LS and multiple 123A configurations

Are there any options (third party) that would allow using three or four 123As with the LS? I seem to remember that someone posted that they tried using another manufacture's power pack to do this.

If so, could the LS Converter/regulator handle multiple 123As without damage?

From a marketing point of view, if Peter made an optional three or four 123A power pack would any one buy it if the price were reasonable? What would you pay for it?

I think it would be interesting to see what kind of run time you could get.

The converter is an up converter, not a down converter. You shouldn't run multiple 123's in a 1W LS. The LS3 and LS5 use two 123's because it's a 5W emitter with 7.2 volt input. [Edit: oops, I'm thinking of the dat2zip board and am not certain that LS uses it, though I remember once reading that it did.]

I don't see why you'd want to use three or four 123's anyway. The LS is regulated so brightness would be the same. You'd get more runtime but battery cost would be the same. If you want maximum runtime, someone made a 2C holder a while back, though I don't know if it was offered for sale. It's not as silly as it sounds. It made the LS about the size of a thick Mini Mag, nowhere near the size of a 2C Maglite.

The most you would use is 3 CR123s, but that would be directly 8.5-9.0V, and even then, it'd be close to DD'ing it. The LS3 was only driven at 2.5Watts, if I'm not mistaken, so I doubt if you increased the number of cells by 1 (3x123s in an LS3), because it was current regulated, you would increase the wattage to the point it would run at spec (5 watts)...

I wouldn't buy an LS (1 watt) in a multiple 123 config.

The best part of the LS is its compactness. Any bigger and I would just get a Surefire E2e w/ KL1, with its integrated pocket clip and ridiculous machining. Or a Minimag with Badboy. Remember how people were complaining about the extra length from the Kroll clicky?

If you put in three or four 123's, then the LS loses even more from a output/size ratio.

If you want more runtime, the 2C holder sounds pretty cool. But then someone can just put an Everled into a Mag 2C, for cheaper than the Arc LS.

better runtime could be as simple as carrying an extra 123

Last night we went to a church picnic. It got dark and one of the band members asked me if they could borrow one of my flashlights. You know, the famous, "do you have a flashlight?" question that all flashlight lovers like to hear /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif (people know Merri and I always have some with us). I happened to have an Arc-AAA and a LSH-P. I gave him the LSH-P to use. One of the singers held the light so the 2 guitar players could see the sheet music. A couple of songs later, I noticed that the LS seemed to be very dim. I walked back up to the side of the stage to get a better look and sure enough, the little bugger had gone into moon mode. Man, I felt lame for giving them a unit with a low battery. When they took a break, I swapped out the LSH with my Arc-AAA and that worked fine for the rest of the set.

Afterwards, I thought about the incident and how to make the light more reliable.

Increasing the run time (larger battery, etc) has a limited utility because the user just goes longer before changing the cells. This doesn't prevent the light from going dim in the middle of an important task.

Reducing the brightest (LS4) does help extend the run time when you realize your battery isn't as fresh as you thought. My LSH was bright enough in moon mode to show the sheet music but it had turned a green tint. No huge deal, but it bugged me. My Arc-AAA was about the same brightness but it looked better. The LS4 will use PWM shaping to adjust the tint slightly so that lower settings don't look as green.

Using rechargeables and dropping the light in a charger every night would insure that each day you had a reasonably fresh cell. But this would require a special power pack with charging terminals, etc. A future option.

Although carrying an extra cell in my pocket would solve the problem I just don't like clutter so this is probally not going to happen either.

The resolution? Keep moving forward in progress. Add these new features and the problem of a dead light at the wrong time will be gradually lessened.

Peter

I keep thinking that it would be nice to have a tsp that is 1.5 times longer to use the LIon rechargeables (Copia/Pila). For me, I could recharge them once a week.
But then, I know 123s are cheap. I just don't like throwing them away. The other problem is that if run too flat, there is no moon mode when the LIon battery protects.

Peter - maybe you could have a 2x123 or 2xCR2 configuration where you can switch between the batteries. Would mean a bigger light but not too big, esp. with CR2. There could even be a 123 main battery with CR2 reserve, if someone wants the hassle of two different battery types. Maybe the spare battery can even nestle inside the clickie tailcap somehow, like the spare bulb in a Minimag.

The idea is like dive lights that put two bulbs in the same reflector. You don't run them both at once, but rather, if a bulb burns out while you're using it, you flip a switch and use the other one instead of trying to change out the bulb underwater.

Or, if the LS4 processor can monitor the battery condition, maybe it can have a mode where it flickers the light to tell the user when the battery is starting to get low.

Battery level indicator will work. Though it would be hard to implement on a light with no display. Maybe it can be shown as a series of flashes?

Right now (when I can be bothered), I check the voltage of my batteries with a voltmeter before I go out. If it's anything above 2.95v I leave it. If not, then I just carry a spare or change it out. Then the half used one will end up being used when an interuption in lighting can be tolerated.

-YC

Concerning battery level indicator, I think I've seen a light somewhere that lights up one of those tiny cheap red indicator leds when the battery is low. Just a thought.

But tiny cheap read indicator leds means there will be more components, changes in the design/manufacture in the light housing, and possibly harder to waterproof too.

what about one similar to the opalec newbeam?

Well... I'm not sure if you've ever tried to look into the LS's front end when it's on...

I definitely have.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif