Arc is my main EDC carry nowdays. but a change of which I carry is in the winds.

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JonSidneyB

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I am a three light carry person. A SureFire, either an E2 or a 9z accompanied by and Arc-LS and an Arc-AAA.

The SureFires do not see much use anymore.
When I need a light, I grab the Arc-LS or the Arc-AAA 95% of the time and reserve the SureFire for times when it is inconvienent to turn it on by twisting or when I want bright.

My EDC method is going to change. For now a SureFire will remain Clipped to my belt. The Arc-ls with 123 pack will be on my Keychain. The third light is going to rotate.

With the SureFire on the belt and an Arc-ls with 123 on my keychain, I can realisticly cover my lighting needs. But I want to add more economy.

How am I going to add more economy, by using used batteries. I have found that Arc products will light with batteries that will no longer run other products.

I will be saving the environment and batteries by doing this. I have a box full of partially discharged batteries of most types. The battery type that I have most of in a compact format will dictate which third light I carry.

If I have mainly AA's in my partially used box. An Arc-LS with single AA pack will be riding in my Watch Pocket. If most of the batteries are AAA, then an Arc AAA will ride in the watch pocket. If I have a large number of loose 123's, the second Arc will be so equipped.

I am really covered then. I have my almost running for free dim option, the Arc-LS 123 Utility option as a step up, and the SureFire for those rare times when nothing else will do.

Now the 5 watt LS may change everything again. If an Arc-ls 5 watt will replace the E-2 in form and function, It will be my belt light. If it does not fill that role, I will wait for SureFire to have and E-2 5 watt LS.
 

txwest

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I don't think you'll ever see an E2 with a 5W LS, unless they figure something else to do with the heat. TX
 

JonSidneyB

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I see, well I need to learn what the possible forms the 5 watt will take. All is not lost as a SureFire incandecent and two Arc's is not a bad combination at all to serve all my portable carry on person lighting needs.
 

Bushman

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by txwest:
I don't think you'll ever see an E2 with a 5W LS, unless they figure something else to do with the heat. TX<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Why not? aren't they both about 5 watts of heat each?
 

txwest

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The design of the incadesent makes it hot, so it's ok. The high heat kill the LS. You know the old saying "if you can't take the heat....get a better heatsink", or something like that. The only reason for the heatsink design of the SF M series is not for the lamp. I believe it's to help keep the batteries from shutting down. The 3 million CP spotlight puts out LOTS of heat, but there's no heatsink. TX
 

Darell

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LOCO is more like it.
With incandescents, you can't have light without the heat. Wouldn't be legal. Let's face it - light bulbs are efficient little heaters that give off a bit of light as a byproduct. With LEDs, the goal is to have as little heat as possible.
 

JollyRoger

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
Let's face it - light bulbs are efficient little heaters that give off a bit of light as a byproduct. With LEDs, the goal is to have as little heat as possible.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmmm...if they were truly efficient heaters, wouldn't they give less light off and more heat?
 

txwest

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More or less than what. If you're measureing energy conversion of the battery, the heat is way more than the light. Like the output of a bonfire. As Darell said, the light is just a byproduct. TX
 

Saaby

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Where is most the heat generated from on a LED since there is no filliment? I'm sure there's a logical explination...I just don't know it.

Hey, I don't know much about them but maybe somone else does (I will certainly go do some research if nobody here isn't already an expert) but how about one of those CPU coolers for a LS heat sink? The things that get really cold on one side when you put electricity through them. Maybe they'd be battery killers though...
Surely somone on this board is a resident expert on them!
 

Gransee

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OK, stepping in quick with some thoughts...

This has been discussed before in other threads.

If you had a incandescent and an LED, both at the same efficiency and power level, both would produce the same amount of heat. However, the LED would require a larger, "in flashlight" heatsink.

LEDs produce light at a semiconductor junction and therefore must be kept at a lower tempurature (say 100-150 degrees F). Incandescent operate on the principle of a piece of wire heated to white hot (several thousand F) so heat is native to the process.

Further, a larger percentage of a bulb's heat (compared to an LED's heat) is radiated out the front reflector. This is because the energy level of the heat produce is in the higher (higher than the LEDs radiation) IR band. In fact, it is not uncommon for an incandescent to produce 12 times more IR than visible light. Notice how warm the beam feels on your E2 or Scorpion compared to an LS of the same brightness. An LED does not produce this more easily projected frequency of IR radiation. It does however, expect to radiate the same amount of energy through the flashlight itself. This is where things get tricky.

If you don't get rid of the heat in an incandescent, it just gets warm in your hand and brighter. In an LED, it gets dimmer and prematurely fails.

This is similiar to the challenges faced to engineers when switching from vaccum tubes to power transistors in their designs. Vaccume tubes required some cooling, but transistors require even more. Fortunately as with transistors, LEDs have other advantages that make them valuable.

Peter Gransee
 
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