

SL propoly Luxeon

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Any NIMH will work.

Ty- I too like NiMH batteries in the SL, but alkylines work well too in that light. It is well regulated with a very flat output that does not diminish over time until the batteries conk out in the 4-5 hour range as I recall. I think there is a runtime chart at www.flashlightreviews.com .

cheers

I absolutely love the SL4AA- its amazing. Could I suggest something else I think you would really enjoy= DORCY AAA from WALMART- super cheap and super great!

~Dorcy is all I need in life.

hikinhillary said:

...I think you would really enjoy= DORCY AAA from WALMART...

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This was certainly true of the OLD model Dorcy 1AAAs (with the silver reflectors and flat "lenses"). It was even more true of those Dorcy's upgraded with higher output LEDs (could pretty well match the output and beam pattern of the NEW Arc AAAs).

However, the NEW version Dorcy 1AAA at Walmart (focusing lens and "white" reflector) seems to fall short in output, beam pattern (too narrow) and ease of modding, and will likely not make you happy at all.

If you're broke, wait for awhile to go to rechargeables. To get good service out of rechargeables, you need a good smart charger and they're not cheap. Decent higher capacity rechargeable cells aren't cheap either. It's going to take some $$$ to get started. If you're a "high volume" user, they can definately save you money, but with just your three lights now you can buy alks so cheaply, that's what I'd recommend. Costco has Kirkland brand, Northern Tool has their own brand, Walgreens run sales often on their brand. I usually pay 17¢ - 20¢ for AA and AAA cells, and I don't think that I've ever paid more 25¢.

Save up for your rechargeables purchase and read up on all the info here on CPF so you'll know what to buy and why and how to use the cells and chargers properly.

I know this will raise some flack, but I own dozens of lights and not one uses D cells. I have one C cell light for my bike that I got before I was a flashaholic. I love not having to deal with C or D cells. If you do go rechargeable, you're talking about some major bucks to invest in those and a charger to do high capacity Cs & Ds is in another league altogether.

Thanks! hikinhillary.
But I'm a little warry about light output as my 2AA Mag with Nite-ize dropin to be just enough light to do some closeup task but not suitable to take it out for a walk. I think I need a little more power. Nevertheless! (is that a word?) I will check this out!

Thanks! also to Kitelights! for insighs on AA/AAA Nimh cells. I would like to see if you could tell me your experiences on your use of them? What brands and models Cells and charger do you use and how do you like them.
On this note: I've spend about a week worth of reading just on this FOURM on test of CELLS and Chargers MY head is spinning. Mostly I'm getting this!

• 1. Duracell 2500 or 2700 (where to find 2700?) are good cells as Sanyo's 2700 are also(hard to find.).
• 2. There are plenty of good chargers abound..... But which one's and I'm more interested in off the shelf (IE. Major Chain stores stock chargers). Which one of them performs well? In particular, Which of these cheap chargers such as engerzer's ...... can charge in any channels , is/are inteligent, can do trickle charge ..... ETC..ETC....

As always, I'm verymuch thankful to every1 who have taken time to write a line and let me know what they think of this subject matter.
And if you own any of the lights I have, Please share how you use them and how you like them.


Regards,
Newbie!!:huh:

Hello Newuser01

Welcome at cpf

About the AA-cells: I use different brands with different capacitys, but the Sanyos 2700mAh are the best ones:thumbsup: By testing in my "LaCrosse" charger (I'm happy with) they have between 2,8 and 2,93 Ah capacity. That's more than I expected.

Best regards

____
Tom

I buy Energizer NiMh AA's (2500mah) at Sam's Club. You can get a 12 pack (includes 8AA's and 4AAA's) for less than $20.

I too use the LaCrosse charger. It will charge 4 NiMh batteries at once, or even single batteries. The LCD display will tell you the current status of each battery on the charger, and let's you set custom charging rates. It's a great charger for less than $50.

You will find that the Duracells are marked 2650 mAH, not 2700.

I've been seeing them lately at Wal-Marts, right next to the older-design 2500 packages, which are STILL selling for the SAME PRICE !

So make sure you select the New model.


( Note: Made in Japan. Are these made by Sanyo ??? )


They work splendidly in my Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon. Give about 5 hours of constant, regulated output.
A great combination. Especially for frequent use.

However, out of my 8-pack, two cells are simply too BIG (diameter) to fit into my new 2AA Nuwai X-3 flashlight.
The other 6 cells JUST B-A-R-E-L-Y fit !

hikinhillary said:

I absolutely love the SL4AA- its amazing. Could I suggest something else I think you would really enjoy= DORCY AAA from WALMART- super cheap and super great!

~Dorcy is all I need in life.

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Im waiting till July to get one of the Class I Div 1 rated SL4AA's. I recently bought one of the Dorcy Super 3 watts from Sears and get about 1 hour of good light on 3 rechargeable AAA NiMH batteries. I added a #14 O-ring washer inside the tail of the flashlight to keep it from turning off when the flashlight is banged on its tail. Thats the one pet peeve I have about the Dorcy flashlights.

Welcome aboard! Right now I'm running mine with NiMHyr rated to 2700maHrs.

chiphead

Get a 4 AA x charger combo. Such is adequate for the casual users. Just charge them up all night. You might over-charge them and they might go bad after 50 cycles, but oh well. If you recharge them 50 times, you're plenty ahead in cost.

If you want to ensure you get a good run-time, I'd get the 4 x 2,500 mAh + charger combo by Energizer. $20 or so. The reason being, the useful capacity of generic cheapos is questionable, but with the Enerigzer, you can be assured you will get a good capacity.

Newuser01 said:

And Blackheart, Where did you see info on new Class I Div 1 rated SL4AA's ? I couldn't find any info.



Thanks every1 for the input.

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On the brightguy website. The different safety rated flashlights can be shown by clicking the Keyword dropdown box and selecting "Safety rating Div 1" or "Safety rating Div 2". I plan to get one of the SL4AA's and maybe the Inova T2, T3 or T5.

http://www.brightguy.com/brighttopics.php#safety

http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=STR68602

Do those ratings continue to apply if you're using batteries other than those recommended by the manufacturer?

Blackheart said:

On the brightguy website. The different safety rated flashlights can be shown by clicking the Keyword dropdown box and selecting "Safety rating Div 1" or "Safety rating Div 2". I plan to get one of the SL4AA's and maybe the Inova T2, T3 or T5.

http://www.brightguy.com/brighttopics.php#safety

http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=STR68602

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Thanks every1, (Chiphead, Handlobraesing, Blackheart, Brighteyez.) !!!!

I just picked up a set of Duracell 2650's aa and 900 's aaa's from Wally. Cant remember tho - exectly how much. Its their regular prices.

I've read all the labels from all the chargers that are avail in the stores and they are timmed chargers - as far as I could tell. So its the same as my old chager (everready).
I think I will hold out tile I can find a charger with a little inteligent. Could be expensive.

Wish me luck in finding one.
Regards.
newbie!

PS.

• I dont think that safety rating Div 1 or 2 matters to us regular users but from what I've read I dont understand it much. Proly means it wont spark and blows up if you are working in a gass filled room and you drop the torch!! That would be bad!!
• If any1 else have any more suggestions, please post something!! I'll be coming back to this posting everyday, looking for a good charger (cheap!! proly not.).:scowl:
  

Newuser01 said:

Thanks every1, (Chiphead, Handlobraesing, Blackheart, Brighteyez.) !!!!

I just picked up a set of Duracell 2650's aa and 900 's aaa's from Wally. Cant remember tho - exectly how much. Its their regular prices.

I've read all the labels from all the chargers that are avail in the stores and they are timmed chargers - as far as I could tell. So its the same as my old chager (everready).
I think I will hold out tile I can find a charger with a little inteligent. Could be expensive.

Wish me luck in finding one.
Regards.
newbie!

PS.

• I dont think that safety rating Div 1 or 2 matters to us regular users but from what I've read I dont understand it much. Proly means it wont spark and blows up if you are working in a gass filled room and you drop the torch!! That would be bad!!
• If any1 else have any more suggestions, please post something!! I'll be coming back to this posting everyday, looking for a good charger (cheap!! proly not.).:scowl:
  
  

Click to expand...

If you have an older cheapo charger, don't bother with it. It's probably not capable of charging a 2650mAh batteries in a reasonable time frame.

What's wrong with the $10 overnight charger? If you aren't going through batteries three times a day, it shouldn't be too bad to just charge them up the night before.

Best AA and AAA Nimh rechargables and intelligent chargers. Have a look.
MAHA is the name and batteries and chargers is the game.
www.thomas-distributing.com/maha.htm

kitelights said:

...If you're broke, wait for awhile to go to rechargeables. To get good service out of rechargeables, you need a good smart charger and they're not cheap...

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If I may ask, what is a smart charger, and how does it extend the life/capacity of the batteries?

I have NiMH Eveready AA cells.


Thanks much,
BB62