Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA's runtime?

[brightnorm]

Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

I just returned from rural Canada where I tested the Reactor and many other lights. (I'll post a report)

The Reactor stimulated my interest in Luxeons and I'm searching one that will meet certain specs.
Even though an unregulated light will give longer total runtime, a regulated light gives longer bright runtime which is what interests me in a Luxeon light.

Is there any commercial or modded Luxeon flashlight that is (edit) brighter than the ARC LS 2AA but has a significantly longer BRIGHT runtime and is no larger than a (Edit) Bison-sized (not MAG) 2C flashlight? If anyone has created such a light I would be a serious customer if the light was "professionally" built, water resistant (functions safely in foul weather)and convenient to use.

Am I dreaming or has some creative soul already made one?

Brightnorm

 

[TripleDouble]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

I've been wanting one too, and decided I'll be modding an old 8x for this purpose, when the 5w lambertians actually arrive.

If you want simple, just get a 2c light, pop in a LS on a heatsink, and you've got a bigger version of the Reactor. Certainly not a regulated light, but it's works. If you want it slightly brighter, add a badboy (if available) or ZLT.

Electrolumen's blaster?

Maybe Gransee could make the new ArcLS w/ a 2c battery pack? Or ask Dspeck to make one?

 

[x-ray]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Have you thought about one of Lambda's Illuminators, regulated and runs for 2 hours on two AA's (up to 4 hours with intermittent use)

I missed out on the regulated version but managed to pick up one of his direct drive illuminators. Build quality is superb, looking at the flashlight you would think it left the factory with a luxeon installed

 

[MR Bulk]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by x-ray:
Have you thought about one of Lambda's Illuminators, regulated and runs for 2 hours on two AA's (up to 4 hours with intermittent use)

I missed out on the regulated version but managed to pick up one of his direct drive illuminators. Build quality is superb, looking at the flashlight you would think it left the factory with a luxeon installed

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">??? Would that be a 3AA?

 

[x-ray]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Mr Bulk if your referring to my direct drive illuminator, its a 2AA Brinkman Legend.

I run it on 3 N cells for max brightness

 

[geepondy]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

I would say my Reactor on lithiums lasts longer and even longer brighter then my Arc LS. Of course I have a first run Arc that's not all that bright to begin with and on alkaline's, the Arc will trounce the Reactor. But on Lithiums, the Reactor stays bright for a long time, dimming very slowly. I would say a good ten hours of bright light.

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by geepondy:
I would say my Reactor on lithiums lasts longer and even longer brighter then my Arc LS. Of course I have a first run Arc that's not all that bright to begin with and on alkaline's, the Arc will trounce the Reactor. But on Lithiums, the Reactor stays bright for a long time, dimming very slowly. I would say a good ten hours of bright light.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Geepondy,

Based on your experience with the Reactor and with my own I'm beginning to think my expectations for Luxeons have been too high. I was hoping for something close to the brightness and illumination area of the Trek 1400, which so far is my preferred LED light. For the first few hours it is brighter than the LW 4000, and has a more natural, less blue dominated color. It will give a very bright run for about eight hours, slowly diminishing after that.

When I heard that the Luxeon was the equivalent of "multiple" (6-14) Nichias I was intrigued. My Reactor had a very subtle greenish tint, and looked pretty good, especially on lithiums. But when I compared it to my Trek 1400 it wasn't even close. Aside from the narrower field and the subtle greenish tint it was much dimmer than the 1400, really in a different league.

If, as you say, your Reactor was as bright or even brighter than the 2AA ARC LS, then I must say that I'm a bit disappointed.

Run time is very important to me, and I would expect a bare minimum of 5-6 hours of very bright light from a compact LED flashlight. My night vision is not very acute and the Reactor is not bright enough for me to feel really comfortable in unfamiliar terrain. I do feel very comfortable with the 1400. Perhaps I'll have to wait for the 5 Watters, but how will we power them to get good runtime? With C's?, D's? LED's are great but they really need to become more efficient. Designers have been focusing on power and more power in order to legitimize LED's in the minds of the incandescent-loving public. I believe that it's time to work on a truly efficient LED. That's what has gotten lost in the Lumen race and that's what is going to make all the difference in the coming Armegedden between LEDS and Incandescents.

There are other technologies nipping at the heels of todays lights. "Tungsten Lattice" lights is a form of illumination that has the potential to enormously increase the efficiency of incandescent lighting to the point where it is even more efficient and much brighter than fluorescents.

I guess I'm just going to have to wait, unless some brilliant modder can come up with a truly long burning very bright compact Luxeon light.

Brightnorm

 

[shipinretech]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

I hope to have a better front seal for a LS adapter for the Mini-Mag in the next week. The adapter we have uses the LS optics and while it is a good fit for the Mini-Mag, it is not a great fit. O-rings do not work to keep the optic centered as well as I feel it needs to be to make me happy, so I am trying other approaches. If somebody was willing to forgo readily reversing the adapter mod our company makes, we could put some RTV silicon behind the optic and seal it quite well.

Check out www.inretech.com I think we make a pretty good product, and we are trying to make more and better ones all the time. Our Mini-MAG adapter is worth shipping.

 

[Lux Luthor]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by brightnorm:
...Their are other technologies nipping at the heels of todays lights. "Tungsten Lattice" lights is a form of illumination that has the potential to enormously increase the efficiency of incandescent lighting to the point where it is even more efficient and much brighter than fluorescents...

Brightnorm

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I've never heard of Tungsten Lattice lighting. Can you add any more information to this?

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by shipinretech:
I hope to have a better front seal for a LS adapter for the Mini-Mag in the next week. The adapter we have uses the LS optics and while it is a good fit for the Mini-Mag, it is not a great fit. O-rings do not work to keep the optic centered as well as I feel it needs to be to make me happy, so I am trying other approaches. If somebody was willing to forgo readily reversing the adapter mod our company makes, we could put some RTV silicon behind the optic and seal it quite well.

Check out www.inretech.com I think we make a pretty good product, and we are trying to make more and better ones all the time. Our Mini-MAG adapter is worth shipping.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Patrick,

Your site includes very little information about your products. Is the AA direct drive or regulated? Any problem with heat? Waterproof? Even though it wouldn't meet my previously described criteria, I would seriously consider a non-reversible version that was as bright or brighter than the CMG Reactor, because of its more convenient form factor.

If/when you have a waterproof, glitchproof, stable, professionally modded MAG-LUXEON AA with a BRIGHT runtime of 5-6+ hours for a "reasonable" price, with all relevant specs accurately posted then I would indeed be interested.

Not all Flashaholics are mod-capable and I believe that such a product as I have described would be marketable.

Brightnorm

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by Lux Luthor:
...I've never heard of Tungsten Lattice lighting. Can you add any more information to this?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">TUNGSTEN LATTICE LIGHTING

Brightnorm

 

[CCW]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

You can also look at:

http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2002/tungsten.htm

and

http://lighting.sandia.gov/Xssltungsten.htm

for more stories.

 

[shipinretech]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

The InReTech Adapter is direct drive. Photo lithium batteries push more light out for longer, but the cost is greater. Waterproof is not going to happen using a Mini-MAG body, although water resistant is fairly easy. My definition of waterproof involves sitting in the bottom of Craig's fish tank for a month or so and then taking it diving. I'm a Navy Veteran and my definition of waterproof is "commercial dive light". We ship a product that will handle a rainy Oregon night. You can drop it on a concrete floor from shoulder height and it will still run. (If you hit it with hammer, it will break. Don't hit it with a hammer.)

If you want it assembled, that costs $10 more but it includes the flashlight. Assembled units are sent with the original parts because it doesn't cost us anything and you might want to compare. The total price is $30 assembled plus shipping. That is a reasonable price to me, especially when you consider that you will have this flashlight for decades of use. (Assuming you never loan it to your brother-in-law. The minute it touches your brother-in-law's hand, kiss your good flashlight goodbye.)

The thing for me is that I am sure that when people start putting these lights in their emergency kits, this light is going to save lives. If you've seen our comparison chart, you have seen that this light doesn't go out. Somebody lost in the woods overnight is going to remain more calm with this light on and be much easier to find and more likely to find their way out. That is why I am part of making this light, and that is the criteria I put on my production. Somebody's life is counting on this light working right when they need it. Direct drive reduces the number of parts to break when they are needed most. If you want it really bright, use photo lithium batteries, with them, it gets a little warm, but not hot.

I hope this helps.

 

[Sean]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by brightnorm:

I was hoping for something close to the brightness and illumination area of the Trek 1400, which so far is my preferred LED light.

Brightnorm[/QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Is the Trek 1400 the same as the CCExpedition 1400?

 

[Lux Luthor]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by shipinretech:
...Direct drive reduces the number of parts to break when they are needed most. If you want it really bright, use photo lithium batteries, with them, it gets a little warm, but not hot.

I hope this helps.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I like your design philosophy. Simple, clean, reliable, efficient. I would add that a resistor is OK too, since it helps flatten out the current vs. time curve.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by shipinretech:
If you want it really bright, use photo lithium batteries, with them, it gets a little warm, but not hot.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I briefly tried the sample with lithiums, and it was easily as bright as Lambda's DC-DC Illuminator. However, with the limited amount of heat sinking around the emitter and with no physical contact between the lamp assembly and the metal casing of the flashlight, I don't know how hot that thing is really going to get inside there if you use lithiums and then let it run for long periods. While the flashlight casing might become noticeably warm, this is due primarly to radiated heat; the emitter itself could be extremely hot and you'd never know it.

I know the red-orange "spider" gets too hot to touch even with alkalines; a set of lithiums in that one just might be enough to let out all the magic smoke because the LED used has a very low Vf and a lower maximum current rating than any Luxeon emitter.

I think one of those laser thermoprobes will have to be considered as my next instrument purchase. I'm not going to be very helpful in this regard without one.

 

[shipinretech]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Craig,

I'll talk to Mike and see about doing some endurance tests on the white adapter using lithiums. I am interested in seeing how long they hold up and if they lose magic smoke. I also want to get the shipping version of the AA to you for keeps this coming week. Hopefully we'll get a new product to you at the same time.

If there is a market for an extreme-duty version of this product, they are probably willing to pay more. The problem with going towards extreme duty adapters is that there is no upper limit on abuse and development expense. Pretty soon people are trying to explain why a reasonable testing baseline is for your flashlight to operate after being churned for eight hours in a cement truck filled with engine blocks and diamond grit. The tests become so extreme that they make Clark Kent turn green and leave the room.

For a lot more money we can produce a 3D cell single adapter with heat sink. Is that something you would like to see? Do you think it would sell?

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by Sean:
Is the Trek 1400 the same as the CCExpedition 1400?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Thank you for the correction Sean! I think I've been calling it the Trek 1400 because I associate the word "expedition" with the original 7 LED light. BTW, I prefer the 1400 to the 1900 because The 35% increase in the number of LED's doesn't increase brightness proportionally, at least to my eyes and the greater battery consumption is quite noticeable.

Brightnorm

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by shipinretech:
...If you want it assembled, that costs $10 more but it includes the flashlight. Assembled units are sent with the original parts because it doesn't cost us anything and you might want to compare. The total price is $30 assembled plus shipping..

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Patrick,

Sounds good. When you've tested and debugged it and Craig has given it a thumbs up I will buy at least one. At that time please alert us and post payment instructions.

Brightnorm

 

[geepondy]

Re: Can anyone beat Arc LS 2AA\'s runtime?

Originally posted by shipinretech:

If there is a market for an extreme-duty version of this product, they are probably willing to pay more.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I think people would be willing to pay more for regulated products let it be either AA, C, or D lights. If you read thru the posts, you'll see several mods and some offered on a limited basis but not commercially available yet. I think there is a big market for these products if you could come up with a price structure that is significantly less then Arc's offering, say $50-$60 for a regulated fully assembled mini mag conversion. Slightly off topic, I know but there are a lot of us that are passionate about regulated lights, particularly with the use of alkalines.