Lithium batteries

[GA1dad]

Let the rambling begin,,,, I've got too much time I guess.

I've got ot some Amazon gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. Considered buying a 6 inch coil for the Nox, but have pretty much talked myself of that. Then started looking at buying a new pinpointer as my ProFind black Garrett are getting kinda old. I just recently heard of the new Nokta Accupoint and looked it up. Wow that thing is fancy! But it does waaaayyy more than I need/want. I did get excited at the thought that now maybe other makers will come out with a rechargable pinpointer. So I think I'll wait for Minelab to come out with a rechargable ProFind.

Which lead me down the path of rechargable 9v and AA lithium batteries. I still have my T2 and MXT that take AA's and the Compadre and other tools I have take 9v. This would be a perfect time to use gift cards and invest in some I suppose.

Is anyone else using rechargable li-on in detectors? I know manufacturers are putting them in new units, but what about rechargable singles that we can buy. Getting good performance?

Thanks in advance.

 

[sprchng]

I have had mixed results with both lithium and Ni-Mh but the idea is sound , just seems to be a matter of brand. I bought some EBL 9v for my Garrett pinpointers and they worked for a while and about half of them just stopped charging. I still use them but have found Harbor Freight has 4 , 9v at the counter for 2 bucks and they last as long as the name brand ones so what the heck. I think it's as much a matter of the right charger as it is the battery , while my charger is a "smart" charger , the batteries get pretty warm and often some never register as fully charged. Customer ratings might be the most informational path to take when choosing a brand , at least it makes it a little less of a crap shoot.

 

[sube]

I have 2 TRX whites pinpointers I run 14500 lithium ion batteries in them . They are aa size and 3.7 volts 1200 mah rechargeable had them for 8 years now still charge and work get a week before needing a recharge .TRX takes 2 volts to 10 volts so any voltage in that range will run it . Got them on fleabay capacity tested they are 500 mahs not 1200 mahs as stated but heck have not had to buy any batteries even though there cheap Chinese batteries .
Charger and batteries were 2 batteries and charger for $4 . sube

 

[Odanscoils]

I have 2 TRX whites pinpointers I run 14500 lithium ion batteries in them . They are aa size and 3.7 volts 1200 mah rechargeable had them for 8 years now still charge and work get a week before needing a recharge .TRX takes 2 volts to 10 volts so any voltage in that range will run it . Got them on fleabay capacity tested they are 500 mahs not 1200 mahs as stated but heck have not had to buy any batteries even though there cheap Chinese batteries .
Charger and batteries were 2 batteries and charger for $4 . sube

Wondering if they'll work in my MXT ?

 

[sube]

Wondering if they'll work in my MXT ?

Had a mxt don't remember the voltage it ran on I think it was rechargeable not sure . You just have to ad the voltage up for lithium ion 4.2 volts or 3x4.2 =12.6 if it runs on 12 volts 3 lithium would run it 18650s will give 3000 mahs and if that is not enough capacity you can go to 21700 5000mahs first 2 #s are diameter 21mm second # length 70 mm .
This well give size to see what will fit , if you were to double capacity you would double batteries to 6 or triple to 9 so on .
Remember just because you use 8 aa does not mean 12 volts it's more measure one aa new it well be over 1 1/2 volts .
The voltage regulator may keep the voltage steady at 8 volts otherwise the detector would die at 12 volts .sube
.

 

[GA1dad]

Just ordered a 4 pack of Li-Io 9v with charger and an 8 pack of AA Li-On with charger. Enough to feed my older detector s,, pinpointers,, volt meter,, Cat6 tester. If they work well I may go ahead and order some AAA for all the remotes around my house.

 

[sube]

Just ordered a 4 pack of Li-Io 9v with charger and an 8 pack of AA Li-On with charger. Enough to feed my older detector s,, pinpointers,, volt meter,, Cat6 tester. If they work well I may go ahead and order some AAA for all the remotes around my house.

Remember there 4.2 volts so if you pack 8 in the holder you will have 33.6 volts fry city . You could run a 3 batteries in series times two Which would give you 12.6 volts but double the capacity . . sube

 

[sprchng]

Just ordered a 4 pack of Li-Io 9v with charger and an 8 pack of AA Li-On with charger. Enough to feed my older detector s,, pinpointers,, volt meter,, Cat6 tester. If they work well I may go ahead and order some AAA for all the remotes around my house.

what brand?

 

[Picketwire]

I have had good luck with EBL and Maximal Power Lithium 9v batteries. They all still charge. The Maximals are over 10 years old now. They got hard to find so I bought the EBL ones and have no problems whatsoever. I've never used AA lithium rechargeable ones but have had good luck with Eneloop NiMH batteries. They don't go flat like the older NiMH ones.

Wondering if they'll work in my MXT ?

There is a 3d printed battery holder for the MXT and many other Whites machines that uses 3 18650 batteries on the big auction site.

 

[GA1dad]

what brand?

EBL's

 

[GA1dad]

Thanks for the heads up sube. The AA's I ordered are clearly marketed and marked as 1.5 volts. I will certainly put a meter on them individually and loaded into the MXT battery holder to verify output before actually putting them in a machine.

 

[sube]

Thanks for the heads up sube. The AA's I ordered are clearly marketed and marked as 1.5 volts. I will certainly put a meter on them individually and loaded into the MXT battery holder to verify output before actually putting them in a machine.

Those won't be lithium ion you can only have 4.2 volts lithium ion , lifepo4 will be 3.65 volts , cadmium well be 1.2 volts What I think you are getting is
ni-mh which is also 1.2 volts and that includes EBLS. LTO is also lithium but is 1.2 volts . Don't know any that have 1 1/2 volts .
Did see the EBLS on fleabay does say 1 1/2 volts and also says li-io but how can you change battery chemistry to come up with a battery that's 4.2 volts down to 1 1/2 volts measure voltage let me know thanks . The charger that they sell with the EBLS is 5 volt 2 amp makes me wonder what your getting ?
They may have put a small board in the top of battery to reduce to 1 1/2 volts ?
Did check it out looks like they came out 2 years ago was not aware of this . sube

 

[Picketwire]

how can you change battery chemistry to come up with a battery that's 4.2 volts down to 1 1/2 volts measure voltage let me know thanks .

A chip in the lithium batteries can give a different output than 3 to 4 volts. It is not hard to do. They charge on USB ports at 5v, not regular AA or AAA chargers. It is similar to the Whites TRX that can use 9v batteries or two AA ones. You are welcome.

 

[sube]

A chip in the lithium batteries can give a different output than 3 to 4 volts. It is not hard to do. They charge on USB ports at 5v, not regular AA or AAA chargers. It is similar to the Whites TRX that can use 9v batteries or two AA ones. You are welcome.

I know they make a button top lithium ion battery and a flat top no protection board . The button top was just a bms that did not let the battery discharge all the way killing it .Such as for flashlights and stuff . But never did see one with a board to reduce voltage . sube

 

[Picketwire]

From electronics.stackexchange.com:
-2
The new lithium poly batteries are GREAT. You can get them in AAA, AA. C, D all at 1.5/1.6V and the PP3 at 9V. Using a 5v source (USB) to charge a 3.7v battery inside and then using either buck or boost converter to produce the 1.5V/9V up to a specified current. The output voltage is constant (zero Output resistance) throughout the discharge cycle but suddenly switches off at the end of discharge. The perfect battery? The efficiency must be good as it doesn't seem to get warm during either charge or discharge.

 

[sube]

So is that buck or boost converter built in the battery must be tiny ?.
Got my answer they have a buck converter in the 1 1/2 volt battery might buy some for my home items .They did not change the battery chemistry still charge at 5 volts but buck the current down with a board in the battery cool .sube

 

[GA1dad]

They arrived this afternoon. Was pleased that all eight arrived at least partially charged and testing at 1.5 volts. So far, so good. Now they are charging to reach full charge. Can't speak to longevity yet, but super optimistic at this point. I haven't checked the 9v's yet.

 

[sube]

They arrived this afternoon. Was pleased that all eight arrived at least partially charged and testing at 1.5 volts. So far, so good. Now they are charging to reach full charge. Can't speak to longevity yet, but super optimistic at this point. I haven't checked the 9v's yet.

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I see they say mWh to make it seem bigger instead of mahs but they should do as well as alkaline batteries of same size .Alkaline would give you 2.500 mahs per battery or 3750 mWh yours are 2000 mahs meaning close in power but sense the discharge curve is straight and then drops off at the end on lithium ion there going to be real close . Hopefully the 3000 mWh is real and not a bogus # . sube

 

[GA1dad]

I'm gonna add this, just in case someone in the future is looking into these. I bought these on Amazon for $36 with charger and shipping, as I knew I could return them if there was an issue. In going over the reviews, a common complaint was that the charger did not fully charge to the point of green lights. The instructions call for a 5 volt, 2 amp power supply to the charger. It appeared to me that the issue for most is that they were trying to use a cell phone type wall warts. I hooked these up to my laptop (USB 3.0) and left them overnight. When I awoke I found 8 green lights,,,, so I was pleased to find that at least for now the charger is fully functional and that all eight cells are good. The other common complaint was that one or two cells failed early. I guess if I had one fail in the next few weeks I would be disappointed. But if one cell failed a year from now,,, well,,, to me that is just life as electronics fail all the time. I will update if I find early failures in the cells or charger. It's too freaking cold to get out and dig today, but I will update the thread once I've hunted with them.

 

[Picketwire]

Here's a post and warning on these batteries. The last few posts say the electronics in the batteries can cause interference with some detectors.

Need Some Help With Batteries

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