Incandescent run times, output

Just out of curiosity, what would a typical run time be for a typical 2 or 3 D cell incandescent light? Rough estimate of lumens? I'm just trying to gauge the lights I grew up with vs the LED lights available today.

Maglite 3D Xenon, 82 lumens max/at start:

Wow! That's a sad looking graph. Thanks for posting it.

Mark

42 said:

Wow! That's a sad looking graph. Thanks for posting it.

Mark

Click to expand...

I'm guessing that graph was arrived at using alkaline batteries. It would certainly look ALOT better with NiMH. Remember that both the brightness AND color temperature of an incandescent bulb are highly dependent on the voltage you feed it. So being able to keep voltage more constant will greatly improve the performance of an incandescent.

42 said:

Just out of curiosity, what would a typical run time be for a typical 2 or 3 D cell incandescent light? Rough estimate of lumens? I'm just trying to gauge the lights I grew up with vs the LED lights available today.

Click to expand...

typically LED lights can put out the same amount of lumens for 5-10 times as long and even have useful but dim output for even longer. I remember a minimag clone I had (brinkman) that ran about 2 hours or so before it started to dim too much off 2AAs.... I bought a cheap $1.50 rayovac light with an LED pr base dropin that is rated at 20 hours off 2AAs with I think more output but not as nice a beam.

I love LED flashlights but I just miss the cheap old box lanterns that took the 6v lantern batteries. There was just something so convenient about that form factor. Unfortunately there are no decent substitutes. I could just imagine a ~500 lm LED lantern using the big reflector as a heat sink and 4 NiMH D-cells.

Mark

42 said:

I just miss the cheap old box lanterns that took the 6v lantern batteries. There was just something so convenient about that form factor.

Click to expand...

"Convenient" isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think of 6V lanterns/batteries, but a lot of those old spotlights use standard PR-base bulbs, so they'll accept some of the modest output Mag LED bulb-style drop-ins; Nite-Ize comes to mind, which would be a great combo for runtime, not so much output or beam quality. I doubt the reflector would be sufficient for ~500 lumens of heat, you'd have to put some sort of slug in there, lots of empty space for possibilities though.

The catch with this kind of modding is always going to come back to bang-for-the-buck - unless you already have the parts ready to go, the $30, 270 lumen Mag 2D PRO on the store shelf is the more sane deal.

StarHalo said:

"Convenient" isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think of 6V lanterns/batteries, but a lot of those old spotlights use standard PR-base bulbs, so they'll accept some of the modest output Mag LED bulb-style drop-ins

Click to expand...

Convenience means different things to different people. And when it comes to lights, 'convenient' doesn't always mean ylu can stick it in your pocket. A 6V lantern can be really convenient in situations where the light needs to be set down and aimed in a given direction, like when you have to set up camp or work on a car at night. Smaller, more modern lights are more unruly in such situations. But yes, I also think that a more modern box lantern with 500+ lumens. With some NiMH D cells, you could get HUGE runtime out of such a light. However, as far as I know, the 85 lumen Rayovac is the best you can get.

The 6V lantern battery by itself is more than ten times the mass and provides less than one third the output of a 1xAA Zebralight headlamp, which is already pointing wherever you're looking.

But some of the really old school spotlights have a proper taillight; now one of those modded for big output would make a top shelf walking-by-the-road light..

The PR drop-ins tend to give lousy beam profiles, poor color and low power. What's needed is a properly designed beefy reflector and thick aluminum bezel for use with an XM-L U2. A dinky Nitecore EA4 drops down to 500 lm from turbo and can supply 2 hours of runtime from 4 2400 mAh AA MiMH cells. 4 D NiMH cells @ 12000 mAh could provide 10 hours. The key is keeping it cheap and simple. A plastic body and a 1 or 2 stage circuit.


An EA4 is a hair over $50 on Amazon, so with mostly blow-moulded plastic construction, a $30-$40 price would be reasonable. I'd buy a few.

Mark

And those cheap Defiant XM-L lights at Home Depot are proof that you can do a VERY competent XM-L setup with D batteries on the cheap. If they can sell an aluminum bodied 650 lumen 3D flashlight for $20, then why not a plastic lantern (perhaps with an aluminum finned section by the lamp) for $30-$40?