which is better: Romisen RC-G2 or SAIK RC-A2 ?

umberto

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Sep 26, 2007
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Which is better:

1) Romisen MXDL RC-G2
2) Romisen RC-H3
3) SAIK RC-A2
4) SAIK RC-A3

they are all roughly about the same price...not sure of the differences between them.....

can anyone give approximate lumens and runtimes of each?

thanks
 

FlashKat

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Mar 18, 2006
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The SAIK RC-A3 is about 60 lumens and 45 minutes runtime. It is small and sleek. I had some trouble with the switch, but I unscrewed the switch assembly and tightened everything and it works perfectly now. The construction on this is well built, the beam is not tightly focus with decent spill. It works well with Sanyo Eneloops.
Which is better:

1) Romisen MXDL RC-G2
2) Romisen RC-H3
3) SAIK RC-A2
4) SAIK RC-A3

they are all roughly about the same price...not sure of the differences between them.....

can anyone give approximate lumens and runtimes of each?

thanks
 
Last edited:

Gunner12

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Dec 18, 2006
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Bay Area, CA
I'f you are looking for best stock output, avoid the RC-G2, it uses a Cree XR-E P4, which is a lower bin then the common P4.
 

bessiebenny

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A2 uses Cree P2 - MXDL claims 80 lumens.
A3 uses Cree P3 - MXDL claims 100 lumens

A3 got rave reviews in DX. So I think it is quite good for what it is.
I have no idea how bright it is as I couldn't find any exact readings.
I'm expecting it to be around single-mode Ultrafire C3 in brightness.

Romisen RC-G2 is said to have similar throw output to WF-606A or L2D CE.
So it's about 1.5x in throw output to the single mode Ultrafire C3. Not bad!
But as it uses Cree P2, so hotspot is bright but you lose out in spill output.
It has a forward clicky which is not common and has great build quality.

RC-H3 according to DX review has around 700 lux @ 1m.
That's similar or less than the single mode Ultrafire C3 AA.
But according to that review, it pulls near 2A from battery!
That is about half the efficiency to more recent P4 lights.
(Such as the very well regulated single mode Ultrafire C3)

Don't just fall in the trap that newer LEDs are always brighter.
Old P2/P3 can be easily as bright as P4 but with shorter run time.

anyways.. there are brighter/newer lights that use AA in that price range.
MTE 5 mode Rebel , MTE SSC P4 AA , Ultrafire C3 single-mode / 5-mode etc.
 
Last edited:

umberto

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any idea about the runtime in the RC-G2 with a regular alkaline AA ?

thanks
 

wipe2000

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Nov 6, 2008
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According my measurements RC-G2 draws 1.6 amperes (1600 mA) from a fresh battery (1.5 - 1.6 V) and 1.3 A @ 1.3 V, so it would light an hour with a 1600 mAH / 1.5 V battery. The current it takes drops when voltage drops because its step-up driver circuitry is not regulated, so after a while it lights dimmer (but also longer) than it would with a regulated current.
It's up to viewer to say, how low can the light output go to be still useable. At 1.0 V it takes only 0.2 A (makes 0.2 watts) and light is barely visible in "normal" room lighting.

Good alkalines have more than 1600 mAh, so I'd expect it to light about 1.5 hours with an alkaline cell. With a best rechargeable NiMH (~2700 MAh) I'd expect it to work about 2 hours.
 

shadowjk

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Oct 21, 2007
Messages
451
If you check the alkaline battery shootout thread, you'll notice alkaline AA at 1.0 Amps, discharged down to 1.0V, will provide about 500mAh... As you point out, when voltage goes down, so does current, slowing down the discharge of the battery, as well as reducing brightness, so it would last longer than the approx 20 odd minutes you'd get by dividing .5Ah with 1.6A.
 

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