.5A more draw on alkaline vs NiMH but not any brighter?

Cereal_Killer

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Jan 18, 2013
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I've been doing some testing on my different lights recently and I found both of my L3 Illumination L10's (one G2, one 219) run 1.82A on high on fresh NiMH's but on fresh alkiline batteries they both pull around 2.28-2.32A yet are no brighter. Low and medium draw is the same between the two battery types.

Simple question- why the difference in draw and why no difference in brightness despite 500mA more current?
 

Sub_Umbra

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It may be that the light actually is brighter but perhaps it is still just below the threshold of change your eyes may detect. In that case you might see more with the brighter light but just not notice it on a conscious level.

Hearing works this way, too. IIRC it takes at least a 3db bump in volume to be able to discern a change.
 

enomosiki

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Mar 13, 2011
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Do the L10's have fully regulated drivers? If so, less voltage = higher current draw to compensate. Alkaline cell's rapid voltage sag from high resistance might be the cause, which probably explains why you don't notice the difference in output.
 

Illum

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Sounds about right, alkalines have higher internal resistance than NIMH so its conceivable that voltage sag contributed to the spike in input current. The driver likely didn't notice a difference. You will be able to confirm this if you measure cell voltage along with input current
 
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