Author Topic: Lithium cell replacement for alkalines  (Read 1637 times)

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dnix71

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Lithium cell replacement for alkalines
« on: July 15, 2013, 10:04:37 PM »
I have a solar rechargeable shed light bought at Home Depot that worked when I put a single 3.2v LiFePO4 in place of the 3 AA NiMH's it came with. The single lithium left the light a bit dim, but I went with it for a while to see what would happen.

The original NiMH's were burning up because the solar panel charger was putting over 6v in direct sun. It had past sundown before the panel voltage dropped below 3.5. The single lithium didn't do so well either because of the high charging voltage, so I added a AA nicad in series with the lithium cell and now the light is properly bright again.

Today I went to Walgreens and bought a 3 AA, four LED lantern. I figured I would do the same lithium swap with it only to find that doesn't exactly work. There is some kind of fail-safe circuit inside because if I go overvoltage with the pack it won't light. Undervoltage is okay. A single 3.2v lithium with two dummy cells works, just not as bright as 3 AA alkalines. And a lithium plus a AA nicad and dummy cell works, but 2 lithiums in series with a dummy cell won't work.

The LED lantern is made for AITCO, International USA, INC. and the sku is 0 49022 70350 6

tecker

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Re: Lithium cell replacement for alkalines
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2013, 04:40:33 AM »
I use 3 am NIMH They out perform Lithium batteries and can be charged Pulse or amp load .