3.6V Lithium AA: How best to Use?

I just bought 19 @ 3.6V lithiums on Ebay for $46 or $2.42 @. (They're normally used for wireless security device transmitters)

Help me determine their best and highest use. Thoughts include:

Use one in ARC LS single AA chamber.

Use one in in MiniMag AA with a lithium 1.6 and a Brinkman 3AA bulb.

Use two in MiniMag AA with SL Scorpion Bulb which looks like it will fit. (1.1 amps * 7.2 Volts which will probably drop to 6 volts still = 6.6 Watts?) Any bets on how long the reflector will last?

One in each chamber of my Energizer DB 6AA and DB 8AA to overdrive the underdriven but very white OEM Xenon bulbs.

One or two in various PT 2AA lights with appropriate bulb upgrades.

What brand are these?

Are they the AA size lithiums you were talking about in the ARC LS discussions?

These 3.6 volts are NOT rated for anything near what you are wanting to push them. They are for 2 mA (yes, two milliamps), not the 1100 mA you are wanting to push them with the scorpion bulb (which is most likely rated at 4.8 volts since the batteries drop well under 6 when under such high loads). They have a max rated current of like 100 mA, or 200 mA pulses I believe. Your best use for them would be LED's. That, or stick them in a PC for backup battery if that is the kind your PC takes (actually, I think they are for MACs, but you know what I mean).

Spudgunr

Sean:

Yes er well no, not exactly, First I read the January 2001 string about the single cell LED light titled "30 Hour Flashlight". It was connected to a Crane Link selling the battery for $10.95 and CPF commentary describing the battery as a 3.0 V AA lithium. That's when I responded to you.

Next, I searched Ebay and came across these batteries.

Tater Rocket:

The batteries are Tekcell SB-AA11 batteries said to by used in "ITI and Ademco wireless sensors (glassbreaks, longlife sensors, etc.)" . I was unable to find Specs for them on the internet. The seller had many auctions for security systems equipment.

I sure hope you're wrong about the 2 ma, 100 ma, and 200 ma drain limits. Brock says the ARC LS draws 300 ma. Even the OEM minimag bulbs draw 300 ma. I won't be devastated if I can't draw 1100 ma, but I'll be real unhappy if I can't draw the 450 to 500 ma needed by the Brinkman bulb or the 300 ma needed by the bulbs in the top of this paragraph.

That might unattractively limit me to trying to overdrive the following types of AA LED lights by replacing one Alkaline AA with a lithium:
Eternallights (use 3@ AA at 180 ma),
PT Impact (uses 4AA s),
Lightwave 2000 (Uses 3AA at 140 MA)
Infinity (Uses 1AA at 55 MA)
(Again: drains from Brock's page.)

(Wouldn't it be ironic that after my post saying why I don't need an ARC AA if I went out and got what might be the world's only high output Infinity?)

Maybe there's a difference between the computer battery and the the security batteries that need to transmit wireless signals.

Lemlux,

try this for info on the Tekcell cells

Kimren Lithium battery (Tekcell)

Klaus

The battery used in an Apple is a 3.6v 1/2AA. The 1/2 AA is also used in security systems, mine for one, as well as the 3.6v AA.

If it doesn't release the Infinity's smoke I'll buy a few of those batt's from ya'

...Moved...

--dan

Thanks Tater Rocket and Klaus

Kimren will be sending me a spec sheet. The Saft spec sheet says the capacity is about 2100 mah at a drain of 3 ma and half that at a constant 120 ma drain. It says that higher drains are possible, but I imagine that the capacity curve falls off precipitiously.

Looks like these need to go into lighter drain LED's. I will try one with a $12.99 Infinity.

I just bought three 4-LED Clusters of Nichia 6400's in a PR base from John Bechtold and discovered some very interesting discoveries he has made about the odd performance of using one, two, three, and four of the 3.6V Lithium AA's in serial with LED's. I include his comments about about how various batteries drive the PR bulbs I'm purchasing.


"These things (Lithium 1.5 V AA's) work great with my LED retrofit bulbs. They actually run just a little higher than the Alkalines, which makes sense since they start out at 1.8 volts instead of 1.6 like fresh alkalines. Here is a combination that I think might be ideal for you.

Quad white 6,400 mcd LEDs with one 5 ohm resistor:

160 ma (40 ma per LED) with three 1.5v Alkaline AA's
192 ma (48 ma per LED) with three 1.5v Lithium AA's
10 ma (2.5 ma per LED) with three 3.6 volt Lithium AA's {still weird...1 ma (dim) with one cell, 5 ma with 2 cells and 14 ma with 4 cells, but a reasonable amount of light with 2, 3 or 4 cells} "

The 3.6 V cells are rated at 1.93 Ah at 4 ma and 1.12 Ah at 16 mA. These numbers suggest that one cell would apparently run dimly for
almost 2000 hours, two cells would run more brightly for > 350 hours, three cells would run even more brightly for about 150 hours, and four cells would run brighter still for around 80 hours, though not as brightly as with regular 1.4 alkalines or lithiums.

I put a 3.6v Li AA in an ARC sls and dran it for one hour! Starts off VERY bright and at the end of the hour, I would questimate that it was aabout 50%-75%. You could read something close to the light. Plus the flashlight got very warm to the touch. Turn the light off and let it cool down and it comes back to about half bright. Unloaded the battery recovers to almost new voltage. In a real life usage (a little on, a bunch off )the battery might be usefull. At $2.50 a battery, give it a shot! At $10.00 from Radio Shack, I'll not do this again.

Roy:

The 3.6 AA's are rated to be used a max drain of 120 mA, and the mAh output falls off drastically as you go beyond 16 mA. Your ARC LS pulls 300 mA which unsurprisingly eats up the battery.

Various poeple have commented that the 3.6 is for low amp service, but it's interesting to see how an increase in the number of cells used increases the amperage on 5 mm LEDs. It's also interesting to see that 4 * 3.6 V = 14.4 V doesn't burn the LEDs up.

OOPS! Sorry 'bout that!