I'm trying to understand the pros and cons of various kinds of flashlight configurations.<br><br>How does a person know if he/she can place lithium batteries inside a particular kind of flashlight? Can I use lithium inside of a mini-maglite? Inside of my Petzel headlamp?<br><br>What is the advantage of lithium? Do they cause a flashlight to illuminate brighter, longer, or both?<br><br>Thank you very much for all responses.<br>

Well, you can get lithium AAs and AAAs if you look hard enough and have a deep enough wallet.<br><br>They are lighter, and they hold thier charge longer, that's thier real edges. Better shelf life, IIRC, to.

They beat the socks off others in cold weather, too, and energy density is very high (highest?). Great radio batteries - lightweight and powerful. I have not used the standard cells (like AA), though - are they 3 volt instead of 1.5 volt? Seems like I read that somewhere - like, either a dummy cell or a bulb change needed for incandescant lamps. I know the electronics in my LED flashight are not rated for lithium AAs - maybe that's why?

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>I have not used the standard cells (like AA), though - are they 3 volt instead of 1.5 volt? Seems like I read that somewhere - like, either a dummy cell or a bulb change needed for incandescant lamps. I know the electronics in my LED flashight are not rated for lithium AAs - maybe that's why?<p><hr></blockquote><p>I just checked my lithium AAs; they're 1.5v, just like alkaline AAs.

The manufacturer of my LED flashlight recommends using lithium batteries.

Xavier,<br><br>Lithium batteries offer a number of advantages over alkaline: They have a long shelf life, up to 10 years, with 90% to 95% capacity, or better, retained. Lithium batteries also deliver far better cold weather performance, the improvement over alkalines only increases as the temperature drops. They are much lighter than alkalines by over one third (14.5g vs. 23g for AA size). That can add up if you are using a number of battery powered devices.<br><br>Down side? They are expensive. <br><br>The AA's also put out more than their rated 1.5 volts regardless of what they say on the case and in their technical data; it's 1.6-1.7 volts. In most instances that isn't a problem, in some it is. Some bulbs are more fussy about over voltage than others. The only way to know for sure, if the manufacturer doesn't say, is to try them yourself. Some manufacturers say no lithiums as a matter of course, even though they have no reason to. For example, Pelican does, but I have a written letter from them stating that lithiums are OK for their 2xAA-cell lights.<br><br>I have not been able to get good info on the actual voltage of the lithium 9-volt battery.<br><br>Note also that there is a AA size battery that puts out 3.2 volts and a D-cell size one that puts out 3.6 volts. These are not commonly available, so shouldn't create a problem.<br><br>I use lithiums in everything and wouldn't use anything that won't acccept them.

They you all for this information!<br>Xavier Phx, AZ