Maglite bulb, is it worth the bother ?

[recercare]

I have just visited Radio Shack's website. The XPR113 has 3.6V and 0.8A. This should give 2.88W. I wonder why the voltage is that low. I mean, with 3-cells the voltage should be 4.5 Voltage, shouldn't it? The Pelican Super Sabrelite is a 3-cell flashlight with a 4.5V/0.76A lamp that gives 3.42W.

It seems strange that the XPR113 can make the Mag 3D that much brighter (mentioned in other threds) considering they have the same amount of Watts. I know that xenon is brighter than krypton (more lm/w), but is the difference significant enough to buy the XPR113?

 

[artar]

here on the board i learned that you have to calculate with 1.2 Volts (3x1.2=3.6).

 

[recercare]

hmmm....so the Pelican is underdriven then, how weird.

 

[Frank]

For me the bulb is worth it. I have two 3D Maglites that work fine. For $4.28, I bought two of the xenon bulbs and made both of them a little brighter. If I was going to buy a new flashlight, I might buy a higher end, brighter light but the Mags are fine for what I use them for so the $4.28 was worth it for me.

 

[Brock]

Basically alkalines sit about 1.2v under a .75amp load. So you can figure about 1.2v per cell if the light is pulling that much. At .5amp or 500mA I would guess closer to 1.35v. That is why you can use Ni-MH (1.25v/cell) in hi drain applications. Ni-MH don't drop voltage under loads the way alkalines do, at least not as much. This is why digital cameras like Ni-MH. Digital cameras can draw up to 1.5 amps while recharging the flash, and alkalines will drop to .75v under that kind of load, and then the camera thinks the batteries are dead and shut off.

The problem is some companies, like Mag label the lamps at 4.5v, and some rate them at operating voltage the like RS ones. If you measure the voltage on a 3 D cell Mag it is about 3.9v with new batteries, but after 3 to 5 minutes it will fall to about 3.6v, right were it should be. Now is the Mag lamp really a 4.5v lamp or meant to be used in a 3 cell light?

Hope this helps

 

[Spork]

thats weird I have a xpr113 here and its rated 4.8 volts at 800 ma "for 4 cell flashlights" dont you mean the xpr103?

 

[recercare]

Oooooooooooops! Yes, i meant the XPR103, and not XPR113. Sorry, and thanks Mrchri5

 

[recercare]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
Basically alkalines sit about 1.2v under a .75amp load. So you can figure about 1.2v per cell if the light is pulling that much. At .5amp or 500mA I would guess closer to 1.35v. That is why you can use Ni-MH (1.25v/cell) in hi drain applications. Ni-MH don't drop voltage under loads the way alkalines do, at least not as much.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

So this means: On a 6V/0.7A you can use 6V alkaline batteries in all sizes considering the drain is only 0.7A. For example, if you're depending on long burn time you could power the lamp with a huge 6V lantern battery (52000 mAh)?

 

[Brock]

Well that is the problem... D cells will drop the least under load and AA's are close behind, then C cells then AAA cells. So depending on the cells, the voltage drops differently. I don't know how much voltage drop you get in those big 6v cells. Some of the newer AA cells are suppose to outperform even D cells now, obviously D cells will run longer, but could drop more voltage under load.

Am I making since? Or am I just confusing everyone even more?

 

[recercare]

I understand what you're saying Brock. I've asked Energizer about this, but they just refered to the engineering data of each battery. However, i didn't find any charts there explaining the relation amps/voltage drop. .