How much power is too much for an AA?

Hallis · Sep 1, 2004

I'm hoping Peter will have the answer for this one. I was looking to get some MAHA Powerex NiMH's to use with various lights and things around the house since there are some pretty good deals on some combo deals with charger. I was wanting to know how beefy i can get power wise and still not blow up an AA. I am either going to go with 1700ma or 2300ma's. Anybody know if the 2300's are safe in the Arc-AA?

Shane

shiftd · Sep 1, 2004

Shane, that 2300 numbers you are talking about is supposed to be rated in 2300 mAH, not mA. So there is no connection between how much power the arc drain with the power the battery has available. you can even use NimH D cell with 10,000 rated mAH and the arc would not blow.
just use the best battery that you can, all you will get is increased runtime.

Hallis · Sep 1, 2004

Thank you muchly, Im trying to learn al this stuff as i go along. Only been registered a week and i have learned so much already. ok so mAH just dictates how long it will run. Well i can get the charger and 2 packs of 1700's or spend $9 more and get the charger and one pack of 2300's, think i'll go with the 1700's. thanks for the advice shiftd

-Shane

shiftd · Sep 1, 2004

depending how much the 1700 pack is, the extra 600 mAH can go a long way. Assuming the arc is drawing 150 ~ 200 mAH, then you roughly gets 3 more hrs by going to the 2300 mAH, but this is rough estimate though you can expect at least 1 hr extra run time, meaning brighter longer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hallis · Sep 1, 2004

lol damnit and i had my mind all made up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

If i need longer runtimes i'll buy the 2300's later

cy · Sep 1, 2004

Just for grins...

I stuck in a 14500 li-ion in ARC AA just for a few seconds. got much brighter w/o hurting led. not recommended!

You are fine running a lithium AA or any NMH with it's lower V. batt of choice would be AA lithiun.

to me ARC AA takes on a different charater with the less weight of AA lithium. excellent EDC w/ultra neck lanyard.

Blikbok · Sep 1, 2004

Hallis:
I buy NiMH based on cost/capacity, with a definate bias towards beefier, but lower capacity cells. Sometimes, stepping back from the cutting edge cells saves a lot of money for the same capacity.

I have a batch of 1700s that I run everywhere, including my Arc AA. I top the cell off every month, so I probably never run out of capacity in use.

jayflash · Sep 1, 2004

Hey Hallis, 149 posts in a week?! That must be nearly a record.

Like Blikbok suggested - lower capacity NiMH cells are often more rugged and can withstand higher loads and recharging rates. I'm using some old 1200mAh cells that I cannot seem to kill.

electronics4life · Sep 2, 2004

I just purchased a combo batteries and charger at thomasdistributing. I felt the best bank for buck combo was the four 2000mah batteries.

How much power is too much for an AA?

Hallis

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shiftd

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Hallis

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shiftd

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Hallis

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cy

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Blikbok

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jayflash

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electronics4life

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