shadowman
Newly Enlightened
Is it safe to use NIMH batteries in this light?
Princeton Tec Impact and nimh?
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mossyoak
Flashlight Enthusiast
if it was my light i wouldn't do it because of the risk of blowing the led and the fact that you really don't need rechargeables in a led light because they are so efficient you aren't going to have to buy AAs that much anyway.
cratz2
Flashlight Enthusiast
Yeah... the Impact runs so long on standard batteries (100+ hours) that unless you plan on using the Impact constantly and I mean CONSTANTLY, you're really just throwing your money away using NiMHs in the Impact.
I can't agree with either of the other two posters.
First off, running on NiMH won't kill your light. In fact, quite the opposite in terms of abuse. Typical current is about 50 mA with NiMH, yes an overdrive, but far from an uncommon or severe one. OTOH, fresh alkalines are over 100 mA.....you do the math. Mind the light out is not all that much more for the doubling of current (such is the nature of LEDs), but the strain on the LED is over twice. For sure use of NiMH doesn't seem to have hurt mine.
And hundred hour run times are a marketing myth, IMO. Useful lifetimes are less than half that.
True, given the long life of alkalines, rechargable cost savings are lower than in other lights, but if the question is 'is it safe', the answer is clearly 'yes'.
Doug Owen
First off, running on NiMH won't kill your light. In fact, quite the opposite in terms of abuse. Typical current is about 50 mA with NiMH, yes an overdrive, but far from an uncommon or severe one. OTOH, fresh alkalines are over 100 mA.....you do the math. Mind the light out is not all that much more for the doubling of current (such is the nature of LEDs), but the strain on the LED is over twice. For sure use of NiMH doesn't seem to have hurt mine.
And hundred hour run times are a marketing myth, IMO. Useful lifetimes are less than half that.
True, given the long life of alkalines, rechargable cost savings are lower than in other lights, but if the question is 'is it safe', the answer is clearly 'yes'.
Doug Owen
