Run times on the 500ma ARC LS

[Christoph]

Has anyone done any comparisons with the different battery config's I get about two hours on two AA nimh's. Mine gets quite warm after about fifteen min. On a different subject by just barely tightening the head I can make like it has a dimmer in it.just barely glowing

Chris
They are ray o vac 1600 mha

 

[Alan]

What brand and capacity of nimh AA you used for the test? I think you're lucky and get a very efficient LS.

You should be worry if the light didn't get warm after 5 to 10 min.

Alan

 

[JollyRoger]

take care not to ruin your nimh batts!
I wouldn't run them down all the way in the light....

 

[CiTY]

Would running nimhs down to moon mode be too low?

 

[Gransee]

The cutoff of the circuit is 1.4v. This translates to .7v per cell which is safe for NiCad and NiMH.

Now the light starts to flicker and dim about 1.5v so you could change them out early and your rechargeables will be fine.

The voltage and thermal cutoffs are two of the new safety features of the rev2 circuit.

Peter

 

[JollyRoger]

But please keep in mind that you should purposely wait for this moon mode with nimh. It's a good last-second indicator that you need to change out your nimh before they totally get destroyed, but if possible, try to change them out if you think they're getting low....
At that low Vin, the regulator in the ARC is drawing a lot of current from the batteries...

If using nimh, think of the moon mode as a good safety for the batteries.

 

[dat2zip]

I think the peak current demand is more in the area between 2V and 1.6V. Below 1.6V and the current demand goes down quite a bit. At 1.5V and flashing your light should be more than dim enough to indicate you should change the batteries.

The critical factor for NIMH and NICD are to have a good matched pair of batteries if you want to deep cycle them. The drop off below 2V for a 2AA setup is very steep and one cell could easy reverse around 1.5V-1.6V if they are not evenly matched in charge state and charge capacity.

Why wait anyway? Top them off on a regular basis and don't worry about it. If unsure, top them off before using them for extended periods and change them as soon as they regulator falls out of regulation indicating low battery condition.

That's what I have on my EDC 2AA minimag. (Shhhzzz. I know it not an ARC. Mine's on the way and in the mail.) I have a good set of NIMH batteries in it and I top it off once every couple of weeks or after some good usage.

BTW: For a 500mA Arc setup you can expect to get anywhere from 40-90 minutes of good solid constant light depending on the Luxeon Vf and batteries.