Opalec/BB500 drain

A few days ago, I had a couple Duracell AA batts that were running to their end in a BadBoy 500. I figured, might as well kill it between uses with the Opalec and BB500...

Well, today, I didn't think the Badboy 500 would still be able to pull longer drops of milliamps from the battery, while the Opalec would refuse to run it at all...

One cell measured .812V (540ma), the other measured .845V (692ma); practically dead alkaline batteries... The Opalec refuses to run them, but the BB500 happily chugs current out of it and runs the LS in dim moon mode...

I'm disappointed with the Opalec's refusal...
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I'm happy with the BB's obedience...
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I think that is because BB has a higher cut off voltage than opalec. Still, Opalec should have lower voltage rating than BB, to increase its usability. Perhaps they want to prevent battery leakage?

I'd tend to believe the Opalec has a lower cutoff voltage than the BB500, but apparently not...

Btw, did you try to do some runtime test for the opalec, by any chance? It would be interesting to compare between the two.

Not yet... I'm spending a bit of my time, not only just here on CPF, but working on my first project (and it's a PITA), so I'm slow on some of things I've been meaning to do, like an Opalec RT test...

I will say that I'm pretty sure the Opalec runs right around twice the runtime of the BB500 (from initial brightness to when the batteries are near dead at .8V); this from Maha 2A NiMHs...

Here's the runtime plot I did on the Opalec. Do a search on the "Reviews" forum for "Run-Time" and you will get a list of all the runtime plots I've performed.

I'm confused as to the currents listed with the cell voltages. How did you measure those?

...Measured it directly off each cell with a Fluke 175... Calibrate it to DC Voltage and got the measurement for battery volts... Switched it to a 10Amp scale, and the battery was only able to dish out the "ma" stated...

Acutally, the Opalec's characteristics could be considered a good thing when you're running rechargeable batteries, because you won't run the risk of cell reversal from one battery discharging earlier than the other, and continued operation causing the good battery to reverse charge the other. While it's not the thing to use up alkalines to the max, it's perfect for normal operation-

Anybody know the Vin threshold for an Opalec?

The thing about the Opalec newbeam is that it is functionally equivalent to a Princeton Tec Attitude... which is much cheaper and lighter and smaller than a Minimag outfitted with an Opalec. They have similar runtimes and brightness.

The Opalec is a whole different animal than the Attitude. The Opalec utilizes current regulation to give you constant brightness with an indicator light to warn you when it falls out of regulation. The Attitude isn't regulated at all. The Attitude will run longer than the Opalec but the Opalec will run brightly much longer than the Attitude.

Check out Brock's Runtime Charts on the led tab (tabs located at bottom of page).

The Opalec and Attitude start out at identical brightness but after 15 minutes the Attitude is already dimmer. The Attitude's output continues to decline while the Opalec's goes on and on at exactly the same output for 8 1/2 hours.

To put it simply once I used my Opalec, I never used my Attitude again.

Pat

FalconFX, I see. You ran the light from one cell at a time, while taking those measurements.
Hmm. And I thought the Opalec was the best AA mod for gleaning the most from a set of cells. (Constantly learning, I love this place.)

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif (In my best Elvis impersonation: Viva CPF!)