Lithium AAs in UK4AA?

Hi guys!
I fellow country man asked about this over at the BladeForums... I thought this might be a better place.

So, has anybody used lithium AA's in UK 4AA light? Any ill effects? The specs for the light specify alkaline, but is there a reason why lithiums could not be used instead?

Harri Suvanto, Finland

I'm considering Lithium AA's for my StealthLights. I plan to ring Pelican and ask. I'm assuming they specify alkaline so that you don't put cheap nasty AA's in the flashlights which may break or leak etc...

Surely with today's "modern" technology, the Lithiums would be better than Alkaline, but as they're still new, expensive & very hard to get hold of, and not many (if any) people know about them, the flashlight companies are just trying not to confuse Joe Public...

My advice, Contact Underwater Kinetics and ask.

Al.

P.S.
I'm not classing us lot as people cos we're all flashlight freaks (well speaking for myself atleast! )

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Size15s on 10-05-2000 at 03:19 AM</font>

My guess is you can use AA Lithiums in your UKE 4AA with no problems. I've used AA Lithiums in a 2AA ProPolymer and Tec 20 with no problems. The catalyst seemed to get rid of the gasses just as easily with alkalines.

The reason why Pelican specifies Energizer batteries in their flashlights is because those are the batteries they used to get their FM, CSA, CENELEC, MSHA, and UL ratings.

And carbon zinc batteries don't last as long and depending on the light might be dim even with fresh batteries.

I 've used Duracell and Duracell Ultras in my Stealthlight. Nothing blew up or melted.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb

Hmmm... I just checked my UKE 2L, which uses the same lamp assembly as the UKE 4AA and I don't see a catalyst. I could smell the gasses from the two DL123 lithium batteries. They don't seem to worry about it like other manufacturers.

------------------
"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb

Yes, Pelican suggest Energizer Alkalines for their flashlight because those are the one's they test with and get the safty ratings for.

The cynic in my suggests that as most flashlight companys are in bed with a battery company, They suggect Energizers over everything else.

What they'd make of Energizer Lithium AAs, I'm going to find out as I've said. Maybe they have different catalyst pellets for Lithiums. The DL123As in my SureFire 12PM smell after running hot for a while, but that's normal. Whether the Lithium AAs do the same, and this causes problems, I'm not sure. The Pelican StealthLite has a valve anyway...

I use Renewal's in a lot of my lights. I also use lithium's in my "backup" lights. Lithium's are about 1/2 the weight, and will stay at about 1.4v for 80% of their life. Alkaline's on the other hand slowly fade throughout their life, they spend the majority of their life at 1.1v

A common misconception is that lithium batteries have more "power" in them. That isn't true if you are looking at total power output from the AA size cells, but you will keep a flashlight bright for about twice to three times as long with lithium's.

Brock

DavidW, if the lamp assembly on UKE 4AA is the same as on UKE 2L, then there should not be any problems, right? I mean, I'm not that worried about any gasses, but rather that I won't fry anything in the lamp assembly. Anyways, it would be nice to hear if anybody has used lithium AA's in the 4AA... I did write to UK, but they haven't answered yet.

Harri Suvanto, Finland

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Harri on 10-05-2000 at 11:43 PM</font>

Yes, I have a UKE 4 AA with 4 lithiums in it. It works fine. I have changed a tire last year at night and it ran for about an hour without a problem.

Brock

Brock, thanks. Great to hear! I guess Size15s is right about those alkaline specifications being there to stop people from using cheap AA's - those would make the light look well... not so good

(If I'll get an official answer from UK, I will post it here too.)

Harri Suvanto, Finland

Ok, the factory (UKE) hasn't aswered my email, but the Finnish importer (leatherman Finland) did ask the factory about using lihium AA's in UK4AA, the answer from factory was about: "Lihiums can only be used in UK2L."
So, I guess they don't know what they are talking about, right!? But anyways, seems that officially lithium AAs are not ok for UK4AA.

Harri Suvanto, Finland

One of the things I HATE is customer service etc not knowing what they're talking about! I mean, I recently got an email from an online supplier saying that the replacement lamp module for the new SureFire E1 is the R30. RUBBISH! It's the MN01! The R30 is the 3P lamp module. As IF I was going to buy one of those...

So I strongly believe that if people should know what they're talking about and FIND OUT when they're not sure!

I don't like to be kept waiting. I don't like people who are lazy and fart about. I don't like people who should know what they're talking about but don't.

I'm PAYING for service. I expect to get what I pay for, and be kept informed of any problems or delays.

Al.

(Do I expect too much?!)