bonfire tent light

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gransee:
If I had a bigger tent, it would be nice to have a remote control for my Arc so I can shut the light off once I am in my sleeping bag.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A timer will do the job just fine. If you ever intend to make a tent light: A lens-less Luxeon LumiLed will be perfect. Even light distribution.

 

[MY]

Just get an eternalight and use it on dim in the tent all night. It is by far the best camping light made.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PeLu:
Water is much too less conductive to shorten a battery. It may cause corrosion and other things, but never shorten a battery so much that it heats up.
If you don't believe me: Just take a DMM and try it by yourself.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I took out my DMM's, a Radio Shack DMM model 22-805 and Cen-Tech P35761 (got 2 of these from Gadget), and dip the probes in glass full of water and on slightly wet portion of table. Both meters registered electrical connection, meaning water conducts electricity.

There must be something wrong with your DMM.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MY:
Just get an eternalight and use it on dim in the tent all night. It is by far the best camping light made.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah! Right! Bright for trekking, dim to nightcap, running lights for marking position and calling attention. Perfect.


- verge -

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 2d_edge:
I took out my DMM's, a Radio Shack DMM model 22-805 and Cen-Tech P35761 (got 2 of these from Gadget), and dip the probes in glass full of water and on slightly wet portion of table. Both meters registered electrical connection, meaning water conducts electricity.

There must be something wrong with your DMM.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You misunderstood: water is much too less conductive to get the cells hot. If you put your electrodes into water you get a reading of several kOhm.
Water's conductivity depends on it's mineral contens. It is measured in uS/cm (microSiemens per centimeter). Usual tap water is in between 500-1000 uS/cm.
Copper's conductivity is at some 500,000 S/cm, thats one billion as good as water!
If you have a wet battery, the resulting current will below one uA. To get a battery feelable warm you will need at least a couple of 100mA.
If you put an AA cell completly into the water, the resulting current will be pretty close to one uA.
Everything assuming it is fresh water, no seawater.
And, BTW: completely clean (distilled) water does NOT conduct electricity at all.

Sorry for beeing off-topic. But because it always rains when camping, it may be an issue....

 

[WarrenI]

I have to agree with PeLu, water (even sea water) by itself can't cause the batteries to short and heat up like this. I'm not sure even a couple of 100 mAs can do this as you are describing a very high heat. I think you need to be something near or over 1 Amp. It is my guess that your light is stored and used in a very moist location. If this is so, then your problem is that the contact points and/or the conductors (including switches) may be getting corroded. The bad thing about corrosion is that nothing I know can really clean it and keep it from creeping. There are several treatments on the market for rust, but they change the chemistry of the rust to something non conductive. This will not work well, especially if you need it to still be conductive.

The other thing to consider is that when you lock in moisture into a sealed body with a battery. It will be like an oven in there and the chance that the moisture will break into the seals of the battery will be great. Come to think of it, this could be your problem! The leaking of the battery is the clue. Moisture breaching the battery seals, dielectrics being broken down causing a chemical short producing great internal heat with the chemical expanding and breaking out of the battery's body.

On a different note, I finally received my replacement Infinity and BonFire from CMG (horray!). Without using the Infinity for several weeks, it really shows me how bright and small the Arc-AAA is. About 3 times brighter and about 3 times smaller (less mass that is).

Taking another look at this thread, do you folks notice a pattern? It seem that many of us have had to make claims and receive replacements from CMG. For the CMG owners that are not a part of this group or didn't see this thread, I'm wondering if there is something to this. It's something when you have 4 Infinitys and 3 needs to be exchanged. We're taking about a 75% fail rate within 2 years (I think it's been out less than 2 years, including the first versions).

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I checked again, dipped the DMM probes to tap water for 5 minutes got a resistance reading equivalent to a 508,000 (508K) ohm resistor.

I've always been of the belief that electricity runs thru water. I tried a little experiment and failed to make the head of Arc-AAA (using an external Duracell AA battery) to light with one of the connections passing tap water.

A Duracell alkaline AA battery with 1.5V 2850 mAh capacity is not powerful enough to drive electricity thru tap water.

WarrenI you're right it must have been moisture corroding battery seals and creating a chemical short causing the AA battery to heat.

PeLu is right,...... I learned something new today.

- verge -

 

[cave dave]

RE: infinity warranty issues
I actually owned one of the very first white LED infinities that was released on a test market basis. The switching mechanism has been completely redesigned since then, it seems to be slightly brighter as well. So hopefully that has fixed the reliability issues. If not Infinity seems to stand behind there warranty.
I like this light, but wish it were bright as the arcAAA, I'd gladly trade off more brightness for less run-time.

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WarrenI:
I'm not sure even a couple of 100 mAs can do this as you are describing a very high heat. I think you need to be something near or over 1 Amp.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, for having it too hot to handle probably. Most people of us know how warm a AA cell gets when you overcharge it (we have the same size of cell and about the same voltage here). It needs quite a current to get them hot for a longer time (~hour).

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
It is my guess that your light is stored and used in a very moist location. If this is so, then your problem is that the contact points and/or the conductors (including switches) may be getting corroded.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is usually the only effect moisture makes to a flashlight. Voltage makes that worse. Some decades ago it was quite usual to use standard flashlights underwater. All of them was flooded and it had no direct effect in the short run. We used the Petzl headlamps (the Zoom and its predezessor, the red Petzl headlight) very often in that way.
There were just no waterproof headlights available at this time. Of course they needed maintainance afterwards.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
The other thing to consider is that when you lock in moisture into a sealed body with a battery. It will be like an oven in there and the chance that the moisture will break into the seals of the battery will be great.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

All the above applies only for simple (in the best meaning of the word) flashlights. If there is any electronic involved, you get unpredictable results when it gets wet, maybe even some kind of shortage. I can also think that the moisture starts some other kind of exothermic chemical reaction, producing the heat.

Maybe somebody can start a new thread about moisture/water and flashlights.

 

[DavidH]

I have to agree that the hanging string on the Bonfire needs to be redesigned. The fit and finish could use a little improvement too. I like this light for exactly what it was designed for, my tent. Besides being a flashaholic, I enjoy astronomy. Most of my camping trips are in conjunction with a late night observing session. I do not need or want a really bright light when I'm done since my eyes are dark adapted. I can actually tell the difference between the 2 modes. I don't really use very bright lights when I'm camping although I keep one handy for emergencies. My main camping/astronomy flashlight is the Skylite dual white/red variable brightness LED light. A candle lantern on the table is fine for me, I don't plan on reading a book at night when I'm camping. I usually try and get dinner finished before dark.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DavidH:
I have to agree that the hanging string on the Bonfire needs to be redesigned. The fit and finish could use a little improvement too<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm tempted to run over one of these in my wheelchair just to hear it go snap, crackle, and pop.

Drop it head-first even from a low height, and it will extinguish because the battery contacts aren't made of good spring steel, so they stay deformed instead of springing back.

Maybe when I get my camera out of hawk, I'll take some fun pictures of a Bonfire taking the ultimate test.