lampeDépêche
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 15, 2012
- Messages
- 1,241
So a year ago I ran some tests on the Atom AA model. Turned out that they ran for over ten days on low, 24 hours a day, on a mediocre NIMH rechargeable (i.e. not a brand new Eneloop or whatever). I got about the same, i.e. roughly 250 hours, with a brand new Lithium L91, but with brighter output throughout the run.
So last month, on June 15th, I started the light-engine out of an Atom CR2 running on top of a crappy D-Cell (branded by "CVS" pharmacies, who knows who the real maker is).
It just stopped this morning, after going continuously for 1.5 months. The whole time, it provided plenty of light to light up a bathroom. A bit too much light for a traditional night-light, in fact--more like 3-4 lumens, instead of the sub-lumen brightness that I like at night.
One D-cell, 1.5 months, usable light the whole time. Final voltage, 0.58. Not drained as hard as some vampires might, but on the other hand there really are not a lot of watt-hours left when the voltage is that low.
This light-engine came from an Atom CR2, as I said--the light-engines are threaded into the head, and easy to remove without doing any damage at all. I unscrewed it, put it on top of the D-cell with a little button-magnet, and twisted up a paper-clip to connect the negative end. The battery sat on its negative end, on top of a loop of paper-clip, and there was enough spring-tension in the top end of the clip to contact the brass threads of the light-engine and make a good contact.
All of the Atom light-engines (except possibly the AAA models?) are omnivorous, consuming anything from 4.2 down to--well, around 0.58 in this case.
This thing is a little slug about 1.5 cm in diameter, and about 1 cm thick. It can run in low mode, which was how I had it, or in high mode, where it will put out about 60-70 lumens from a 1.5v battery or about 100 lumens from a 3-4v lithium.
If you think of it as your all-purpose battery scrounger, it is a very handy piece of tiny kit. This plus a paper clip, and you get usable light out of all the most common battery types.
Otherwise, it makes a great night-light, possibly a bit too bright. I like the Atom AA for my night-light, because it's closer to 1 lumen. I still use that in the upstairs bathroom, changing the rechargeable every couple of weeks.
Oh, and I EDC the 123 size. Having tried all of them, I like that best for EDC.
So last month, on June 15th, I started the light-engine out of an Atom CR2 running on top of a crappy D-Cell (branded by "CVS" pharmacies, who knows who the real maker is).
It just stopped this morning, after going continuously for 1.5 months. The whole time, it provided plenty of light to light up a bathroom. A bit too much light for a traditional night-light, in fact--more like 3-4 lumens, instead of the sub-lumen brightness that I like at night.
One D-cell, 1.5 months, usable light the whole time. Final voltage, 0.58. Not drained as hard as some vampires might, but on the other hand there really are not a lot of watt-hours left when the voltage is that low.
This light-engine came from an Atom CR2, as I said--the light-engines are threaded into the head, and easy to remove without doing any damage at all. I unscrewed it, put it on top of the D-cell with a little button-magnet, and twisted up a paper-clip to connect the negative end. The battery sat on its negative end, on top of a loop of paper-clip, and there was enough spring-tension in the top end of the clip to contact the brass threads of the light-engine and make a good contact.
All of the Atom light-engines (except possibly the AAA models?) are omnivorous, consuming anything from 4.2 down to--well, around 0.58 in this case.
This thing is a little slug about 1.5 cm in diameter, and about 1 cm thick. It can run in low mode, which was how I had it, or in high mode, where it will put out about 60-70 lumens from a 1.5v battery or about 100 lumens from a 3-4v lithium.
If you think of it as your all-purpose battery scrounger, it is a very handy piece of tiny kit. This plus a paper clip, and you get usable light out of all the most common battery types.
Otherwise, it makes a great night-light, possibly a bit too bright. I like the Atom AA for my night-light, because it's closer to 1 lumen. I still use that in the upstairs bathroom, changing the rechargeable every couple of weeks.
Oh, and I EDC the 123 size. Having tried all of them, I like that best for EDC.
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