fenix L2T regulation

[Face]

Hi,

On the Fenix website it says

"Unlike traditional flashlights which dim considerably as the batteries wears down, a fully regulated circuit enables the Fenix L2 to maintain near maximum brightness as its battery's voltage decreases."

But the graph's over at flashlightreveiws indicate that this is only the case with NIMH batteries (http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l1t-l2t.htm).

Am I being a bit picky with regards to what qualifies as "maintain near maximum brightness" with alkalines? I would have thought that it would need a much flatter regulation like the NIMH cells to make this claim.

Not that I really mind... I run mine on NIMH, but, well, you know, I was just wondering.

Cheers

Face

 

[amanichen]

The L2T regulation isn't as good as that of the L2P mostly because it's brighter and will require a higher minimum voltage to stay in regulation.

Alkalines don't hold their voltages very well under a heavy load -- a non-regulated light running alkalines will usually drop to 75% output within the first 1/2 hour of runtime. NiMHs produce a lower peak voltage, but discharge flatter, and for a longer time under heavy loads.

You're not being picky -- Fenix, like many other flashlight companies, tends to use the nominal descriptions for its products (100,000 hour LEDs, waterproof, etc.) that stretch the truth, and don't give measures of actual performance:

Example:
"100,000 LED, putting out 45 lumens of constant light in a waterproof light, etc."

Sure, the light is waterproof, but only to about 20 feet.
Sure, the LED puts out 45 lumens, but the time the photons get out the glass at the front, you're only getting 30 lumens.
Sure, the LED will last 100,000 hours, but not at the drive current and temperature that the light makes it operate at.
Sure, the light is "regulated," but only with a certain battery chemistry in real world use.
etc.

 

[Face]

Thanks very much for your reply.

I appreciate it.

Face

 

[chevrofreak]

Alkalines aren't really meant for high power devices, and as you can see they perform poorly in them.

Low is a whole different story since it doesn't use much power.