Burning Time Infinity Ultra

Hello!
Has Anyone made burning tests for the battery in CGM Infinity Ultra?
CMG proclaims that it wil burn something like 25 hours full bright and continue to burn dimmer several hours. Some people say that it only burns about 10 12 hours (twice as long as Arc AAA).
Anyone that has testad or has a graph of the output of the Infinity Ultra versus Time ??
Regards
/Patrik

Yes there's a test on The Light Site, it ran about 12 hours on an alkaline. I did a test with a partly-discharged 1450 mAH NiMH cell and it was pretty dim after 8-10 hours, so maybe 12 hours of decent light sounds about right for an alkaline. Maybe you could get 25 hours on a lithium.

The Ultra isn't regulated the same way as the Arc. The Arc works its way down to maybe 50% brightness before dropping into "moon mode" which might be 5% or so. The Ultra gets dimmer and dimmer til there's not much left.

If you're choosing between the two lights, I'd say decide based on whether you want a pocket light or a keychain light, and don't worry too much about runtime. With either light you have plenty of warning before the battery goes. If the Arc drops to moon mode, just turn it off and rest the battery for a little while, and then you can get quite a bit more normal-mode light from it.

If you're trying to minimize weight, note that an Arc along with a spare AAA cell will weigh less than an Ultra with one AA, and total running time will be about the same. The Arc is smaller and easier to take everywhere. The Ultra fits in your hand better and in some parts of the world, AA cells are easier to get than AAA's. CPF motto: buy both.

The 25 hours counts basically until the battery has near ZERO charge left. If you go by brightness, I'd say the Ultra loses its usefullness at around 12-14 hours. During this time, it's barely even half the light of a regular CMG Infinity.

Roy's runtime graph from my site:

I'd be much happier if the Ultra was regulated in the same way as the Arc AAA. I'd pay extra. The AA cell has about 3 times the capacity in common NiMH cells as the AAA, yet only weighs twice as much.

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FalconFX said:
The 25 hours counts basically until the battery has near ZERO charge left. If you go by brightness, I'd say the Ultra loses its usefullness at around 12-14 hours. During this time, it's barely even half the light of a regular CMG Infinity.

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While what you say probably is correct in practice, this is NOT what CMG claims/advertizes on their website:

http://www.cmgequipment.com/Infinity_New.html
QUOTE:

UNQUOTE:

Note the * of:
peak brightness/Usable light 100+hours

If they meant by "usable light", in that you can read something if your Ultra's directly right next to a book while you're in total darkness, then yes, it's still got light to do that even after 25 hours.

I have a Trek EX60 (60 LEDs) that lasted over 3 months straight (2000+ continuous hours), so I don't doubt that the Ultra or regular Infinity can pull milliamps beyond 25 hours.

[ QUOTE ]
I'd be much happier if the Ultra was regulated in the same way as the Arc AAA. I'd pay extra. The AA cell has about 3 times the capacity in common NiMH cells as the AAA, yet only weighs twice as much.

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Well, I'm confused. As far as I can tell, the Infinity Ultra IS regulated the same way as an Arc AAA. The Arc has a sloping output curve too. It's not solid flat in output.

The Arc AAA starts out at 20 LUX and puts out light for about 7½ hours before dropping to moon mode.

The Infinity Ultra starts out at 28 LUX and puts out light for about 10½ hours before dropping to moon mode. Makes sense since the AA battery has about twice the mAh as the AAA battery, but the Ultra is brighter (and therefore using more juice) than the Arc.

You don't have to pay extra, the Ultra is less expensive than the Arc...

Here's the Arc curve for comparison:

I wonder how the new inova x1 and cmg sonic will compare to these lights.

[ QUOTE ]
tusenkonstnar said:
Hello!
Has Anyone made burning tests for the battery in CGM Infinity Ultra?
CMG proclaims that it wil burn something like 25 hours full bright and continue to burn dimmer several hours. Some people say that it only burns about 10 12 hours (twice as long as Arc AAA).
Anyone that has testad or has a graph of the output of the Infinity Ultra versus Time ??
Regards
/Patrik

[/ QUOTE ]

I purchased an infinity ultra last week (which is what led me to this forum). I did some tests with 1700maH NiMH last weekend, and got about 9-10 hours of strong light before it dropped into moon mode.

Doug, my Ultra test didn't drop off like that. I used a NiMH battery which might be the cause of the difference.

I got interested in trying a zinc/carbon AA so I went to the convenience store where they actually sell them. But zinc/carbon AA's at the convenience stores are more expensive than I usually pay for alkaline AA's! I'll stop at a dollar store sometime and pick up a pack of z/c's.

A lithium test would also be interesting, but I don't think I'll spring for that.

I couldn't tell that the Ultra had a Sun/Moon mode. I haven't seen it advertized, and I don't have my packaging handy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Essentially, once the light starts dimming, you can term it moon mode...

The Arc's moon mode is very pronounced. On a weak AAA cell it ran at around 50% brightness for several hours, then dropped to maybe 5% or less. It was noticibly dim without being in moon mode but it was still a flashlight. Moon mode is more like a firefly. It's just bright enough to keep you from bumping into things in pitch blackness when you're fully dark adapted. You can read a printed page by holding the light a few inches away from the page. However, you can't really look around a room with it.

My Ultra (at least on the NiMH cell) tapered off more gradually rather than dropping suddenly into anything resembling the Arc's moon mode.

I think both Ultra and Arc AAA are partly regulated (whatever that was supposed to mean /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif). They will suck the battery until a little juice left and then goes into moon mode. A fully regulated one (i think) will sucks all the juice and the drop dead. As always, I remain corrected.

The Ultra, in my experience, tends to fade more gradually than the Arc.
I almost always say to my self after changing the battery--
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif I wish I'd changed it sooner. or---
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif that's bright /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

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Wits' End said:
or---
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif that's bright /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

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I find that the Ultra(-G) is just a bit too bright to comfortably read by.....

That is unless the light is held at least about 4ft away from the paper....
which is a bit of a stretch for my arms /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

In a dark evironment where my eyes have adapted - I much prefer to use a yellow Photon to read by, it doesn't dazzle my eyes as much.

[ QUOTE ]
UnknownVT said:
[ QUOTE ]
Wits' End said:
or---
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif that's bright /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I find that the Ultra(-G) is just a bit too bright to comfortably read by.....



[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, get the original infinity then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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shiftd said:
[ QUOTE ]
UnknownVT said:
I find that the Ultra(-G) is just a bit too bright to comfortably read by.....

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm, get the original infinity then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, I have the Photon yellow which works fine as a close task light that does not dazzle, and can still be used in an emergency to walk outdoors by (I had that as an EDC for over 5 years as good evidence it obviously works for me)

The CMG Ultra-G is a brighter white light that I use.......
....oh, what the heck am I doing justifying flashlights?

I'm a Flashaholic, that's enough ain't it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif