Flashlights with "parasitic drains"

[Ble]

Anyone know if the Liteflux LF2 has "parasitic drains"?

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Anyone know if the Liteflux LF2 has "parasitic drains"?

Yes. Another, if not already mentioned, is ArcMania Extreme III AAA. Excellent circuit. Good thing it has parasitic drain. Probably draws about 1/1,000,000 of a volt.

I think that the OP's question has been answered, and I, personally, can think of no reason to hold a bias against so called "parasitic drain" as a reason not to like a flashlight, particularly with the information presented in this thread. Flashlight technology is evolving, good for that, and different electronics are being employed along the way to enhance our use and enjoyment of flashlights.

Bill

Bill

 

[HKJ]

Anyone know if the Liteflux LF2 has "parasitic drains"?

All LiteFlux has a standby drain, but it is usual very low.
I have measured LF2X to 5uA on NiMH and 20uA on LiIon. That means that you have to recharge LiIon each year and on AAA batteries you just uses their "use before" date, the drain will not empty the battery premature.

 

[imgadgetman]

I carry the Fenix P1D in my pocket as a backup. When I put in a fresh surefire it measures 3.27v. Two months later without using it the voltage is about 3.10. It is a twisty so I cannot twist it enough to stop contact with the spring. Also I carry a Fenix LOD as a backup to my backup and it seems to have the same parasitic drain. I was thinking of doing a voltage drop check for one month on both of these comparing it to my P3D CE with clicky. If I want to stop parasitic drain, what material would be the best to place between battery and positive end contact? Plastic is available with very thin layers, cardboard?

imgadgetman

 

[HKJ]

I carry the Fenix P1D in my pocket as a backup. When I put in a fresh surefire it measures 3.27v. Two months later without using it the voltage is about 3.10. It is a twisty so I cannot twist it enough to stop contact with the spring. Also I carry a Fenix LOD as a backup to my backup and it seems to have the same parasitic drain. I was thinking of doing a voltage drop check for one month on both of these comparing it to my P3D CE with clicky. If I want to stop parasitic drain, what material would be the best to place between battery and positive end contact? Plastic is available with very thin layers, cardboard?

imgadgetman

Neither of these lights does have any standby drain, except maybe due to moisture. The contact is between the top of the tube and the PCB in the head, when you break that contact, you break the circuit.

 

[Russel]

I carry the Fenix P1D in my pocket as a backup. When I put in a fresh surefire it measures 3.27v. Two months later without using it the voltage is about 3.10. It is a twisty so I cannot twist it enough to stop contact with the spring. Also I carry a Fenix LOD as a backup to my backup and it seems to have the same parasitic drain. I was thinking of doing a voltage drop check for one month on both of these comparing it to my P3D CE with clicky. If I want to stop parasitic drain, what material would be the best to place between battery and positive end contact? Plastic is available with very thin layers, cardboard?

imgadgetman

As TurboMan suggested in a similar thread, with many flashlights you can simply unthread the tail cap so that the battery is disconnected. I store my Fenix L2D in my briefcase that way. It also protects against accidentally turning it on while it is a bag or pocket, etc.

 

[cave dave]

You should be able to put your HDS away for a number of years and not have the battery go flat.

I was searching for the HDS beacon run time test but cant find it, I think it is well over 12 months now.
Norm

It is now 31 months. The thread is over on Marketplace.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=132584

I was pretty sure the RA Twisty did not have parasitic drain, only the Clicky. Only lights with electronic clickies have parasitic drain.

The Ra is not your normal twisty. Curent goes through the threads at all times (including a very small parasitic drain). The loops of wires are just signal wires. The microprocessor looks for the signals to tell it what mode to be in.

For instance, when you first screw the battery cap on it lights up dimly for 1 second to let you know the circuit recognizes a good battery. There is no way to lock it out.

As TurboMan suggested in a similar thread, with many flashlights you can simply unthread the tail cap so that the battery is disconnected. I store my Fenix L2D in my briefcase that way. It also protects against accidentally turning it on while it is a bag or pocket, etc.

The P1D and LOP don't have a tailcap to unscrew. So that doesn't help imgadgetman.


Not all Parasitic drains are equal. Some lights have a high drain and others are negligible. It is also possible to have defective lights or software glitches that cause a drain to be higher than it should. Physical issues could be anodize (or that bad fenix oring) that lets just a bit of current flow through. Moisture in the circuit board or switch can also do this. Firmware bugs can also cause the circuit to not enter sleep mode properly.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

We are not sure that the P1D and LOP have "parasitic drain", so let us not jump to conclusions. We need good data not just us guessing around. Too much subjective stuff going on.

Bill

 

[Marduke]

We are not sure that the P1D and LOP have "parasitic drain", so let us not jump to conclusions. We need good data not just us guessing around. Too much subjective stuff going on.

Bill

They don't. Not guessing, just the nature of their construction.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

They don't. Not guessing, just the nature of their construction.

Hi Marduke, uh, the nature of whose construction? Please explain, thanks,

Bill

 

[cave dave]

They don't. Not guessing, just the nature of their construction.

The nature of the P2D construction would also indicate no parasitic drain and yet it happened on a few units because of a defective rubber o-ring that could allow a small amount of current to pass when it was subjected to compression. Hard to believe but true.

Any light that relies on the anodizing of two threaded parts to stop current flow might eventually develop a drain when that anodizing wears thin. I'm not saying the P1D would do this because I don't know what happens if the module is energized at the threads.

Also the use of a conductive grease could cause a parasitic drain if it migrates somewhere it doesn't belong.

 

[Marduke]

Hi Marduke, uh, the nature of whose construction? Please explain, thanks,

Bill

The lights you mentioned...

 

[shuter]

I was wondering about parasitic drain in my Mr. Bulk lights so I asked the creator of the boards, George.

In both the direct drive and regulated boards used in the LionHeart, LionCub, Chameleon and DragonHeart, there is a drain of less than 0.2mA when "sleeping." Using a 750mA RCR123 it will take 80+ days to drain it to 50%. Good to know.

Thanks George! :wave:

 

[ntalbot]

Thank you for starting this thread OP.
My EDC an LF2X, drains it's battery pretty significantly in about 2 months. It's ok for an EDC, I just make sure I charge it once a month, but that would bug me for an occasional use flashlight. Especially if I had primaries in it!!
Do you think the new Olight M30 or the Eagletac M2X will have parasitic drains? I think the Eagletac won't, especially not if you install the tactical clicky.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

ntalbot, this is post 43 in this thread re LF2X parasitic drain.

All LiteFlux has a standby drain, but it is usual very low.
I have measured LF2X to 5uA on NiMH and 20uA on LiIon. That means that you have to recharge LiIon each year and on AAA batteries you just uses their "use before" date, the drain will not empty the battery premature.

Bill

 

[crizyal]

Thank you for starting this thread OP.
My EDC an LF2X, drains it's battery pretty significantly in about 2 months. It's ok for an EDC, I just make sure I charge it once a month, but that would bug me for an occasional use flashlight. Especially if I had primaries in it!!
Do you think the new Olight M30 or the Eagletac M2X will have parasitic drains? I think the Eagletac won't, especially not if you install the tactical clicky.

The Eagletac M2 and M2X does seem to have a "parasitic drain" until you install the optional clicky switch. The switch does in fact lock out the drain. I believe that I have read .7mA standby drain without the switch installed.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

The Eagletac M2 and M2X does seem to have a "parasitic drain" until you install the optional clicky switch. The switch does in fact lock out the drain. I believe that I have read .7mA standby drain without the switch installed.

That sounds high, 0.7mA drain. Maybe 0.007mA would be more like it.

Bill

 

[HKJ]

That sounds high, 0.7mA drain. Maybe 0.007mA would be more like it.

Bill

0.007 mA would have been much better, but it is 0.7mA, draining the batteries in about 4 months.

 

[Burgess]

How about the LumaPower ConneXion X2 ?



and, the upcoming LumaPower Avenger GX ?





Thank you.

_

 

[sawadee]

Rufus R4 w/21700 battery has major drain when off. Get about 3 weeks on a freshly charged battery when off.
Love this old light but hate the drain.