My 6xAA RC-N3!!!!!! New light!.......kind of...

Well, in an effort to try something new and really just to experiement, I had a few RC-N3's laying around, and I decided to connect 3 extension tubes to a single 2-AA RC-N3. What do I get?




So I drop in batteries...and they keep falling in until the 6th one reaches the top! You all should have seen the look on my wifes face when I showed her this new creation!! Here is what it looked like: :ironic:

Anyways, here's another comparison:



The best part is, it actually runs on the 6AA's!!!!!!!

Although, it is only good for short bursts, and it will start making a funny smell. I think the driver is going out.........

Haha.....anyways, I thought you all could enjoy a good laugh.

That's a boost regulated light, anything more than 3AA cells in series will burn it out in short order. Rather than destroy your LED and driver, I'd suggest just ordering a buck regulator and swapping that in.

Your a funny guy

mdocod said:

That's a boost regulated light, anything more than 3AA cells in series will burn it out in short order. Rather than destroy your LED and driver, I'd suggest just ordering a buck regulator and swapping that in.

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Well, as you can see, it's not exactly a brand new light! So I don't mind experimenting with it a bit.

On a positive note, the original light went through an entire year of continual use in the hands of a weld inspector, 8hrs a day, 5 days a week. Every other day he was changing the batteries. The only thing that made him turn it in for a new one was a small amount of flickering that it started doing. The light still worked and still was just as bright. It had weld spatter on the glass lens, the anodizing was all but worn off, and the rubber clicky had practically no cross pattern anymore.

+1 for anyone who gets the RC-N3 Q5. They are worth every penny.


And speaking of the 6aa in series.....I have no idea what that will do to the poor driver and emitter. They are already suffering, that I know. I stunk up the house when I left the light on for over 5 seconds!! Something began to smolder....:devil:

That's pretty sweet!

I'm curious, if you use two AA extensions, will 3 AAs fit in there neatly? I wouldn't mind having a 3AA RC-N3.

LOL you'll kill it in a heartbeat... its a boost regulator only, it does not buck Vin down to Vf.

I'm surprised the XR_E lasted 30 seconds in that thing.

Yes the N3 is a very durable light, backed by one of the best www retailers in the biz.(not DX... the other guy)

Radiophile said:

That's pretty sweet!

I'm curious, if you use two AA extensions, will 3 AAs fit in there neatly? I wouldn't mind having a 3AA RC-N3.

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You'd still be driving the LED with 4.5V off a fresh charge. with high current eneloops you are still taking a risk.

kramer5150 said:

LOL you'll kill it in a heartbeat... its a boost regulator only, it does not buck Vin down to Vf.

I'm surprised the XR_E lasted 30 seconds in that thing.

Yes the N3 is a very durable light, backed by one of the best www retailers in the biz.(not DX... the other guy)

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psst, who's "the other guy?" if you can't post, PM it to me.

On a separate note, i've not had any problems with DX, in fact, head on over to the Cheers section, i've actually posted a cheer for them there. Wouldnt be appropriate to post it here.

But people has been using 4.2 volt recharable lithiums for ages without promlems. So should work. Besides another ten bucks for an emitter and driver is no big deal. Even for a high schooler like me.

hyperloop said:

psst, who's "the other guy?" if you can't post, PM it to me.

On a separate note, i've not had any problems with DX, in fact, head on over to the Cheers section, i've actually posted a cheer for them there. Wouldnt be appropriate to post it here.

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It's no secret. Bryan at Shiningbeam.com sells the Q5 version of the RC-N3 which gives more output over the P4 version.

Radiophile: No, the 3AA config doesn't work. Well, it might if the tailcap had a 2" long spring. Haha.

I appreciate the views everybody.... This was more of a joke thanything else.....and I thought that it was pretty neat to try.

Ryanrpm said:

It's no secret. Bryan at Shiningbeam.com sells the Q5 version of the RC-N3 which gives more output over the P4 version.

Radiophile: No, the 3AA config doesn't work. Well, it might if the tailcap had a 2" long spring. Haha.

I appreciate the views everybody.... This was more of a joke thanything else.....and I thought that it was pretty neat to try.

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Curious... just how long did the LED last?

Yes I was hinting at Bryan.

kramer5150 said:

Curious... just how long did the LED last?

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Well, it's still going. I haven't burned it out yet. But I'm careful to not leave it on for more than 2 seconds at a time either!

I'm going to add more extensions to see how long I can get this thing to go.

Here is a few more photos that I took with my phone.