Thanks again, Robin. That is very helpful.
The manufacturer's claims fall far short of the actual performance, but so do others. Obviously, if one is going to go on a long trip where the light will be used a lot it is wise to take extra batteries. Of course AAA batteries are cheap, and don't take up much room.
I wonder how they arrive at the run time figures? I suppose they could prove in the lab that the light does what they claim, but from my standpoint I am interested in what is useful.
Regards,
Jerry
When we use words like "FL-1 standard" we have a reason to do so. The flashlight is tested in an integrating sphere with the batteries it is sold with, I'll return to this in a bit. Most flashlights are sold with something cheap like duracell Alkaleaks or something. These batteries are the best value in low-drain devices, like the E01. NiMHs have a great advantage in high-drain uses, but are weaker than alkaleaks in low-drain use. Lithium AAs beat Alkaleaks in high-current, and have more capacity than NiMHs in medium-current, but Alkaleaks are again the champion in low-current devices.
Test your E01 with the brand of alkaleak it came with, since that's what the standard tested with. The ANSI FL-1 standard means that the light was tested in an integrating sphere monitoring output. The light is turned on. At 3 minutes, 'output' is recorded in lumens. The test is continued until the light is at 10% of this value, and the runtime is recorded. I believe they do this with a few lights to get an average, but the line for the lab time is long.
Output at 3 minutes is a good 'real life' figure, since most lights dim down in the first minute due to thermal and battery quirks, but runtime to 10% output is not realistic. Many flashlight people consider batteries to be 'dead' at 50% output, since that's where the light is visibly 'much dimmer' to human eyes.