Al_Havemann
Enlightened
An interesting story here, and I don't recommend that you try this - not at all but I thought you might be interested.
I have a habit of emptying my pockets when I get home and piling everything on top of the microwave in the kitchen. It sits in a corner of the counter with several other kitchen appliances.
My EDC is a KL4 head on an E1 tube (TW4). About three months ago, it went missing in action. I thought I had lost it for good, although I couldn't think where or how since I was sure it had been piled on the microwave the night before it disappeared, as usual.
About two-three weeks later I got home and there it was, sitting right on top of the microwave oven. Tickled, knowing it had to be my wife who found it, I asked where.
Well, if you remember I said that the microwave sits in a corner with several other appliances?, yes? well, one of them is a toaster. A big toaster. With a bagel slot
And I have a cat who wanders wherever he wants.
My wife was trying to toast a bagel and having trouble, it wouldn't go down all the way. She managed to get it toasted anyway and later, after it cooled, turned it upside down to empty the crumbs or whatever was stuck in it, out came my KL4/E1 from the bagel slot. My wife didn't try it but just put it back on the microwave (she has this thing about my flashlights).
It seemed the KL4 was unharmed by the "toasting", cosmetic or otherwise. In fact, it seems to have done it some good. Now don't ask me why, but it now runs a lot longer on a cell than before. I happened to notice this last week when I laid it down, lit, behind a PC I was working on and I forgot about it for almost an hour until I happened to need it again. When it wasn't in my pocket as usual, I tracked it down behind the machine by the glow and found it was still going strong.
In the past that KL4 would get around 35-40 minutes running fairly bright on a single 123 then drop off sharply over the next few minutes with little or nothing left by 60 minutes.
I really surprised because that battery had been in the light for a couple of weeks and already had quite a lot of time on it. I was carrying a spare because my experience with the KL4 on a single 123 told me that I'd need it very soon. I got through the day and the rest of the week before it dropped off, and got another surprise.
Before, brightness would hold pretty steady, dimming some until battery voltage dropped off to around 2.6 volts, then it would dim sharply over the next few minutes. This was the battery stepping off the ledge and it was probably never in regulation. This time the KL4 stayed bright right up to the end when it dropped instantly (blink). It ran dim for another 15 minutes, then went out (blink).
I pulled the battery and the voltage was at 2.11 volts. I stuck it back in a little later and it came back on at full power for another 4 minutes and dimmed again for another 8 minutes. This time the battery was at 1.99 volts. I'd never seen one that low before.
It also seems brighter, I had always judged it to be maybe twice as bright as my LS, now it seems closer to three times. Now I haven't done any run time tests but, off the top of my head, I'd estimate that I'm getting very close to 90 (or more) minutes on a single battery, at full brightness when used intermittently. So where'd this come from?.
This light was a very good compact light before, now it's a great one. I don't have a clue how cooking the head for about (I tested how long it took to toast a bagel) 5 minutes at maybe 500+ degrees a toaster can generate would cause it to become more efficient. After all, extreme heat is the mortal enemy of electronics, but it seems to have had exactly the opposite effect, perhaps it was because the heat was applied with the light off - who knows...
I'd thought I was getting more time out of it before this happened, and brighter too but I really didn't pay much attention until this happened. Clearly, it's a whole different light, way more efficient.
Anyone ever heard of something like this before?.
Al
I have a habit of emptying my pockets when I get home and piling everything on top of the microwave in the kitchen. It sits in a corner of the counter with several other kitchen appliances.
My EDC is a KL4 head on an E1 tube (TW4). About three months ago, it went missing in action. I thought I had lost it for good, although I couldn't think where or how since I was sure it had been piled on the microwave the night before it disappeared, as usual.
About two-three weeks later I got home and there it was, sitting right on top of the microwave oven. Tickled, knowing it had to be my wife who found it, I asked where.
Well, if you remember I said that the microwave sits in a corner with several other appliances?, yes? well, one of them is a toaster. A big toaster. With a bagel slot
And I have a cat who wanders wherever he wants.
My wife was trying to toast a bagel and having trouble, it wouldn't go down all the way. She managed to get it toasted anyway and later, after it cooled, turned it upside down to empty the crumbs or whatever was stuck in it, out came my KL4/E1 from the bagel slot. My wife didn't try it but just put it back on the microwave (she has this thing about my flashlights).
It seemed the KL4 was unharmed by the "toasting", cosmetic or otherwise. In fact, it seems to have done it some good. Now don't ask me why, but it now runs a lot longer on a cell than before. I happened to notice this last week when I laid it down, lit, behind a PC I was working on and I forgot about it for almost an hour until I happened to need it again. When it wasn't in my pocket as usual, I tracked it down behind the machine by the glow and found it was still going strong.
In the past that KL4 would get around 35-40 minutes running fairly bright on a single 123 then drop off sharply over the next few minutes with little or nothing left by 60 minutes.
I really surprised because that battery had been in the light for a couple of weeks and already had quite a lot of time on it. I was carrying a spare because my experience with the KL4 on a single 123 told me that I'd need it very soon. I got through the day and the rest of the week before it dropped off, and got another surprise.
Before, brightness would hold pretty steady, dimming some until battery voltage dropped off to around 2.6 volts, then it would dim sharply over the next few minutes. This was the battery stepping off the ledge and it was probably never in regulation. This time the KL4 stayed bright right up to the end when it dropped instantly (blink). It ran dim for another 15 minutes, then went out (blink).
I pulled the battery and the voltage was at 2.11 volts. I stuck it back in a little later and it came back on at full power for another 4 minutes and dimmed again for another 8 minutes. This time the battery was at 1.99 volts. I'd never seen one that low before.
It also seems brighter, I had always judged it to be maybe twice as bright as my LS, now it seems closer to three times. Now I haven't done any run time tests but, off the top of my head, I'd estimate that I'm getting very close to 90 (or more) minutes on a single battery, at full brightness when used intermittently. So where'd this come from?.
This light was a very good compact light before, now it's a great one. I don't have a clue how cooking the head for about (I tested how long it took to toast a bagel) 5 minutes at maybe 500+ degrees a toaster can generate would cause it to become more efficient. After all, extreme heat is the mortal enemy of electronics, but it seems to have had exactly the opposite effect, perhaps it was because the heat was applied with the light off - who knows...
I'd thought I was getting more time out of it before this happened, and brighter too but I really didn't pay much attention until this happened. Clearly, it's a whole different light, way more efficient.
Anyone ever heard of something like this before?.
Al