14500’s Purchase Advice Please

[Glenn S]

I'm still waiting for the ZL H52w I ordered to arrive, so in the meantime I was looking over the option to burn 14500's in it. Although I've used rechargeable AA and AAA NiMH (and NiCd's before that) for many years, I've never used li-ion 14500.

I've always preferred slower rate chargers, around the 500 mAh range, and have never had a fire, smoke, meltdown, eruption, explosion, or any of the other horror stories I read about. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I'd like to keep the streak alive. I've heard some awful things about cheap 14500's, so high quality trumps value in this area for me.

It seems that the mAh rating of these 3.6/7 volt li-ion batteries is only about half that of a AA, resulting in pretty comparable wattage outputs. I mostly only see 1200 mAh capacity ones. I guess you can still only fit so much power into a limited physical space. But the higher lumen burst, lighter weight, and slight increase in runtime all combine to make it something I'm interesting in pursuing.

So any recommendations for a battery and charger combo kit? Or a good set of 2 or 4 high capacity li-ion batteries and a seperate charger? If there's a charger that would charge each cell independently, and also charge the AA and AAA NiMH batteries, I'd be really interested in that.

Thanks for the advice.

[James Marco]

Well, it has been a few years since I checked, but here is a link that's pretty good. With this info absorbed you can easly calculate the "best" combination for what you need. Lithium batteries are different. Generally the larger A bateries are more efficient than the AAA batteries, true. But it depends on how much juice you need for your purposes. Many of the so-called battery packs are simply wired to provide a nearly correct voltage to the output/input. Lithiums require some circuitry to keep this rather rigidly tight, so this is added on. I think this is simply an IC nowdays. I never bothered to smash one apart to find out.

Forgot to mention that they will still work with the sloppy requirements of the nicads.

[IVO K]

Don't get fooled by false advertising!

14500 batteries do not exceed 800 mAh. All higher claims are false.

Read up here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?362403-Any-high-quality-high-capacity-14500-batteries

I still prefer them in my Zebralight though.

[Glenn S]

Well if that CPF article is any indication of what to expect from a quality, reliable li-ion 14500, then I don't see how they can even remotely out perform a AA. Especially something like a high capacity 2500mAh NiMH eneloop.

If li-ion shines in low weight and cold weather performance, then disposable AA li-ion would really dominate. The only thing left going for the 14500's then, is a one minute over-volt burst. So is that it?

I guess I'm losing interest in the 14500's pretty rapidly, unless somebody can make a redeeming case for them.

Edit: I realize that there are applications for the 14500's, and in those proprietary instances, I'm sure they're just fine. I'm just mainly interested in their value on the ZL H52 platform though.

[Tom Lyons]

The whole "claim to fame" for Zebralight is its efficiency on the Eneloop AA NiMH battery. That is what it is designed to excel with.

14500 is a fine format too, but you are correct that the ZL doesn't do much with them, outside of a short burst of high output. Other lights on 14500 can do far better.

So, to answer your question, I think with a ZL, that you are best off with an Eneloop.

[Andy Stow]

I bought the ZL584, 840 mAh claimed, for my SC52W. Its only advantage is probably the initial brightness. Doing the simplistic math,

ZL584, 840 mAh x 3.7 V = 3108 mW h or 11200 Joules.
Eneloop XX, 2500 x 1.2 V = 3000 mW h or 10800 Joules.

The difference is less than 4%. Yes, I'm aware that the actual area under the discharge curve is going to be less than this for both, so I'd just call it a wash.

[Glenn S]

Well in a few short posts, I think it's pretty clear to see that outside of a little burst of bright light, there's really no benefit to the 14500's after all. I'm glad I asked before buying! Given the versatility available for charging the AA's, I think. I'll just stick with the eneloops I already have. The most I'll do is splurge on some high capacity ones.

I'm not planning any long, unsupported trips anytime soon, but I always like to keep my gear list in tune with that mindset. I already have the eneloop dual USB battery charger that charges cells independently at only 42 grams, so it looks like a no brainer to me.

Thanks for the input guys!

[Phillip Asby]

In some lights a 14500 will give a significant increase in output. This is true in the CR123 format as well although the voltage difference isn't as pronounced – but my Sunwayman V10r ti+ is 400+ lumens on RCR123 versus 200ish on CR123.

But I don't know that the zebralight has that extra output on 14500 or if you'd need it considering headlamp uses and availability of other rechargeable options.

I'd just run it on Eneloops.

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