Attention ebay AA flashlight owners!

[BatteryCharger]

I bought one of those 1AA 12 LED flashlights on ebay a little while ago...love it. Light output is doubled with 3v...love it even more! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I see that the battery is pretty loose inside the light, and I'm hoping that a CR2 battery might fit in the tube. Can somebody with one of these lights, whether it's the 12 or 8 LED, or something else that's similar, please try a CR2 battery and see how it fits? I don't have any CR2 batteries, and don't want to spend $8 on them just to find out they don't fit... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

 

[jtice]

i have a 12 LED white, and UV one, ..
Nope /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif the one Cr2 battery I have will not fit.
Looks like you could bore the light out enough, but the walls would be very very thin.

I use a 14500 Li-Ion AA size 3V batt in mine, alot brighter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Just have to watch for over discharge.

 

[BatteryCharger]

Ahhh...poop. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Thanks for trying it...I guess I'll be investing in some of those ridiculously overpriced CRV3 batteries. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif A lithium ion would be perfect, but I want an idiot proof light, wish they made protected 14500's.

 

[chevrofreak]

I even tried boring out the battery tube on my light and a 123 wouldnt fit (cr2 is the same diameter right?)

 

[Phaserburn]

What does a li-ion cell do to the boost circuit board in these lights?

 

[shiftd]

chev, no, they are not the same diameter. CR2 has smaller diameter than CR123

phaser, i would guess the higher voltage of li-ion helped to provide the extra power needed to increase the output of the boost circuit

 

[BatteryCharger]

[ QUOTE ]
Phaserburn said:
What does a li-ion cell do to the boost circuit board in these lights?

[/ QUOTE ]

The higher voltage doubles the amount of current it uses...so it quadruples the wattage to the LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[PeLu]

[ QUOTE ]
BatteryCharger said:
The higher voltage doubles the amount of current it uses...so it quadruples the wattage to the LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Why should twice the current give four times the power? It will be about 150% more power (guesstimated).

As these 'new' LEDs usually have quite low forward voltages, it will be worth a try to remove the step up circuit at all and drive the LEDs directly.
Maybe there is not much of a difference in brightness, but a gain in efficiency and most important, you get some deep discharge protection.

Edit: Sorry, thought the comparison is in between Li primary and Li-Ion. My fault.

 

[BatteryCharger]

[ QUOTE ]
PeLu said:
Why should twice the current give four times the power?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's also double the voltage. It uses roughly 200ma @ 1.5v or .3 watts. It uses roughly 400ma @ 3v or 1.2 watts.

If I could crack the thing open and direct drive it on a lithium ion it would be wonderfull, but with the driver it goes down so low it would ruin a li-ion and you'd never even know it.

 

[BatteryCharger]

Well, I got a bunch of 3v AA batteries from CRV3s. At 3v, the light uses 500ma! That's roughly 34ma per LED, at 100% efficiency! Huge difference in brightness and throw.

[shameless plug] Get your 3v AAs here! [/shameless plug]

 

[UVLaser]

I wanted to buy this flashlight for awhile but no one had reviewed it yet.
And since you have it are you going to take beam shots?

THANKS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

 

[Sigman]

Post content deleted by Sigman.

 

[BatteryCharger]

Here's the flashlight with a standard AA:

And here it is with the 3v AA:

The flashlight was roughly 8' away from the wall in each pic. Since it doesn't use any reflector or optics on the LEDs, the beam is very clean and round.

I see my camera has a dead pixel in the lower right corner... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

 

[chevrofreak]

Have you got a light meter to measure the output? I butchered my light before I got the light meter so I couldnt do any measurements with mine.

 

[BatteryCharger]

[ QUOTE ]
chevrofreak said:
Have you got a light meter to measure the output? I butchered my light before I got the light meter so I couldnt do any measurements with mine.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I don't. If light output per watt remains the same as the power goes up, it's 5.3 times brighter. I would imagine the circuit inside the light becomes even more efficient as the input power goes up.

 

[luminaria]

Any one has been able to open the head of this flashlight?

I have tried heating but no luck. I assume the head is threaded.

I would like to replace the leds...

 

[B@rt]

Threaded? did you try the "freeze and pop" method?

 

[luminaria]

Didn't want to try it until I was sure it was not threaded. As chevrofreak told that it butchered its light I saw an oportunity to know it first hand.

 

[chevrofreak]

Nah, it wasnt from trying to take it apart. I'm not sure I want to talk about it

 

[B@rt]

Spill it chevro... You know you want to... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif