Single D cell emergency LED light

[TMedina]

Hmmm. I remember talking to you about that.

I should email Wayne and see what he could do with those requirements.

 

[StarHalo]

I've argued for some time that there should be a 1xD accessory for the Quark Mini AA; that'd net you 25 lumens for two and a half days, 2 lumens for two and a half weeks..

 

[CarpentryHero]

Well I'm glad this is only sold at countrycomm so I can't buy it. (International sales is terrible,they use a third party site)

ive wanted a 1D flashlight that's well built. Maratac Strobe TLL looks like fun but its more of a marker than a flashlight

 

[Phaserburn]

Think it's more of a lantern than a flashlight. Has the same modes, high, low, high flash, as many lanterns.

 

[CarpentryHero]

Yeah, definitely a lantern. Good call phaserburn

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I didn't realize there was a thread on this until I used Google to search. Another member and I were discussing this light earlier today.
I am not an expert on runtime calculations by any means, but this is what I came up with:

1) According to the Cree calculator here, an XP-E R4 will net you 150 lumens at about 425mA. So let's figure for an R5 bin, 400mA.

According to this PDF datasheet here, an alkaline "D" cell will supply about 11000mAh at 400mA drive current.

11000 / 400 = 27.5 hours runtime. Let's say you use the unit intermittently. We'll be generous and say 29 hours runtime.
This is assuming zero losses.

But things aren't so simple. Using the LED runtime calculator here, I plug in the following values:

Desired LED Current:	400mA
LED Forward Voltage:	3.24V			LEDs times	volts per LED
Battery Input Voltage:	1.5V			cells times	volts per cell
Battery Capacity:	11000mAh
Converter Efficiency:	80%
Runtime:	10 hours, 7 minutes

Now, I may have done something grossly incorrect; I am not an electronics expert.

The figure of 11000 capacity comes from a 400mA draw. But this is what we want the LED to see.
According to the runtime calculator, if we assume the boost circuit is 80% efficient, then to get 400mA to the LED, we need to suck a full one amp from the battery! The Energizer PDF datasheet does not specify the capacity at a one amp draw, but I am guessing it is much less than 11000mAh.

If the math is even somewhat in the ballpark, you will get 150 lumens for maybe ten to fifteen hours, and then a long, steady decline after.

My math may be horribly wrong, or I may have used the calculator incorrectly.

Best thing to do is run a current draw test on a multimeter.

Hope my math is somewhat close.

Good news is, the fact the website has a picture of the dome unscrewed must mean it is very easy to do so.

Even better news is that the XP-E is clearly mounted on a star, meaning swapping for a neutral should be child's play.

Link

Anyone who has lost a treasured light to leaking alkalines knows the concern is valid. I don't know that I would dismiss a light purely on that basis; one could leave the host empty and only pop a cell in when needed. However, for those willing to take the risk, the presumed long, long tail of light from this on an otherwise depleted cell would be advantageous in a real emergency.

I am very interested in seeing a faceoff between this and its smaller cousin, the Jil Lite Constel, and would love to see a separate thread if and when Elektrolumens does release a 1xD cell ultra-long runtime emergency light. @d337944, if you could email me a link to the thread on the other forum, I would be interested in reading about it.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

The figure of 11000 capacity comes from a 400mA draw. But this is what we want the LED to see.
According to the runtime calculator, if we assume the boost circuit is 80% efficient, then to get 400mA to the LED, we need to suck a full one amp from the battery! The Energizer PDF datasheet does not specify the capacity at a one amp draw, but I am guessing it is much less than 11000mAh.

If the math is even somewhat in the ballpark, you will get 150 lumens for maybe ten to fifteen hours, and then a long, steady decline after.

My math may be horribly wrong, or I may have used the calculator incorrectly.

The default for most boost circuits is to be unregulated, which means the output follows the power that the battery can/does produce and even with alkaline D cells that tends to drop continuously as they deplete. If you are getting 400ma to the LED when the battery is at 1.5v (assuming the battery can keep the voltage at that level to begin with) as it drops under the load to 1.4v you have just lost 0.1/1.5v of your power which equates to about 6.7% loss in output so you see a drop for about 150 lumens to 140 lumens but it isn't quite that simple as the voltage drops the Vf of the LED starts coming into play also which means the current going to the LED drops also decreasing the output slightly more so it could be even less output. Under such load half way through the life of the battery you could be seeing voltage under load dropping under 1.3v or even more with the output dropping 20% or greater and at 3/4 of the life of the battery it may be dropping under 1.1v under load yet measure 1.3v when rested and no load. In other words as the battery depletes more and more the voltage keeps sagging dropping the output. When the output reaches the point of 10% you are getting 15 lumens and I am not sure of the current needed for that output but I am guessing it is in the 10ma range such that if the battery is 95% depleted you still have 5% left at a different capacity calculation no longer relating to a 1A load but more like a 25-30ma load which probably approaches 15000mah or so and 5% of that is 750mah which calculates to about 30 more hours...
In other words using alkalines to boast runtimes off non regulated lights listing the starting output doesn't really give you the true output (or average over time) it is probably more like 40% or perhaps even less because of alkaline batteries sag under load equates to increasing capacity as current decreases such that more of your runtime is spent at lower than HALF of the starting current.

 

[bansuri]

Got mine today, build is very nice, the low level is nice and low, beacon looks about 1hz. Not much I can post that wasn't covered by the pics on countycomm.
D cells are great if you're going to use them right away, otherwise I may try some 1 or 3 cell adapters and use eneloops.
Activation via twist is crisp, anodizing looks great, ~.300" of deep, sharp, threads engaged, about .350" of threading required from cap-off to tightened.
Comes with spare O-rings and a little round plastic tube packaging which could easily be turned into a project lantern.
The way the dome is fastened is OK, not my version of optimal. Ideally the dome would have a flange on the outside to fit under the ring that holds it on and the ring would hold it against an interior surface. It seems to be pressed in to the front with what looks like some adhesive holding it in. Will probably be fine unless kicked around. My only concern is that the light has a lot of weight with a D cell in it and if tossed around the dome will suffer. Pack accordingly.
Pretty cool light! I can see this getting a lot of use.

edit: Tint leans towards purple, but the diffuser offsets the tint slightly. Definitely an easy mod candidate.
Also, if the dome had a flange at the base it would be easy to replace if broken, perhaps a pack with different colors would be a useful accessory.

edit #2: Sad to see that it relies on the anodizing as an insulator in the tailcap/switch assembly rather than putting in a PCB with spring in middle. Heavy use will defeat the anodizing eventually. Yet another mod...
Despite the issues I still think there is a place for this light, maybe V2 will straighten things out.

 

[Phaserburn]

Got mine. Unexpected power draw readings. High, 800ma. Low, only 30ma! Huge brightness difference. Same for Nimh D as an alk. The draw on high was expected; the low was not.

So, Countycomm posted similar methodologies for their high and low runtimes. However, the light will act differently regarding the output curve. On high, we will see a practical capacity from an alk D cell of around maybe 5ah, so you'd only see a runtime of 6 hours or so. I'm sure as voltage declines, the light will be on with lower level brightness for a very long time. 100 hrs? Who knows. But, I can say for sure that the light will maintain its low level for the quoted 500 hours. Energizer rates the D cell at 20ah at a 25ma discharge. Figuring 18ah (conservative) with a 30ma draw, that's still 600 hours!!!

Holy emergency runtime, Batman!!

I think build quality is good. The tail spring could be stouter. Overall, really like it. Tint on mine isn't bad at all. CW, but leaning strongly toward NW. I was going to swap stars, but doubt I will now that I see it.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Thanks, Phaser.

I may scrap my plans for an emergency/long runtime ceiling bounce flashlight.

How many lumens do you figure at 30mA?

This may be it, after all!

EDIT: An Energizer L91 has about 3200mAh capacity at 30mA (rough estimate from PDF).

That is 106 hours.

So 106 hours with no worries about leaking alkalines ruining your light.

EDIT TWO: Or, Eneloop Heaven.

 

[Phaserburn]

I figure under 10 lumens at 30ma. Maybe 5.

 

[Eileen New York]

We bought two 1xD lights post-Katrina from Wayne built on some left over Blaster Jr bodies he had lying around. I had already been interested in one for a couple years when the thread came up.

They have SSC P-4 LEDs and the one driven by a single micropuck will tail stand and light our bathroom 24/7 for a week before it dims. It will also take a D cell from a spent set from a M/\G 3D that is so dead that the filament won't even glow and when inserted into the 1D EL it will give off hours and hours of useful, white light.

Since Katrina we've had a two week blackout and most recently, a five day outage as a result of hurricane Isaac. We paid $65 each for the lights and it was money well spent. They have proven themselves to be great pieces of kit.

Of course, the SSC P-4 is probably a couple generations behind the curve of LED development nowadays. I'd like to see what Wayne is turning out today...

Last year, in a thread in the Marketplace, Wayne from Elektro Lumens talked about designing an updated Blaster 1D: "If I did this now I'd use a Cree XML, and a Ledil Iris optics, and it would be quite a bit brighter and should run longer than before."

And,

"If I designed the insides right, it could use:
1) 1 D cell
2) 18650 with spacer

With 1D it would have amazing long run time. With an 18650 it would be 1000 lumens, run time of 1 hour."

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?129788-1D-Blaster/page5

There isn't more recent information about the Blaster 1D being any closer to production. If people are in touch with Wayne, perhaps they could find out.

A long runtime flashlight that uses salvaged batteries without concerns about combining different brands, chemistries and capacities is very appealing.

In the earlier version, was there an actual candle mode (similar to a Mag lite AA)? or was that just tail standing?

 

[SoCalDep]

Hmmm... I kinda like it and I'm into long run times on low. I might have to pick one up!

 

[Sub_Umbra]

...In the earlier version, was there an actual candle mode (similar to a Mag lite AA)? or was that just tail standing?...

Just tail standing for me. One may take the head off any of the Blasters for a true candle mode but I find the glare counterproductive.

...There isn't more recent information about the Blaster 1D being any closer to production. If people are in touch with Wayne, perhaps they could find out...

I posted to each 1D thread that came up till one of them caught Wayne's eye and it just happened. You could also start a thread with 1D in the title and see if you could drum up some interest. I swear that there are always a few around here who want 1D lights for all the same reasons I did. There has always been an undercurrent of interest in 1D lights. 1D threads with enough interest will eventually produce a light.

 

[tam17]

I don't think I'll ever manage to get my hands on any production or custom 1D flashlight, so my only option for the time being seems to be DIY.

And now this question springs to my mind: have anyone tried to de-capitate old Fenix E01 (or similar) for the sake of science? 6-7 hours of regulated runtime out of one NiMH AAA battery means LOTS of runtime on 1D, without even counting the moonlight mode...

Cheers

 

[Poppy]

I was in walmart yesterday, and they had a rayovac 1D 9 lumin flashlight for $2.00 battery included.
Its almost impossible to pass something like that up. Except that they had a 2 AA 12 lumin flashlight for $1.50. Also batteries included.

Sometimes I wonder if we just spin our wheels looking for the BEST.
I just measured and got a 50 mA draw on that $2 rayovac. If a 1D is rated a 20Ah @ 25mA perhaps it would only be 10Ah @ 50mA that would still calculate to 200 hours.
That's 16 * 12hour nights.

 

[Eileen New York]

Actually, vendor claims 160-hour run time for the Rayovac Value Bright 1D LED flashlight.

For a power outage light, especially substituting for a lantern, a minimum amount of brightness counts.

The 9 lumens of the Rayovac 1D flashlight won't light a room with bounce light for a week.

Whether it's 160 hours, or 200 hours run time, wouldn't want to have to rely on the lumens left after the Rayovac 1D was tailstanding for a few nights.

Would prefer Blaster 1D, with a wide beam of 60 lumens and solid construction.

If lumens didn't count, could buy the Rayovac LED Pen light rated at 3 lumens.

 

[T45]

Well, despite County Comm's much maligned shipping costs, I think a D cell Mini is one heck of a good idea. The Maratac TLL is a step in the right direction. What I would like to see is a D AND C cell version of the Maratac/Foursevens/Eagletac/iTP minis. Low, medium, High, and yes, perhaps one or 2 blinky modes: Beacon would be highly useful for getting attention at night, strobe would perhaps see some usefulness. Some of the recommendations in this thread are excellent.
[h=1][/h]

 

[leditbe]

Hello,

i'm in the search of this Maratac TLL, but...
I live in Europe and it is very difficult to get one overhere.
Is there anybody out there who can help me out?
Please give me your tips and trics.

I use Ledlenser flashlights but i realy like this Maratc TLL, so if you have a suggestion, please let me know.

 

[stienke]

Lumintop SD10 or a custom Funky joule thief lantern from the marketplace.
Specs for the Lumintop,
Compatible with 3x AA, 1x 32650 or 1x D size
High 800lm (7.5h), Mid 100lm (26h), Low 10lm (280h) by 1x 32650
High 500lm (6h), Mid 100lm (15h), Low 10lm (150h) by 3x AA
High 200lm (7.2h), Mid 30lm (80h), Low 2lm (60days) by 1x D size
with Strobe Mode
Size 120.3mm x 40mm, Weight 115g