AAA vs LS in moon-mode

I have an ArcLS but not yet an AAA, can anyone who has both give a comparison between the output of the LS with an almost dead cell to that of an arc AAA w/a fresh battery?

You'll have to define "Almost dead cell"

Lithium (123) or AA?

I have yet to see my LS with dead AAs but I've gone through several lithium CR123s. When you have a dead 123 in your Arc LS your AAA will be *much* brighter

Originally posted by Saaby:
You'll have to define "Almost dead cell"

Lithium (123) or AA?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Well I ran down a single AA the other day and it was still plenty enough light to read by well after it dropped off.

From my personal non scientific experiments and observations: Arc LS in nearly dead cell is much brighter then Arc AAA in nearly dead cell. You're in deep ka ka should a situation arise that you need to depend on an Arc AAA in heavy moon mode. However the Arc AAA with fresh batteries is much brighter then the Arc LS with a battery in it's final stages.

Considering the fact that both lights will attain ZERO light output eventually, there's no real way to do this comparison. At some point with a "low" battery the LS will still be brighter than the AAA. With a really low battery it will be about the same, and with an all-but-dead battery in the LS, the AAA will kick butt.

Remember that there are not two specific brightnesses here. There is sun mode (which tapers a bit in the AAA and in the original LS) and then when they fall out of regulation, they simply taper off faster. They don't sit in a constant "moon mode" as the phrase suggests. They just dim more quickly in this "mode."

Darell is right. I've always considered the term "moon mode" to be a misnomer. One would assume from reading the Arc specifications that at some point the lights just snap into moon mode and then sit there for many hours more at a dim but steady light output but it just doesn't happen that way.

I have to agree with geepondy; there is no real "moon mode" as to where the light snaps into a different mode... I feel that Peter should update his site.

The AAA is a great light, but it also has limits...

I love Arc-lights and think they're worthwhile, but they are not the only lightning solution. Just my humble opinion...

The moon mode on the LS is easily visible wheras the moon mode on the AAA is not. The AAA does have a moon mode however as proven out by run time graphs.

(From the CPF reviews, graph by user Roy)


I do understand that this transistion is less likely to be seen in real world intermittant use. But a transistion is a transistion. What is the most honest way of telling people about the operation of this light? How can it be done in a succint way? Remember it has to fit on the back of the package. Suggestions?

Peter Gransee

"The moon mode allows for gradual dimming, providing usable light (for X hours?) while concurrently/simultaneously
alerting the owner that a battery change should be conducted in the near future?"

Maybe in 6 pt. font?

At least I think that's what it does? Never even seen an ARC.

One thing I do not like... when the batteries died on my Surefire, I thought I broke the flashlight. Not a pleasant surprise. When they go out, they go OUT. I wish they had a warning for that one.

"... point the light xxx ft ahead of you. If you can not see your own feet clearly then it is time to change the batteries."

...Or something like that.

Thanks Peter
I know it is hard to tell if a light has gone into moon-mode, at least on an AAA... I do not (to this date) have a LS.... Hopefully in the near future.

how much time is occurring between Y = .12 and .02 (or so).

If 30min, should be kind of tricky to see the dimming unless you are looking away, then come back. Of course that is interrupted "on," no? Hmm... how long does a sunset take?

I agree that the Arc LS "snaps" out of regulation more so then an AAA and this is based on my older versions not the newer current regulated versions which I assume do so in even a more pronounced manner. An Arc AAA in moon mode is pretty useless, less light then a pal on always on mode. From Roy's graph posted above, I guess you would consider moon mode to be the last two thirds of the last horizontal square. With the LS, there is a measure of "usable" light in moon mode, maybe like a photon in dim setting. Again all from my unscientific observations but I have fooled around with this quite a bit.

If something NEEDs to be said on the AAA package then "semi-regulated" is the most straightforward, easy thing to say. The blurb on the web site makes it sound like if you have a dead battery, and you shut off the light for a few minutes, then turn it back on, you'll get full sun-mode again for a while. And of course that doesn't really happen. Calling anything a "mode" implies a distinct function that the AAA does not achieve. Any battery-powered device that is regulated has to fall out of regulation eventually, so just saying "semi-regulated" is what I vote for. Everybody I know who has read about the sun and mood modes expects two distinct brightnesses for set periods of time.

The new LS is a different animal, of course. Not only does it seem to almost snap into mood mode, but it can perform some fun flickering during that "snap." This is one of the differences between fully regulated and semi-regluated lights I suppose.

In one more attempt to actually answer the question of this thread, I'll try this:

With the same percentage of capacity remaining in a given battery combination, my educated guess is that the LS will ALWAYS be brighter than the AAA.

Hey Darell, nice sig!

Do you like it? I notice you've changed all kinds of stuff too! Ryan is my personal sig artist.

I thought for good regulation, prunes were required? Now I see moon mode mention. Does the gravitational pull of the moon aid or disrupt regulation? As you may guess, I have retention issues.

Originally posted by McGizmo:
As you may guess, I have retention issues.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yeah - I've seen your swollen ankles just around when full moon(mode) appears

Ick.