Are there any mods that increase the runtime of rechargeable or throw away batteries?
_
_
Are there any mods that increase the runtime of rechargeable or throw away batteries?_
Decreasing total system resistance will help, but I'm not really sure by how much. Maybe you can give us some specifics about your light? Or is this just more of a general question?
Edit: I need to qualify my statement. Decreasing total system resistance should allow you to use marginally more of your battery's capacity in many applications, which in turn should increase your runtime in regulated applications. It does not actually alter the battery at all.
I'll be first to say I have a lot to learn in this area so please explain to me when I'm wrong! If something I say is wrong, it's because I don't realize it
More_vampires (nice handle by the way) when you add a limiting resistor to the circuit, don't you create a source of waste heat? "
Here's my best quick analogy for this: by limiting total system resistance, don't you effectively create a marginally larger "fuel tank?
One more thing:
Limit-resistor-only setups cause output to fall off as the battery drains. You're not getting constant output with this setup. It's exactly like an incandescent flashlight dying. If you can put up with barely any light output, you can get massive runtimes this way.
Proper drivers can "suck harder" (muahahaha :laughing as the battery dies to keep output more or less the same until the voltage falls below some critical number.
You've got two ways to fly. Neither is wrong, each has advantages.
Thanks for your input! I love friendly flashlight discussions; it's how those of us less technically-minded folk learn
Good question. If you want a max blaster with a runtime of 2-6 minutes, this is exactly what you do. A small value (higher wattage rated) resistor can "tone it down" slightly if your battery is too hot. Also to consider is that different battery chemistries can handle different max amp draw. A resistorless direct drive build may work with one chemistry and then burn when you put a battery in that handles a higher draw.Why introduce a limiting resistor into a direct drive setup if the light source can survive the voltage/current?
Like I said, it (intuitively) seems like a source of wasted energy. Incan or otherwise, if you introduce system resistance in a direct drive light, some source energy must be lost/burned-off before it makes it to the light source, right? The reason to introduce a limiting resistor in a direct drive setup would be to protect the light source from destruction. For example, a copper-mounted XML2 with adequate heatsinking can survive direct drive from an 18650 while an XPE2 in the same circumstances cannot. So introduce resistance (limiting resistor) in the XPE2 system to keep the led from burning out. But why introduce resistance in the XML2 circuit?
On the other side, why place a limiting resistor prior to the driver? If you have a "regulating" driver, decreasing total system resistance only serves to keep the driver in regulation longer, right?
Not at all, sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on it. That is, assuming I have any clue what I'm talking about at all.I feel like I'm missing something really important, so I'm sorry if I'm pulling this thread way off. Like I said, I have more of an "intuitive" understanding rather than a technical one.