Just recieved Inretech AA adapter...

[SanRemo]

I just got it yesterday and thought i would give my impressions. Since this is my first LS based light, i wasn't sure what to expect.

First, the beam has a nice white hotspot with a VERY slight green/yellow tinge in the corona. I probably wouldn't have noticed it until i compared it to my LW4000 which is much more white/blue.

With alkalines, it is extremely better than the stock mag bulb, which was expected--but not as bright as i hoped (LW4000 still brighter and more area light too).

With lithiums, this thing is great. It is much much brighter than with alkalines and i am really impressed.

One thing though, i am concerned about HEAT. I have only tried using lithiums for short periods (under 1 min). And the LS gets HOT. One time it started to flicker. I'm not sure if it was because of the heat but i really didn't want to take any chances.

It is just so much better with lithiums. I want to use them all the time. My question is how much can the Luxeon take without destroying it? The reactor seems safe with lithiums.

Overall a great product at a great price.
A great replacement for the stock mag bulb.
No regrets.

Remo

 

[Zephyr]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think when the LS starts to flicker indicates that it's getting too much juice and it doesn't like it. If you keep it up, there's a good chance that you will fry the Luxeon.

ZEPH

 

[shipinretech]

SamRemo,

I'm glad you're happy with the adapter. If you look at the graph here: http://www.inretech.com/pictures/lightmeter.jpg You can see that with lithium batteries the adapter really settles down after a couple hundred minutes to a good level of light for the next several days of continuous usage. I suspect that using lithium batteries with our adapters reduces the chances that you will pass this light on to your grandchildren. After spending $200-400 on lithium batteries, you are probably going to have to spend another $20 on a new adapter. It will be interesting to see what the wonderful people at Lumileds are doing by then. I suspect that you will be quite happy with what we are producing in '05. Unless you are using our adapters with lithium batteries continuously until then, you should not need to replace the adapter before then.

If you are seriously concerned about the heat generated in the in the first few minutes of the lithium batteries, run it in the freezer for a half hour and see how it works out. You should still have quite a bit of light afterwards. We designed the adapter for use with alkaline batteries and for them, the heat dissipation was sufficient. We have not done destructive heat studies on the adapter using lithium batteries because, well, lithium batteries are expensive! Testing a sequence of LS adapters to destruction using lithium batteries would eat our test budget. Please let us know if you have any problems, though.

Thanks for the review!

 

[INRETECH]

One of the problems with this series of MAGLITE is that the contact for the negative relies on a small piece of copper being pushed up and making contact with the case via battery pressure from the spring in the bottom of the case

This can affect the operation of incandescent also; you just don't notice it since the incandescent bulb doesn't react to quick bad connections as well as the LED does (flicker)

Sometimes there is a bad connection there, you can easily 'clean' this by taking the top cap off and 'spinning' the adapter while its turned on slightly pulling on the adapter

This rubs the copper contact on the adapter againest the case, and usually cleans off any dirt/etc

You can also take the bottom spring out and make it just a little longer with a pair of needlenosed pliers which causes it to push harder on the contact

These problems are common with this type of switch mechanism in this series of the MAGLITE

Mike
www.inretech.com

 

[INRETECH]

Note: Make sure you are "spinning" the adapter and the Black top of the MAGLITE marked "do not remove"; otherwise you could bend the wires of the adapter.

 

[shipinretech]

Another reason for flickering in a Mini-MAG in the first few minutes of operation with a lithium battery might be that the heat is affecting the operation of the "switch" due to thermal expansion. The on-off "switch" mechanism on a Mini-MAG is relatively sensitive on the threshold of turning on and thermal expansion could trigger it. Lightly slapping the head of light into the palm of your hand should clear any mechanical issues.

 

[vcal]

SanRemo; -just for an experiment (concerning heat build-up), try running your Inretech by substituting ONE of those Lithiums with an alkaline.

 

[LEDagent]

Oooh...i don't know if you want to do that. Isn't mixing batteries a bad thing? Especially when they are of different chemistries?

 

[vcal]

Originally posted by LEDagent:
Oooh...i don't know if you want to do that. Isn't mixing batteries a bad thing? Especially when they are of different chemistries?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I was thinking of experimenting in terms of "short bursts"..-like 5-10-15 min. etc.,(not long runs) -just to find out about reducing the heat factor.

 

[INRETECH]

I would not suggest mixing battery types, especially Lithiums

A Lithium battery is quite a complicted power source, I have been told by a chemist friend that there are over 45 chemical reactions happening during the generation of power inside the cells - and with some Lithiums, even the smallest amount of "charging" will damage the battery

Charging can occur when the battery is placed in a device with other batteries that have a lower resistance than the Lithium, as the device is operating - the current traveling thru the Lithium will attempt to "charge" it

This could happen if the Lithium is operated in a device with a very low resistance battery, such as a NiCad

One of my friends accidently charged a Lithium battery and it stopped operating entirely

Also, dispose of your used batteries properly - there are some dangerous chemicals in some batteries, for example Lithium reacts with water much the same way as soduim does.

 

[Slick]

Originally posted by SanRemo:
It is just so much better with lithiums. I want to use them all the time. My question is how much can the Luxeon take without destroying it? The reactor seems safe with lithiums.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The simple solution is to remove the tail cap and check current flow.. I have built a few 2AA mods and drive them with NOTHING BUT lithiums.

Once you have verified that current flow is within tolerance, you will be more comfortable running the lithiums. Last time I checked current flow on one of my 2AA mods (with lithiums) it read exactly 350Ma on 95% new lithiums.

The only caveot to my comments here is that I have never inspected an Inretech drop-in's heatsinking capabilities. However, I would have to believe that they are using a properly engineered heatsink if they are stepping up to sell these mods.

 

[INRETECH]

I run lithiums in my unit that I carry around in my pocket, and it works great - they are much more powerfull than Alkaline, although more expensive

I will try and post some thermal pictures soon

Mike
http://www.inretech.com/