DL123A in an Eternalight Ergo...?

Hi guys, I got a strange idea for extending the already long lasting light of the Eternalight, doing some fast size comparisons I think the eternalight could hold 6 DL123A in 3 two batery groups, would be in a series to produce just 6 volts but I think with all the juice the DL´s has, the light could operate the 700 hrs on the brightest setting !

Do you think the leds or circutry in the light would resist 6 volts instead of the 4.5 ? or should the voltage be moderated ?

Maybe I´m just "Loco" (nuts)

AlexGT

You could probably find rechargable nicads that would run at 4.8 to 5 volts. I'm thinking of cramming 2 CR2 batteries into an infinity to run at 4.8 volts. 6 volts is supposed to be too high. The Photon gets away with it because the batteries are current limited. I'm not sure how the eternalight is set up, though.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Guy Guyer on 01-25-2001 at 10:27 PM</font>

I wouldn't count on either one of those modifications working, especially the two CR2 batteries in an Infinity.

Remember that the Infinity has a voltage step-up from the battery's 1.5v to about 4.0v that a white LED would require. I doubt that their little step-up circuit could handle an incoming voltage of 6v.

The Eternalight might have a little better chance to deal with 6v, since it works from a 4.5v input. But it really depends on their voltage regulator.

I'm no EE, but I've been researching these little voltage regulators to see if it's possible to squeeze the living daylights out of nearly-dead batteries.

BTW, I'm impressed by the Infinity's ability to take "dead" batteries (the on-battery tester doesn't even register) and get useful life from them. I've been using some AA's that my PDA chewed up.

Mike's right - putting a 3V lithium (or 2!) into a cmg infinity is going to exceed the spec for the step-up ckt. See my post on the LED page under P60 leds - long topic.

You can use a 1.7V e2 lithium (not e2 titanium) in the infinity - cuts the weight down, increases the brightness, and the runtime is incredible!

I am interest to try the 1.7v litium. Where can I find these battery?

The first place I would try is your local Wal-mart. In the camera and electronics section. They run about 8 bucks for a four pack.

BTW has anybody got an opinion on the titaniums by energizer. I have a couple of packs of them but was saving them for something special like a hurricane or the next millennia.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by K Horn on 01-27-2001 at 06:07 AM</font>

Energizer used to market their 1.7v AA lithium battery as "Energizer Lithium". 1.7v? They're listed on data.energizer.com as 1.5v, FWIW. They're pretty expensive.

Energizer took that battery and now markets it as the "Energizer E2 Photo" (silver/blue color). Don't confuse this with the "Energizer E2 Titanium" (silver color only). The titaniums are enhanced Alkaline batteries, not lithium.

These titanium batteries presumably have lower internal resistance than earlier generation alkalines, and might last longer in high-drain applications. Earlier generation alkalines had relatively short life in high-drain applications. Note that for low-drain applications, these titanium are probably not much better than standard alkalines. Energizer's site lists the same 2850 mAh rating for both the titanium and standard alkalines. The Lithium has a rating of 2900 mAh.

Lithiums do very well in cold weather, where alkalines tend to drop in voltage when it's cold. Lithiums also have extremely long shelf life.

I wouldn't expect the Titaniums to have any significantly longer shelf life than standard alkalines. If you really want shelf life, spend extra and buy the Lithiums.

Here's a nice comparison of several brands and types of standard AA batteries:
http://home.att.net/~mikemelni1/battery.html

(Not my site, but I wish I had done it. It's very thorough.)

MikeB has it just about right
on the Eveready batts...
As a long time battery size &
type experimenter, I find the
newer formulations-titanium(alkaline), Duracell-M3(alkaline) are
holding up about 45% better
under heavy loads than the cheaper brands..
I have exhaustively tested most commercially available cells (with aphotocell by GE in my homemade jig), and in addition, by voltage under LOAD.
-By the way, I have been able
to successfully & effectively
re-charge almost ALL alkaline
cells to give on average 3-5
times their original service.
-That's the GOOD news....
-The BAD news is that the only chargers (2) capable of doing this cost about $40-50.
-I have more batteries around
the house than I'll ever be able to use...
P.S.-I'm not referring to NCD
chargers, and am NOT AT ALL impressed with R-Vac Renewal or AccuCell alkalines.
your observations....?
batterymaniac!

------------------

Doug

I am already using Eveready litium battery rated 1.5v in my Infinity so from what I read it is the same battery marketed as the 1.7v litium.

Tbe point is there is no different in light output (brightness) from the litium from the standard alkaline battery so an suggestion is needed to boost the light output of the infinity.

I like the infinity except for its brightness. It would be great if it is as bright as the photon II.

I hate to disagree with you but having 2 Infinity's I have done this. Take a new Alkaline and new Lithium and put one in each light, mix them up and see which is brighter. The lithium is noticeably brighter. To be sure I swapped the batteries form one to the other, and still found the lithium to be brighter, so it isn't just the led or circuitry. I thought the Infinity used a regulated circuit, but it must be liner if this is happening, or I have odd Infinity's.

Brock

re- lithium and infinity -

yes - there is a difference - the step up ckts use the actual cell voltage as part of the final voltage -- i don't know how to explain this without getting into buck converters and inductors, but they basically "add" a chip generated voltage to the existing voltage from the battery to produce the output voltage. I hope you're still awake... This is why the infinity grows dim as the battery dies - if the voltage "uppers" were perfect, the output would be constant until it went off.

As for the lithiums - the price has DROPPED!

When I first got them, a 2 pk of the L91 series 1.7V lithium AA was like 6.99 - now at frys you can buy a 4 pack of the same battery with the e2 logo on it instead for 6.99! Less than $2 ea, and they last 3x what an alkaline does - it's a no brainer.

(be careful - there's the e2 titaniums and e2 lithiums - they look almost identical)

the lithiums cost less in most cases when the drain on the battery is 80mA or more - photo flash (2-3A) down to the infinity (100 mA) are all good candidates for lithium. I would not recommend them for pagers and stuff that lasts a month on an alkaline. Energizer has a spec sheet that "says" this - with graphs that are really hard to read, but it seemed the break even point was about 80 mA without using a magnifying glass.


<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by hmmwv on 01-27-2001 at 08:44 PM</font>

I wonder if putting a three volt batt. in the Infinity, then resistering it down to around the two volt range would brighten it up some without burning out the step up? I guess it is a question of, how much do I like my Infinity and do I feel lucky Still...think if I decided to take the chance with this concept, I would try it on a $20 light rather than a $50 light first.

My 2 cents.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by KenB on 01-28-2001 at 08:37 AM</font>