Has anybody tried the newer XTAR batteries that include a low voltage circuit?
The interesting thing is that these 1.5v batteries drop down to 1.1 volts when the remaining charge reaches about 10%. This could potentially help with keeping your lithium batters from suddenly dying.
I have order a set for testing. I'll let you know how well they work but it might be a while before I run some down enough to test. 
Anybody know of a Zigbee device that will quickly drain a double A battery?
So you'll get a warning period (say w/flashlight application) where the bulb will dim when the battery is nearing the end, rather than dropping off very suddenly.
For Zigbee devices (that don't have an external cue), you'd need a device that reports voltage and a driver that handles it.
To run them down, maybe just put-em in a flashlight and leave it on and see how long before it dims, then do it again and stop short of the dimming point, then put them in the Zigbee device.
All of my devices report battery level so that's not a problem. Normally they just show 100% until they are dead. With these dropping from 1.5v to 1.1v at the end of the charge it should be able to be caught in HE.
There's an idea. Now to see if I have a flashlight that uses AA batteries.
Now if they would only make other types of batteries - like a CR2. I'm planning on hardwiring most of my Iris V2 motion sensors so that will resolve most of the issues, but I still have a few devices that use a CR2 that can't be hard wired. Oh well.
Costco had the Coast version of these lithium batteries. They were 20.00 for 4 AA & 4 AAA, looks to be OOS currently but your local Costco may have stock. I discharge tested these Coast batteries and they meet & even exceed the labelled capacity
NB: some flashlight nerds have claimed these batteries with their voltage regulators produce EMF intereference, so it might bug out your sensor depending on frequency.
Interesting (that there is another ecosystem of flashlight nerds that I've missed) and that there can be RF interference from these. Thanks for the post.
I don't see mention of the 1.1v low voltage indicator. That is what makes the XTAR batteries different. I do have several 1.5v lithium batteries but hate the battery reporting. That's why I'm hoping the switch to 1.1v at 10% capacity will let me catch a device that is about to to offline.
I also don't like the batteries with built in chargers. I would rather the space be used for battery.
Interesting. I'll be using them in water valves for the garden. I'll keep an eye out for any issues like that. I should get the ones I ordered tomorrow.
There is an ecosystem for everything. 
Please, If I only had the cash I dumped on custom BLF lights. One I bought like 6 years ago, stills blows away modern lights, the BLF GT
It takes like 75.00 worth of batteries
The batteries showed up. All 8 tested to about 2600 ± 25 mAh. They are working great in the valve. Now to wait and see what happens when they get to 10% charge.
Drain test: cap the water outlet and program the valve to open/close every minute?
I'll probably just install them and monitor.
I need to start using my dashboard again. It already has indicators that change colors based on battery level and how long it has been since the device last reported in. It works pretty well for my Iris motion sensors running on 3.7v CR2 rechargeables.
Download the Hubitat app
