Lithium Batteries Kill LEDs Says Petzl

Lithium AA and AAA -sized batteries could damage headtorches using LEDs according to tests carried out by Petzl.

The company says that the 'performance characteristics' of these lithium cells have advanced in order to 'provide high power discharge performance' particularly for digital camera use.

That's all well and good when you use them with cameras, but they say it may also lead to overheating of and consequent damage to LED lights and a reduction in bulb life. The problem is common to most brands of head torches using LEDs and not just Petzl.

The company says that its new e+LITE micro-headlight due out next month which uses watch-sized batteries isn't affected, but it no longer recommends that you use lithium AA or AAA cells with most Petzl models which use LEDs.

That includes the entire Tikka and Zipka family and various other models in their range. You can find a full list on the Petzl web site.

To be honest, very few walkers and climbers we know use lithium cells in the UK at least, but they've been suggested for extreme cold weather use in the past. In the light of the tests, we'd suggest that you stick to non-lithium cells for your LED headtorch whether it's Petzl or not.