Quark Mini AA Runtime tests & thoughts

[dealgrabber2002]

to Dealgrabber --


Don't confuse " current supplied to LED "

with

" current supplied by the Battery ".



Big difference -- especially in a 1xAA cell light !


_

Oh.. thanks... I am not very good with these. Never was and never will...

 

[Tremendo]

Dealgrabber2002: Is it the medium runtime on the 14500 that you would like to see run again with a different 14500? I'm not sure why that would be useful since I got exactly the same results, on both high and medium, that Tremendo did, as reported in post #1? The light cuts out abruptly at these times as the pcb cutoff circuit comes into play (around 3.0v at that time).

By the way, I got the same results with 2 different 14500s. Glad to see the consistency!

 

[da.gee]

Thanks for doing this guys. I'm loving the Mini AA with the 14500. Medium is darn good for nearly everything. High is for showing off.

 

[Haz]

Thanks for these run time graphs. I'm pretty surprise to see the runtime being so short on the medium compared to the specs

 

[dealgrabber2002]

It's confirmed... it was a typo... only 8hrs on medium... not 18 hrs... :mecry:

 

[Sgt. LED]

Funny how long it took to get that runtime updated.

 

[HarveyRich]

Originally Posted by Dealgrabber2002:
If it's not too much to ask, can you run the medium test again with a different cell? An email from Trevor said they ran it 50% and that's the result they got. He said it might be the battery.

It's confirmed... it was a typo... only 8hrs on medium... not 18 hrs...

I ran the MiNiAA on medium on a different Eneloop, as suggested. I pulled a different cell, filled to capacity at 1.45v. This time the results were: 6 hrs 11 mins until the fading spot was quite apparent--almost exactly the same as the first run. The light stayed in regulation with fairly constant output for nearly the entire time (I stopped it at 3 hrs 22 mins to go to sleep). At 6 hr 21 mins the battery was drained to .91v. After a 20 minute break, the voltage rebounded to 1.11v and the light ran for another 3 1/2 mins on medium before fading to a low low.

If one were to use a 2650 mah my calculation is that you'd get 32.5% more runtime, which would translate into close to 8 hrs, the revised 4 Sevens numbers for medium. So, if you were to use Eneloops as your regular NiMH battery, as I do, expect about 6 hrs on medium. The pleasant surprise was that I found about 2 hrs 20 mins with the Eneloop on high, much greater runtime that the 1.2 hrs listed on the 4 Sevens website.

IMHO, this is still amazingly good for a single cell AA light.

Originally Posted by JCup:
I've been pleased with the Quark, it works well, but I have to say it is a little less bright than the Nitecore EZAA R2.

If you hold the MiNiAA side by side with the Nitecore EZCR2 (that's the EZ Nitefore I have) at a distance of about 2 meter from a wall, you can easily see that the size of the hotspot for the MiNiAA is about 4 times larger than that of the EZCr2. From my point of view that makes it more practical in a close in situation, say in the house, since it puts out a much wider range of light. I don't know for certain, but would expect the situation to be much the same for the EZAA.

I also compared the light on medium on a wall, at about two meters, to my old Fenix L2D2, which claims 20 lumens on low. It seems about the same intensity, but the hotspot again, is about 4 times larger and therefore much more useful.

 

[wacbzz]

Funny how long it took to get that runtime updated.

Yeah...whoops. :ironic:

I wonder now how many would admit that they bought the light simply because of that...

 

[ZRXBILL]

I'm sure if it's a really big deal to someone then 4Sevens would take it back.

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Yeah...whoops. :ironic:

I wonder now how many would admit that they bought the light simply because of that...

I admit, I bought it because the output/runtime was awesome on medium... Disappointed, yes... Return it, no.

 

[underconstruction]

deleted

 

[Beacon of Light]

Is anyone doing a test of the Mini AA on low? Looking at the Mini AA (using a AAA battery) the runtime was pretty dismal and multiplying that by 3 falls well short of the 60 hours quoted. I'l like to see what a AA will do with this light on low and see how far off the quoted runtime is. Oh and it would need to be done with alkaline.

 

[Burgess]

Hello Beacon of Light --


My post (from a similar thread) is here. Very useful thread !


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3459363&postcount=19


Hope this is helpful to you.


:candle:
_

 

[Flying Turtle]

Thanks for doing that run Burgess. I guess I'd missed your thread. Good info.

Geoff

 

[Tremendo]

Since this thread has been brought back to life, we are 8 1/2 months since my initial review here, here are my current thoughts:

1) The Mini AA on 14500 has been my perfect "all use" light. It's taken over 100% as my EDC, used everyday, also as my running light and my biking light. It's been around the world, just returned from Mexico last night. It's swam in multiple oceans and pools, I think I changed 1 o-ring, and the occasional cleaning/lubing due to swimming (especially ocean salt water).
2) I only use 14500's. I've accidently had the light on Max on my bike (no hand cooling and even in warm weather) for 15 minutes+, it got very hot, no damage though.

My favorite light still. The only light I've bought since, was about 5 more Mini AA's for gifts.

 

[kaichu dento]

I've started running my MiNi AA on 14500's too and it has taken my EZAAw out of my back pocket, at least for the time being. Not much I can add, but I will say that the beautifully warm, smooth and floody beam has been fantastic this past week working on plumbing and searching for items outside.
Every time my friend uses the Quark AA I gave him last year, it looks like a pin spot and I'm giving him a warm tinted MiNi AA today for all the help he's giving me on plumbing and wiring.

More MiNi's in my future too (not to mention a warm MiNi CR2 in my watch pocket)

 

[Tremendo]

Yesterday I received ANOTHER order of 5 more Mini AA's. Beam color and spot size is 98% the same on all. All threads are great. Oh yeah, 4 Sevens says more aggressively to not use 14500's due to overheating, but again, we're about a year of everyday use and no problems for my EDC and favorite light. Exclusively 14500's, just be careful.