Arc LS in moon mode

geepondy

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 15, 2001
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Massachusetts
I put what I thought was a pair of used AA's into the Arc LS in an attempt to have it quickly go into moon mode but it still took three hours. Just to be sure, I left it that way for an hour before observing the light. I think if the eyes were accustomed to the dark, you could easily see well enough in front of you to see where you are going. Certainly could read a map up close, etc. I'm trying to drain my Arc AAA LE to moon mode and do a comparison between the two lights but I'm not sure if that will happen before I go to bed.
 
I never have totally figured out the "moon mode". I assumed it would "switch" and light output would go demonstrably dimmer.

I also have never seen it go into moon mode. I usually give up and just throw the battery away as soon as it falls below 1.0 volts. One battery is lasting me about 2 weeks now.

BTY...
I made a convert of a real-estate agent yesterday. I was looking at some property in a near by town and needed a light to inspect an area in the basement. Before she could finish apologizing for no flashlight with her, I whipped it out
smile.gif
( from around my neck) and she wanted one immediately! It sort of stumped her how that much light could come out of it. I had just changed batteries.
 
Well from what I have observed, there is a period of dimming before settling into moon mode which is very dim but once at this very dim setting remains constant for quite some time.
 
I finally got my LE to go into moon mode. It took awhile as at least for this test, the time between when it starts noticably dimming and then achieving moon mode is greater with the LE then the LS. Anyhow, comparing the two, the LS in moon mode is greatly brighter then the LE in moon mode. The LE is really dim. You can still read your watch or read something up close but I don't think I could really see well enough directly in front of me to see where I'm going whereas with the LS I think I could.

Not that I'd ever want to be in a situation where moon mode for either light was my primary source of illumination!
 
I took a 123 that was to dead to even start up a 3p. It ran my LS at about 3/4 of what a set of fresh liths AA did for about a hour, then it slowly went into moon mode. I was wondering about this dimming. I thought it would just switch into moon mode. In moon mode it is really dim.
 
Ah good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who expected the AAA (and the LS which I don't own yet) to just sort of "snap" into moon mode eventually. That "snap" seems to take a couple of hours. I was tired of waiting for a fresh battery to die in the AAA that I use all the time (that's a compliment, Peter!), so I put a "dead" battery in the thing that was below 1v. It got dimmer and dimmer and dimmer, but was still brighter than what I thought "moon mode" would be. Several hours later it had still not done any sort of drastic change, but was even dimmer yet. I popped in a new battery and was a amazed at how much brighter the thing was, but I still don't think I waited long enough for real moon mode. I think if I had to vote, I'd do away with the last couple of hours of dimming, and have it "snap" into moon mode after about a 15% output drop. I have no clue if that is even possible, but there you go.

When folks post the output vs time numbers for these lights, I also don't see a big jump down to moon mode. So, the question is: when do you actually call it "moon mode?" Is it a subjective thing?
 
Well I considered it moon mode when the subjective level of dimness stayed the same for an hour. Once it started dimming at a noticable rate, the LS reach this mode much more quickly then the LE. What I didn't do is see how long these lights remained at the "moon mode" level. At this level, with the LE, you're better off to use your watch light for illumination. The LS is better, you probably could make out obstacles directly in front of your feet if walking in the dark.
 
Moon mode officially occurs when the DC/DC converter cuts out, which is supposed to be at some specific voltage.

However, since some converters continue to operate at lower and lower frequencies, it's often not obvious when it finally shuts down.

Add to this the fact that an LS still produces enough light to cast a shadow several feet even at 1mA, it's really hard to tell.
 
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