can a 2xAA camera use 1x 14500 li ion?

vmaldia

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
18
I have an old canon powershot A590IS and I was wondering if instead of 2xAA at 3v it could use 1x14500 plus a dummy battery at 3.7 or so volts.

Canon-PowerShot-A590-IS-6.jpg
 

MartinDWhite

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 24, 2009
Messages
404
Location
Greenville SC
Newer AA batteries come out of the packaging at about 2 volts. That puts 4 volt to a 2xAA device. The tolerance on most devices can easily handle this, so they should be able to handle a single 3.7 volt battery with a dummy cell.
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
I wouldn't try it you may fry it. I have the same camera and use 2 LSD nimh and they work fine in it.
 

vmaldia

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
18
Well its been 2 years but I finally got around to trying it. A cheap 14500 li ion battery (4.06 v actual measurement) and a dummy battery made from a plastic rod and aluminum tape. With duct tape wound around it to give it the proper diameter.

Yes it works, but you gotta align the ends of the dummy battery properly

24nqnvm.jpg



The 2 main problems with this canon ever since I bought it in 2008 was that even with eneloops I quickly get low battery warnings. All I need to do to get a low batt warning is to get a freshly charged batt and take maybe 40-50+ pictures with flash or use eneloops that were charged then stored for 2-3 days. Second problem is that the flash takes quite a long time to recharge.

Now the flash takes maybe 4 seconds to recharge. The li ion batt as of now was last charged > 4 months ago so self discharge is not a problem. Gonna test how many shots a 14500 takes the next time I go on vacation

I assume the problem is that the camera is expecting alkaline 3v, but the actual I get from the eneloops after a few days storage is 2.72v
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
I have had no problems with low battery warnings on my camera using duraloops but I haven't taken that many pictures at a time with it I have however taken a dozen pictures and let it sit for over a year then taken another dozen pictures. It is possible your batteries may need testing for low capacity.
 

night.hoodie

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
717
Location
Lost City of Atlanta
No AA cell is "about 2 volts." Alkaline can be 1.65V when fresh out of the package, and L91 Energizers can be 1.85V when fresh. When doubling cells, the single LiFePO4 14500 is a close match, when well rested after charging (charges to 3.7V, but should rest around 3.4V). That LiCo Li-ion charges to 4.2V, which is really too high compared to 2xAA cell voltages. The chemistry is also not all that safe... that cell has the chem with which most problems occur, which is why protection circuits with that chem are desireable. Though your camera isn't expensive, relatively speaking, continuously providing it with voltage over specification will eventually ruin its circuits. Hard to believe your Eneloops are not giving you the desired results, but it is possible. Eneloops would not run my Apple Bluetooth keyboard very well either (but there is definitely something wonky with my kb).

A safer chemistry option than even LiFePO4 would be to use 1.6V NiZn rechargeable cells (fully charged, they are around 1.9V, though that drops off rapidly when resting, and continues dropping... there are no LSD NiZn cells, unfortunately). NiZn are fragile, don't tolerate overdischarge, and rarely will you get the advertised number of recharges out of them, but even with a lifecycle of 20 recharges (assuming overdischarge abuse), they are far more economical than Energizer L91 Lithium primaries.
 
Last edited:
Top