Epic AAA Run-time test (low level only!)

[Dances with Flashlight]

Wow, I can't wait for the results of this, I was actually in the neighbourhood for a candle style of light to put in my tent as a "on all night" sorta night light.

A nightlight for a tent! This sounds WAY better than citronella candles.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Of course I'm rooting for my beloved LF2XT, but another possible future contender might be the QMini AA using a AAA. It seems to be a good vampire and doesn't suffer from low voltage shutdown as soon as the Zebra H50.

Geoff

 

[Beacon of Light]

12AM

1 - Eiger #0
2 - Eiger #Subzero
3 - Ray S20
4 - IlluminaTi
5 - Maratac (cu)
6 - Maratac (al)
Q - Quark 1xAA moon mode

Q - Quark 1xAA moon mode

7 - 4Sevens Preon 2
8 - 4Sevens Preon
9 - Fenix E01
10-Liteflux LF2XT
11-Zebralight H50 (AAA)
12-iTP EOS 3-mode upgrade

Few minutes later the Ray S20 was lower than Quark so I ended it for that so one gone!

 

[hoongern]

Nice fingerprints

Just curious, is over-discharge-protection enabled or disabled on the LF2XT? If you're going to deep discharge the dumb lights (as opposed to the programmable/smart/ODP ones), I guess it should be disabled?

 

[Beacon of Light]

Didn't think of that hoongern, I'll have to wait and see, I forget if I have it enabled or not. Actually not sure how deep discharged some will get as I am ending it in the same fashion scout24 did, once the light output is dimmer than the Quark Moon mode.

 

[Beacon of Light]

Well last night before bed I had to isolate the IlluminaTi as it was making a high pitched whine that got quite annoying.

This morning when I got up at 7am the LF2XT was out so I think the low voltage cut off was engaged as I was able to turn the light back on and the voltage read .79v which is odd. I will mention the LF2XT was acting flakey with me not able to get the light programmed consistently so the pill may be loose. Question is would something loose like that run down the battery faster than normal even though it was set at minimum?

The other odd thing was the Maratac (al) was out. I put the battery on the LaCrosse charger and it read 1.12 volts which shouldn't have drained that far from 1.33v and more odd is that it would have shut off the light at that voltage level as it should have still been running.

My other theory is since these are brand new Duraloops that were only topped off in the charger, maybe since they haven't been broken in/cycled, their consistency will be hit or miss, but my experience with Eneloops/Duraloops have been they don't fluctuate that drastically... Comments on this would be appreciated. Not sure if I stop the test now and do the battery refresh cycles on the Duraloops and try again?

 

[mcnair55]

I am eager to see how the Zebra performs,as it has been suggested it maybe my perfect EDC for me.

 

[Beacon of Light]

So 7am was 8 hours so here are the pics. NOTE: I inadvertently switched the Ray S20 and IlluminaTi on the board as when I removed the IlluminaTi last night due to the whine, when I placed it back up on the board for a pic this morning probably due to me still being half asleep, I put it in the wrong spot, so just reverse the tags.

 

[mcnair55]

See my little bomb proof EO1 is performing like a good un.

 

[Darvis]

Man, this is good stuff!

BOL, I'll bet the batteries that went down in the first few lights would still fire up a few of the contenders here. I'd save them in state for now and put them in some of the long runners here to eliminate the batteries as causers; just for kicks... That said, I would keep the test going unless all lights start to appear to cut out earlier than expected and the batteries are at the same voltage levels as the other ones.

Ayway (insert disclaimer here, bacause I don't know much about a few of these lights, like the liteflux, etc. and I am NOT bashing any lights!!!) one thing that I'm taking away right off the bat is that, for a "when the chips are down" light, I want the most basic twist on/off one level simple circuit light there is. Three levels, clickies, programmability, all great things and all work incredibly well, but they can and do impact reliability from time to time. Now, I am NOT saying that single level twisties don't fail, but the lights I've always had to send back for issues have been ones with extra do dads that make them nice to use lights, but don't necessarily improve the power to LED pathway. So, GO SINGLE LEVEL TWISTIES!!!!

I also think that running a test like this on my own personal stock might be the way to go to ensure the lights I have can go the distance... I've never really tried to see how far my own personal lights have gone... A good smoke test before I get one out for camping and it goes TU on me.

 

[Beacon of Light]

Man, this is good stuff!

BOL, I'll bet the batteries that went down in the first few lights would still fire up a few of the contenders here. I'd save them in state for now and put them in some of the long runners here to eliminate the batteries as causers. Just for kicks...

You mean put aside those batteries as they may be clunkers? I did recharge them already but they are put to the side.

 

[nanomu]

Not sure if I stop the test now and do the battery refresh cycles on the Duraloops and try again?

Maybe throw fresh batteries in the failed lights and put them in a separate group (after diagnosing the LF2XT)? The Maratac at least should be running longer than overnight. From what I've read, the ITP should have exactly the same driver. My eye is on the Cu now to get a sense of what runtime should be for this.

I do agree that the duraloops should not need breaking in, but I second that I'd love to hear from some battery experts here as to what may be going on with the sudden voltage drops.

 

[Beacon of Light]

Just checked the lights @ 10am and noticed the IlluminaTi was strobing slowly... Not sure if this is a normal low battery warning or what as I never saw this before.

The Fenix E01 was out as well as the Preon. Something wasn't right so I checked battery voltage levels on my LaCrosse, and the Illuminati was .91v, Preon was .91v, and the Fenix was .89v. Do new LSD NiMh batteries of the Eneloop/Duraloop type normally exhibit this behavior early on until they are broken in? Just seems strange they would drop off this quickly at such a low current. The thing that points me to the batteries is that both Preon and IlluminaTi both had same exact .91 voltage reading and they are fairly similar as far as the emitters and lumens on low.

I just put the Duraloops on a 200mA charge. This is weird and frustrating...

I will mention these Duraloops were from the Schnoop hot deal a month or so ago 12 for $19.99 or something like that. They are the white top Japanese cells, so unless they do need a break in period then I am at a loss.

 

[hoongern]

This morning when I got up at 7am the LF2XT was out so I think the low voltage cut off was engaged as I was able to turn the light back on and the voltage read .79v which is odd. I will mention the LF2XT was acting flakey with me not able to get the light programmed consistently so the pill may be loose. Question is would something loose like that run down the battery faster than normal even though it was set at minimum?

HMm, weird, my LF2XT definitely performs better - I've run it for 30hrs+ continuous at 7% level, on a 10440. But I don't know what caused your premature shut off on yours...

 

[Beacon of Light]

HMm, weird, my LF2XT definitely performs better - I've run it for 30hrs+ continuous at 7% level, on a 10440. But I don't know what caused your premature shut off on yours...

I know I have used the LF2XT as a night light several hours over night on a nightly basis for over a week before. I think the loose pill may have something to do with it as well as the Duraloops not being cycled/broken in?

 

[Beacon of Light]

I checked the cardboard packaging and it has a 2008 copyright. Anyone know if there is a date code on Duraloops like Eneloops have?

 

[Beacon of Light]

Took pics at 10:30 just to make sure none others died yet. So they are still going but now the battery issue concerns me and I will likely have to redo this whole Group A again once I figure out what's going on with the batteries.

L-R: Eiger #0/Eiger#Subzero/Maratac (cu)/Quark

L-R: Quark/Preon 2/ZL H50/iTP EOS

 

[Darvis]

I can't imagine why you would need to break in the batteries as I think these LSD's have already gone through a factory refresh before shipping... At this point, I'd let the contenders run, but would definitely think about another test with Alkalines, just to eliminate the batteries as a causer. Maybe they are clunkers, but all of them? That would be really odd. I can see one or two, but all? Maybe they've added some over discharge circuitry?

And yes, I was thinking that you should set aside the batteries that appeared to quit (without recharging them) early to see if they fire up lights like the peaks and others that run longer.

 

[Beacon of Light]

I can't imagine why you would need to break in the batteries as I think these LSD's have already gone through a factory refresh before shipping... At this point, I'd let the contenders run, but would definitely think about another test with Alkalines, just to eliminate the batteries as a causer. Maybe they are clunkers, but all of them? That would be really odd. I can see one or two, but all? Maybe they've added some over discharge circuitry?

And yes, I was thinking that you should set aside the batteries that appeared to quit (without recharging them) early to see if they fire up lights like the peaks and others that run longer.

maybe this is why they were so cheaply priced, and if they are 2008 batteries they were sitting for over 2 years prior to being used.

 

[Darvis]

You got you some Dura-poops...