500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos) - Work In Progress

[notrefined]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

I suspect a free-machining copper (or better grade) version would be popular

 

[jorn]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

The alkaline may also start to leak with to high draw. I remember lots of old threads about pepole complaining about alkalines leaking in their new hard driven aa powerlight's, even with pretty fresh cells. High drain and normal cheap alkalines is not that good i guess.

As long as its a beast with 10440, and simply works (will produse any kind of light) with a alkaline. I would be happy with it. Buildt in protection for those 10440 would be awsome

 

[easilyled]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

You need much more than 1.5 A from an AAA to get 500 lumens OTF, much more than double that in fact, the vf of the led being at least twice the 1.5V of the alcaline, and said alcaline sagging like crazy therefore far from 1.5V output.

Yes, I agree, but in order to output 500 lumens for a current draw of 1.5A, I meant the use of li-ions in AAA size, which even then would be very difficult.

It would certainly be impossible with alkaline AAAs.

 

[jabe1]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

I suspect a free-machining copper (or better grade) version would be popular

Popular is an understatement...

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Looks good, it's very different to my design. Must be fiddly and time consuming to make the drivers for it, I wish I was skillfull enough to make my own. I look forward to seeing the finished product

Thanks

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Yes, I agree, but in order to output 500 lumens for a current draw of 1.5A, I meant the use of li-ions in AAA size, which even then would be very difficult.

It would certainly be impossible with alkaline AAAs.

Very difficult indeed.
Not impossible, but there are many issues:
When drawing so much current from a 1.5V cell rated at 1200mAh (even heavy duty Zinc-Manganese Dioxide),
the high discharge reduces the actual mAh to just a fraction of the actual mAh available under a more normal draw.

So even though 3A would be only 2.5C (discharge) of available mAh (not a big ask for an IMR cell) , alkalines usually work at a max of 1/3C discharge, and only deliver near their true capacity at under 1/10C (and usually less than 1/25C to get near actual capacity).

Using a boost circuit, making up for the lack of voltage requires at least 2x the current,
so a 1.5 Amp draw, is actually doubled.

At 1Amp, 3V to the led, it gets close to 400 emitter lumens, but that can not be sustained for very long.
So as everybody has suggested, yes, there are definitely limitations in using alkalines,
and 500 lumens for 3 seconds on an alkaline may not be very meaningful.


We are still testing at this stage, but taking safety and other factors into consideration,
the final version may well end up with a lower output on turbo mode using alkaline.

I'm aware of the factors and we are testing and exploring still at this stage.
This is why it's still labelled "Concept Light", so please bare with me as your input helps me to adjust the final specs.

CPF is the best place in the world to get feedback during product design, and Im grateful to everyone for all the feedback and comments,
and hope to end up with a light that you & I would want on our keychain.


tgwnn

 

[Hamaremon]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

I would definitely be interested in one depending on the price point. Even if it was only for a few seconds, if you could achieve this kind of output from a single 1.5V AAA alkaline cell without damage to the cell itself, it would truly be an epoch-making light. I won't say it can't be done, simply because it hasn't been done (to my knowledge).

Best of luck in the final design tweaks!

 

[Shooter21]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

wow 500 lumen aaa light, whats the runtime 5 minutes? lol

 

[moshow9]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

:thumbsup: the_guy_with_no_name. Definitely interested in something like this, my keychain could use a new friend . Wish you lots of luck and can't wait to see the final product.

 

[WadeF]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Maybe you could put some kind of capacitor in there that charges off a 1.5v alkaline and then delivers a boost of current when needed. :shrug:

 

[RCantor]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Well you've got cajones and I can't wait to see what you come up with Good luck!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

wow 500 lumen aaa light, whats the runtime 5 minutes? lol

Will let you know after testing

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Maybe you could put some kind of capacitor in there that charges off a 1.5v alkaline and then delivers a boost of current when needed. :shrug:

Thats the basic concept of a boost circuit, though slightly different. A good idea but size may be an issue.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Well you've got cajones and I can't wait to see what you come up with Good luck!

Thanks.
Im designing the light I want to have. Im happy with Li-Ion's.
May as well support 1.5V AAA's so that it can be used by a wider audience and use standard batteries in case I ever need them.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

I would definitely be interested in one depending on the price point. Even if it was only for a few seconds, if you could achieve this kind of output from a single 1.5V AAA alkaline cell without damage to the cell itself, it would truly be an epoch-making light. I won't say it can't be done, simply because it hasn't been done (to my knowledge).

Best of luck in the final design tweaks!

Price...
Im hoping the first run can be $65 or less.
If there is enough demand (volume), I can negotiate a better price on everything for the 2nd run,
and hopefully get the price lower still.

tgwnn



@moshow
Thanks.

 

[Hamaremon]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Well, I can't speak for everyone, but for a custom run of lights I certainly didn't expect the price to be that low...Not that I'm complaining!

I understand it's still a rough idea at this point, and may vary depending on quantities, but now I'm even more excited than when I first read the proposed specs!

I'll be looking forward to more updates!

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Do you have a rough price estimate?
Will you sell drivers only?

Why are there so many people who care about alkalines? How many people here actually use/have alkaline AAA?
IMO worrying about eneloops would be more sensible. I'd think that an eneloop AAA would be able to deliver ~4A - 4.5A and hold over 1v, for six or seven minutes.

 

[ico]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

wow 500 lumen aaa light, whats the runtime 5 minutes? lol

may be just 15-30 seconds

 

[Acid87]

Really interesting light. Would love a pocket rocket like this. A real fan. Price???

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

may be just 15-30 seconds

A burst at 500 lumens, probably for a maximum of 30 seconds, depending on battery type.
Total runtime at 500 lumens would likely be not more than 5-10 minutes,
but plenty of runtime on the lower modes.