Will a 7.4v 800mAh 14500 Battery Pack Cut It?

[ZombieMacabre]

Hello!
I'm am having serious space issues with a hilt. I'm considering going with a 7.4v 800mAh 14500 Battery Pack to power a Crystal Focus v8 wired to CeX Board and a few accent Leds. I haven't used a batt pack this small before so I was wondering if anyone knew if it would effect the board's performance other than a very short battery life. Plus, how quick do you think this set up would suck that batt pack dry? BTW I'm not having a length issue it's more of a width issue. (Insert obvious punchline here) Thanks!

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

You'd be better off (just barely) using the 2x14650 pack. The 14500's aren't likely to be able to power your setup for long (or at full power). As for the runtime, I can't see it going past 15-20 minutes.

[NanoRex]

If you do some rough math you will find that the maximum continuous discharge rate of the 14500 cells is not high enough to power three LEDs at once, even with the SMPS regulators on the CF and CEx. So like FJK said, you should really try and free up a bit more space to fit a 14650 pack, which has the same base footprint but is a little longer.

[ZombieMacabre]

Thanks! Incredible info and very much appreciated. I was looking at it again and had an idea. The big problem I'm having is a choke in the middle barely fits the 18650 pack width. You can not fit any wires with the battery in there. Could I take two 3.7v 18650's, keep them in separate packs but wired together to make a 7.4v pack? That way I can keep them out of the choke. If so, do the batteries have to be identical in mAh? Thanks again

[NanoRex]

Yes it's possible to do a separated battery pack. I'm using one in my saber. You need two of the exact same model of unprotected cell, and a 7.4V battery PCB. It's preferable to get cells with pre-welded tabs, as soldering directly to batteries is quite dangerous.

Although if you can fit two separate 18650s in your saber, can you not fit a 7.4V 14650 pack in one of their places?

[ZombieMacabre]

Thanks! No , I cant fit the 14650 because of the width. There's just enough room for a single cell 18650 in the top half and the bottom half of the hilt. With the choke being in the middle, I was thinking the 18650s would be on opposite sides of each other from the choke. Thanks for the PCB tip, I didnt think of that!

[Nishtol]

There are several other options I can see. You could use the http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/74v-Li-ion-1400mAh-18500-Battery-Pack-P758.aspx stacked 18500 or a pair of individual 18500's. There is also using two separate 14500's. Although power wise you'd probably be better off with the stacked 18500.

[ZombieMacabre]

These are great options as well. Thank you so much for the advice! Now I have a productive direction to go in!