Has anyone really made a measurement of the actual standby current draw of Nitecore D10? Read from one of the threads that it is 200microamps but, not well talked about because that guy was interested in hacking the software. I don't know if it was really measured. Want to know this so you can predict how fresh your battery be in a few days or months. I don't kinda like the idea of twisting it further to the lockout position coz' its always faster to just click than twist. Besides, frequent twisting could wear the threads.
Nitecore D10 standby current draw?
- Thread starter Glowman
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HKJ
Flashaholic
Yes, the current draw depends on the battery voltage.
A 1.2 volt battery is about 500uA, a 4 volt battery is about 120uA.
loanshark
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2007
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I'd like to know how to take those numbers and calculate the time it'll take to drain the battery. Anyone interested in educating me a bit?
HKJ
Flashaholic
Your take Battery capacity in mAh and divide with current drain in mA, then your have an estimated runtime in hours:
For eneloop battery: 2000mAh/0.5mA -> 4000 h -> 4000/24 -> 167 days
To get from uA to mA your must divide the number by 1000, i.e. 500uA is 500/1000 -> 0.5mA
loanshark
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2007
- Messages
- 226
Thanks HKJ.
Thats a higher draw than I thought it would be... Is that draw consistant between different units? Any difference between the older PCB and the curent version?
Thats a higher draw than I thought it would be... Is that draw consistant between different units? Any difference between the older PCB and the curent version?
HKJ
Flashaholic
The high current draw is because the boost regulator always is running.
I have both a D10 and a EX10, there are small differences in current draw between them.
MWClint
Enlightened
i wouldnt worry about the threads, just keep them lubed and you probably
wont even wear off the HA with heavy use. for EDC'ers of this light, we are
untwisting the threads almost every day to remove the battery for charging.
nitecores also use a harder aluminum than most other lights.
days/weeks or a single month without use, the battery will still be "fresh".
if you intend on leaving the light in a long term emergency kit, by all means
unscrew it.
****** realistically with a AA, if you click the light on high for 2 minutes,
you are using about the same ammount of battery that the constant drain
does sitting idle for a full week. 1 month=8 minutes of battery used up on
high.
how to get that figure...
say a 2000mah battery lasts 1 hour on high.
thats 33.3ma of battery used per minute. (2000/60min)
lets take .5mah(worst case..it's probaly more like .4mah) for the constant
drain on an nimh AA. less for the 3.7v batts.
.5ma*24 hours in a day = 12ma used up per day = equivalent of 21 seconds
of runtime on high per day.
or .4ma*24 hours in a day = 9.6ma per day = equivalent of 17 seconds of
runtime on high per day.
17 seconds per day for 7 days =119seconds (~2minutes).
*4 weeks=8 minutes.
wont even wear off the HA with heavy use. for EDC'ers of this light, we are
untwisting the threads almost every day to remove the battery for charging.
nitecores also use a harder aluminum than most other lights.
days/weeks or a single month without use, the battery will still be "fresh".
if you intend on leaving the light in a long term emergency kit, by all means
unscrew it.
****** realistically with a AA, if you click the light on high for 2 minutes,
you are using about the same ammount of battery that the constant drain
does sitting idle for a full week. 1 month=8 minutes of battery used up on
high.
how to get that figure...
say a 2000mah battery lasts 1 hour on high.
thats 33.3ma of battery used per minute. (2000/60min)
lets take .5mah(worst case..it's probaly more like .4mah) for the constant
drain on an nimh AA. less for the 3.7v batts.
.5ma*24 hours in a day = 12ma used up per day = equivalent of 21 seconds
of runtime on high per day.
or .4ma*24 hours in a day = 9.6ma per day = equivalent of 17 seconds of
runtime on high per day.
17 seconds per day for 7 days =119seconds (~2minutes).
*4 weeks=8 minutes.
I estimated it as 150 days by taking into account the self discharge of Eneloop for 6 months... well, more or less similar.
Drain is not too low as I expected but, I believe most of us have that urge to change the battery in weeks time especially us flashaholics.
Regarding the twisting matters, I believe with this piston drive, the switching now became very durable (at least theoretically) compared to typical mechanical switch. The only thing left that could wear off is the thread; that's why I am concerned about. Nice to know Nitecore has better aluminum material. MWClint, you got a good point with your computation on the standby vs. use.
I wonder how consistent is the circuit's standby drain compared to what HKJ got. Has anyone else made some measurements?
There is no Deoxit lube from where I am, has anyone tried to use pure silicon grease instead? The one used for diving gears...
Drain is not too low as I expected but, I believe most of us have that urge to change the battery in weeks time especially us flashaholics.
Regarding the twisting matters, I believe with this piston drive, the switching now became very durable (at least theoretically) compared to typical mechanical switch. The only thing left that could wear off is the thread; that's why I am concerned about. Nice to know Nitecore has better aluminum material. MWClint, you got a good point with your computation on the standby vs. use.
I wonder how consistent is the circuit's standby drain compared to what HKJ got. Has anyone else made some measurements?
There is no Deoxit lube from where I am, has anyone tried to use pure silicon grease instead? The one used for diving gears...
HKJ
Flashaholic
As long as your use the light on a daily/weekly basis, the current drain does not matter, but if your want to store it away for some time, than can be in an BOB/emergency bag or for the summer/winter, then your better remember to twist it off.
In my collection of flashlights, the Nitecore is the light with highest standby current drain, no other light comes close to this high drain.
DimmerD
Enlightened
I have dropped my EX10 a few times and it likes to come on when this happens if it is twisted down. That's why i like to lock it out while in my pocket just in case. A light with dead batteries isn't a light anymore.
Doesn't that current draw seem a bit high?
I don't know the numbers here, but I'm going on common sense (if you could call it that). a AA battery must store much more energy than a little watch battery, and a watch battery can power a watch with moving parts (big power drain) anywhere from 1 to 3 years. A AA cell battery is drained by the D10 in less than half a year by powering nothing (AFAIK) except for the listener for the next click event. It sounds like there's a lot of potential to stretch out the life of the battery a lot longer. Does that make any sense?
I don't know the numbers here, but I'm going on common sense (if you could call it that). a AA battery must store much more energy than a little watch battery, and a watch battery can power a watch with moving parts (big power drain) anywhere from 1 to 3 years. A AA cell battery is drained by the D10 in less than half a year by powering nothing (AFAIK) except for the listener for the next click event. It sounds like there's a lot of potential to stretch out the life of the battery a lot longer. Does that make any sense?
HKJ
Flashaholic
A watch can use a 3 volt battery and then your do not need a boost regulator.
The microprocessor used in D10/EX10 can not work at 1.2 volt, but need some more voltage, even when sleeping. For this reason the boost regulator must always be running.
Lights based on CR123 or other 3 volt batteries can power the microprocessor directly from the battery and switch off the boost regulator, this can reduce the power consumption to 1/10 or better of the D10/EX10 consumption.
torpeau
Newly Enlightened
Yeah, as long as you twist off these Nitecores, there's no drain, right? They call it "momentary on mode."
I guess they and the LiteFlux LF5XT are the main ones that have this concern, right?
HKJ
Flashaholic
Correct.
LiteFlux LF5XT does not have this problem, its standby consumption is very low.
There are other lights with standby consumption, my current list includes: Sidewinder, Dragonheart, Proton pro, NovaTac, Zebralight H30
jzmtl
Flashlight Enthusiast
Still it seems pretty high compare to standby current of novatac. 150 uA on li-on compare to 5 uA on primary.
abvidledUK
Flashlight Enthusiast
Don't forget if your torch has used half its power on standby, the RT when lit will only be half, or less.
LED-holic
Flashlight Enthusiast
Those who are storing D10s with batteries in them should lock out the light by loosening the bezel.
I think this should be done on ALL lights to prevent accidental activation whether there is idle drain or not. There was a story about a Fenix L2D that was shipped with 2 AA lithium batteries and the seller left the light on accidentally after QA check, in turbo mode.
This type of accident can happen so always loosen the bezel / tailcap to lock out or just take the battery out altogether for medium / long term storage.
I think this should be done on ALL lights to prevent accidental activation whether there is idle drain or not. There was a story about a Fenix L2D that was shipped with 2 AA lithium batteries and the seller left the light on accidentally after QA check, in turbo mode.
This type of accident can happen so always loosen the bezel / tailcap to lock out or just take the battery out altogether for medium / long term storage.
