Was reading an thread from a couple years ago on CPF about remote switches not giving full output. I have several Night vision classes and some night hunts planned for next year, was the thread accurate that they don't provide full output?
Remote switch = less output?
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The remote switch just pushes a button to on or off. It has no affect on how much power gets to the emitter.
alpg88
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I'd like to read that thread, something does not sound right, remotes switch has no bearing on brightness, at least it should not.
aznsx
Flashlight Enthusiast
It depends on the design / implementation.
If the full power supply current that drives the light is switched through the remote switch, there will be an "I squared R" loss based on the total circuit resistance presented by the remote switch, its connector(s), and most obviously, the DC resistance of the cabling connecting the switch to the light, and proportional to the total current being drawn by the light. When operating, this will result in a "voltage drop" across that distributed resistance which reduces the supply voltage the light has available to operate on. How the light reacts to / deals with that reduced supply voltage is the question.
Will the internal circuitry of the light in question be able to completely compensate for that decrease in supply voltage such that it has no effect on the optical output of the light? I don't know. Someone who's familiar with internal flashlight circuitry design can answer that.
Unlike that example, if the design is such that the full power supply current that drives the light is NOT going through / being switched by the remote switch, but instead a low level 'control' signal provided by the light is being switched, which the light's internal circuitry then uses to control the output of the light, then the distributed resistance of that switch, cabling, connection(s), etc. is not likely to have any impact on the output of the light at all.
EDIT: One case where the impact of a remote switch on a flashlight's output was discussed:
www.candlepowerforums.com
If the full power supply current that drives the light is switched through the remote switch, there will be an "I squared R" loss based on the total circuit resistance presented by the remote switch, its connector(s), and most obviously, the DC resistance of the cabling connecting the switch to the light, and proportional to the total current being drawn by the light. When operating, this will result in a "voltage drop" across that distributed resistance which reduces the supply voltage the light has available to operate on. How the light reacts to / deals with that reduced supply voltage is the question.
Will the internal circuitry of the light in question be able to completely compensate for that decrease in supply voltage such that it has no effect on the optical output of the light? I don't know. Someone who's familiar with internal flashlight circuitry design can answer that.
Unlike that example, if the design is such that the full power supply current that drives the light is NOT going through / being switched by the remote switch, but instead a low level 'control' signal provided by the light is being switched, which the light's internal circuitry then uses to control the output of the light, then the distributed resistance of that switch, cabling, connection(s), etc. is not likely to have any impact on the output of the light at all.
EDIT: One case where the impact of a remote switch on a flashlight's output was discussed:
About the brightness drop of the tape switch
"As of August 2020, Surefire customer service says that the SR07 ST07 switch may not allow the M600DF to run at full brightness when using an 18650 cell." When I saw this statement, I decided to do a small test. Using my light meter, check how much the brightness will drop when using the tape...
www.candlepowerforums.com
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Yeah I could see that being the case if the switch button is part of the circuitry. The extra resistance in a length of cable could be a factor. I just hadn't really given a lot of thought to what makes up the mechanism, especially a momentary, twisty type.
Thank you for the response's, I don't know how the tail caps are wired, I would think they the switch would have to be part of the path in order to interrupt or turn off and on the light, and you have current loss in the wires and switch it's self as they are mechanical. It must not be much of an issue. Just found it interesting and wanted to ask the forum. That was the post I was reading and referring to.
More subjective info on this, was watching a video on YouTube about a newer flashlight and he talked about surefire and mod buttons having reduced output video had side by side pictures without and without the surefire tape switch and it was noticeable here is a screenshot. Video did say the surefire was the worst and modbutton still had a drop but not a bad. Still subjective but seems to be something to the original post I read about and now a little more info.
