Unenlightened Question- 1.5V AA runtime

[RAGE CAGE]

I am not all that familiar with a multimeter- but I have been trying to see
how low the voltage has to go for a single cell AA energizer alkaline not to produce any useable light for my peak 5 led brass kili that I bought off of the forum- I have left it on while sleeping for about 8 nights in a row
(6-7hr avg) and it still keeps going. It is showing around 1.08v (no load)- anyone know what the voltage has to drop to before no light at all?

 

[parnass]

I don't know the answer to your question.

Be aware that alkaline batteries which are left to discharge completely are more apt to leak and ruin the device in which they are held.

 

[MWClint]

i tested a broken energizer 2500 [email protected] and it still lit up a single led shasta head. no idea how far down they go..but the peak 5mm lights are great battery vampires. i absolutely love the cr123a mckinleys for this, they get all my "dead" surefires.

 

[RAGE CAGE]

Thanks parnass and MWClint- I now get the whole vampire light deal and am now saving all of the AA cells that my digital camera just laughs at and refuses to be powered up with for vampire light duty.MWClint- how do I measure the current draw with a multimeter?I see from your recent mods you are showing a very low draw- some that are not even showing up on your tester.

 

[MWClint]

Not sure what settings your meter has, but on my meter, i swap the red probe to the 10A recepticle, and turn the dial to 20m/10A.

you want to measure current draw on the battery with the meter in serial between the battery and the head.

with a bare peak head and battery, touch the positive end of the battery to the nipple on the head. black probe on negative battery and red probe on the threads of the head. it's easier to do it on a pillow or carpet, the light and battery doesnt move around as much.

*be very careful not to slip and short the battery with the probes as it will draw a lot of current and blow the fuse in your meter and or destroy the cell.

 

[RAGE CAGE]

Thanks- I was trying to sandwich the red lead in between the pos. batt. terminal and the contact on the head- the threads were MUCH easier.
I am thinking about building a small tester- two contacts that would hold a AA cell (maybe from an old kids toy?) so I could use aligator clips for a better reading.