L1D & AW 14500

I've been running NiMH with my L0D and L1D but decided to give Li-Ions a try after seeing so many reports of success.

The 10440 (UF unprotected from DX) trial went without a hitch and was a lot brighter but when I tried a 14500 (AW protected) in my L1D, it lit up initially but didn't seem that much brighter. I then swapped out the 14500 for a NiMH but when I swapped back to the 14500, the L1D didn't light up anymore. The NiMH still works but it now refuses to lit up on the AW 14500 at all. Unfortunately, I only purchased one 14500 as I wasn't sure that I was going to like Li-Ions.

I'm thinking that perhaps because the AW 14500 doesn't have a nub on the positive terminal, it's not getting good contact? What can I put there to test this theory? Would a small washer or magnet work?

Thanks.

Ok, I've played around with it some and got to work again.

I first tried trimming away the wrapper from the top, where the positive terminal was, but it still didn't work. I managed to scrape off some of the coating off the top though, hopefully this isn't a concern.

Then I tried putting the 14500 back into the L1D with varying levels of pressure on the endcap and different head positions (low & turbo). I discovered that my L1D won't work if it's in turbo mode when you initially insert the 14500. If I have the head at some position between tight and loose, it will light up and stay lit even if I tighten the head. It will now work even if I switch off and back on.

Weird. I wonder why this is? Anyone have any ideas? Anyway, I'm not sure I will stay with 14500s in my L1D as the difference doesn't seem worth losing the modes. It's brighter on the 14500 but not OMG brighter as with the L0D and 10440s.

I read in another thread that a 14500 fresh off the charger limits you to High mode until the batt drops to around 3.5 volts. I haven't verified that myself.

I have wondered about a 14500 in this light as well. In fact in another post I asked if I could use a 14500 in a L2D-CE with Rebel 100, with the L1D body. I got a response from some one that said only Turbo mode would work, no low or medium. Any way I have the above kit on order so will see.

So I hope you can post more results, or other can post experiences here.

BTW, yes you can put any metal item on the battery to make contact. I use 10440 with small disc neodymium magnets stuck on them. The magnets stay put and make good contact and are the perfect size of a normal nub.

I use an AW 14500 in my L1D-CE and it works fine. When fresh off the charger all you will have is Turbo and Strobe. When the voltage drops some then all the modes work..

I think my problem was that my tailcap assembly wasn't tight so it was causing me problems (because of the 14500s extra length). This is also probably why the 14500 didn't seem that bright to me as I can't get into turbo mode, only high mode.

I will have to see if there isn't some way to kick my L1D into turbo mode by fiddling with the tailcap some more.