Destroyed my nice Wuben E19 penlight with wrong batteries !

DocJD

DocJD

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Jan 29, 2016
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:oops: Yeah , Stupid , Stupid , STUPID ! :mad::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

Nice little high CRI inspection penlight , made to use 2 regular AAA 1.5V , with which it worked flawlessly .

I just had to try some newly acquired 10440 3.7V li-ion rechargeable , NOT approved for this Wuben .

My new Manker EO2ii is designed to work with either and does so perfectly .

My older Olight i3S EOS is made for AAA but it works with 10440, if you don't push it to overheat .

I never let the Wuben get close to overheating , but apparently just the current / voltage was too much to survive . :(:thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

Profit by my stupid ...don't do this . Use only listed batteries or suffer the pain of loss and regret . :oops:
 
Double the voltage, fry your circuit, unless the circuit is designed to handle it.
It's like plugging the kitchen toaster into a 220 plug.
 
knarfeng said:
Double the voltage, fry your circuit, unless the circuit is designed to handle it.
It's like plugging the kitchen toaster into a 220 plug.
Click to expand...
For sure !

I'd hoped it would be OK if not overheated ,,,but NOPE .

I really liked that light , too .

I'm only sharing this unwise experiment to save someone else the agony .
 
You might be able to save it. Get in touch with Vinh at SkyLumen.com He's a very talented flashlight builder and modder. Can fix it, if it can be fixed. Maybe even set it up to use the 10440s.
 
Ordered a Klarus P20 ,new with cosmetic damage for $8 .

Specifically states not to use 10440 , but only AAA .

Roger wilco that ! :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
RayseM said:
use the 10440s
Click to expand...
Weird you should mention that . ;)

I've discovered that although the damaged Wuben does not work at all with AAA , it does now work with 10440 ...sort of ? :confused:

But instead of 4 brightness levels , it now has only one medium level . o_O

I'm treating with caution . :eek:
 
You might do some digging on CPF or BLF. They might be able to point you to a component that might be replaceable it you have the soldering skills.

I played around with a 4xAA COB recently. Some companies don't suggest even using NiMH because even though the voltage is less, the current (and often power) is more, especially over time. With my 4xAA Craftsman light, I measured:
Alkaline: 2 amps @ 1.4vx4 = 9.12 watts
NiMH: 4.2 amps @1.31vx4 = 22.008 watts
Li 18650: 6.5 amps @ 4.08v = 26.52 watts

The Li rechargeable got bright and hot VERY fast. The NiMH's took more time to get hot, and the Alkaline's seemed to keep a comfortable temp for the longest. Also be careful with Li AA disposables in some of these lights, as they offer more voltage than Alkaline and NiMH, but still yield a decent current over time, IIRC. You might want to double check if there is any warning in the manual.

I tend to use Li AA's in lights I store for emergencies, since the voltage would probably be slightly drained off anyway and I don't have to worry about Alkaline leakage. Note above that even the NiMH rechargeables at lower voltage yielded more power than the Alkalines because of the amperage difference.

Also, remember that the 3.7v on the Li rechargeables is the nominal voltage, not the actual voltage (especially fresh off of a charger). You could have been feeding 4.2 Volts into your light that's spec'ed for 3v.
 
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