Suitable AAA battery for 120 Lumens mini edc flashlight

Any advice on the type of AAA battery suitable for a mini edc flashlight like the ThruNite Ti3 flashlight.

Should it be the rechargeable Eneloop NiMh or Li-ion 10440 battery .

Which last longer.

Understand that eneloop is eco-friendly.

Thanks for advice.

baguadao

That question covers a lot of territory. First off, a 10440 cell has over two times the voltage of an Eneloop AAA. If you are going to be using it in a light that clearly states that either is acceptable, no problem. If not, you run the risk of damaging the driver/LED, possibly to the point of failure.

Assuming a 10440 cell is acceptable, they will contain a significantly greater amount of energy that an NiMH rechargeable or primary non-rechargeable AAA cell. If that is not an issue, an NiMH cell has more recharging options and is somewhat safer to recharge than a LiIon cell like the 10440, especially if one is not conversant with all of the ins and outs of recharging LiIon cells.

As far as eco-friendly, both types of rechargeable cells are more eco-friendly that the use of AAA primary alkaline and lithium cells. Given the number or recharge cycles either type of cell are capable of, there really isn't anything to make one stand out over the other from an ecological point of view.

If your light supports li-ion and you're comfortable with the chemistry's safety learning curve, do that.

Else go with NiMh.

Lithium primaries work well, but will cost you more over time.

--flatline

baguadao said:

Any advice on the type of AAA battery suitable for a mini edc flashlight like the ThruNite Ti3 flashlight.

Should it be the rechargeable Eneloop NiMh or Li-ion 10440 battery .

Click to expand...

The ThruNite Ti3 does not support Li-ion 10440 so I would stick with NiMH AAAs.

Eneloops. End of story. They are relatively cheap, ultra low self discharge, high cycle life, good capacity, and are quite safe.

As for energy density, it is about 1.1 Wh for Eneloops and 1.3 Wh for typical 10440s. Not a huge difference, but a penlight with eneloops is definitely safer than running 10440s in series assuming voltage is not the issue. Then there is the availability argument.
For giggles, a AA eneloop is 2.4 Wh, a 1100mAh 18350 is 4.1 Wh, and a 3000 mAh 18650 is 11.1 Wh.