New addict - first purchase

Hi all, I've been a rather long term lurker who has been ever so near to taking the plunge into some decent lighting gear. I finally broke down this X-Mas season and bought me some gifts.

Fenix LD10
Sanyo Eneloop 4 pack AA
Maha c9000 charger (on sale for $39.97 )

This should be a nice replacement to my Minimag with a niteize drop in that is in the process of breaking (cheap crap). It has been in the process of breaking for a few years, and I have finally had enough.

I hope you can welcome this new addict. I held out as long as I could, really.

Anyone have any tips on what to do with those eneloops and the maha c9000 when they arrive. I am anal enough to try to do it right for maximum performance and battery life. I am willing to do some reading/viewing over the weekend to learn.

So, greetings to all from the Great White North, aka Canada.

Chad

Welcome, Chad. Excellent first purchase, but not your last. I don't think there's anything special to do at this point. Charge up those suckers and fire away. I understand that's a good charger. Better than any of mine. There should be plenty of comments in the battery section.

Geoff

Oops. You did say Eneloops. I'd use them as they are first. I don't think precharging is really necessary, but one of our battery experts will surely comment.

Welcome to CPF!

Believe me this won't be your last flashlight purchase

:welcome: Always room for another addict here! Where are you in Canada?
Now that you are here... we must inform you... with solemn regret... that your wallet will suffer grievous injury

I have Eneloops in my old MiniMag's. I find the TerraLux drop in to make the MM perform again.

Cydonia said:

:welcome: Always room for another addict here! Where are you in Canada?
Now that you are here... we must inform you... with solemn regret... that your wallet will suffer grievous injury

I have Eneloops in my old MiniMag's. I find the TerraLux drop in to make the MM perform again.

Click to expand...

Howdy neighbor. I'm in White Rock, right near the beach and I can see the good ol' USA border from there (Hi American neighbors). I was born and raised in Vancouver though, just off of Granville right downtown. On Helmcken to be exact.

I am aware that my wallet will suffer. I guess I am off to a good start.

:welcome:

White Rock is a nice beach, great when the tide is out. Love some of the shops along the avenue. I like getting away from the crowds though at peak season and walking crescent beach.

I spent a few years in that area, now I'm across the border.

Drop those precharged eneloops into the light as soon as they arrive... after they're dead charge them up... I like to use less than 1A charge, but it really depends on the device. For my wireless mouse for example I found 200mA charge works the best for the batteries. I've not been able to test the ideal current for other devices. Some say the charge should be close to the expected discharge rate, taking into account the recommended charge rates for the cell capacity.

I don't think I would cycle or run them through break-in until I used them a few times. Better check on the Battery forum though. There would be little use to them being pre-charged though if they were not good to go out of the package. I haven't damaged any of mine.

Hum, never been to Canada, but planning on it.

Thread about Maglite Drop-ins.

No tips about the Eneloops or the Maha since I have neither.

You can look at the L2D/LD20 and P2D/PD20 body for the LD10 if you want to use 2 AA or 1 CR123 battery.

:welcome:

:welcome:Chad

Excellent first purchase :thumbsup:

Here is the Support/FAQ thread about the C9000 from the Flashlight Electronics - Batteries Included section of the site.


Lots and lots of reading, but here is the Reader's Digest version of what you are asking about for your new Eneloops.

1. Discharge at 400 or 500 mA
2. Perform a Break-In cycle on the cells

hey chad :welcome:
i wish i had started off with an ldo1... maybe i would'nt be in the mess i'm in now
i've been using duracell aa NiMH that i gather are rebadged enoloops. so far so good. they came pre charged and ready to go and i have no complaints. i usually run one for a week before i switch to a fresh cell. i run a pair in my camera too. i like not having to look for new batteries when i need them the most.

I lived down at crescent beach from June 2006 till February 2007. Survived a nice 54 hour black out on November 16-17 2006 thanks to the wind storm
What a creepy place... right on a flood plane from the Nicomekl... house built on silt and rattled every time the bus went by. A ticking time bomb...

Cydonia said:

I lived down at crescent beach from June 2006 till February 2007. Survived a nice 54 hour black out on November 16-17 2006 thanks to the wind storm
What a creepy place... right on a flood plane from the Nicomekl... house built on silt and rattled every time the bus went by. A ticking time bomb...

Click to expand...

Ha ha, I lived in Crescent Park on 128 St during the great wind storm. A huge douglas fir crashed from our yard to the neighbors yard. The thing was well over 100 feet tall. I was in the basement less than 20 feet from it when it happened. Man, was that loud. it scared the life outta me.

A good flashlight sure helps in this area, as we have a lot of power outages because of winds off of the ocean. I was at the beach a couple of days ago during one.

I love the coast. :twothumbs

Awesome... I'll be careful about buying in CB if I get the chance. Thanks for the heads up... I'll just visit. I may get back to the area one day, I love the West Coast! The East Coast though is not bad in places. If you get the chance to visit Cape Cod, do it!! If you think the tide goes out far at White Rock, check out Skaket Beach on the cape.

clbnc said:

Anyone have any tips on what to do with those eneloops and the maha c9000 when they arrive. I am anal enough to try to do it right for maximum performance and battery life. I am willing to do some reading/viewing over the weekend to learn.

Click to expand...

Welcome, Chad. You have made several good choices. AA Eneloops and a MAHA charger will give you good service. The Fenix LD10 is reportedly wonderful. I followed a similar path about a year ago, getting the L2D-CE and the same charger and batteries.

There is advice in this thread telling you to discharge and then do a break-in, and that seems to be evidence based. Read what Silverfox posts in the electronics/batteries forum, he's the man.

The Eneloops seem to come with about 3/4 charge from the factory. Also, there was a long period where the datecodes indicated large inventories in the distribution channel, nobody was getting fresh codes. So your new Eneloop cells will not have a full charge, but the difference in performance before and after a break-in is not large, just don't expect new batteries to produce ultimate results on first use.

I have done the break-in on a few sets, but typically I just charge them and use 'em. Leave the cells in the charger for a couple of hours past the "done" indicator to reach full capacity.

The charger default settings will give you 1,000 mA rate and that is near optimal for your AA's. Takes about two hours for fully discharged cells. My oldest cells have 2006 date codes IIRC, and all of them perform the same or so close you'd need measurements (which you can do with the MAHA) to separate. I recommend you keep the cells paired, nevertheless. It's difficult to read datecodes on the Eneloops, I mark mine with a Sharpie.

I bought one of those cheap p-touch labelmakers, and have made small labels with my name and phone number, applying one to each Eneloop cell. The standard non laminated tape is only about 0.001" thick, and fits easily in all my lights. I think someday I might get a call if an honest person finds one of my lights.

There seems to be evidence that the Sanyo 2,700 mAh NiMH AA cells have low discharge characteristics as well. If you value ultimate capacity over the LSD properties, you may want to look at those. I've ordered the 1,000 mAh AAA Sanyo cells to try (the AAA Eneloops are rated 800 mAh).

The Fenix L0D and LD01 AAA lights are great, too. Your charger will handle those nicely. These one ounce wonders are now my EDC. I'm always leaving one of them in some jacket pocket, or putting it on the counter and walking away, thus the need for three of them - but so far no permanent loss.
:welcome:

Chad - Welcome to CPF!

Black Rose said:

:welcome:Chad

Excellent first purchase :thumbsup:

Here is the Support/FAQ thread about the C9000 from the Flashlight Electronics - Batteries Included section of the site.

Lots and lots of reading, but here is the Reader's Digest version of what you are asking about for your new Eneloops:

• Discharge at 400 or 500 mA
• Perform a Break-In cycle on the cells

Click to expand...

+1 ALL of the above!!! :thumbsup:
Welcome to CPF, Chad. :welcome:
-Clive

StandardBattery said:

I like to use less than 1A charge, but it really depends on the device. For my wireless mouse for example I found 200mA charge works the best for the batteries. I've not been able to test the ideal current for other devices. Some say the charge should be close to the expected discharge rate, taking into account the recommended charge rates for the cell capacity.

Click to expand...

It is not a good idea to use low charge rates with NiMH batteries, the charger may not detect when the batteries are full, but continue to charge way the batteries and this will damage the batteries.

HKJ said:

It is not a good idea to use low charge rates with NiMH batteries, the charger may not detect when the batteries are full, but continue to charge way the batteries and this will damage the batteries.

Click to expand...

I know this is what they say, but unfortunately as I explained, for may application the 200mA charge rate seemed far superior. The charger has yet to terminate falsely, but I'm aware of the reported potential problem. When I get another heavy use application that will allow me again to test charge rates I'll be testing another charge scenario for that application; it is sure to be a higher draw situation.

Thanks again all for the welcome and advice. My goodies still are not here, stoopid holidays. I think things may start arriving today. The charger may be awhile as it has to cross the border into Canada. Hopefully customs leaves it alone.

I can't wait until I retire that minimag with niteize 3-led drop in. The stinking thing broke almost instantly. It is kinda weird to think that my new LD10 will be smaller, lighter, brighter, and last longer with one battery than that minimag.

StandardBattery said:

I know this is what they say, but unfortunately as I explained, for may application the 200mA charge rate seemed far superior. The charger has yet to terminate falsely, but I'm aware of the reported potential problem. When I get another heavy use application that will allow me again to test charge rates I'll be testing another charge scenario for that application; it is sure to be a higher draw situation.

Click to expand...

The 200ma charge is way too low for the Maha 9000 charger with the 2000 mah Enloops. Perhaps you can get away with a lower charge rate with a different charger but I am not sure what you are gaining by such a slow charge rate. Even Maha recommends that you don't use a charge rate less than 0.3 of the capacity of the cell. SilverFox recommends a rate of 0.5C.

clbnc said:

Hi all, I've been a rather long term lurker who has been ever so near to taking the plunge into some decent lighting gear. I finally broke down this X-Mas season and bought me some gifts.

Fenix LD10
Sanyo Eneloop 4 pack AA
Maha c9000 charger (on sale for $39.97 )

This should be a nice replacement to my Minimag with a niteize drop in that is in the process of breaking (cheap crap). It has been in the process of breaking for a few years, and I have finally had enough.

I hope you can welcome this new addict. I held out as long as I could, really.

Anyone have any tips on what to do with those eneloops and the maha c9000 when they arrive. I am anal enough to try to do it right for maximum performance and battery life. I am willing to do some reading/viewing over the weekend to learn.

So, greetings to all from the Great White North, aka Canada.

Chad

Click to expand...

Welcome to CPF:welcome:

My first Flashlight was from Fenix too. TK11 but now got R2 version, so sad.:mecry:

Well, the eneloops arrived today. I promptly ripped them out of the packaging to check the date code: 08-06IU. June of 2008 seems like a nice fresh set if I got the code translated right.

Hopefully the flashlight arrives tomorrow.