MiniMagLED 2AA discovery.....

Well, I was bored today so I decided to try and make use of the new AW 14500's I have laying around. At first I tried 2 of them with no success(light wouldn't turn on), then I thought of something. Since I do not have any dummy cells, I put one dead AA cell in with one AW 14500. The results were amazing! This is the brightest combination I have tried in this light. It comes damn close to my HDS U60 on high! I compared against 2 lithium primaries, and rechargable 2500 Nimh's. The one 14500 cell paired with the dead AA easily was brighter, enough that even my significant other had no trouble picking out the brightest combo. I did notice increased heat though, and will try to do a run-time test to see if it won't blow up. I am sure the run-time will be a ton less than the 2 2500's, but then again it sure is brighter! Has anyone else tried this combo?

PLEASE STOP NOW.

What you are doing is potentially very dangerous. Make a dummy cell. even a cobjobbed dummy cell will be infinitely safer.

I'm certainly no expert, so this is regurgutated lore rather than knowledge, but what I have read leads me to believe that doing a runtime test with that combination is a very bad idea. The alkaline cell will be charged in reverse, lending the possibility of rupture and fire, and given the possible heat involved, it may cause the lithium cell to go as well.

Mod idea! Cut MagLed 2AA body on Li-ION

I had a feeling something like that was the case, indeed why I posted my findings. What do you suggest I use for a dummy cell?

Easy dummy cell; roll aluminum foil into a tube the appropriate length and width. Cut to length with scissors. Wrap that tube with tape (scotch, electrical, etc) leaving the ends bare.

Done.

Daniel

gadget_lover said:

Easy dummy cell; roll aluminum foil into a tube the appropriate length and width. Cut to length with scissors. Wrap that tube with tape (scotch, electrical, etc) leaving the ends bare.

Done.

Daniel

Click to expand...

Dowel cut to length works well.

And don't ever do the dead cell as a dummy ever! If you don't want to end up with no nose or worse.:thumbsdow

put duct tape on the ends of the dead aa. then cover the aa with aluminum foil, including the ends. then wrap the aa with packing tape so that the sides are covered but the ends are not. that's it.

I also found that 'dead' aa cells in combination with NiMh cells would provide good juice for a Lux 5. I ran that funky combination several times without incident.

If you use any dissimilar cells people will tell you that it's dangerous, but they have never provided a sensible reason for their concerns, other than parroting that it's dangerous.

Ix-nay on the duct tape! It can conduct. Use electrical tape at the very least. Better yet make a proper dummy cell. All you need to do is make a connection between the contact on the tail and the bottom of the next cell.

Shoot, use the right tool for the job every time. We all know enough to do that, right?

WildChild said:

Mod idea! Cut MagLed 2AA body on Li-ION

Click to expand...

I have a 3AA cutdown to take a single protected 14500 cell (I forget who I got it from). Works great!

take a look at these dummy AA .....VERY nice !!
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/148054

this way you can easily revert back to 2 AA if required

also the longer 14670 has nearly 50% more capacity than 14500 ....
see this thread ....
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/140362

A good dummy cell can be made out of a piece of dowel cut to size, some fine insulated wire and two thum tacks, quick and easy

FYI - AW also has dummy AA & 123 cells listed in his sales thread. They look like a bargain at $5 each shipped. I can attest to AW's excellent service.

you realise that with a max of 4.2?? volts vrses ~3v that it might also have fallen out of regulation, and is overdriving the curcuit or the led or both.
i would still do it, but you should just know that it could reduce the life of it.
then of course you can mod it with a cree after its fried

LightScene said:

......

If you use any dissimilar cells people will tell you that it's dangerous, but they have never provided a sensible reason for their concerns, other than parroting that it's dangerous.

Click to expand...

So, because you've never read, a, 'sensible reason,' people are just parroting?

-Okay, at the very least mixing cell types can lead to cell leakage which can damage or destroy the device. If that's not fun enough fire or even explosion could occur with some types. Why? Discharge characteristics; current and voltage curves, internal resistance.

-The alkaline battery is acting as a resistor absorbing energy from the Li-Ion cells.

Why risk it? Why would you advise someone to do something that is known to be potentially dangerous just because you've gotten away with it? NiMh and alkaline cells won't fail explosively or flamammably this conversation is about LITHIUM ION batteries which can fail explosively or flammably. This risk tends to be higher in higher end flashlight as their bodies are sealed that much more tightly. Basically building a potential bullet. Not smart.

Some duct tape is conductive. Duct tape is a poor choice. The entire notion of using an expended cell as a dummy cell is simply bad.

There are a million simple, safe ways to build a dummy cell, about a half a dozen good methods have been posted here. Why advocate inherently dangerous solutions when so many adequate, cheap solutions exist?

EXPLODING FLASHLIGHTS:
ARE THEY A SERIOUS THREAT TO WORKER SAFETY?

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fact0002.html