AA "Vampire" Battery Light

[Danielight]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

Inova has a few AA models that should work well for this. Only reason I still have my 123a Inova.


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Any particular Inova AA models? I was looking at a titanium model of the Inova X1 (X1DM-HT), and for about $20 it looks like it might be worth picking up to have as a "vampire" light.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

Whats the difference between a "joule thief" and a vampire light? I know a vampire light is a light you use to get the last drop of juice from old batteries.

 

[tam17]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

Whats the difference between a "joule thief" and a vampire light? I know a vampire light is a light you use to get the last drop of juice from old batteries.

JT is basically a DC-DC step-up circuit (not necessarily regulated), originally designed to power a single LED from a 1.5V battery and drain nearly all of its available energy. There are many variations on this theme. Wikipedia article

Any flashlight able to almost completely drain the battery can be considered a vampire light.

Cheers

 

[DaveTheDude]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

+1 for the Peak QTC El Capitan

+2 for El Capitan. I found an old "heavy duty" zinc-chloride AA cell in a drawer in an office building my company is remodeling for utility use. On a lark I popped it into my El Cap. To date, the light has been draining the cell for over five hours of occasional use, with no sign of diminishing output. Either its a very efficient light engine, or the zinc-chloride chemistry was vastly underrated.

 

[angelofwar]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

The Gerber recon is pretty good at running down cells as well

 

[Danielight]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

What is it in the electronics that makes a flashlight a good "vampire" light? That Peak QTC El Capitan looks like a pretty nice light, although a little pricey for me right now. Which of the less expensive AA lights would be best as "vampires"?

 

[Ualnosaj]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

Thanks folks I'm going to pull the trigger on the El Capitan that I've held back since last year. Now it's just a matter of figuring out the scheme (eg. SS head with Brass body and SS lug... etc). Was thinking the Eiger as well but I'll hang on to a E01 for AAA.

 

[Mr Floppy]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

Thanks folks I'm going to pull the trigger on the El Capitan ... Was thinking the Eiger as well

It's a lot of money to spend to use on cells that could leak. Get them by all means (I desire a Logan with all the adaptors) but I wouldn't use alkalines in them.

 

[Ualnosaj]

It's a lot of money to spend to use on cells that could leak. Get them by all means (I desire a Logan with all the adaptors) but I wouldn't use alkalines in them.

That's a good point. I'm eyeing the 6v Haiku and Sapphire GS. I'll jump on those first and keep thinking about it. If I happen to see the Gerber locally soon (WalMart, etc) then I'll stop thinking about the Peak.



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[Lynx_Arc]

Re: AA "Parasite" Battery Light

It's a lot of money to spend to use on cells that could leak. Get them by all means (I desire a Logan with all the adaptors) but I wouldn't use alkalines in them.

This is a smart statement for sure, people spend a lot to suck alkalines dry which is like saving 2 cents of wasted energy to damage a $30 light for good (at times). Personally my vampire type setups are typically under $20 and more often I have drained batteries with something like a nite ize 2-6 cell drop in wired up to a paper clip attached to a battery so if it leaks it ruins nothing but the surface it is sitting on.

 

[Ualnosaj]

This is a smart statement for sure, people spend a lot to suck alkalines dry which is like saving 2 cents of wasted energy to damage a $30 light for good (at times). Personally my vampire type setups are typically under $20 and more often I have drained batteries with something like a nite ize 2-6 cell drop in wired up to a paper clip attached to a battery so if it leaks it ruins nothing but the surface it is sitting on.

I've been raiding the battery recycle bin at my wife's work to suck em dry before returning them I'll rethink that Peak though. I have a plethora of AA capable lights and this leak though has me pause...



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