Rechargeable lithium mag?

zmoz

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Feb 28, 2003
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Oregon
I plan on modding a 2D...maybe 3D mag with a 5 watt luxeon. I would really love to fill it with rechargeable lithium batteries. Does anybody know what I could use for that? I was thinking I could buy a battery and charger meant for something else and just take it apart, but what?
 

Joe400

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Jul 26, 2002
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Frozen in Liquid Carbonite somewhere in Illinois
You could always try some 3-To-D Battery holders from Elektrolumens and use some rechargeable AA's. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
3-To-D.Battery.Holder.jpg
 

dw_1984

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Mar 17, 2003
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Toronto, Canada
Aren't phone batteries really low in capacity relative to normal batteries. I just saw my Panasonic one and it was Li-Ion 3.7V 740mah. That'll get you very little runtime on a 5 watter.
Maybe there are higher capacity phone batteries compared to mine.

Daniel
 

dw_1984

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Mar 17, 2003
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I'd have to agree with Joe on the battery holders.

There aren't that many Li-Ion batteries on the market that have a very high capacity for LS use. There may be some video camera batteries but they're pricey and aren't that impressive compared to good old Nimh.

The most popular idea I've seen is to use 6AA's to DD a 5 watt LS in one of those special holders EL sells in a 2D Mag.

GL on your project!

Daniel
 

LightBright

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Silicon Valley CA
Zmoz, Do you mean Nickel Metal Hydride AA's ?? There are lots of chargers available for that....

But Lithium Ion cells have voltage outputs that usually require a DC-DC converter or regulation to drive a Luxeon optimally.
 

FalconFX

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Nov 1, 2002
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Davis, CA
Zmoz,
Here's a suggestion for you:
Grab yourself a couple of the Copia/Wolf Eyes rechargeable Li-Ion batts (either the 150A/Bs or the 168A/Bs)... You can take them out and charge them in the accompanied charger. And you can then use 2 or 3 in series to drive an LS. You can use a PowerPuck in the process to feed a 5W LS with the LiIons...
 

highlandsun

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Aug 11, 2002
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Location
Los Angeles, CA
Having played with LiIon AAs for a while, here's what I've observed: Fresh off the charger they're 4.2V, and I run them down to about 2.5V before recharging again. The LiIon AAs I have are rated 3.6V 630mAH, but I'm getting more like 750mAH out of them based on my direct drive runtime tests.

With an initial voltage of 4.1-4.2V you really need a regulator to avoid frying the Luxeons... I'd go for the AA to D adapter wired in parallel to extend the runtime, but again, you need a regulator, otherwise the Luxeon will just suck out as much juice as 3 parallel LiIon AAs can provide, which is nearly 2A.
 
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