Would this work??

[luceat lux vestra]

Hi,
I have been in the ever adapting process of try to find my best EDC option. About four months ago I decided to order a uniquefire g10 from DX, powered with a 14500 it is quite bright and at only about 14 dollars, I thought that it was to good to pass up. Ever since I received it I have been using it as my edc light and it worked very well, until about a week ago when I was using it in my attic at around 100-105 degrees Fahrenheit it started acting very weird and then quit after only being on for about thirty seconds. As you may guess I was NOT happy because I can't stand a light that might let me down, and so this light went to the "junk light pile"
Anyway I now want another 4sevens quark, and this is my question, I don't really like the idea of a 123x2 because the batteries are harder to find and so the aax2 seems like the ticket but I would like max output. What if I bought a quark 123x2 tactical and then put a aax2 body in it and ran 2x14500, the 123x2 head can handle 9 volts so I think this might work very well because I like 14500 and am already set up with them, also then I could use aa bats as backup. What are you guys opinions.
Any ideas would be great! Thanks

 

[tre]

The problem is that the lower end of the voltage range on that head is 3.0V so you are not going to get much at all when you use alkaline or NiMh AA cells. Why not get a quark AA (single AA cell) and use alkalines, NiMh, or a 14500 (head is 0.9V to 4.2V).

 

[luceat lux vestra]

But if one 14500 is good two might be better!:sssh:
What do you think the output would be with two 14500s thats 8.4 volts!! :devil:
I really will probably never use aa bats but would like the last ditch option.

 

[jorn]

It will work. But you will be stuck with a pretty long edc, 2xcr123 or 2x14500.
For edc i like my lights to be small.
You can buy a single cell quark and run it on a 14500. Dont be fooled by the lumen specs for the different quarks. The aa quarks are rated with alkalines. A 14500 or 16340 in a lo voltage head will give full power. I use the shorter single cr123 tube and use a rcr. I keep my 2xaa tube so I can use normal/rechargeble aa's if I need to.
2x14500 in a hi voltage head will give more runtime than a lo voltage head with a 14500, not more lumens.

It's also safer with a single 14500. Unbalanced cells, might go :poof: .

 

[luceat lux vestra]

Thanks for your info.
I thought that if it is rated to 230 OTF at 6.0 volt it would be higher at 8.4 volts, more volts = more watts , am I wrong?? Please correct if so.
Also this would be a lot smaller than some of my past EDC lights.

 

[jorn]

yep youre wrong, and right:devil: The hi and lo voltage heads are regulated differently.
The lo voltage heads have to boost. A single cr123 or aa has less voltage than the led needs, so higher voltage is better. The hi voltage lights aleredy got more volt than the led can handle, if you put 6 or 8,4 volt directly on a led, it will die in seconds.

 

[luceat lux vestra]

Ok,
but 8.4 volts is going to be: 1. Brighter because a led is brightest at peak voltage and amperage. 2. Its going to be slightly more efficient e.g. Higher voltage runs better across wires. Am I right in these assumptions? :confused:

 

[jorn]

No. Take for example the old malkoff m30 vs m60. With 2 x cr123, the m60 did 215.4 lumens. The single cell m30 imr16340 did 313.8 lumens. There is no universal rule since they got different drivers that works differently.

 

[luceat lux vestra]

I see.... I just thought that more volts through the same driver would be brighter... sorry if I came across as a little slow.
Any way, thank you very much for teaching me a little more about flashlights!!