Quark Moonlight Runtime Test

[Darvis]

Beacon, no worries, I'm loving all the good dicussion coming out of this thread.

I'm not sure I buy some of the claimed 150-200 runtimes that I'm seeing these lights advertise anymore, not after what I'm seeing and learning through these tests, but that's just me. I will say that the Quarks remain unchanged coming into 45.5 hours... maybe they will go the distance!!! Their light has been at a constant level this whole time, mighty impressive!

I can say that the Peak still remains viable as a light. The decay at the tail end on this one is super long, much longer than I expected vs the AAA. I was able to use the light last night for various tasks and had no issues in the complete darkness. Since these run time tests tend to lean toward "survival" scenarios, where resources such as batteries may be at a premium, I can't count the Peak out just yet. It is still brighter than my sample green tritium vial at 45.5 hours. bright enough to read labels on food packages or medicine bottles. The key thing is that there will no surprises with this light.

I wish I had the measuring capabilities to go along with this run as well, as it's really hard to tell the difference between the Peak and the Quarks given the diffuser on the Peak medium. Given the alogorithmic way we see light, it also made it hard to tell when the peak was truly at, then below the level of the Quarks.

 

[Darvis]

I called the Peak done at hour 47, now truly at tritium level. The battery was at .97v.

 

[Darvis]

Quarks at 48 hours, no changes to report.

 

[Darvis]

Quarks at 58 hours, no changes to report. Next report in the morning.

 

[Darvis]

Quarks at 70 hours, no changes to report. These are looking mighty impressive folks.

 

[Zendude]

48hrs and the H50b has started to strobe, H501 is fine.

 

[Darvis]

Quarks at 82 hours and you guessed it, no change at all...

 

[edc3]

Why is something that theoretically should be as boring as watching paint dry so interesting?

Look forward to the results. I may run out of popcorn before the end.

 

[guiri]

Why is something that theoretically should be as boring as watching paint dry so interesting?

Look forward to the results. I may run out of popcorn before the end.

Maybe 'cause I'm sure they're actually not sitting there watching them 24 hours a day...also, I've got your back...click here...http://www.epopcorn.com/popr.html?c...tt_nwtype=search&ctt_cli=8^11002^64544^584134

 

[edc3]

All right! I'm switching to kettle corn. :naughty:

Actually I was referring not to the tester, but to myself, a spectator. I'm actually enjoying following all the low light runtime tests that are being done these days. No wonder my family thinks I'm strange.

 

[guiri]

Well, then I'm strange too but hell, that's nothing new.

Hey, not to hijack this thread (so I'll only post this link and then if you have questions, pm me) but have you ever had black popcorn? Actually it's purple but looks black. It's bright white when you pop it and very good tasting http://www.blackjewell.com/

Anyway, back to our scheduled programming...Davis, let me know if you want to try some of my super long runtime lights that I mentioned above. I do have all five of them.

George

 

[wantsusa]

OMG Guiri you mean to say you aren't doing the test already on all of those light hrrrrmmmpppphhh!

hehe I love these tests, great info!

Now if only it was easier to set up a spreadsheet to have the info from all the people who have done tests with mainly eneloops and AW batteries hehe that would be awesome...I can't figure out the best way to do it hehe.

 

[guiri]

I'm too stupid to do it correctly, that's why.

As for the spreadsheet, google has online spreadsheets I believe that people can collaborate on

 

[Darvis]

Guiri, I appreciate that link as I am a severe popcorn junkie! (I only make mine in an old pot on the stove, just oil and popcorn and lots of shaking). I've had black popcorn in the past and have not bought any in a while, going to have to get me some...

Anyway, if you guys think you're crazy, then my wife would agree... she thinks I'm touched the way I keep checking on the lights every few hours; but to her, the "why" behind this is the big mystery. "does it really matter how long the thing will run? It's just a flashlight..."

Uh, yeah... impractical and theoretical capability needs are what we flashlight people are all about. I can't count how many time I've been trapped in the wilderness (in my minds eye) for weeks on end with only my trusty flashlight on super low showing me the way. Lighting up my Bear Grylls midnight arts and crafts projects and signaling the forces of good as they scour the country side for me. Out there in the woods, HDS means nothing to me, for I am RA!!! God of SUN!!!!

Anyway, like I said before, feel free to run your own tests and post them here... I'll try to compile the results in my first post so that folks can get some at a glance info right up front

 

[Cataract]

Why is something that theoretically should be as boring as watching paint dry so interesting?

Look forward to the results. I may run out of popcorn before the end.

:twothumbs............:drunk:

 

[Zendude]

At about 58.5hrs the H501 started to strobe. I went ahead and let it run but it was dead this morning. At 70hrs the H50b was still pulsing about every 4-5 seconds.

To summarize:

NW Quark MiNi AA: 24-28hrs (with duraloop) .89V:thinking:

Ti Quark MiNi AA: 36hrs (with made in China duracell) .69V:thinking:

Nitecore D10 GDP ~48hrs (with duraloop) .86V:twothumbs

H501b 48hrs (with Eneloop) 1.1V

H501 58.5hrs (with Eneloop) 1.06V:twothumbs


I'm disappointed that the MiNi's and H50b didn't match the manufactures stated runtime. The D10 exceeded the manufacturer stated runtime and the H501 was pretty close.


I may get some Kirkland Signature(USA made) alkies and redo my D10 and MiNi to see if I can match rookiedaddy's WW MiNi runtime.

 

[guiri]

You're welcome Davis. They ARE good. I may get some myself

As for the lights, tell your wife the reason I buy the low light ones are for emergencies, BUT, it would be stupid to buy a light that's claimed at 200 hours and not being sure about it. I think we would all feel much better if we knew how long they burn, really...

So, if I do this myself, what do I do? Charge the batt's to max, measure the voltage when freshly charged, start the lights at the lowest and see how long they last?
Am I supposed to be able to see if the lose power to half or something? I don't think I can do that, nor am I smart enough to know if they're supposed to strobe or what...

Other than that, I'd be happy to do this with my five lights above.

Let me know kids

 

[guiri]

I own eneloops, powergenix batteries in AA, 14500's from AW and also RCR 123 and 18650 from AW.

 

[Darvis]

Guiri,

It's that easy. Charge the batteries, measure starting voltage to ensure they're all at least close and fire up the lights.

A couple of things will help (and no one here is expecting you have the equipment to measure output):

1) Pick time intervals that you can reasonably support and will let you time box runtimes. I would pick time slices based on manufacturers specs. If they say a light wil run 20 hours on low, then I would try to check it every 2-4 hours. If they say 150 hours, then 12 hour slices work fine.

2) As for the lights fading in brightness, it helps to use a light that you're not testing to help judge the others. For instance, Scout24, BOL and myself used te Quark on moonlight as our defacto brightness tester. Was the light brighter? The same? Lower? As for judging 50% brightness, that's a judgement call without measuring equipment.

3) keep in mind that these are runtime tests, so the ultimate result is: how long did it run? try to get the "how it ran" stuff as close as you can (ie: 10 hours to 50%) but in the end, we just want to know how long it went...

Hope that helps.. I have no background in engineering, electronics, etc... I'm just sticking batteries in and describing what I see!

D

 

[Darvis]

Quarks at 96 hours, no changes to report. That's 4 straight days people...

In my practical view of the world, let's just say this was the only light/battery combo you had and you really needed it to survive. You could use the light for 2 hours each night and have light for over 45 days!!!!!

Heck use it for 3 hours every night and get 30 days of use!

4 hours you say? 23 days... 5 hours???? You get my point.

Insanity.

I think this battery would self discharge faster than you could use it up in real world use, a few minutes here and there.

I'm going to end up eating my "I doubt lights will run to 150 hours" statement.

If 4/7's could take the mini AA platform, make the light a single moon mode only twist on/off AA light and use this circuitry for runtime- annnnddd, this is key, lose the danged pre-flash, I would easily buy a dozen or more myself.... I just can't get past the pre-flash on theses lights, I have 6 of them (5 tacticals) and they all do it no matter what combo I try, except for the Quark regular... but I hate the cyclical interface.

Please!!!! Build this light!!!!