A2 owners/experts - a question

I'm so very, very happy with my A2 but I have a question:

After a short period of time having my batteries in, the "high beam" starts to look like it's losing juice, almost like the batteries are going. Ok..... I leave them in for a bit more trying to get the most out of them that I can and the next time I turn the incandescent on it's back to a "full power", bright beam! :huh: I don't understand what's going on. Can anyone shed some light on my problem?

Thanks.
Terry

Terry, what you are experiencing is what most of us consider to be a sort of "low battery indicator." (It can also be caused by dirty contacts, and can happen with certain brands of batteries that can't take the load, such as some BatteryStation batches.)

It has been explained before, I believe by js, or someone equally well-informed, that the dim incandescent (correct me if I'm wrong) is when the LVR (William Hunt's regulator) receives just enough juice to kick in, turning on the incandescent, but then voltage sag in the batteries due to the current load causes the voltage to drop low enough to turn off the LVR. The batteries recover, allowing the LVR to switch back on, and so on and so forth. This happens many times a second and acts basically like PWM for the incandescent bulb, effectively dimming it.

At that point, there is enough juice left in the batteries to sustain the incandescent at full power for short periods of time, although not reliably.

That must be it. I had checked the contacts to make sure they were clean, and they were. Thanks carrot.

I am currently using my last set of BatteryStation batteries and didn't notice the problem when I was using the SF brand. I'll just have to last out these batteries and get myself back on some of the SF's.

so... clean all contacts and/or replace batteries (which may entail switching brands).

Battery Station CR123's, fresh, won't even turn the incan on in my A2. I do have an older batch, which may not be matched. I find that Duracell, Surefire, and Streamlight, all US made, are very reliabe in my A2.

Bill

so what color LED did you get and do you like it?

If you stick to SureFire brand batteries, you should have no battery issues. I use SureFire brand when using primaries.

It's been a while so Battery Station may have changed their chemistry since. Their 123's would only run my A2 incan for 11 to 14 minutes before dropping off line. After a rest they would light the incan for a moment or two.


BS 123's work normally and at expected duration in my other incandencent and LED lights, but not the A2.

I run BS 123's in my L4, a pretty high-drain light, and they always perform well. As far as I can tell, without runtime tests or meter testing, they "feel" like they give about the same runtime.

I also second the question batman asked about LED color. I thought I had decided on red, but I was worried about color rendition on wires, diagrams and maps, so now I'm thinking white. I'd love to hear the thoughts of others (and yes, I've done a search and read the other threads, but you can never get too many opinions, at least about lights! )

I just got my A2 yesterday and I love it! I am considering ordering a bunch of Titanium 123 cells from Amondotech--are these reliable in the A2?

Ralls,

Welcome to the A2 owner's club! I've got an A2-RD and really like it. I usually use Titanium cells and have had no problems with them in my A2.

Valpo Hawkeye,

That is a tough decision! I received my A2 in a trade so red was predetermined for me. Now that I don't own a Kroma anymore I'm glad I have the red, as it is perfect for finding items in my car's interior at night and checking on the kids at night. I used the red during a night hike a couple of nights ago and was pleased at how well my night vision was maintained. Once my eyes become accustomed to the dark, the red did a nice job of illuminating the trail without blinding me.

Chronos said:

That is a tough decision! I received my A2 in a trade so red was predetermined for me. Now that I don't own a Kroma anymore I'm glad I have the red, as it is perfect for finding items in my car's interior at night and checking on the kids at night. I used the red during a night hike a couple of nights ago and was pleased at how well my night vision was maintained. Once my eyes become accustomed to the dark, the red did a nice job of illuminating the trail without blinding me.

Click to expand...

Oh sure, make the decision harder... I have a red surefire filter than I can use on either my E1L or L4. The filter really cuts down the output. The reason I bring this up is I'm trying to comare which color will be good for me. I can simulate the output of the white LED's of the A2 with my AAA-P, as the outputs are comparable according to Quickbeam's testing. However, I don't know if I have a reliable way to simulate the red LED's. You don't happen to have a red SureFire filter, do you?

Gents, check out my review of the A2's LED colors (loads of beamshots and color rendition tests, with all colors examined).

As far as where to order, you can check the CPF Specials (link in my sigline) for good deals. Personally, I buy SF stuff at OpticsHQ.

greenLED said:

Gents, check out my review of the A2's LED colors (loads of beamshots and color rendition tests, with all colors examined).

As far as where to order, you can check the CPF Specials (link in my sigline) for good deals. Personally, I buy SF stuff at OpticsHQ.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've read that post a dozen times... it's a fantastic comparison. However, the difficulty that I'm having isn't in the beams themselves, but in their practical uses. I'm concerned about depth perception and color loss with the red's.

Obviously... you need to have two A2's! One for general use, the other for night-adapted vision.

Valpo Hawkeye said:

I'm concerned about depth perception and color loss with the red's.

Click to expand...

The more accurate the color rendition is, the less depth perception you'll notice. At least that's how I perceive things. I think I mentioned this in the A2 LED review: my wife loses almost all depth perception with red LEDs, while I don't.

:thinking: Along those lines, white is probably your best choice. Unless you want less light, in which case I'd recommend Y/G.

LOL, classic Carrot. It was Carrot, GreenLED, JS, and a few others that finally drove me to consider an A2. It is a wonderful tool. The color would depend upon a specific use. For use in my car, around the house, where depth perception isn't critical I love the red.

Get one in each color, decide, then sell the others. I'm sure there won't be any shortage of potential buyers!

Red is good for spotting things in a movie theater or something.

Personally, I went with the white A2 and I love it. However, I also sometimes need a red light, so I just stuck a red nite-ize led adapter into my Minimag. It works great for navigating when my roommate is asleep or when I am about to go to bed and I don't want to look at bright light. I personally would reccomend the white led's, as red is more specialized while white is good for general use.

As for the batteries, as far as I know, battery station 123's work fine in everything except for the A2; for some reason the persnickety A2 just can't take bs.
:lolsign:

Valpo Hawkeye said:

Oh sure, make the decision harder... I have a red surefire filter than I can use on either my E1L or L4. The filter really cuts down the output. The reason I bring this up is I'm trying to comare which color will be good for me. I can simulate the output of the white LED's of the A2 with my AAA-P, as the outputs are comparable according to Quickbeam's testing. However, I don't know if I have a reliable way to simulate the red LED's. You don't happen to have a red SureFire filter, do you?

Click to expand...

I don't have a Surefire red filter, but I do have a red filter from Princeton Tec that fits on the end of a few of my smaller SF lights... Hmm. The Princeton Tec red filter (pretty thick) on my stock E1L apears to put out more light than the A2-RD. The A2 is brighter than my ML-1 plus PT filter on low. Sigh. Experiment failed.

It may be helpful to note the colored LEDs do have rings, similar to a hazardous materials sign. Noticeable on a white wall, less so in the woods. I may sand my LEDs to smooth out the beams a bit, as spill is more important to me than throw (and at their output there isn't much throw...)