AAA - light - why so few? Why no raw Al.?

LEDBE
easilyled

easilyled

Flashaholic
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
7,252
Location
Middlesex, UK
Just wondered why more of these lights aren't made?

(The Arc AAA-P was extremely popular and so is the Fenix LOD.)

In my opinion an AAA-light the size of a Mag. Solitaire would make
an ideal keychain light.

However I'd like to see it in raw Al. rather than coated Al.
because raw Al. can be buffed up to look as good as new with
minimal effort whereas even HAIII will show its age after a while
of being banged against keys in a pocket.

So ideally I'd like a simple 2-stage raw Al. light that takes 10440 li-ions
with a Seoul led and solitaire-sized.

Is that too much to ask for?

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

PS! - I know there's a Draco that can take AAA, but not everyone can afford one and its either Ti or Chrome finished
 
IMHO the fact that AAA cells have a capacity that is roughly one third of AA's and still they are equally/more expensive has much to do with what you complain about. Which is absolutely true, very few AAA lights available.

I like them but not too much, I have just a Fenix L0D (my wife's EDC), a L0D CE (my EDC) and a Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin still in transit. I'm also looking forward to the new version of LiteFlux LF2.

I'm afraid that I don't agree with your colour choice: my AAA lights are all sadly black. :cool:
 
When you get down to the size of a AAA light the LED size becomes a factor. Not the lens but the body of the LED and it's leads. You also have the problem of trying to fit a reflector into small diameter heads. It's hard to keep it compact and still have enough metal around the threads and rim.

Then there's the electronics. I've seen some great lights made with super small electronics that consist of components soldered directly to each other, but that's hard to mass produce. I have an arc AAA that has been upgraded to use a luxeon, and it's a sweet piece of work. The machining necessary to make room for the new electronics was exacting; I know because I bored a batch out for the guy doing the modding.

I must agree, a nice small bright light is good to have.


Daniel
 
how about an LiteFlux LF2? meets all of your requirements (plus more features and unique functions) except for the raw AL part. :grin2:

khoo
 
easilyled said:
Just wondered why more of these lights aren't made?

(The Arc AAA-P was extremely popular and so is the Fenix LOD.)

In my opinion an AAA-light the size of a Mag. Solitaire would make
an ideal keychain light.

However I'd like to see it in raw Al. rather than coated Al.
because raw Al. can be buffed up to look as good as new with
minimal effort whereas even HAIII will show its age after a while
of being banged against keys in a pocket.

So ideally I'd like a simple 2-stage raw Al. light that takes 10440 li-ions
with a Seoul led and solitaire-sized.

Is that too much to ask for?

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

PS! - I know there's a Draco that can take AAA, but not everyone can afford one and its either Ti or Chrome finished
Click to expand...
Aluminium is too soft to use without an anodized coat in a small flashlight - it's prone to being bent, dented and warped. The anodizing is far harder than the metal and gives the light its rigidity.

If you wanted an aluminium shell that was tough enough to take a beating, the light would have to be substantially thicker and heavier.

Furthermore, many lights use the aluminium tube as a conductor, and to prevent grounding it has to be coated in a non-conductive material (as far as I understand).
 
meuge said:
Aluminium is too soft to use without an anodized coat in a small flashlight - it's prone to being bent, dented and warped. The anodizing is far harder than the metal and gives the light its rigidity.

If you wanted an aluminium shell that was tough enough to take a beating, the light would have to be substantially thicker and heavier.

Furthermore, many lights use the aluminium tube as a conductor, and to prevent grounding it has to be coated in a non-conductive material (as far as I understand).
Click to expand...

Well how is it that Orb's "Raw" works perfectly well then?
Its a very small CR2-sized light made of Raw Al.
To my knowledge there have been no complaints of denting or warping.

I should know because I've had one for years and its still in great
condition.
 
Would Stainless steel serve your needs? The Fighter AAA at DX is a good looking light, 2 mode twisty with Cree P4. It will not run 10440 though..

I have an Ultrafire 602C SSC on order that will take 10440 cells, but will show wear as you noted, also it is only single mode.

I am so happy with my LiteFlux LF-3 that I will may be ordering the LF-2 when the new version comes out. I want something a little smaller than CR123 or AA for my EDC light and I think a AAA light will fit the bill. I will be following this thread..
 
Last edited:
Brass is excellent for not showing its age. 1 vote for any Brass Peak light.
Norm
 
There are a lot of AAA lights, probably just not easily available on your side of the pond. The smaller number of lights (compared to AA or CR123A) makes picking one easier.

Nuwai TM310H - 0.5W Pocket LED Flashlight (1xAAA) in Silver. Cheaper if you buy two see combo 3. You may have to do some negotiating to get 2 silver ones instead of midnite black.

4SEVENS has 11 AAA torches not including the rebel versions I assume you know the discount code for orders over $20.

In addition to the Fenix line Lighthound has the Streamlight Microstream AAA High Flux LED Penlight plus some cheapies.

Going to the Hong Kong/Chinese websites presents a big headache. Ultrafire alone has 4. 602C Seoul SSC 42180-U, B3 Luxeon PWT, 1W Ultrafire 602C, 3W Ultrafire 602C with 10440 battery and charger. In addition there are AAA Cree, SSC, Luxeon, and 5mm LED torches.

From the better names in Chinese torches you can get Liteflux, Huntlight, and Jetbeam.

If you want bare metal which you can buff, try the Peak
Matterhorn or Baltic in brass or stainless.

There is also the Fighter Tiny Stainless Steel Cree

BTW I got a shiny uncoloured solitaire with an Arcmania SMJLED drop-in.

According to Wayne Johnson at Electrolumens, bare aluminim will leave the hands black so he ANODISE CLEAR when a customer do not want a coloured light. You can see the results here. It looks like bare AL but isn't.
 
Bare aluminum will eventually oxidize with a white powdery coat of aluminum oxide. It's aluminum's version of rust. It won't penetrate and eat away like iron oxide rust will, but it will rub off and stain. All aluminum parts used in the aerospace industry are anodized with something like alodine or some chromate solution to prevent oxidation and corrosion.

Ditto on the easier denting and scratching of bare aluminum over anodized.
 
I will have to respectfully disagree with some of the posters above.

I have had a few raw Al. lights. Orb's RAW, a McGizmo raw Al. PD.,
and a raw Lumapower D-mini.

I have had these for years with no problems of denting, warping,
oxidation etc.

An occasional quick wipe with some bog-standard metal polish brings
them to a beautiful shine.

I honestly think this is the ideal material for an AAA-sized light because
of Al's excellent thermal conduction. For that reason it is a far better
choice than Stainless Steel or Titanium in this size.

Scratches can be very easily sanded and buffed out, but don't show much
because the scratched surface is the same colour. (compared to a coated light)

For those of you who have never had a raw Al. light, I suggest you try
one and see for yourself. :)
 
whc said:
What about these from Peak LED:

http://www.peakledsolutions.net/Products/Baltic_TT.html
http://www.peakledsolutions.net/Products/Baltic_SS.html

AAA flashlights with no HA finish :)...
Click to expand...

I have been tempted by Peak lights. However there are a few reasons
why they don't meet my criteria.

1) Both Ti and SS are not particularly good conductors
2) Peak's smaller lights are driven at a lower level than I would like
This is probably due to the reasons above. If they were raw Al.
they could be driven higher
3) They are substantially larger than the Mag. Solitaire which is the
size I would like on a keychain.

Thanks for the suggestion though :)
 
LEDninja said:
I think a lot of the better 'raw aluminium' are actually anodized clear without dye so you do not notice it.

One other option is to buy a coloured light and remove the anodize. Robocop removed the anodize from his his Dorcy AAAs thread.
Click to expand...

No, the lights I mentioned were definitely unanodised and you can't
get better than a McGizmo light ie. Raw Al. PD.

I have lightly sanded these lights occasionally and polished them up
again (so easy).

I'm just querying why no manufacturer or custom builder makes AAA-sized
lights in raw Al. whereas this has been used to good effect with
CR2 and CR123-size lights and others.

Its not so much that I have to have one at all costs. Its just that
I'm convinced its the ideal material for a key-sized light and want to
urge manufacturers to consider this.

I'm stealing Groundhog66's picture to show you an example of a bare Al. Lioncub (3rd from left, made by Mr. Bulk)
(just one example of many perfectly fine lights made from this material)

cub.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Shortest AAA light?
2 3
Replies
49
Views
5K
jabe1
J
J
A new Stainless Steel 3 mode AAA light from Fenix
2
Replies
34
Views
3K
nbp
nbp
Robocop
5mm AAA twisty
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
Schokokeks
S
K
10440/AAA little flashlight
Replies
4
Views
1K
jon_slider
J
acebeam
New Release: ACEBEAM Multi-light Source EDC Flashlight - EC20
Replies
16
Views
2K
Buca
B

Latest posts

Top