Does anyone make primary Lithium C and D cell batteries?

I have had a lot of luck with Duracell and Energizer AA, AAA, and 9V lithium batteries (non-rechargeables) in devices that I tend to want to put a battery in and forget about for a few years. For example; Energizer Ultimate Lithium or Duracell Ultra Lithium batteries.

Does anyone make C or D cell non-rechargeable lithium replacement batteries?

I did some Googling and found a couple of things like this:

http://www.hdslights.com/?id=LithiumDSo2Battery

But they are not a drop-in D cell battery because of the voltage mismatch. Why doesn't anyone make a C or D cell 1.5V lithium battery? Is the amount of lithium per cell a safety concern?

:thinking:

Nope... there are NONE out there at all. There is a lithium primary cell that many find the same size but wrong chemistry and it is only capable of small current output for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time not suitable for normal use. I would say that a larger lithium primary C/D cell could be a concern but I think the cost is the main issue a C cell would have to cost about 2.5-4 times as much and a D cell would cost 4-7 times as much I don't think people will buy $10-$15 single D disposable batteries often enough for them to ramp up an assembly line for such purpose as Energizer holds the patent it stifles sales of competing products.

When I bought my TK70 the directions said lithium D cells were an approved battery for the flashlight. Maybe they exist, but I did not find them either.

Ok, so I am not crazy (or bad at websearching).

What is this about Energizer owning the patent? Did they license it to Duracell (for Duracell Ultra)?

Lou Minescence said:

When I bought my TK70 the directions said lithium D cells were an approved battery for the flashlight. Maybe they exist, but I did not find them either.

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The TK 70 takes NIMH rechargeables.... no such replacement in lithiums for it.

photon1c said:

Ok, so I am not crazy (or bad at websearching).

What is this about Energizer owning the patent? Did they license it to Duracell (for Duracell Ultra)?

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Energizer has the US patent, but perhaps in some countries their patents may not apply completely allowing others to sell batteries using the same formula.

Duracell Ultra is actually overpriced alkaline with pretty label.
Anyways, Energizer's patent only applies to US - in Europe, other brands make Lithium batteries too, for example Varta Professional Lithium are quite decent performers.

but even in countries other than usa you wont find c or d lithiums.
afaik only aa are available, you can use adapters and use AA's.
in d lights it is possible to use 4aa in place of 1d, they fit, but you'd need a contact plate between each bunch of 4 cells, something that resemble a coin with insulated edges.

Lynx_Arc said:

The TK 70 takes NIMH rechargeables.... no such replacement in lithiums for it.

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Here is a section from the TK70 manual:



In battery specifications, the third line down it says:
Non-rechargeable battery ( lithium ) D 1.5V useable.

After reading this I decided to get a set of D cell lithium primaries as a backup. But after searching the web a couple times I never found any. Either they exist somewhere or translating the Tk70 directions from Chinese to English has yielded some interesting results.

same here was searching 3-4 months ago ,nothing found.

They don't exist, I am sure it was copied from a light that uses AA batteries and they forgot to remove the one line.

I've been looking for Energizer Lithium ~1.5V C and D cell batteries for over ten years. There are none. There's almost no market for those batteries anymore. Nowadays, almost everything that needs to be portable can get enough power from AA cells, and almost everything that needs a significantly larger power reserve can get more power from a dedicated battery than from C or D cells.

fyrstormer said:

I've been looking for Energizer Lithium ~1.5V C and D cell batteries for over ten years. There are none. There's almost no market for those batteries anymore. Nowadays, almost everything that needs to be portable can get enough power from AA cells, and almost everything that needs a significantly larger power reserve can get more power from a dedicated battery than from C or D cells.

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Imagine a two pack of lithium energizer L94 D cells at $24.99 I don't think many folks would buy them

Lynx_Arc said:

Imagine a two pack of lithium energizer L94 D cells at $24.99 I don't think many folks would buy them

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Well, that can't be the whole reason. There are people that would pay $200 for a flashlight and there are others that wouldn't pay more than $10. If a primary lithum D-cell lasted 10x as long as an alkaline, people would pay 10x the price of an alkaline - or even more, just for the novelty or for the convenience of not having to replace batteries as often (or the security of knowing their cells won't die for many years)

photon1c said:

Well, that can't be the whole reason. There are people that would pay $200 for a flashlight and there are others that wouldn't pay more than $10. If a primary lithum D-cell lasted 10x as long as an alkaline, people would pay 10x the price of an alkaline - or even more, just for the novelty or for the convenience of not having to replace batteries as often (or the security of knowing their cells won't die for many years)

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I seriously doubt anything other than something designed primarily to use NIMH D cells would give you anywhere near a 10x long runtime. Alkaline D cells I think can handle 1 amp and almost everything made for them doesn't need more than that I figure you could get 2-3 times the runtime but at low enough drains the alkaline could actually give you more runtime even. The main issue is nobody is selling decent nimh C/D cells in local stores they have to be ordered or bought at a specialty store to get more than 3000mah ones. I just don't see a market for these as things that need more power than alkaline D can provide end up going to lithium ion rechargable batteries packs instead.

photon1c said:

Well, that can't be the whole reason. There are people that would pay $200 for a flashlight and there are others that wouldn't pay more than $10. If a primary lithum D-cell lasted 10x as long as an alkaline, people would pay 10x the price of an alkaline - or even more, just for the novelty or for the convenience of not having to replace batteries as often (or the security of knowing their cells won't die for many years)

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No, they wouldn't, because most people are not smart enough to do math in their heads while shopping. You want proof? Look at the wild success of Wal-Mart. They buy the cheapest stuff they can get that won't fall apart in the store, and they sell it for the lowest possible price; more durable goods might cost 2-3x as much but would last many times longer, and yet, people shop at Wal-Mart in droves, "to save money."

Lou Minescence said:

Here is a section from the TK70 manual:

In battery specifications, the third line down it says:
Non-rechargeable battery ( lithium ) D 1.5V useable.

After reading this I decided to get a set of D cell lithium primaries as a backup. But after searching the web a couple times I never found any. Either they exist somewhere or translating the Tk70 directions from Chinese to English has yielded some interesting results.

Click to expand...

As others have mentioned here, and in other forum posts, the alkaline battery can't deliver the amount of current needed to bring the TK70 to full output, and the runtime would be ridiculously low. Alkalines would be a bad investment for this light, other than just as emergency batteries (If you're unable to feed the light with NiMh batteries - but at the expense of lower output and shorter runtime.

As for the third line on the instructions picture you posted, I don't think that line should exist at all. They've already mentioned using D-sized Ni-Mh batteries as being the basis for their runtime/output testing, on their website; so that is what I'd use, to obtain the most predictable results. I'd find the highest capacity, reputable NiMh batteries you could find for that light, and a good charger to charge them, which should give you the best output, the longest runtimes, and the lowest expense, over time, once you've charged the batteries enough times to pay for themselves.

Saft makes C and D size lithium primaries, but they're 3.6V

elugelab said:

Saft makes C and D size lithium primaries, but they're 3.6V

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SAFT batteries are designed for a few mA draw, and do not tolerate higher currents well. They are a unique chemistry designed for battery-backup of memory and such.

elugelab said:

Saft makes C and D size lithium primaries, but they're 3.6V

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recycledelectrons said:

SAFT batteries are designed for a few mA draw, and do not tolerate higher currents well. They are a unique chemistry designed for battery-backup of memory and such.

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I mentioned them in post 2 but not by name