Who Else has Bought a Brinkmann 3W 3AAA?

My First impressions--- Very Good beam pattern with no rings, unlike the 1W 3AAA. Warm white color, output similar to SL 4AA luxeon, but with a brighter intermediate spill area, and smaller central spot, probably due the overly deep reflector. This light has gobs of throw! Its not much bigger than the CR123 Maxfire. My first test was with Energizer 850 milliamp rechargables. I am going to fully charge them tonight, and try to do a run time tomorrow. Hoping I can get 1.5 hours out of the set. Typical brinkmann construction. Seems much brighter than the Coast 3AAA's that my buddy has. I would rate this a 3.5 to a 4. I bought it from target for $29.99. Anyone else have one and love it? If you want a 3AAA light, forget the 1W and buy the 3W.

I have one of these, and I am also pleased with the brightness and beam quality. Thirty dollars is a little steep for what you get, though (no regulation, limited runtime on 3 AAA batteries). I definitely recommend it over the 1W, too.

I've got one also, and its one of my favorite "small" lights. As soon as my dad saw mine he wanted one. The $29.99 price is a little high, but it was just released within the last few months, so it will drop sooner or later. Having the 3AAA cells makes it cheap to feed! For those who don't have one/haven't seen one, its almost exactly the same size as a Surefire G2, just a slightly larger diameter and it also has a "real" tailcap clickie.

Roger

Lithiums OK?

I am not sure on the lithiums. But I assume that you are referring to the 1.5 V non-rechargables, so I doubt that there would be a problem.

I also purchased the Brinkmann 3 watt 3AAA ( my first 3 watt) at Target for the same $29.99 a couple months ago. I really like the throw as well as the light weight feel of it. A nice white tint with a tight hotspot. The "real" tailcap clickie (momentary) is a bonus.

If you're considering the Brinkmann 1 watt, skip it and spend the extra $10.00 and buy the 3 watt.

I'd have to agree with what everyone else has said. It's a pretty nice light- very bright, smooth beam, good throw, and surprisingly bright side spill. On a set of 900 mAh Duracell rechargeables, I got about 55 min runtime (to 50% output). Not bad considering how bright it is, but it would always be nice to have longer runtime .

mitchfried said:

Lithiums OK?

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I think that this light is direct drive (no resistor), so be careful with non-alkaline cells.

Those guys at BRINKMANN have really kicked things up a notch (watt) or two. I've run mine with rechargables (800maHrs) with no problem or change in brightness.

chiphead...walking through life at DEFCOn-3.

I have the Brinkmann 3W 3AAA headlamp on my bicycle helmet. It costs the same as the flashlight and puts out a great spot beam on fresh batteries. I've had mine a few days and the beam is weaker and greener-looking now. I have some 1000 mA Duracell NiMH AAA's waiting to be put in when the supplied Energizer alkalines go kaput.

LEDism said:

I've had mine a few days and the beam is weaker and greener-looking now.

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I don't know if you're referencing a behavior of weaker batteries, or degradation following extended use. It's a question I have regarding the light. I have one, and I too am satisfied with the performance, so far. I'm curious about the heat considerations though.

The entire light is covered by a heat insulating material. That means there is no heat exchange between the internal metal sleeve, and the outside air. The heat in a 3 watt can't be ignored. The heat must be siphoned off, or heat/power regulation must be used. Anything less will lead to rapid degradation of the LED.

I've only kept mine on continuously for 10 minutes maximum. During that time, I never noticed a hint of heat making it to the exterior surface. That means the heat is remaining inside the light. It's something to consider.

I think he is referring to the degradation of the batteries. The light is quite white when my rechargables are at full power and get a warmer white (maybe a hint of greenishness) as the batteries wear down.

I bought it a while ago, and absolutely love it! Wish the runtime was a little longer, but running it on rechargeables makes it easy.

Mine is completely white, small bright hot spot, bright useable spill. Spill is brighter than my Streamlight 4AA Lux, and seems to throw a similiar distance. But because the spill is brighter, it is more useable inside.

With its smaller size, it has become my new kitchen drawer light.

Heat? Well, I have used it for more than 10+ minutes, in fact I have had it on a couple of times for an hour+ (full runtime). I too have wondered about the heat dissipation (sp?) It does get decently warm. But it is my only 3W - so I don't know how much heat is typically produced. At least some of it makes it through to the outside. Only time will tell if the heat degrades the LED.

Anybody able to post pictures of this light? I don't have a Target in my area, Target doesn't have it on their website, and I can't seem to find the light, let alone pictures on the Web.

It looks almost exactly like the Brinkmann Maxfire LX
http://www.brinkmann.net/Shop/Detai...ame=Lithium-Xenon&seriessku=FLA-2000-4&id=138 except that the barrel is wider to accommodate the 3AAA battery carrier. Unfortunately, it would seem to appear that you do not have any Target stores in your state at all. I don't know of any web sites that carry it, though if any of the merchants that hang around on this site carries it, I'm sure you'll hear from them pretty quickly.

arioch said:

Anybody able to post pictures of this light? I don't have a Target in my area, Target doesn't have it on their website, and I can't seem to find the light, let alone pictures on the Web.

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Empath said:

I don't know if you're referencing a behavior of weaker batteries, or degradation following extended use.

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It's definitely the batteries. It is to the point now where the light output is weak and greenish even when I first turn it on. Time to break out the rechargeables I guess. I checked the manual and didn't see anything about not using rechargeables.

I had the Brinkmann 3W 3AAA headlamp at one point and the guts is the same as the standard style.

Luxeon III star, battery carrier, direct drive. Depends on battery and battery hardware(carrier springs) impedance to limit current.

If you were to hook up the LED directly to three sub C NiCd tabbed together (very low impedance), I bet you can instafry the LED.

With fresh rechargable batteries, this light has a brighter spill then my SL 4AAA luxeon, but obviously not the duration or regulation. Overall, It is MUCH brighter than my Fenix 1LP, with about same duration I would think, maybe a little less but with no regulation.

I did a modified run time yesterday on this light last night using Rechargable Energizer 850ma AAA. Here is the results after exactly one hour. Voltage dropped from 1.46 V per battery to 1.26 volts. Color of light had changed from a very white to a warm white. Central spot was still very bright, as was spill (checking by shining beam on white ceiling from the bed (about 5 feet). As a newbie, I dont know how low I should let rechargables go. I have been told not to go much past 1..0 volts or it will damage them. If this light is non regulated, the light should go another hour to about 1.06 V per battery. Probably would be as far as I would want to go. So I say about 2 hours of useful light on rechargables before you should recharge. Alkalines probably would go for 3 hours until the light went out totally. As far as heat transfer goes, the body was getting nice and toasty but not hot. There is a metal liner inside to help dissapate heat.

I've got one too. Very impressive output when outdoors. I've only used it intermittently so I'm not sure how soon it will start dimming after extended use, but it's a nice flashlight. Clean bright white beam, shockproof and glass lens. Not bad at all. My only gripe is that it uses a battery carrier.

Almost all 3AAA use a carrier. I would rather it be thicker than longer. Changing batteries is not really a pain in the butt.