14500, 18500 batteries and their fitment ?

[silverclaws]

I have a torch where the blurb says I can fit a 14500 3.6v Lithium ion battery in place of the 1.5v AA battery to seriously brighten up a cree emitter, now from incandescent memory lobbing in a higher voltage battery to what a bulb is rated at tends to end in bright for a fraction of a second and then burn out, so what is the gen regarding these cree emitters, can they be safely run at higher voltages and so is investing in these AA sized Li cells worthwhile ?

 

[JamesM]

If the blurb says it okay then it should be. You aren't driving the Cree emitter directly like with a bulb. There will be a driver board and as long as the new battery is within the specified input requirements of that board then all should be okay. The output voltage from the driver (to the LED) should be the same with either battery. So the 3.6 volt battery shouldn't actually make it brighter unless of course the AA's simply can't deliver enough current.

 

[Magsy]

Big difference in my lights, you cannot draw enough current from an AA. A few are almost twice as bright but runtime is obviously less.

 

[JamesM]

So it's probably the case that an AA battery can't deliver sufficient voltage and current (power) to allow the driver to use it's high output mode. Put the 14500 in and it can. Nothing will burn out you are just allowing it to work to its full potential as designed.