Why does the MN03 have worse runtime curve than P60?

[SCblur]

I can't remember where I saw it, it was a while ago, but someone linked to a picture of an E2e/MN03 runtime curve vs. a P60 curve. The MN03 dropped off surprisingly quick, reaching the output of the MN02 within about 10 minutes, whereas the P60 stayed brighter much longer. This doesn't make sense to me as the P60 is putting out 5 more lumens, and should therefore be dying sooner. Right?

What am I missing here? I love my E2e, but I feel bad using the MN03 in it at the thought of only ten minutes of good light before I'm down to MN02 performance. May just as well start w/ the MN02.

EDIT: Oops, thanks. Meant P60

 

[Penguin]

I'd like to see this graph.. you probably mean P60 in your post. My experiences with the P60 and MN03 have varied. I guess I got a bad batch of Battery Station 123's I have a mix of good and bad cells. Just now, the BS123's driving the MN03 died after less than 20 minutes of use... while sometimes I'd get the full advertised 60 minutes of runtime, often I do not. This rings true for my P60's as well. I remember my A2 would drop out of regulation after 10 minutes of intermitten use while using BS123's... but I guess I lucked out on the current set as they've been running strong for ~30 minutes... I'd attribute the discrepancies between the two lamps to batteries cause AFAIK, the MN03 and P60 share the same filament/lamp therefore they should both run the same.

-Josh

 

[SCblur]

AFAIK, the MN03 and P60 share the same filament/lamp therefore they should both run the same.

If that's the case, I'm very happy to hear it.

 

[Size15's]

AFAIK, the MN03 and P60 share the same filament/lamp therefore they should both run the same.

-Josh

I don't recall ever hearinng that. It doesn't make sense because the MN03 runtime is much longer than the P60 in my experience.

Al

 

[SCblur]

the MN03 runtime is much longer than the P60 in my experience.

Al, what's been your experience in comparing the relative brightness of the two LA's over time? Does the MN03 dim as gracefully as the P60 to your eyes?

 

[Size15's]

The MN03 has always appeared to be brighter for longer compared to the P60.
However, I did not study this - just from usage.

Al

 

[InfidelCastro]

I can't remember where I saw it, it was a while ago, but someone linked to a picture of an E2e/MN03 runtime curve vs. a P61 curve. The MN03 dropped of surprisingly quick, reaching the output of the MN02 within about 10 minutes, whereas the P60 stayed brighter much longer. This doesn't make sense to me as the P60 is putting out 5 more lumens, and should therefore be dying sooner. Right?

What am I missing here? I love my E2e, but I feel bad using the MN03 in it at the thought of only ten minutes of good light before I'm down to MN02 performance. May just as well start w/ the MN02.

I have alot of time using the MN03 lamp over the past few years and it's my favorite Surefire lamp, although I do also like the MN02.

The MN03 draws a little less current than the P60, so it really should not burn out faster. I've actually had bad experiences with P60 lamps, so I don't buy them anymore. I was getting about a half hour runtime with a couple of them and I was even using Surefire batteries.

The whole time I was thinking to myself, this isn't right. My old E2E seemed like it would run forever and ever and now I'm getting crap runtime with this new G2.

The other day, I used up a set of Duracells that were originally in a new style X5 for a short while and I got well over two hours with the slightly used batteries in my MN03 equipped E2O. This was last week Thurs., I believe. I did notice a serious dropoff in output at about the 1.5 hour mark, but the thing kept going and going. I had well over 2 hours on it. I actually couldn't get it to die. I was really surprised that even though the bulb was barely light at the end, it would still switch off and on. With a P60, in my experience, once the batteries drop to a certain voltage, it just plain won't turn on. And it won't give you any warning either.

I guess it wouldn't surprise me with modern manufacturing processes and all that the MN03 and P60 used the same lamp, but this just doesn't seem true to me. The current draws and behavior of the two lamps are definately different.

 

[chevrofreak]

That was on pretty crappy batteries though. With good cells it would probably look more like the P60 graph Quickbeam got.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm <-- see there

 

[InfidelCastro]

That was on pretty crappy batteries though. With good cells it would probably look more like the P60 graph Quickbeam got.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm <-- see there

That's definately not normal. The runtime graph should look better than the P60 graph.


*edit*
I see the graph was done with Digilight batteries. That explains it...

 

[spoonrobot]

Found this review a while ago, it might help. It is for the older E2 but I understand that the MN03 lamp is still the same.

http://fuja.s22.xrea.com/runtime/e2/index.html

 

[InfidelCastro]

Found this review a while ago, it might help. It is for the older E2 but I understand that the MN03 lamp is still the same.

http://fuja.s22.xrea.com/runtime/e2/index.html

That looks more like it. Though you won't get such a sharp drop and fast decline with current high quality batteries. But yea, that looks more like it.

You'll also get better results if the light isn't continueously on. This gives the battery time to recover. Most people don't turn on flashlights and leave them run for over an hour.