Disadvantages of 3cell AAA flashlights?

[cleetus03]

I was reading throughout the forum in the dislike concerning flashlights which use a 3cell aaa carrier. What exactly are the disadvantages of this setup. Likewise what advantages are there from this power setup?

 

[Erasmus]

Re: NEGATIVE remarks concerning 3cell AAA flashlights?

- AAA cells have lower capacity than AA cells
- cheap 3AAA flashlights usually have no driver inside, only a resistor to avoid overdrive
- the carier can be broken or lost quite easily

This is my experience

 

[cleetus03]

Re: NEGATIVE remarks concerning 3cell AAA flashlights?

Thankyou finally an answer I can understand!

 

[kramer5150]

Re: NEGATIVE remarks concerning 3cell AAA flashlights?

Biggest complaint I have with the 3AAA lights I have owned/experienced is the lack of DC-DC regulation. First 6-7 minutes are blazing hot off the charge:twothumbs. After 10 minutes its like... HUH? what happened?:sick2::sick2::sick2:. Many lights have fragile cell carriers, although my Drocy carrier is pretty good.

You can buy a 4-pack of RCR123 cells and a good charger for $16 shipped at DX. Add to that the TONS of RCR123 lights at your disposal and you are good to go.

I tried VERY hard to accept the 3AAA format, being that I already have a bunch of Ni-MH cells and get alkies for free at work. But the poor DC regulation designed into these lights left me :green::sick2:

**edited to tone it down a little, sorry mods, it was a gut-reaction**

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, Cleetus03.

I have edited the title of your thread to remove its original suggestion that people should make negative remarks. Pointing out disadvantages is fine; outright negativity is not.

 

[cleetus03]

Well noted DM51, I just felt a general negative vibe concerning 3aaa lights throughout the forum and was wondering where all the fuss was coming from.

 

[f22shift]

exactly.

it's kind of the shortcut way of making a flashlight as 3 cells would be the magic number to power it without any fancy driver.

i'm sure also the carrier provides resistance.

 

[DM51]

3x AAA are mainly used because they're the cheapest and most compact way of delivering ~4.5V from universally-available alkaline cells.

The problem is that the cell capacity to price ratio, i.e. the bang per $, is very poor. Some people avoid them for that reason.

 

[mdocod]

generally speaking, anytime you see a 3AAA or 3AA (or even sometimes 3C and 3D) LED light that is relatively cheap, you can pretty much assume it is a direct-drive design with no regulation. This is not ALWAYS the case, but some manufactures even lie about having regulation when none is present in 3 cell lights.

A single AA cell has nearly as many watt-hours available as a set of 3AAA cells.
A single C cell is very similar in size to a 3AAA adapter and has double-triple the capacity as the 3AAA cells (depending on what is compared).
A single 18500 li-ion cell is smaller diameter than the 3AAA adapter while being about the same length and has about double the capacity as the 3 AAA cells...

So overall, yes, I have a long list of reasons to have a "negative" feeling towards 3AAA lights.

 

[cave dave]

AA and AAA cost the same almost everywhere yet AA's have much more capacity.

One Nimh AA has about as much capacity as 2.7 AAAs.

Lets take one of the best 3xAAA light on the market. PT EOS.

I use rechargables in a 4 AA charger. If you have a cheap charger you can charge 2 or 4AA, that itself presents a problem for some.
If I have an independant channel charger I can charge 3 or 4 up and run the light for about 2 hrs on max. Now I need to take them all out and put them in my charger and wait.

Compare that to the zebralight 1AA. Fill up my charger and I can have 4 full 2+ hr runs before I have to recharge.

Example: If I want to go on an 8hr cave trip with the EOS I need to own, carry and charge 12 batteries before I go. (3 charge cycles)

with the Zebralight I only need to bring 4. (one charge cycle)

 

[AlexLED]

Agree with all what's been said, but would like to add the most important point for me why I avoid 3-cell and even 2-cell lights: Rechargeable cells are never exactly equal and even less when they get older. I have a whole bunch of older AA and AAA cells, which all have quite different capacity. Even trying to match the closest cells, using those in a multi-cell light, it will become considerably darker once the worst cell gets empty. And further, that cell will really get empty, while I drain the rest from the other cells.
:scowl:
Ok, the effect of becoming darker might be less for a decent regulated light, but still:
- considerably reduced runtime
- the worst cell will break down even faster
- lack of full brightness

In one cell lights, all those hassels do not apply !
Consequently, I try to avoid all multi-cell lights !!!

 

[lctorana]

Disadvantages:

1. Runtime. AAA capacity is 800mAh for LSD cells, so runtime is about the same as a far-smaller 1 x 16340 light.
2. Cell balancing. London to a brick, one AAA cell will go flat before the other two. IMHO, this problem gets bigger as the cells get smaller, so AAA cells are risky.
3. Reduced brightness. The battery carrier adds resistance, the AAA cells have higher internal resistance than other cells, and the flashlight design, with springs etc, often adds yet further resistance.
4. The 3AAA battery carrier has a limited life - it will fail way before the rest of the light. Either something will break or come loose, or one of the springs will literally shrivel up and tarnish.

Is it OT to talk about advantages? Just in case it isn't:

1. Cost. These torches are amongst the cheapest LEDs to buy.
   If you want to give a light as a gift, a 3AAA is not a bad choice. The cells are easily obtainable and cheap, and there is no risk of a cell going
2. Direct Drive. Others may disagree, but IMHO, 3-cell direct drive is the most elegant means of powering a LED. IMHO again, BOTH resistors AND drivers are a compromise.
3. Simplicity. 3AAA torches are battery-and bulb. And single mode. Far less to go wrong ,and far easier to fix when something does.
4. You can make an adaptor with an open plastic cylinder and a 0.25" 5/32" bolt and nut, to use a 18500 battery. That totally eliminates 3 of the disadvantages, and greatly reduces the other one.

 

[Gunner12]

Well, I won't be saying much that hasn't been mentioned.

3 AAA battery lights are simple, usually no more then a resistor because the voltage of 3 AAA batteries in series under that kind if load is close enough to a white LED's voltage.

But simplicity can also be a plus by being reliable, but since most of the 3 AAA lights are cheap, this is negated by the lower quality.

Since alkaline batteries(what most people would use) don't do well under higher currents(they drop in voltage), the first few minutes the light will be pretty bright, but then it will dim.

But this can also be a plus because the the light will be producing light for a good bit of time(though how useful the light is can be debatable).

3 AAA batteries rechargeable batteries has the capacity of 1 good AA rechargeable battery.

The carrier has resistance and can also break. Matching cells can sometime be a problem.

The main reason many companies use them in cheaper light is because of simplicity and lower price.

 

[parnass]

Another, less important reason: Batteries are sold in even numbers and a 3-cell light (or any battery operated gadget) leaves an extra battery left over.

 

[kramer5150]

Another, less important reason: Batteries are sold in even numbers and a 3-cell light (or any battery operated gadget) leaves an extra battery left over.

LOL... sometimes its too easy to overlook the obvious. This ALWAYS drove me nuts about my Dorcy. I have a busted MP3 player that just freezes with the LED display illuminated whenever the AAA battery is installed. I use that to discharge the extra cell. really lame!! LOL Of course my charger only charges in pairs.. :duh2OH!!!:duh2: Enough was enough with that setup!!

Its like the hotdog and hotdog bun companies!! There was a Steve Martin movie where was going NUTS over this in the grocery store, so he decided to open the bun package and steal some buns to even the count. He ended up in jail and his wife had to post bail... LOL!!

 

[asdalton]

Another, less important reason: Batteries are sold in even numbers and a 3-cell light (or any battery operated gadget) leaves an extra battery left over.

:nana:

 

[Fallingwater]

Re: NEGATIVE remarks concerning 3cell AAA flashlights?

- cheap 3AAA flashlights usually have no driver inside, only a resistor to avoid overdrive

Cheap 3AAA lights don't usually have even that. They direct-drive the LEDs, counting on the internal resistance of alkailnes or lower voltage of rechargeables to avoid overdriving the LEDs so hard that they burn out in less than five minutes.

Better (or should I say "less bad") 3AAA lights have a resistor, and I think I've seen regulated ones somewhere.

But even then, you have to face the fact that AAA cells, not to put too fine a point on it, suck. They have nowhere near the grunt to drive high-flux LEDs, or arrays of more than two or three non-overdriven 5mm ones.

Manufacturers make 3AAA lights because it's the cheapest way to get enough voltage to run white LEDs without finding yourself with too thick or too long a light (as you'd get if it used AAs).

Now, 3AAA lights can be good value if you know what you're getting.
Here, for instance, I reviewed just one such light. I'm not sure how long it or its LEDs will last, but at $2 it beats the pants off the supermarket lights people usually buy.

 

[HKJ]

Re: NEGATIVE remarks concerning 3cell AAA flashlights?

But even then, you have to face the fact that AAA cells, not to put too fine a point on it, suck. They have nowhere near the grunt to drive high-flux LEDs, or arrays of more than two or three non-overdriven 5mm ones.

I have one cell AAA lights that are very bright (L0D, LF2X), but your are right that the energy contents in AAA cells are rater low, i.e. 3 AAA cells has about the same energy as one AA cell.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: NEGATIVE remarks concerning 3cell AAA flashlights?

I don't mind lower powered 3AAA lights running 5mm LEDs at perhaps 200 ma output or less but when you try to run a 1 or 3 watt LED the puny AAAs don't keep it bright for very long you can get perhaps an hour then it gets dim quickly causing you to constantly have to break a fingernail getting the batteries out. I wish someone would make an adapter that fits a lithium or lithium ion for these lights with built in regulator for about 3 bucks each they would sell like nuts.

 

[TKC]

I do not like Alkaline batteries, as they will leak and kill your flashlight. Many years ago, I had a Maglight that I would leave in my truck for a long time. Well, I went to use it, and it was dead. I opened it up, only to find that the batteries leaked big time!!! I no longer keep a flashlight with alkaline batteries in my truck. In fact, I only own 1 light with alkaline batteries.