Battery Discharge Math

[cliff]

Is there some simple math I can use to determine how long a regulated LED light drawing .18 amps will burn on a 2000 Mah Pila battery? Sorry, but I am a complete battery dunce and hate measuring burn time with a watch.

 

[Doug Owen]

Sure.

.18 Amp is 180 mA right? So if we have a 2000 mAh (note the capitols, small m, big A (for Amperes, a guy's name), 2000 mili Amp hours, and we discharge at 180 mA you can expect 2000/180 or a bit over 11 hours (the mA's above and below the line cancel and you're left with 'hours').

More or less.

So you divide the capacity by the discharge rate. Just be sure they're in the same units.

Doug Owen

 

[cliff]

Doug, thanks. I'm all squared away now.