remuen
Enlightened
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by X-CalBR8:
... the importance of voltage regulation is greatest with Alkaline batteries ...
... Lithiums are very nice no doubt, but I don't think they will ever come close to comparing to alkalines price wise.
... I can go to Wal-Mart and buy a 20 pack of alkaline AA's for what it would cost me to buy a couple of lithium 123's. That is a tenth of the cost! That is quite a significant difference in operating cost. I'm curious to know what everyone else thinks of this. Am I the only one that is much more concerned with operating cost than the up front cost of the flashlight?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
X-CalBR8, you're not the only one. That's why I have changed to LED flashlights for general use - mainly the ARC AAA LE which has such a regulator in it.
I'm now working on a own booster/stepup converter which could be used eg in a Minimag mod (for driving LED's) but also in other flashlights.
IMHO an important point that incandescent flashlight do not have voltage or current regulators is, that the power consumption of incandescent bulbs is often much higher than with LED's or a Luxeon Star. That makes it more difficult to make a good and efficient DC-DC converter.
But it would obviously be great to squeeze all alkalines down to the last drop of energy like I can do it with the great tiny ARC AAA. See here how such a booster circuit could save your money: How an ARC AAA runs on a low battery
... the importance of voltage regulation is greatest with Alkaline batteries ...
... Lithiums are very nice no doubt, but I don't think they will ever come close to comparing to alkalines price wise.
... I can go to Wal-Mart and buy a 20 pack of alkaline AA's for what it would cost me to buy a couple of lithium 123's. That is a tenth of the cost! That is quite a significant difference in operating cost. I'm curious to know what everyone else thinks of this. Am I the only one that is much more concerned with operating cost than the up front cost of the flashlight?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
X-CalBR8, you're not the only one. That's why I have changed to LED flashlights for general use - mainly the ARC AAA LE which has such a regulator in it.
I'm now working on a own booster/stepup converter which could be used eg in a Minimag mod (for driving LED's) but also in other flashlights.
IMHO an important point that incandescent flashlight do not have voltage or current regulators is, that the power consumption of incandescent bulbs is often much higher than with LED's or a Luxeon Star. That makes it more difficult to make a good and efficient DC-DC converter.
But it would obviously be great to squeeze all alkalines down to the last drop of energy like I can do it with the great tiny ARC AAA. See here how such a booster circuit could save your money: How an ARC AAA runs on a low battery