Nickel Cadmium batteries

I couldn't find a single topic on this forum that even mentioned ni-cad, so I guess I have to ask myself. I am new to "real" lasers and I have a 5mW Wicked Lasers Core. Is it safe to use ni-cad batteries in laser pointers (for lack of a better term)? I've been using some since I got it, they seem to be fine, but I noticed someone mentioning that some sort of regulator isn't built into WL products, or at least not all of them, that makes it a bad idea to use lithium batteries in them. I do not know what the consequences of that is, but assume it causes damage to the laser's parts. Could someone explain this a bit more, or confirm whether I should or shouldn't use ni-cad batteries? thanks.

this is a very cool forum, btw. very informative, and organized; much better than previous forums I have stumbled upon.

NiCd batteries can be used in anything that also works from 'normal' alkaline batteries. Their voltage is around 1.2v which is lower that what alkalines start out with (1.5v).

Lithium batteries are another story, there a AAA and AA sized batteries on the market that supply 1.7V initially, and also 3.6v rechargables in the same format. The latter will probably damage anything intended for alkalines.

thanks for the reply. I just couldn't find any mention of them and wanted to be sure before I permanently damaged my laser.

mason4300 said:

thanks for the reply. I just couldn't find any mention of them and wanted to be sure before I permanently damaged my laser.

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You are better off using nimh batteries...I recommend Sanyo Eneloops