FLUPIC with alkaline?

Has anyone used the flupic with 3 alkalines 4.5V either AA or C size?

Goldserve said it would work fine.

I was just wondering about runtime and current-draw with alkaline.

Definitely on burst, you'd max out the current draw. As the voltage of the three batteries get closer to the VF of the led, the more efficient it is. Using AAs or even C size batteries, you're packing a lot of energy so runtime will be good. Exactly how much, that is left for someone that has actually tried it.

would 4 alk D sized batteries be too much voltage for the flupic? Or would the voltage sag make it ok?

Thanks gs

jar3ds said:

would 4 alk D sized batteries be too much voltage for the flupic? Or would the voltage sag make it ok?

Thanks gs

Click to expand...

I would go with 3...4 x 1.2V nimh will be okay...but 4 x 1.5V is a little too much.

russtang said:

Has anyone used the flupic with 3 alkalines 4.5V either AA or C size?

Goldserve said it would work fine.

I was just wondering about runtime and current-draw with alkaline.

Click to expand...

I've tried the JIL-CR2 Intelli with the JIL-Bus 2AA body with 3 Alkaline N cells. It wasn't as bright as a single 3.7V Li-Ion cell. I suspect the Alkaline N cells weren't capable of delivering enough current to drive the TW0H Lux-III in the Intelli to full brightness. I didn't measure current draw (sorry).

I suppose I could rig together a battery holder and try the JIL-CR2 Intelli head with 3 AA Alkaline cells or even 3 D Alkaline cells. It might have to wait till after this weekend though.

goldserve said:

I would go with 3...4 x 1.2V nimh will be okay...but 4 x 1.5V is a little too much.

Click to expand...

I think the recommended maximum input voltage for the FLuPIC was 5.5V.

Here is a quote from goldserve regarding input voltage for the FLuPIC. It is currently in my JIL info post (here) so if there is any problem with it please let me know: "I'd say 4.5, 4.8V is okay to power a K or J bin led. The board will handle up to 5.5V if you power something within the range of 4.5-5V led. Maybe the K2s could use this combination. I will try the K2 leds with a 6V input in the future. Stress test it to make sure the uC will last at 6V."

I have a 3C m%g that I would like to put a flupic in and use 3c alkaline or 3 lithium or alkaline AA batts.

Vortechs, if you can do the test , that would be great.

I put 3 Alkaline AA cells and an AA dummy cell in a 4 AA battery holder. The voltage read 4.51V on my Fluke 77III multimeter. I took the head off my JIL-CR2 Intelli and used the AA battery carrier and my multimeter's wires to touch the contacts in the head. With 2 quick taps to get it into burst mode then holding the wires to the contacts, I measured about 1.05 Amps at the start, dropping to about 0.95 Amps as it heated up (using the 10Amp connection on the multimeter). The head gets warm very quickly and I don't want to run the Intelli head for long on the burst (maximum) setting at this voltage without the body attached to help heatsink it. It is also a bit difficult to get a really good connection with this setup. I tried measuring the current a few times and got a bit less than 1 Amp each time. The battery holder voltage after the tests read 4.35V (and slowly increasing).

Summary: 3 AA Alkaline cells, 4.5V, about 1 Amp.

I put 4 AA NiMH cells in the 4 AA battery holder. The NiMH cells were fully charged two days ago. Initial static voltage reads 5.42V. I touched the wires to the Intelli head and measured the current. It started at 1.15 Amps and seemed to stabilize at about 1.10 Amps. I tried it twice, but didn't run it too long either time since that I compute that is about 6 watts. The battery voltage measured 5.36V after the test.

Summary: 4 AA NiMH cells, 5.4V, about 1.1 Amps.

It looks like the Intelli gets full brightness when powered by 3 AA Alkaline cells or 4 AA NiMH cells. I couldn't tell if it was brighter than when using a fully charged (4.15V) Li-Ion. Unfortunately since I was holding wires to the head to get it to run in this configuration, I couldn't easily compare the beam to something else.

Maybe JIL-Lite will develop a body designed to hold 3 AA cells or even one that holds 4 AA cells. Since the 1AA body is called the JIL-Cab and the 2AA body is called the JIL-Bus, I wonder what even longer bodies would be called; perhaps the JIL-Truck or JIL-Train. :thinking:

:goodjob:

Looks like alkalines will work fine for practical applications.

Cool!