BuddTX
Flashlight Enthusiast
Being the absolute wildman that I am, I decided to see what would happen if I took almost all of my LED lights, and ran them ALL continuously on a BRAND NEW set of batteries.
(OK, I am being humorous here, but there is some serious content in this post!)
I know what you are saying right now, "Budd, you are a wildman, I want to party with you!" Well, I doubt you could keep up with the "light meister", but you are welcome to try! OK, maybe Craig could, with that wild birthday drink concoction that he posted here!
OK, so here are the players:
1. Mr. Bulk's LGI 3AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
2. Lambda Illuminator, 2AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
3. ElektroLumens 3AA LS Brinkmann AA Mod
4. ARC LS Second with 2AA Pack
5. Inretech 2AA LS in older Mini-mag
6. CMG Reactor (LS)
7. Streamlight 4AA
8. Opalec Newbeam
9. Stock Brinkmann Legend 2AA with original bulb
(listed in order of brightness)
(7,8, and 9 are "different" lights, and can't be directly compared to 1-6)
OK, now I know what you are saying, "Hey, wait, Budd, you got 2 cell Luxeon Stars (LS), 3 cell LS's, a 3 LED Nichia 5mm regulated light, and a 7 LED 5mm Nichia non-regulated light! Is that a fair comparison, Mr. Budd Light???" (Get it - Budd Light - Budlite!!!!")
You are correct! BUT, I do not pass judgement here, they all deserve a chance to shine!
(Can you tell I am doing this in leu of doing REAL work!)
OK, now for the Batteries. Thanks to many comments on CPF about battery types, my favorite Batteries are the Rayovac Maximum PLUS - The BLUE and silver ones at Wal-mart. AND, as a BTY, Wal-mart has a 18 pack of the Rayovac's Maximum Plus AA's on sale for 5.97.
BUT, I did not use the Rayovac's! Why? Because I already had two, 24 pack AA's of Everedy Energizer MAX batteries, with a "use by" date of 2009, and since I was going to just "waste" the batteries, why not get rid of these! AND, (I know you shouldn't start a sentence with "and", but anyway) the Energizer MAX batteries are nothing to sneeze at either! Probably given a choice, out of a 100 non CPF'ers, all 100 would probably choose the Energizer MAX to the Raovac any day, so this is a very fair, decent choice!
AND THEIR OFF! (Could a Tuesday night be more exciting! a New Law and Order AND flashlightmania! - Well, yea, it could be a new CSI, and I'd have to play Name that Flashlight!)
Loading all the lights with brand new, fresh, batteries, I turn off all the lights in the house, and turn all the flashlights on, one by one, and rank them in brightness, and observe the color.
Now if this were Popular Science, I would have all kinds of graphs and pictures, but it's not, so I don't! If I ever figure out how to take advantage of that 100 meg of free space that my ISP tells me I can use, I will post some pictures.
BUT, just using your eyes, I feel that you get an "impression" of the light that sometimes measurements can't give you.
Almost tied for first place, is Mr. Bulk's LGI 3AA and the Lambda Illuminator. The LGI was a little brighter, and just a hair larger center hot spot, but for all practical purposes, they are about the same. Both very white, with a very very little hint of blue, and a nice, even, difused center spot, with a nice secondary ring.
Next in line, is the ElektroLumens 3AA. this one (at lease mine) has a very well defined, very clear, round beam. I would consider this beam more focused, narrow and piercing, than all the other LS's that I own. Is this good or bad? That is a decision you have to make. I am pretty sure that ElektroLumens used a different optic than the others.
Next in the brightness order, is my ARC LS Second. While less bright than the others, the ARC LS Second puts out a very DENSE light. My particular "second" has just a hint of green in the beam. Not this putrid, horrid green that others talk about (like my CMG Reactor has!) More of a hint of "mint / blush" green! If this were the only light you had, you would barely notice it. Also, of all the 2AA's this is the smallest package.
Next in brightness, is the Inretech 2AA mini-mag combo. About 70-80% of the light that the ARC AAA puts out, both is size and intensity. Also, it does not give out that super white, slightly blue light, like the first three, it is more of a "natural" color, but I only noticed it, when comparing the color to the other lights. While not the "star" of this test, it just blows away the stock Brinkmann AA / Nextstar bulb.
Now, for the light I love to hate! My CMG Reactor! This light was the only light that I was not able to stand up on it's end, as there is no flat surface to do so. The light was the dimmest of all the LS's in the group. AND it had that wonderful goulish green color to it!
Also, as we say in TEXAS, "BEINZOW" I was already doing this, I thought I would throw in my Streamlight 4AA, 7 LED light, and my Opalec Newbeam, as well as a Stock Brinkmann AA.
The Streamlight, all of a sudden, appeared as a blue light. I never thought of it as a blue light, but against all the LS's, it did appear blue. Also, while I like this light, all of a sudden, against all the LS's with their brand new batteries, the Streamlight appeared to be dimmer. I think that it is a deceptive light, because it is also a wider light, and using it by itself, I am very happy with the results of the light. I think that "dimmer but much wider" might be a good description.
The Opalec Newbeam / Mini-mag conversion was the dimmest of the lights, and I expected it to be. I just wanted to see the red LED come on!
Please note that BOTH the Streamlight 4AA LED, and Opalec are "favorites" of mine, just because they are listed as the dimmest, don't take that as a bad thing. They are both very nice lights. Do some searches on CPF about my posts on these two lights.
The first half of the test lasted three hours, then I gave up and went to bed!
All lights are going to be refered to by number from now on.
1. Mr. Bulk's LGI 3AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
2. Lambda Illuminator, 2AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
3. ElektroLumens 3AA LS Brinkmann AA Mod
4. ARC LS Second with 2AA Pack
5. Inretech 2AA LS in older Mini-mag
6. CMG Reactor (LS)
7. Streamlight 4AA
8. Opalec Newbeam
9. Stock Brinkmann Legend 2AA with original bulb
OK, The first half hour or so, #1 and #2 got very warm. Not hot, but warm. #3 just got slightly warm. #7 stayed very warm, the entire test.
After abut half hour to an hour, #1 and #2 went back to room temp.
#1, #3 and #4 stayed about the same brightness for the entire 3 hours.
#5 did get slightly dimmer as time went on, and #6 did also.
I did not percieve #8 or #9 getting dimmer for the entire 3 hours, and the red light did not come on #8 either. (Actually it did, but I think the tailcap was not screwed on correctly, when I reseated it, the red light went off, and stayed off).
Here is something interesting, #2 was completely dark after 2.5 hours! Not a trickle of light, completely dark. Turning it off for 15 minutes or so, and turning it back on, it went back to almost full brightness, until it would suddenly shut off again.
#1 and #4 appeared to stay the same brightness for then entire test. #1 probably stayed the same brightness due to the 3 batteries, #4, because of the advanced electronics.
#2 also has some advanced electronics, and until the light went off, stayed almost as bright as #1.
After 3 hours, #9 looked like a glowing tan ember, from the remains of a fire!
#6 just got dimmer and dimmer.
Comparing #5 to #9 after 3 hours, there was no comparison, that I would prefer #5 to #9, even though it was the second to last in the LS race.
I will let all the the lights run again tonight, with the same batteries and see what happens.
A side note, haveing all these lights shining into your dining room schandalere is really coo looking!
OK, now I have to do 4 hours of work, in the next hour!
Hope you found this a little entertaining, and very useful!
(OK, I am being humorous here, but there is some serious content in this post!)
I know what you are saying right now, "Budd, you are a wildman, I want to party with you!" Well, I doubt you could keep up with the "light meister", but you are welcome to try! OK, maybe Craig could, with that wild birthday drink concoction that he posted here!
OK, so here are the players:
1. Mr. Bulk's LGI 3AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
2. Lambda Illuminator, 2AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
3. ElektroLumens 3AA LS Brinkmann AA Mod
4. ARC LS Second with 2AA Pack
5. Inretech 2AA LS in older Mini-mag
6. CMG Reactor (LS)
7. Streamlight 4AA
8. Opalec Newbeam
9. Stock Brinkmann Legend 2AA with original bulb
(listed in order of brightness)
(7,8, and 9 are "different" lights, and can't be directly compared to 1-6)
OK, now I know what you are saying, "Hey, wait, Budd, you got 2 cell Luxeon Stars (LS), 3 cell LS's, a 3 LED Nichia 5mm regulated light, and a 7 LED 5mm Nichia non-regulated light! Is that a fair comparison, Mr. Budd Light???" (Get it - Budd Light - Budlite!!!!")
You are correct! BUT, I do not pass judgement here, they all deserve a chance to shine!
(Can you tell I am doing this in leu of doing REAL work!)
OK, now for the Batteries. Thanks to many comments on CPF about battery types, my favorite Batteries are the Rayovac Maximum PLUS - The BLUE and silver ones at Wal-mart. AND, as a BTY, Wal-mart has a 18 pack of the Rayovac's Maximum Plus AA's on sale for 5.97.
BUT, I did not use the Rayovac's! Why? Because I already had two, 24 pack AA's of Everedy Energizer MAX batteries, with a "use by" date of 2009, and since I was going to just "waste" the batteries, why not get rid of these! AND, (I know you shouldn't start a sentence with "and", but anyway) the Energizer MAX batteries are nothing to sneeze at either! Probably given a choice, out of a 100 non CPF'ers, all 100 would probably choose the Energizer MAX to the Raovac any day, so this is a very fair, decent choice!
AND THEIR OFF! (Could a Tuesday night be more exciting! a New Law and Order AND flashlightmania! - Well, yea, it could be a new CSI, and I'd have to play Name that Flashlight!)
Loading all the lights with brand new, fresh, batteries, I turn off all the lights in the house, and turn all the flashlights on, one by one, and rank them in brightness, and observe the color.
Now if this were Popular Science, I would have all kinds of graphs and pictures, but it's not, so I don't! If I ever figure out how to take advantage of that 100 meg of free space that my ISP tells me I can use, I will post some pictures.
BUT, just using your eyes, I feel that you get an "impression" of the light that sometimes measurements can't give you.
Almost tied for first place, is Mr. Bulk's LGI 3AA and the Lambda Illuminator. The LGI was a little brighter, and just a hair larger center hot spot, but for all practical purposes, they are about the same. Both very white, with a very very little hint of blue, and a nice, even, difused center spot, with a nice secondary ring.
Next in line, is the ElektroLumens 3AA. this one (at lease mine) has a very well defined, very clear, round beam. I would consider this beam more focused, narrow and piercing, than all the other LS's that I own. Is this good or bad? That is a decision you have to make. I am pretty sure that ElektroLumens used a different optic than the others.
Next in the brightness order, is my ARC LS Second. While less bright than the others, the ARC LS Second puts out a very DENSE light. My particular "second" has just a hint of green in the beam. Not this putrid, horrid green that others talk about (like my CMG Reactor has!) More of a hint of "mint / blush" green! If this were the only light you had, you would barely notice it. Also, of all the 2AA's this is the smallest package.
Next in brightness, is the Inretech 2AA mini-mag combo. About 70-80% of the light that the ARC AAA puts out, both is size and intensity. Also, it does not give out that super white, slightly blue light, like the first three, it is more of a "natural" color, but I only noticed it, when comparing the color to the other lights. While not the "star" of this test, it just blows away the stock Brinkmann AA / Nextstar bulb.
Now, for the light I love to hate! My CMG Reactor! This light was the only light that I was not able to stand up on it's end, as there is no flat surface to do so. The light was the dimmest of all the LS's in the group. AND it had that wonderful goulish green color to it!
Also, as we say in TEXAS, "BEINZOW" I was already doing this, I thought I would throw in my Streamlight 4AA, 7 LED light, and my Opalec Newbeam, as well as a Stock Brinkmann AA.
The Streamlight, all of a sudden, appeared as a blue light. I never thought of it as a blue light, but against all the LS's, it did appear blue. Also, while I like this light, all of a sudden, against all the LS's with their brand new batteries, the Streamlight appeared to be dimmer. I think that it is a deceptive light, because it is also a wider light, and using it by itself, I am very happy with the results of the light. I think that "dimmer but much wider" might be a good description.
The Opalec Newbeam / Mini-mag conversion was the dimmest of the lights, and I expected it to be. I just wanted to see the red LED come on!
Please note that BOTH the Streamlight 4AA LED, and Opalec are "favorites" of mine, just because they are listed as the dimmest, don't take that as a bad thing. They are both very nice lights. Do some searches on CPF about my posts on these two lights.
The first half of the test lasted three hours, then I gave up and went to bed!
All lights are going to be refered to by number from now on.
1. Mr. Bulk's LGI 3AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
2. Lambda Illuminator, 2AA LS Brinkmann AA mod
3. ElektroLumens 3AA LS Brinkmann AA Mod
4. ARC LS Second with 2AA Pack
5. Inretech 2AA LS in older Mini-mag
6. CMG Reactor (LS)
7. Streamlight 4AA
8. Opalec Newbeam
9. Stock Brinkmann Legend 2AA with original bulb
OK, The first half hour or so, #1 and #2 got very warm. Not hot, but warm. #3 just got slightly warm. #7 stayed very warm, the entire test.
After abut half hour to an hour, #1 and #2 went back to room temp.
#1, #3 and #4 stayed about the same brightness for the entire 3 hours.
#5 did get slightly dimmer as time went on, and #6 did also.
I did not percieve #8 or #9 getting dimmer for the entire 3 hours, and the red light did not come on #8 either. (Actually it did, but I think the tailcap was not screwed on correctly, when I reseated it, the red light went off, and stayed off).
Here is something interesting, #2 was completely dark after 2.5 hours! Not a trickle of light, completely dark. Turning it off for 15 minutes or so, and turning it back on, it went back to almost full brightness, until it would suddenly shut off again.
#1 and #4 appeared to stay the same brightness for then entire test. #1 probably stayed the same brightness due to the 3 batteries, #4, because of the advanced electronics.
#2 also has some advanced electronics, and until the light went off, stayed almost as bright as #1.
After 3 hours, #9 looked like a glowing tan ember, from the remains of a fire!
#6 just got dimmer and dimmer.
Comparing #5 to #9 after 3 hours, there was no comparison, that I would prefer #5 to #9, even though it was the second to last in the LS race.
I will let all the the lights run again tonight, with the same batteries and see what happens.
A side note, haveing all these lights shining into your dining room schandalere is really coo looking!
OK, now I have to do 4 hours of work, in the next hour!
Hope you found this a little entertaining, and very useful!
