# Half-Dead Flashlight Batteries



## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

Half-dead flashlight batteries drive me nuts. I hate to throw away anything that still has life in it, but if I spend 40 bucks to get a decent flashlight, I don't want to be walking around with half-dead batteries in it. They fade so gradually, though, I don't realize they are half dead. Until I really need them to perform. 

I like how my cell phone works. It works 100% perfect until I get down to 5% battery. Then the screen dims and I can kind of squeeze a little more out of it, but there is no doubt it needs attention. Why can't my flashlight do that? That would be ideal. 

What about lithium batteries? Or rechargeable? Are those worth it?


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

I'm pretty sure I just saw a fox in my yard! Not something you really see in my part of NJ. I think I have only seen 2 before in my life. And this one was so close. I wanted to get a good look at it, but my flashlight just didn't have the power it should. So frustrating!


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Get an LED flashlight.

Not only will it last 5-6x longer than a flashlight with an incandescent bulb, it will keep it's brightness longer as the batteries go down...and if you drop it, much less chance of the bulb breaking.


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

My best flashlight runs off my Milwaukee M18 batteries. I still have a maglight but it is getting awfully dusty.


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

Mort said:


> My best flashlight runs off my Milwaukee M18 batteries. I still have a maglight but it is getting awfully dusty.


Interesting! I have a bunch of Dewalt 18v tools. Those batteries are always charged. But their lights do not appeal to me at all. I think they just make them so they can advertise one more tool in the kits. They don't even offer an LED light! I definitely want that. 

I've been starting to eye a little 12v Milwaukee drill driver. But I never really gave their lights a second thought. This one actually looks awesome: 

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/cordless/2355-20

800 lumens. Adjustable beam. Battery indicator. Rechargeable batteries that maybe I could also use in some other tools and always have ready. Jobsite tough. Yep. That is pretty much my dream flashlight right there.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

ddawg16 said:


> Get an LED flashlight.
> 
> Not only will it last 5-6x longer than a flashlight with an incandescent bulb, it will keep it's brightness longer as the batteries go down...and if you drop it, much less chance of the bulb breaking.


Gotta agree with ddawg. I have a small LED flashlight that is about 3x brighter than what used to be the standard just a few years ago. It has 2 rechargeable batteries that last about a 1/2 hour per charge if they are left on continually which I do as I use it on my bicycle for night riding. If you don't have to use them continually, they seem to stay charged up for months at a time. Usually you can buy a VERY decent LED flashlight for $15 - $20.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

LED mag lite with eneloop rechargeable batteries, only way to go.


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

Gymschu said:


> Gotta agree with ddawg. I have a small LED flashlight that is about 3x brighter than what used to be the standard just a few years ago. It has 2 rechargeable batteries that last about a 1/2 hour per charge if they are left on continually which I do as I use it on my bicycle for night riding. If you don't have to use them continually, they seem to stay charged up for months at a time. Usually you can buy a VERY decent LED flashlight for $15 - $20.


I have a baseball hat that is about 3x brighter than what used to be the standard just a few years ago. I want a flashlight that can kill weeds in the garden. I want a flashlight that can melt snow on my sidewalk. I want a flashlight that I can use to fire pottery.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

You want a small SUN in your hand?

Where you from KRYPTON?:devil3:

Or do you have heat resistant gloves. 


ED


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

de-nagorg said:


> You want a small SUN in your hand?
> 
> Where you from KRYPTON?:devil3:
> 
> ...


That might be overkill. But nuclear fusion is not a bad idea. :vs_bulb:

Seriously, though, a $20 flashlight tis great for camping or walking the dog. It goes about 5 feet. It isn't going to do much to light up a fox across the yard.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

For a lot of power and long lasting batteries you need a big flashlight. Small flashlights won't give you a lot of run time on the high power setting, especially when powered by AA or AAA batteries.

I like the 3 D cell LED Maglites. If you want rechargeable, I'd use NiMH batteries in it, not NiCad.

If the use is primarily lighting up the foxes in the yard, you might consider a hand held spot light, as opposed to a conventional flashlight.


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## Jamesonc (Dec 1, 2014)

Buy a Fenix Pd35 Tac. Less than $80.00 on Amazon.com. Five brightness settings, two or three of which I guarantee you will never need unless your in the woods or search and rescue. I bought two of this brands other flashlights. One was $300 and the other was about $500. Returned both because it was ridiculous how bright they were. They are made in China, but they are a Chinese company. Very high quality. In other words it's not a US company having products made in China for cheap. By the way, I don't normally respond to something like this but I love this thing. You will too! 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

The light I keep in my tool bag now is decent when it has fresh batteries in it. I just have a thing about changing the batteries. So it is good for a week and then really crappy for the next 4 months. 

I used to have a rechargeable spotlight. I dunno what happened to that. I think that only had a 12v charger, so it was awkward to charge. It was too bulky anyway. 

I've had a few different flavors of rechargeable batteries and I have not been too impressed. But I haven't tried that recently. That might be worth a shot again. Technology keeps getting better. 

I think my next move is getting myself two sets of rechargeable AAA's. The modern chargers should be smart enough that you can just leave the batteries in there. Then I can swap them out as often as I want, guilt free. I'll check out those eneloop ones.


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

I bought this 850 lumen flashlight a few months ago, great value at $12.88, and it uses 3-C cells. A year or two ago this would have been $50-60. The rate of progress on stuff like this is fun to watch.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-850-Lumen-LED-Flashlight-HD15BF01/206091479

Re old mostly used up batteries, I've found that all those TV-and-other remotes you have around the house are not very fussy about voltage output of the batteries. If they aren't lighting up your flashlight like they used to, they'll run the remote for a couple of years.


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## Jamesonc (Dec 1, 2014)

Eco 8 lumens / 140 hours
Low 60 lumens / 29h 15 min
Mid 200 lumens / 8h 30 min
High 500 lumens / 2h 55 min
Turbo 1000 lumens / 1h 10 min

Also, the price I mentioned in previous post includes Li-ion battery and charger. 

I have several small and a couple large maglites. All collecting dust. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

ChuckF. said:


> I bought this 850 lumen flashlight a few months ago, great value at $12.88, and it uses 3-C cells. A year or two ago this would have been $50-60. The rate of progress on stuff like this is fun to watch.
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-850-Lumen-LED-Flashlight-HD15BF01/206091479
> 
> Re old mostly used up batteries, I've found that all those TV-and-other remotes you have around the house are not very fussy about voltage output of the batteries. If they aren't lighting up your flashlight like they used to, they'll run the remote for a couple of years.


Wow. I take back what I said to @Gymschu. 850 lumens is definitely no joke.


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## Scottg (Nov 5, 2012)

The lithium ion batteries most often power high intensity discharge, (HID), lights. And while these batteries have a long shelf life, they don't often have long burn times. Often in just handfuls of hours depending on what brightness mode they're on. (If they even have more than one.)

But these are the best for special serious operations where you need the full brightness. Pre-flight at night, firefighting, etc.

The newest LEDs are better and brighter than ever, but still don't approach the other light types in terms of brightness. Still, batteries can last dozens to even hundreds of hours with no degradation of light output. (Though again, that output is usually less.)

Fenix is a top brand. Also Streamlight and PrincetonTec have decent models. It's become - like everything else - ridiculously complex. Candlepowerfxorums.com will have a zillion opinions for every application.

One other ok brand is Dorcy. At Walmart, you can get a 'good' one for under $10. And I think they even have a four pack for under $15. I've got $80 flashlights on my firefighting gear. And $100 light in my flight bag. Then a couple of $25 - $40 LED lights in our cars and kitchen. The Dorcy's we've got were originally just to have a couple of spares in a vacation home. You know what? The $10 - $15 three pack of the "crappy little Dorcy's" we got a few years ago are just as good as the $25 - $40 single LED lights for typical home usage. No, they don't have the lumens or throw the high intensity special purpose lights do, but so what? It's all about the mission. Maybe get the cheapie and try them out. If they work, then you're done for $15. If they don't, you really didn't waste much and you've got a couple of cheap spares for the workshop or garage or whatever.


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

ChuckF. said:


> I bought this 850 lumen flashlight a few months ago, great value at $12.88, and it uses 3-C cells. A year or two ago this would have been $50-60. The rate of progress on stuff like this is fun to watch.
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-850-Lumen-LED-Flashlight-HD15BF01/206091479
> 
> Re old mostly used up batteries, I've found that all those TV-and-other remotes you have around the house are not very fussy about voltage output of the batteries. If they aren't lighting up your flashlight like they used to, they'll run the remote for a couple of years.


I bought that light a few months ago just because that price was just way too tempting. Actually a really decent light. I was kind of annoyed that you have to cycle through all the modes just to turn it off. Then my 3 year old showed me that I could just hold the button down. I have no use for the strobe mode, but he loves it.


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## RemodelCon (Dec 8, 2016)

I have the Nitcore MH40GT and that thing throws for miles  It runs on 18650 lithium ion batteries, with decent run time. Like Jamesonc said, it is a Chinese company that produces high quality flashlights. Not an american company having lights produced in China as cheap as possible.

If you are interested in more info check out this forum, more than you will ever want to know about flashlights. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?19-Flashlight-Reviews


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