What advantage would a 14500 battery have over a Alkaline or NiMH

Here is my story, not that long ago I bought two Olight, a S15 Baton and a S20 Baton, now with the S20 I have put in 1x18650 3400 mAh KeepPower Protected in it, ok all well and done. Now with my S15 and this is the one I am focusing on I am currently using Imedion AA 2550 mAh which is a NiMH battery.

It is to my understanding that the S15 can also take and accept a 14500 LiIon battery which is probably the same size as a normal AA or a fraction bigger, but I noticed the only thing is the NiMH seenms to have a slightly larger capacity i.e 2500 vs the 800mAh LiIon battery, but the LiIon will make full benefit of the S15 and push out the max 215Lumens where as the NiMh probably wont so really they both have advantages and disadvantages.

Assume if I do get and go for LiIons I will probbaly go for Panasonic/Sanyo some brand I can trust

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280880529849?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

So assume if you had a AA Led Torch and it would accept Alkaline, NiMH and LiIOn which battery type would you choose and why.

So should I go for LiIon and skip the AA or just leave it and use AA.

Thanks

My understanding is to measure battery capacity you multiply the voltage times the mAh.

Since the 800 mAh 14500 has much higher voltage than a regular AA or NiMH, the 14500 actually holds more power and in theory should give you longer battery life if the light were run at the same brightness.

However, many lights like this probably drive the light harder on 14500. So instead of longer runtime you might get more light.

It is true you will get more light even saw a review by Selfbuilt on YouTube and the 14500 Battery actually made use of the full 215 or 280 Lumens (sorry cant recall) for the S15.
But here is my question, because the NiMh is a 2550 mAh battery doesnt it mean it will last longer.

Use NiMHs for runtime, Li-ions for output. Any runtime you calculate for the Li-ion won't be correct since it should shut down at ~2.8 volts using the flashlight's or its own protection, and you shouldn't be running it below 3.6 anyway. Plus running ultra-low drain moonlight modes for long periods of time can circumvent the Li-ion's protection circuit and damage/kill the cell.

I read where LiOns should not be run down to zero or fully flat as it will completely ruin the battery so how would one know when to fully recharge a LiIon. Would you recharge it when you get the low battery indicator.

Albinoni1967 said:

so how would one know when to fully recharge a LiIon

Click to expand...

You need to use your multimeter to check its voltage. If you don't have a multimeter, stop using your Li-ions until you get one; the multimeter is a not-optional piece of equipment if you're going to use Li-ions at all [the one I use is a whole $6] Virtually all the Li-ion fires and explosions you see here are caused by people not knowing the voltage of their cells, the only way to prevent that is to find out the voltage.

Once you have/are using your multimeter, you need to always use it before and after charging and from time to time when in use. Voltage should be no higher than 4.2 off the charger, and you shouldn't let it fall below 3.6 in use. You can run it down to 3 if absolutely necessary, the protection will cut in around that point anyway, but it'll put a bit of unnecessary wear on the cell.

Agree, you need to know what you're doing with LiOns. And that you sacrifice runtime for output. A judgment call for sure. But according to selfbuilt's review, that light really needs 1x14500 or 2xAA to reach its potential.

Hi Star I do have 3 multimeters actually, a Fluke, Mastech and a Hioki. I am actually using a XTAR VP1 for my charger and so far very happy with it. Last night I fully charged up my 2 new 18650 KeepPowers and it charged them both up to 4.3 volts. I know that some of my led torches have low battery indicator so probably best that when I see this indicator come on charge the battery

Before deciding to go the Li-ion route, I would suggest that you take the time to read any and all threads concerning the use and care of Li-ion cells. This wll probably take several hours but is time well spent. You will need a proper charger for the size of cells you want to charge, good quality batteries, a multimeter if the charger does not have one built in (think Cottenpickers chargers) and a safe place to charge them. Good luck in your quest.

An 800mah 14500 and 2500mah NiMh have about the same energy in watt-hrs. With lights that fully support 14500s (ie, lower modes retained at spec), you'll probably get more runtime with 14500s, except max of course, since the light will be operating closer to the emitter's forward voltage and/or under the more efficient buck driver - boost drivers are less efficient. I like running 14500s over NiMhs (and I'm a low lumen enthusiast) since a quick voltage check is an accurate measure of remaining capacity - not so with NiMhs.

Hi Snake man I am sure my XTAR VP1 has a built in multimeter because as soon as I put battery in it, it will give me the voltage of the battery