Hello CPF members. New member here with some questions I couldn't find searching. I know enough to know I don't know enough and need some help. We needed some Red headlamps for night fishing on our boat. Wanted something with a flood for fishing and also have a spot with some decent throw to help navigate on the river. They would be used occasionally for maybe a couple hours at a time unless we broke down and needed them thru the night. They would be left on the boat except for the hard winter months when the boat isn't used. So after a short search I purchased two red led headlamps from Amazon. Part number GaiGaiMall-PN-G2006. I know they are cheap lights but they have the features I wanted and $30 for two of them I figured I could give them a try. Haven't tried them on the boat out on the water yet. On land with the supplied AAAs, the light is very bright and throws pretty far so they should work out ok for us. There are no specs on the Amazon page or in the manual. The manual just list the option of using three AAA in a adapter or one 18650. I've tried googling the brand name and the ASIN number with no help. So I have no idea of what kind of components it has or what it's operating parameters are. One of their white headlamps says it has a XM-L-T6 but I don't know enough to say what the red headlamp would have. It can be zoomed in and out on the high, low and strobe settings. It also has a charging port on the battery case but didn't come with any cables.
I'm trying to figure out what batteries I want to use. I have no experience with 18650 batteries because until now I have had lights that I've just used Eneloops in. With that said, here is as I understand the very basics. The AAA adapter for this light is in series and is about 64mm long. I'm going to start with Eneloops at 800 mAh and 1.2v which I'm assuming times three equals 2400 mAh and 3.6 volts. They would be recharged after each time they are used. Then I'm considering having Energizer lithium AAAs (L92) as backups. They are 1250 mAh and 1.5v again assuming times three equals 3750 mAh and 4.5 volts. Both of these type batteries I have no concern of popping off on our heads and no storage issues to speak of. If they would fit I would consider a 18650 like the Orbtronic ORB3500P which is 3500 aMh, 3.7v, 10A and is protected. My understanding is that the 18650s shouldn't be stored very long fully charged for safety issues. I've read as low as about 50% or lower. So if stored at 50% that's about 1875 mAh. Correct???. So wouldn't that leave me with less run time than using the Eneloops making the consideration of using a 18650 a mute point. I know enough that a lights brightness and run time depends the components installed in the light. After that I'm ignorant with all the possible combinations of components available. Please correct me if my understanding and reasoning is completely off. I'm just wondering if my ignorance would be causing me to give up any performance from these lights by not using a 18650 battery. As an example. Say we have stayed out into the night for a couple of hours fishing. We would use the lights on low in the flood position when fishing. It is very dark if we are up the lakes head water on the river. There are steep mountain sides blocking most moon and star light. When we leave I would like to have as much throw and as bright as possible during this time to help us navigate out of the river section. I have a spotlight that has a red cover for it but it's not convenient to have to hold it the whole time. I even wouldn't be opposed to switching to fresh batteries before we started out. Just trying to figure out our best option with batteries. Thanks
I'm trying to figure out what batteries I want to use. I have no experience with 18650 batteries because until now I have had lights that I've just used Eneloops in. With that said, here is as I understand the very basics. The AAA adapter for this light is in series and is about 64mm long. I'm going to start with Eneloops at 800 mAh and 1.2v which I'm assuming times three equals 2400 mAh and 3.6 volts. They would be recharged after each time they are used. Then I'm considering having Energizer lithium AAAs (L92) as backups. They are 1250 mAh and 1.5v again assuming times three equals 3750 mAh and 4.5 volts. Both of these type batteries I have no concern of popping off on our heads and no storage issues to speak of. If they would fit I would consider a 18650 like the Orbtronic ORB3500P which is 3500 aMh, 3.7v, 10A and is protected. My understanding is that the 18650s shouldn't be stored very long fully charged for safety issues. I've read as low as about 50% or lower. So if stored at 50% that's about 1875 mAh. Correct???. So wouldn't that leave me with less run time than using the Eneloops making the consideration of using a 18650 a mute point. I know enough that a lights brightness and run time depends the components installed in the light. After that I'm ignorant with all the possible combinations of components available. Please correct me if my understanding and reasoning is completely off. I'm just wondering if my ignorance would be causing me to give up any performance from these lights by not using a 18650 battery. As an example. Say we have stayed out into the night for a couple of hours fishing. We would use the lights on low in the flood position when fishing. It is very dark if we are up the lakes head water on the river. There are steep mountain sides blocking most moon and star light. When we leave I would like to have as much throw and as bright as possible during this time to help us navigate out of the river section. I have a spotlight that has a red cover for it but it's not convenient to have to hold it the whole time. I even wouldn't be opposed to switching to fresh batteries before we started out. Just trying to figure out our best option with batteries. Thanks