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Hi Jim, and all,<br>
<br>
Thanks for the note. However, the more I think about it, and the $8
cost for each 6V square battery, probably much more for rechargeable, I
think I'm just going to use the flashlights and lanterns that use these
until the batteries are dead, then retire and donate the flashlights.
This happened tonight when I was testing one of 3 lanterns I have which
have 2 6W fluorescent tubes. The lantern failed to light. I tested
the tubes in another lantern and they worked. I tested the batteries
and 2 (out of 4 !!!) were dead. I scavenged the 2 tubes and 2 good
batteries for other purposes. I'm donating the lantern shell. If
someone wanted to replace the parts, they could get it working.<br>
<br>
I'm considering getting replacement lanterns since my fluorescent ones
could fail at any time in the same way.<br>
<br>
I've found two main contenders for high output LED lanterns, although
I'm sure there are others. If you want to come close to competing with
a 12W fluorescent lantern, you have to have 4W - 6W of LED power. You
can pretty much forget anything not powered by C or D batteries. You
want around 300+ lumens of output.<br>
<br>
My main contender is this, which has good reviews.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.amazon.com/Coast-EAL20-375-Lumen-Lantern/dp/B003V1WGWK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362884119&sr=8-1&keywords=coast+eal20">http://www.amazon.com/Coast-EAL20-375-Lumen-Lantern/dp/B003V1WGWK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362884119&sr=8-1&keywords=coast+eal20</a><br>
<br>
This is not the same as the Coast Emergency Area Lamp, which has lower
output. You want the EAL20. This is supposed to provide 375 lumens.
It has a dimmer, battery meter, and red, and red flashing modes in
addition to white light.<br>
<br>
My second contender is this, which also has good reviews. This has
high and low modes but no red and no battery meter.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Sportsman-LED-Lantern-SE3DLN/dp/B0018S4XIS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362888629&sr=8-1&keywords=rayovac+se3dln">http://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Sportsman-LED-Lantern-SE3DLN/dp/B0018S4XIS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362888629&sr=8-1&keywords=rayovac+se3dln</a><br>
<br>
I think they're now advertising this as a 300 lumen lamp, even though
the ad says 240.<br>
<br>
I could use these Duracell Professional disposables to power them at $
1.25 per battery.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.amazon.com/DURACELL-PROCELL-Professional-Alkaline-Battery/dp/B00009V2QW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1362890230&sr=8-2&keywords=duracell+d">http://www.amazon.com/DURACELL-PROCELL-Professional-Alkaline-Battery/dp/B00009V2QW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1362890230&sr=8-2&keywords=duracell+d</a><br>
<br>
Or, if I wanted to pay $ 14 per battery, I can use these Maha Imedion
Low Self Discharge cells.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Maha-Imedion-2-Pack-D-Cell-9500mAh-NIMH-Rechargeable-Batteries_p_2469.html">http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Maha-Imedion-2-Pack-D-Cell-9500mAh-NIMH-Rechargeable-Batteries_p_2469.html</a><br>
<br>
Even though I was originally inquiring about LSD cells for my LED 3AAA
flashlights, I have a good number of disposables on hand, and they only
cost me maybe $ 6 / year to replace. Until I use up my spares, I
probably won't worry about going rechargeable with those units.<br>
<br>
By the way, if you need C or D size LSD cells, you might NOT want to
buy Eneloops. I read a forum post that indicates these are actually
several AAA cells in a C can or several AA cells in a D can. Since
these all have to charge and discharge in parallel, there is a greater
chance they'll fail. They also have lower capacity than the Imedions.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Ron<br>
<br>
<br>
On 3/9/2013 4:01 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAEo=5PyBmShif_gr--=Yv-dYrf--gdR8RYjFmJUU0mYa1dnFmw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<p dir="ltr">I have a vague memory of a rechargeable lantern battery
at Frys. </p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mar 9, 2013 2:38 PM, "Ron Frazier (ALE)"
<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:atllinuxenthinfo@techstarship.com">atllinuxenthinfo@techstarship.com</a>>
wrote:<br type="attribution">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br>
<br>
Alex Carver <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:agcarver%2Bale@acarver.net">agcarver+ale@acarver.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
>On 3/8/2013 19:25, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> Alex Carver <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:agcarver%2Bale@acarver.net">agcarver+ale@acarver.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>> On 3/4/2013 21:04, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:<br>
>>>> Hi all,<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> A few months back, we had a thread here about new
advanced LED<br>
>>>> flashlights. I bought one that has the giant 1/4 in
LED inside,<br>
>and<br>
>>> is<br>
>>>> bright enough to be competitive with an incandescent
krypton bulb.<br>
>>> Love<br>
>>>> the flashlight. Works great. However, it's powered
by only 2 AA<br>
>>>> batteries and they're dying 6 months later. I'm
considering using<br>
>>> NIMH<br>
>>>> rechargeables there. The problem with that is that,
left on the<br>
>>> shelf,<br>
>>>> standard NIMH batteries lose 10 % - 30 % of their
charge per month.<br>
>>> So,<br>
>>>> you could pick up the flashlight and not have it
working when you<br>
>>> need it.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> Enter Low Self Discharge NIMH batteries. These are
relatively new.<br>
>>> They<br>
>>>> claim to lose only about 15 % of their charge after a
year. So,<br>
>you<br>
>>>> could get away with charging the flashlight batteries
only every 6<br>
>>>> months or so.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> Two main brands of LSD NIMH seem to dominate. Eneloop
by Sanyo and<br>
>>>> Imedion by Powerex (Maha Energy). I've used some
standard Powerex<br>
>>> NIMH<br>
>>>> 2700 mah batteries and I like them, but I have to
charge them if<br>
>>> they've<br>
>>>> been sitting a while.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> Does anyone have any experience with the LSD NIMH
batteries. Is it<br>
>a<br>
>>>> good idea to use them in a flashlight, or stick with
Duracells at $<br>
>3<br>
>>> /<br>
>>>> pair, or other alkalines? I know Fry's and Home Depot
/ Lowes<br>
>>> sometimes<br>
>>>> sell batteries in packages at lower unit cost. I
haven't done a<br>
>>> price<br>
>>>> analysis on those.<br>
>>><br>
>>> For something like a flashlight that can handle deep
discharge try<br>
>one<br>
>>> of the lithium iron (that's Fe not a typo of 'ion')
formulations.<br>
>You<br>
>>> can pick up AA versions at the hardware store next to the
solar<br>
>powered<br>
>>><br>
>>> garden lights.<br>
>><br>
>> Hi Alex,<br>
>><br>
>> Thanks for that info. I did some research on these and they
sound<br>
>interesting. The attributes of that battery chemistry sound cool
and<br>
>it's probably worth keeping an eye on. I don't think it will work
in<br>
>my case since these batteries are 3.2 V and my flashlight expects to<br>
>see 3X 1.5 V cells. I may end up going with some of the LSD NIMH
ones.<br>
>><br>
>> Sincerely,<br>
><br>
>Ah, but you're missing half the fun of tinkering with the
flashlight to<br>
><br>
>use them. :) A tiny, three terminal 4.5V regulator wedged inside
and<br>
>you'd be set.<br>
><br>
<br>
Hi Alex,<br>
<br>
I'm not sure I need another project to tinker with. The flashlight I
mentioned is one of the new high power led pocket units. There's
barely room for the 3 AAA batteries in it. I don't think I want to
mess with that. Also, if it's a linear regulator, it would be wasting
all the power dropping from 6.4 V to 4.5 V. The only way you could
avoid that would be a switching regulator.<br>
<br>
However, I have a couple of bigger flashlights that have the krypton
bulbs and the big 6V square lantern batteries. The batteries are
around $ 10 each. More than the flashlight costs. I had planned to
decommission the units after the batteries die. A Lithium Iron
rechargeable battery pack for those might be worth considering. I
wonder if such a thing is already available in that form factor?<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Ron<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)
Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
</pre>
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