Alkys or NiMh AA for cold weather?

Which holds up to cold temperatures better, alkaline batteries or NiMh for AA and AAA flashlights (Streamlight Jr Lux and Dorcy 3AAA 1w lux). I know that alkys don't do too well, but I don't know much about NiMh. I want to keep a light in the car during this Illinois winter. Can either of these flashlights tolerate lithiums - I know that people use NiMh in both lights?

Thanks, David

NiMH's will do okay in cold weather, but if you're keeping the thing in your car trunk all winter, I'd put Lithium cells in the Dorcy, and maybe the STreamlight JR - though the latter is not recommended, IIRIC.

Thanks for that info Haesslich. I already have the Dorcy and am planning to order a couple Streamlight Jr Lux. My wife wants a light in her car that is reliable in cold weather.

David

Lithiums are hard to beat.
I have a pair of vintage 1993 Energizer lithiums still performing well in a Brinkman single led light out in my truck glovebox.


Oh, yeah, you may want to ask a moderator to move this thread to batteries and electronics part of the forum for some even better answers to your question.

Most of the manufactorure are saying their lithums and NiMh can handle the cold. I hope so as I'm about to walk two miles, right now it's 35F and dropping.

chiphead

Cold weather will slow down the chemical reactions in any and all batteries and therefore reduce the max current. Cells with more current at room temp will therefore do better. Nicad is best with Lithium next. Nimh is a step down from there.

Alkies will be worst since they are the worst to start with.

The problem with keeping Nimh in the glove compartment is that they have a high self discharge rate. They lose something like 2% of their charge each day. The good news is that cold weather slows this down.

BTW this is why Nicads are still preferred in many applications over Nimh - Nimh have a lot more capacity for the cost and no memory effect but the current limitation and self discharge are big issues.

Lithium has the best performance for self discharge - this is why they have such a long shelf life. They're also the highest current next to Nicads. For cold weather and sitting in a glovebox for a while I'd recommend:

1) Lithium
2) Nicad
3) Nimh

Spent an hour out in 35f weather (wind chill 18F)and my NiMh rated at 2450MaHrs hung tough with no flicker. What can I tell you.

chiphead