brightnorm
Flashaholic
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2001
- Messages
- 7,161
Tec 40 and UK Mini Q 40 on lithiums: you won\'t believe the results!
After previously run-time testing the Tec 40 and the UK Mini Q 40/ 4AA with several different brands of alkaline batteries, I found that Ray-O-Vac Maximums gave the best results: A solid 3 hrs+ of good light. The test included the UK 2L, which competed nicely, giving very slightly dimmer light for 3 hrs, maybe 10-15 minutes shorter than the others.
Today I decided to test with Energizer lithiums, dated 2010 which I got from Tim Flanagan at a good price (for lithium AA's). Since I don't heavily use my lights every day, nonrechargeables are practical for me. Even lithiums would be cost effective if the burn time was good enough.
I started the first test with fresh batteries
but had to leave the house and stopped the test after almost 4 hours, at which point both lights were still doing quite well.
Here are the results of the 2nd test:
8:52 PM
Both lights very bright. Very hard to choose between the UK with its very bright hot spot, and the Tek 40 with its smoother beam.
10:33 PM
Both lights still white and bright.
UK Again, that bright Hotspot
Tek 40 the smooth beam is more like a "flood" and even though it's slightly dimmer than the UK's hotspot, I might prefer it for walking/trekking.
12 Midnight
Both lights still white and bright, both retaining the above described characteristics. A difficult choice.
12:57 AM
Both lights still quite white and bright, still retaining those characteristics; still hard to choose between them.
1:28 AM
UK still fairly white and bright
Tek 40 almost dead. I terminated it, and guess it began to crash soon after my 12:57 AM observation.
1:48AM
UK Noticeably dimmer but not yellow. Still giving off a reasonably bright, functional beam.
2:01 AM
UK Significantly dimmer but still "functional. I ended the test at this point.
Conclusions:
Both lights achieved impressive performance on lithiums. With these batteries the Tek 40 could be legitimately be considered a 4 hour light. The UK4AA easily makes it to 4 1/2 hours, and remains comfortably functional for another 15 - 30 minutes. A very conservative rating of the two lights would be:
Tek 40 3hr 45min
UK4AA 4hr 30min
These run times on lithiums are so impressive that I would now prefer either of these lights to the Surge,(which can't take lithiums) especially the UK.
I hope that other flashaholics who have appropriate measuring instruments might be interested enough to properly test these lights.
Respecfully submitted,
Brightnorm
.
After previously run-time testing the Tec 40 and the UK Mini Q 40/ 4AA with several different brands of alkaline batteries, I found that Ray-O-Vac Maximums gave the best results: A solid 3 hrs+ of good light. The test included the UK 2L, which competed nicely, giving very slightly dimmer light for 3 hrs, maybe 10-15 minutes shorter than the others.
Today I decided to test with Energizer lithiums, dated 2010 which I got from Tim Flanagan at a good price (for lithium AA's). Since I don't heavily use my lights every day, nonrechargeables are practical for me. Even lithiums would be cost effective if the burn time was good enough.
I started the first test with fresh batteries
but had to leave the house and stopped the test after almost 4 hours, at which point both lights were still doing quite well.
Here are the results of the 2nd test:
8:52 PM
Both lights very bright. Very hard to choose between the UK with its very bright hot spot, and the Tek 40 with its smoother beam.
10:33 PM
Both lights still white and bright.
UK Again, that bright Hotspot
Tek 40 the smooth beam is more like a "flood" and even though it's slightly dimmer than the UK's hotspot, I might prefer it for walking/trekking.
12 Midnight
Both lights still white and bright, both retaining the above described characteristics. A difficult choice.
12:57 AM
Both lights still quite white and bright, still retaining those characteristics; still hard to choose between them.
1:28 AM
UK still fairly white and bright
Tek 40 almost dead. I terminated it, and guess it began to crash soon after my 12:57 AM observation.
1:48AM
UK Noticeably dimmer but not yellow. Still giving off a reasonably bright, functional beam.
2:01 AM
UK Significantly dimmer but still "functional. I ended the test at this point.
Conclusions:
Both lights achieved impressive performance on lithiums. With these batteries the Tek 40 could be legitimately be considered a 4 hour light. The UK4AA easily makes it to 4 1/2 hours, and remains comfortably functional for another 15 - 30 minutes. A very conservative rating of the two lights would be:
Tek 40 3hr 45min
UK4AA 4hr 30min
These run times on lithiums are so impressive that I would now prefer either of these lights to the Surge,(which can't take lithiums) especially the UK.
I hope that other flashaholics who have appropriate measuring instruments might be interested enough to properly test these lights.
Respecfully submitted,
Brightnorm
.