Princeton Tec 40 (bulbs) and NiMH (batteries)

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I have several TEC-40's, they all have the dimpled wide reflectors on them. I have several questions.


1) Which exact lamp can I use to increase brightness??????


The Tec-40 comes with a HMP-20 HALOGEN bulb. It is a (4.8v .5a).


I bought at Radio Shack, a XPR113 XENON Lamp for 4 (C or D) batteries. It is a (4.8v 800mA).


I tried them out, they both seem identical in output to each other. Why????


Is HALOGEN better than XENON or not??


Helppppppppppppppp meeeeeeeeeeeee........


2) If I use rechargeable batteries, will I increase run time?


Will I increase brightness?


Should I buy them at RADIO SHACK in the NiMH?????
 
Hi Newbie,

See the Tec40 thread for some more info on the Tec 40. I have managed to make it brighter by using the Surge bulb, which is bi-pin. I also use NiMH batteries exclusively. I get them from Thomas Distributing. Run time will decrease vs. alkalines. There may be a slight decrease in brightness.
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/
 
If you use AA alkaline, your 0.8A bulb will not as bright as it should be in C/D cell configuration due to its high load. That's reason why no AA configured (non-parallel) flashlight use lamp more than 0.55A - SL4AA, UK4AA, ArcWhite and Tec40.

You might need to use rechargables for such high load. Rechargeables will not get you longer runtime, but it will get you longer *bright* time.

Due to this reason, I haven't use alkaline for sometimes.

Alan
 
For information on bulbs look at Thread on PR bulbs where I posted links to bulb infos - you´ll find your HMP and XPRs there and others as well. The choice you made is good and should provide 65 lumens instead of the HMP20s 37 lumens.

The XPR-bulb not lighting up as much might be due to the Alkalines voltage drop on high currents (and 800ma is a lot for AAs) and unability to provide such current - at least for longer than a short time. Several threads on that too arund here. Energizer specs the Alkaline AAs for 0.4h under 1A load - but for 2.7h under 400ma. You might either try Lithium AA with the XPR or NiCd or NiMhs as they also can sustain highler discharge currents than Alkaline.

The answer that NiCd/NiMhs would give shorter
runtime compared to Alkalines is missleading without further explanation - you need to consider the circumstances - Alkalines will only give you their rated capacity (which is indeed higher as even the best NiMs) at 20ma discharge - like with one LED - but when using high-load Halogens they only give out a small portion of their nominal capacity while NiMh/Nics while also giving up a bit under high loads will behave much better. SO under high loads NiMh/NiCs will actually give you longer runtime than Alkalines - as ointed out above Lithiums (like the Energizer L91) do not have this problem and are considered the primary batteries of choice for high-drain applications - I personally use a lot of Sanyos NiMhs 1600ma AA cells for higher loads and I´m quite happy with them too. As they don´t drop as much as Alkalines too under load they might also give you better brightnes too.

Reminds me of an old joke I used in the late 80-ies when telling my computer class I was running at that time that the data out of an full 20MB drive wouldn´t fit on an empty 30MB drive - it just needed enough small files for that theoretical problem though.

BTW - you might also use a Halogen HPR50 at 5.2V and 850ma for 85 lumens output - just check the length of the bulb - some are too long for the TEC40 as Alan pointed out.

Halogen cs Xenon - good question - lots of threads on that too - like on most of the above - you might consider reading a bit on CPF - real good knowledge base here - short answer - "it depends" - is a car better than a bike ? apples better than oranges ? There are good Xenon bulbs and bad halogens and vice versa - there are good companies and bad companies - there is no good answer here in the first place - and it will still depend on your usage pattern and flaslight used and batteries / cells used too. The link I gave you on top on the bulbs will at least give you the plain data and facts on most bulbs you might want to consider.

ups - and just saw Alan beat me answering most already

Klaus
 
I will buy some NiMH AA's. Should I get them at RADIO SHACK???? I think they are 1600 ma.


Are 1600 ma the highest capacity that I can buy for AA's?


Where can I get a QUICK CHARGER for the NiMH batteries????


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I'm using a Radio Shack xenon lamp ion my PT-40; I forget the number (XPR103?) but it's rated for 3.6 volts at 0.9A. I'm using NimH cells, and light output appears identical to my SureFire E2. I don't know if the lamp is going to hold up, as it's over driven, but I've been using it around the house and garage, many on/off cycles, but not very long on times. I hope the lamp does hold up, as it really increases the output of the PT-40.

If you don't want to buy a bunch of NimH AA cells off the web (you only save money if you buy a bunch, due to shipping), Walmart has Rayovac 1600 mAH AA's in sets of four for $10, which will be less than buying them at Radio Shack.

Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to make a very good flashlight even better.

This is the single most important diagnosic test used to determine if someone is just a 'social' flashlight user, or is a flashaholic. You are hooked!
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Newbie:
I will buy some NiMH A
Are 1600 ma the highest capacity that I can buy for AA's?
Where can I get a QUICK CHARGER for the NiMH batteries????
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tongue.gif
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Welcome Newbie,
Those other Qs were answered well, but IMO-one of the best and fastest chargers on the market is the "pulse" type like sold by www.ccrane.com at around $40., and you'll get more charging cycles with this type unit.
I've heard of "AA NimHs rated at 1800mAh.
 
Hahahahahahaha........hooked is right.


Should I try to use a weaker lamp and "overdrive" it or should I use a stronger lamp and "underdrive" the thing?


I want the SUN coming out of my lights.


So, Walmart sells NiMH AA Rayovacs at 1600 mah. Interesting.


Another thing, what does "3.6 volts at 0.9A" mean??????


What does "voltage" mean when compared with "AMPS"? Teach me, like you would a child.


How do I do the math, to figure out "lumens" and or "candlepower" based on voltage and amps????
 
Watch out for that Crane battery charger. According to the Crane web site the batteries are always "conditioned" before they are charged. It is my understanding that this is not desirable as NiMh batteries should only be conditioned if reduced perfornmance is noticed and NiCd only periodically. Of course the Crane site does not tell us what the conditioning cycle exactly does, how low a voltage does it bring the cells to before charging, what is the microprocessor doing time, temp, deltaV...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Newbie:
Hahahahahahaha........hooked is right.


Should I try to use a weaker lamp and "overdrive" it or should I use a stronger lamp and "underdrive" the thing?

I want the SUN coming out of my lights.


So, Walmart sells NiMH AA Rayovacs at 1600 mah. Interesting.


Another thing, what does "3.6 volts at 0.9A" mean??????

What does "voltage" mean when compared with "AMPS"? Teach me, like you would a child.


How do I do the math, to figure out "lumens" and or "candlepower" based on voltage and amps????
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Using a stronger lamp and underdriveing it will result in a yellow light , and reduced output.
Overdriving a lamp tends to result in a much whiter light. But bulb life may be shorter, as I mentioned


My knowledge of electricity in not great, but volts x amps = watts. Think of an electric space heater, which is often rated in watts. An 1875 watt heater results from 125 volts, times 15 amps. If this doesn't make sense, don't worry.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that a bulb's rating should, match the batteries. Set the voltage for each cell at 1.2 volts. So a bulb rated at 4.8 volts (or close to it) matches 4 AA batteries. Then look at the amp rating. A higher rating means more output, up to thee point where the batteries may not be capable of providing the power the lamp needs. This often happems when using lamps designed for C or D cells, and alkaline AA cells. Alkaline batteries are not very good at providing current under high load. Nicads, and NimH cells, while not rated as high as alkaline batteries, can actually do much better than alkaline batteries, because they can supply 'full power' under heavy drain. So you may actually get more light from NimH batteries than alkaline cells


There is no formula for calculating lumens, unfortunately.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Klaus:

ups - and just saw Alan beat me answering most already
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Klaus, I wish I could explain as good as you could.

Alan
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Numbers:
Watch out for that Crane battery charger. According to the Crane web site the batteries are always "conditioned" before they are charged. It is my understanding that this is not desirable as NiMh batteries should only be conditioned if reduced perfornmance is noticed and NiCd only periodically. Of course the Crane site does not tell us what the conditioning cycle exactly does, how low a voltage does it bring the cells to before charging, what is the microprocessor doing time, temp, deltaV...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
This charger provides for turning off the conditioning cycle for charging NimH cells. I have have used this unit extensively and find that it's also good at rehabilitating even the older Nicads. BTW-the discharge feature (Nicad charge) brings voltage down to EXActly 1 volt on it's digital meter, and then commences with 3 stages of charging
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Vcal
Thats good news about the Crane charger, how did you get that info? Was it only after you bought it? I ruled out buying the Crane because of the incomplete info on the web site. Can I get some kind of spec or info sheet from the manufacturer? I would like to see it because I have not yet purchased a charger that will do all sizes of batteries. Looks like this could be back in the running. Thanks
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Numbers:
Vcal
Thats good news about the Crane charger, how did you get that info? Was it only after you bought it? I ruled out buying the Crane because of the incomplete info on the web site. Can I get some kind of spec or info sheet from the manufacturer? I would like to see it because I have not yet purchased a charger that will do all sizes of batteries. Looks like this could be back in the running. Thanks
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I originally bought an electrically identical version of this unit at Radio Shack 2 years ago. As always, I only buy items like this with a return privilege, and found out that the way I'd been dealing with rechargeables over the years was totally obsolete! I know realize that the money I thought I saved with cheap "constant" current chargers was simply going right back out by having to replace cells DAMAGED prematurely by uncontrolled chargers. Modern chargers like this regulate the charge in 5 different ways during operation.

I would suggest visiting a Rad. Shk. store and asking to read the instructions for new unit #s 23-422 & 23-425.(no exper. w/these).
-Very Unfortunately, my all-time favorite unit is no longer avail. in most R.S. stores (#23-410), but you might get lucky and find one, but as I said, it's electrically the same as that Crane unit.
-If I were you, I'd ask Crane for a copy of the instruction book, to fully understand what you're really getting -especially for that $50.(now) price. IMO, a really fair price on a quality unit like that, would be 35-$40.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vcal:
I originally bought an electrically identical version of this unit at Radio Shack 2 years ago. As always, I only buy items like this with a return privilege, and found out that the way I'd been dealing with rechargeables over the years was totally obsolete! I know realize that the money I thought I saved with cheap "constant" current chargers was simply going right back out by having to replace cells DAMAGED prematurely by uncontrolled chargers. Modern chargers like this regulate the charge in 5 different ways during operation.

I would suggest visiting a Rad. Shk. store and asking to read the instructions for new unit #s 23-422 & 23-425.(no exper. w/these).
-Very Unfortunately, my all-time favorite unit is no longer avail. in most R.S. stores (#23-410), but you might get lucky and find one, but as I said, it's electrically the same as that Crane unit.
-If I were you, I'd ask Crane for a copy of the instruction book, to fully understand what you're really getting -especially for that $50.(now) price. IMO, a really fair price on a quality unit like that, would be 35-$40.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Like you I originally bought one at Radio Shack. That one is still working. I use it to charge up my ten or so flashlight's batteries that I use with rechargeables. I was impressed with it enough that when Radio Shack no longer offered the same model at their retail stores, I found the same one being sold at http://www.radioshack.com . The one bought online, instead of having Radio Shack's name on it had the name "QuickCharger", with the bottom sticker showing it from Winkler Electronics of China.

One weak spot in it is the contact that allows variable sized batteries to be inserted is spring loaded, with the spring being attached to a small plastic tab. My spring tab on my #1 chamber broke, leaving me only three working chambers. I eventually replaced the unit by buying the C.Crane unit. It's the same machine, but a different name. Since using those chargers, my batteries seem never to wear out. I'd hate to depend on any other charger now.
 
Empath, I noticed from that link (thanks) that you just gave, that evidentally repair/replacement parts might be available for your #23-410 machine
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Modern chargers like this regulate the charge in 5 different ways during operation.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


WHAT ARE THE "FIVE" DIFFERENT WAYS????


Thanks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Newbie:

WHAT ARE THE "FIVE" DIFFERENT WAYS????


Thanks.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

1. Initial condition analysis
2. Negative Pulse
3. Soft-Start (by analysis)
4. I.D.S.-Intel.Discharge
5. Negative Delta V Square over Delta t Square (advanced charging termination criteria). -Meaning no overcharging OR damaging heat generation.
6. Final current/voltage circuit analysis from "Direct Feedback" from the battery causing STOP-charge at exactly the right moment.

So says the 15 page manual:O
 
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