L1Dce and 14500 Li-ion

Seijin

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
19
Will the 14500 protected Li-on from Lighthound fit the L1Dce?
 

Seijin

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
19
Thanks for the reply. I had ordered one today and then come across another thread that questioned whether some protected 14500's would fit or not. I'm glad I made the right purchase then.
 

Frank Maddix

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Messages
195
Location
Bristol, England
Seijin said:
Thanks for the reply. I had ordered one today and then come across another thread that questioned whether some protected 14500's would fit or not. I'm glad I made the right purchase then.
I too ordered up two 14500s to go with my new L1Dce.
You have to be a bit careful I think.
Firstly, they are about 1.5 mm longer than alkalines, so tightening up is *really* tight. You have to stop thinking about the pressure on the PCB contact.
Secondly, the plastic shrouding extends quite a bit and may have to be trimmed. Thirdly, my 14500's aren't the same size. One is about .5 mm longer. Doesn't sound much, but it felt very different when tightening up.
Having said that, it works fine, with the usual bypass effect.
Incidentally, if the controller is being bypassed, how is it that the strobe / SOS functions still work?
 

matrixshaman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
3,410
Location
Outside the Matrix
Frank Maddix said:
I too ordered up two 14500s to go with my new L1Dce.
You have to be a bit careful I think.
Firstly, they are about 1.5 mm longer than alkalines, so tightening up is *really* tight. You have to stop thinking about the pressure on the PCB contact.
Secondly, the plastic shrouding extends quite a bit and may have to be trimmed. Thirdly, my 14500's aren't the same size. One is about .5 mm longer. Doesn't sound much, but it felt very different when tightening up.
Having said that, it works fine, with the usual bypass effect.
Incidentally, if the controller is being bypassed, how is it that the strobe / SOS functions still work?
It doesn't keep the function selection circuit from working - it just overrides the lower light settings since they kick into direct drive at the higher voltage. This could be fixed but it appears they didn't plan on running these on the higher voltage rechargeables. I'm assuming it would cost more to design the circuit to run in a 1.2 to 4.2 voltage range than the 1.2 to 1.6 v range which is only a boost circuit whereas the other one needs to be able to adjust up OR down.
 

IsaacHayes

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 30, 2003
Messages
5,876
Location
Missouri
It fits, yes and no.

To make sure no extra pressure is required, unscrew the bezel to put it into general mode. This gives you more length.

If you want strobe (turbo mode) then put it into that mode before installing the battery and tail cap. it may be too short still. And the cell will bottom out a bit on the switch retaining ring and the spring will be fully compressed. The tail cap will be very tight because you are smashing the cell basically. Be careful.

YMMV. (battery length and body length vary)
 

chevrofreak

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 10, 2004
Messages
2,543
Location
Billings, Montana, USA
To get my AW protected 14500 to fit I had to make a copper ring from some thin doorbell wire that was stripped of its insulation. I placed it between the tailcap and body, then removed the head to change out cells. The cell was about 1mm too long, and I didnt want to crush it.

BTW, it performs extremely well on Max with the 14500.

Fenix%20L1D%20CE%20vs%20P1D%20CE.png
 

Seijin

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
19
Received my AW 14500 Li-ion on Friday and it fits perfectly. I appreciate all the advice that was offered. I am very pleased with the performance of this battery and the L1D CE
 

vleong1

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
28
Location
Canada
So it's safe to use a 14500 in a L1D?
I thought the 14500 over drives the LED and lowers the life of the LED?
 

beam_me_up

Enlightened
Joined
May 3, 2002
Messages
490
Location
Minnesota, USA
chevrofreak said:
To get my AW protected 14500 to fit I had to make a copper ring from some thin doorbell wire that was stripped of its insulation. I placed it between the tailcap and body, then removed the head to change out cells. The cell was about 1mm too long, and I didnt want to crush it.

BTW, it performs extremely well on Max with the 14500.

Fenix%20L1D%20CE%20vs%20P1D%20CE.png

dang i just bought the P1D CE and now I think I want this combo instead!

Do you have any beamshots between the two ? Is the L1D a tighter beam?
 

chevrofreak

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 10, 2004
Messages
2,543
Location
Billings, Montana, USA
beam_me_up said:
dang i just bought the P1D CE and now I think I want this combo instead!

Do you have any beamshots between the two ? Is the L1D a tighter beam?

No beamshots, but I think the beam is probably about the same. I think they use the same reflector.
 

TenPin

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 22, 2005
Messages
52
Seijin said:
Received my AW 14500 Li-ion on Friday and it fits perfectly. I appreciate all the advice that was offered. I am very pleased with the performance of this battery and the L1D CE

I bought 2 AW 14500 cells and I find that I can't fully screw down the head of my L1D-CE so I am limited to the Low-Medium-High-SOS mode which is slightly annoying because I can't use the strobe. Fortunately its only a fraction away from making contact so the O ring seal is fully covered.

Freain' bright though!
 

TenPin

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 22, 2005
Messages
52
smknman said:
tighten the head before the tail when putting the battery in, that way you can still change modes

If I tighten the head first then I can't tighten the tail enough for the contacts to meet so the light doesn't work at all. I think I'll use some copper wire in between the tube and tail as chevrofreak did.
 

Nake

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
1,768
Location
Cleve. OH
The construction tolerances of 14500s must be fairly liberal. I have 3 from AW and they all fit well. When the ones I have are lined up against an alkaline AA the body is longer, but the nipple of the alkaline makes up the difference.
 

T4R06

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 12, 2006
Messages
442
Location
Rocky Hill, CT
oh my god! oh my god!!! what's happening on my L1D!
i just run this now, using AW's 14500 freshly charge
im getting 1hr and 26mins but the light is rocking!!! no dim yet!

im expecting protection will kick-in in about 56mins

oh man i really love this light
 

gravityz

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
305
Location
The Netherlands, yes way below sealevel
It fits, yes and no.

To make sure no extra pressure is required, unscrew the bezel to put it into general mode. This gives you more length.

If you want strobe (turbo mode) then put it into that mode before installing the battery and tail cap. it may be too short still. And the cell will bottom out a bit on the switch retaining ring and the spring will be fully compressed. The tail cap will be very tight because you are smashing the cell basically. Be careful.

YMMV. (battery length and body length vary)

Remark deleted.
 
Last edited:

gravityz

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
305
Location
The Netherlands, yes way below sealevel
i also found this

might be the SAVE solution for the L1DCE since it is 3V
it gives you turbo power/output on 1AA while still retaining all the powermodes
cell is only .5 mm longer than regular AA so this should fit nicely
downside is that the brand seems to be fishy(never heard of it) and the load(450mah) only give you about 40 minutes of full power(if it draws 750ma on turbo)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1878
 
Top