Just got my Arc-P AAA last week - some questions and comments

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RipplesOfLife

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First off, the Arc-P AAA is a really nice light. It's small, dependable, and quite bright.

Now, here are some questions.

By using a NiMH rated at 800 mAh (Noma brand) and at 550 mAh (RadioShack brand), I'm able to get about 3 1/2 hours of light. About 2 hours of that is sun mode. After the 3 or so hours, the LED is basically glowing only. The body of the flashlight was also a bit warm after being on for about an hour. It was cool again later though.
The Noma brand batteries I use are the 15 minute quick charge ones.
Is 3+ hours of runtime typical when using NiHM batteries?

I can get about 2 hours total when using a NiCad rated at 250 mAh (RadioShack).

I'm currently timing the runtime of using an alkaline (the one that was included). After 12 hours it's still on, in moon mode of course, but it can still illuminate things that are a few feet away.

Ok, now, some of the non-alkalines (cheap heavy duty) that I have, measure up to 1.7 volts. Would that damage the circuitry if I used it fresh?

Anyways, great flashlight.
 

RipplesOfLife

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Re: Pictures - after 24 continuous hours

Well by using the Duracell battery that was included, my Arc-P AAA is still on after 24 continuous hours. It still has quite a bit of useable light.

Here are some images taken: (images were retouched (lowered contrast) to match closer to what I saw)

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card01.jpg


Arc-P AAA information card, about 2 feet from flashlight.

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batteries.jpg


Various batteries, about 2 feet from flashlight.

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wall01.jpg


Wall with various stuff, about 1 1/2 yards from flashlight. Dim spill light not captured in image, spill light is about 2 yards across edge to edge.

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wall02.jpg


Wall #2 with various stuff, about 1 1/2 yards from flashlight.

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All images were taken in my basement.

It is now over 26 hours, and the light is still on.
 
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nerdgineer

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Re: Pictures - after 24 continuous hours

Don't know if you've seen this, but a run time plot taken of an early model Arc AAA is here. The new model of course is different, but may be similar.
 

cerbie

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I just tried it after reading your post.

Energizer 850mAh, MIC (are there any AAA MIJ?). I can't necessarily say it's a great cell (I've had problems with at least two others from the same pack, but my known good cells are all in use).
Duracell CEF12N charger, around 1.39v w/o load.

It is still putting out light, a little softer, and certainly dimmer, but not yet full moon mode, for what is about three and a half hours, now (started at 10:10--see P.S.). It is more brown than a fresh battery, so it's definitely getting there, but it's still got a good spill. I don't have a meter handy, but my DAP won't use the battery, so it is near or below 1.1v.

It did start heating up, but did not get very hot--90F, at most, left in my pocket.

I've been using NIMH in mine just because I have extra cells, and like the softer light than a new alkaline.

P.S. I went and got something to eat (20-30 min?) with this mostly finished, and it's clearly in moon mode, now--I can actually look at it while it's on (not directly, mind you!). It's got that puky yellow it gets when it's low, and the spill isn't so great. I'm stopping now, because I don't want to drain it too low.

Newer battery? Better charger? Maybe we're both seeing crap, which would be nice, since I don't have a spare and fully charged Sanyo cell to throw at this for another several hours :).
 
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mridude

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Besides running down the battery, does leaving the light on for hours degrade the flashlight itself?
 

leukos

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Re: Pictures - after 24 continuous hours

nerdgineer said:
Don't know if you've seen this, but a run time plot taken of an early model Arc AAA is here. The new model of course is different, but may be similar.

I think your link is too the wrong thread. :sigh:
 

nocturnal

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There's a nice comparative runtime plot of Arc AAA-P versions on alkaline batteries by this_is_nascar.

I put a fresh 1000 mAh Sanyo NiMH in my Arc-P (current version) half an hour ago. I'm going to check how long it will last when running continuously (provided I don't fall asleep before the battery dies :grin2: ). Judging from memory, I'd expect way more than 2 hours of "sun mode" even from an 800 mAh NiMH.

Edit: I did fall asleep. :sleepy: Presently, I'm doing a second test with a 1000 mAh Sanyo NiMH fresh from the charger. At 4+ hours, it hasn't dimmed yet (judging from visible impression and my digital camera's light meter in a dark room).
 
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nocturnal

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Final result of my runtime test: Using a 1000 mAh Sanyo HR-4U NiMH I got 5:15 hours at full brightness. The light then dimmed relatively fast, as could be expected with NiHMs. At 6:00 hours, it was just glowing, usable for distances of a few feet in an otherwise dark room only (similar to the pictures above). At that point I stopped the test. The battery had been charged in an AccuPower AccuManager 10.

In the original post, RipplesOfLife mentioned only 2 hours of sun mode from an 800 mAh NiMh, so it seems that battery (or the charger) doesn't really perform too well.
 

RipplesOfLife

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After 46 hours - Updated after 48 hours

So, I woke up this morning and checked on the light. After 46 hours it looked like it stopped, but it was actually still glowing very faintly.

But here's the thing. After handling it (holding it) for a while, it went back up into a dim moon mode. I guess temperature affects it more easily when the battery (alkaline) is low. My room was quite cool this morning, about 61 F.

The amount light is enough to illuminate up to about 2 yards. (After warming the light). Almost the same as the pictures I posted above just dimmer.

I would say it can still be used for signaling someone at least 15 - 20 yards away you, at night.

When the battery finally dies, I will see how much more light I can get after letting the battery rest for 1 hour.

I did this kind of thing before with a 1 watt headlamp using heavy duty batteries (3 AAA), and it was still on after 5 days, very very dim but on. After letting the batteries rest for a bit, the output was about 30%.

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Ok, after 48 hours I decided to turn the light off.

The voltage measured after that amount time was about 0.37 volts.
I allowed the battery to rest for 1 hour, and that brought the voltage back up to about 0.88 volts.

Using the same battery (Duracell at 0.88 volts), it's back into sun mode or at least 50 - 60% brightness, just not as bright as you would get from a fresh battery. 1 hour has past and light output is pretty much the same, still gives my eyes spots.

As I mentioned, when the battery (alkaline) is very low (around 0.4 volts), the light output of Arc-P will easily be affected by temperature. At about 61 F (16 C), there will be a faint glow or no light at all. Now after raising the temperature (by holding the flashlight in your hand) to about 82 F (28 C), the light output will be back up to a dim moon mode level.

Here's a 1:30 minutes (1.2 MB) video I took showing it:

Warming Arc-P AAA


If the video doesn't play, let me know.

Edit:

Actually the light output using the used Duracell, is more like 40 - 50%. It's certainly quite bright close up, but the light is lacking throw.
 
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cerbie

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Well, good to know my eyes/brain weren't playing tricks (placebo effect) on me; so I tried again with a Sanyo 900mAh (which have treated me very well), now that I had a drained and charged one handy.

I noticed it going dim at 4:05 (so I figure 4 hours even, since that's when I noticed it in my peripheral visison). Considering it's a cheap and fairly simple charger, that seems pretty much in line with nocturnal's result*.

* ( 5.25 [5h15m] * 0.9 [0.9Ah] * 0.9 [cheap charger and battery capacity variation] ) = four hours, fifteen minutes
 

RipplesOfLife

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Using a different NiMH Battery

Well, I tried again using a different NiMH, same brand (Noma), but the non-15 minute recharge ones (750 mAh), that's 50 mAh less than the 15 minute recharge ones (800 mAh). It give good light past the 3 1/2 hour mark, at which time I fell asleep. I would say that it gave at least 4 hours of bright light before dimming.

I used an 8 hour charger (Noma) for the non-15 minute.

So slow charging seems to give better performance (in flashlights) compared to fast charging, at least with the Noma brand.

But then again, getting about 3 1/2 hours total per 15 minute recharging time is not too bad. And most chargers can charge up to 4 batteries at once, so that would be about 3 1/2 hours * 4 batteries = about 14 hours of operational (using an Arc AAA of course) per 15 minutes of recharge.

I think in another thread about rechargeables it was mentioned that after the initial 15 minutes, if the batteries are allowed to trickle charge for some time, it will obtain a fuller charge.
 

paulr

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Re: Using a different NiMH Battery

Try some Sanyo or comparable cells. I wouldn't believe the 800 mah rating on the no-name cells unless you've tested it on a battery analyzer. In my experience the ratings on no-name cells are exaggerated. I don't think it's even worth using rechargeables in an Arc unless you're using it a heck of a lot. For typical EDC users, an alkaline cell will last for many many months.
 
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