What does Opalec do when it drops from regulation?

What does your Opalec do when it drops out of regulation? I've got a fairly new Opalec. When I first got it I put in some well used AAs and it ran for about 1 1/2 hours, then the red LED came on and about 45 minutes later the LEDs flashed a few times and the light begin to dim but it still provided useable light for a long period of time after that. Last night I was using the light with another set of batteries in it, the red LED came on and only 20 minutes or so later the LEDs begin to flash slowly a few times and then begin a constant quick flashing (like a strobe effect). I let the light run for a minute and it never stopped flashing, I shut the light off, turned it back on again and it started the strobe effect again. I let it run for 5 minutes like that and it didn't stop. So I changed the batteries and now it's working normally. I'll have to see what happens when it comes out of regulation with this set of batteries. John

When mine dropped out of regulation the red led came on just like yours did but I never noticed mine flashing - they just stayed red. What I did was drain the batteries in one of my headlamps over and over again until it no longer lit up even after resting for 30 minutes. After I put them into my Opalec light, they lit up for about 1 second then immediately when into red. From that point on, until it looked like a firefly's light was about 15hrs. BTW, my Opalec light runs on 3AA so I have very long run time. I've always wanted to see what the run time would be on fresh batteries but never got to it.

Re: What does Opalec do when it drops from regulat

the flashing and flickering is normal for regulated lights when falling out of regulation. it can be more or less intense, depending on the circuit and batteries used.
bernhard

Here's the runtime plot I did on the Opalec. Notice the spikes in the plot that occur just prior to loss of regulation.

Thanks, I knew it would flicker when it went it fell out of regulation. I just thought it was supposed to do that for a brief time and then go back to a solid light but one that was continually diminishing in brightness. John

Re: What does Opalec do when it drops from regulat

I ran mine on full cells when I got it just to "test" it. Ran a good 10 hours on full and when the red light came on, I was pretty surprised at how bright it still was. Several hours later it was noticeably dimmer, but still useful in a pinch. I let it run and finally gave up after almost 3 days. Not much light, but LEDs were still lit. In total darkness, I could probably read something with a bit of effort.