ARC 4+ Level 1 Current draw is 1.05A!

I'm using one of Jon's secondary 123A's running 4.2V...

Current draw at level one is reading just over one ampere!

Level 4 is around 400 mA.

Are these nominal levels?

This is not a second!

Cheers!

How are you measuring the current?

Probes were connected to side of chassis and to negative power cell terminal. Momentary pressure was applied to active light.

HP 34970A was used to record current.

EDIT: I will add that this light gets very hot at level one if left alone. Temperature protection kicks in just after five minutes or so!

Cheers!

Ya gotta measure with the DMM leads between the LED lead and its respective wire. Not possible unless you disassemble the light...

It seems to be very high compared to what this person was getting!

ARC4 current draw all levels

Cheers!

[ QUOTE ]
sharkeeper said:
It seems to be very high compared to what this person was getting!

ARC4 current draw all levels

Cheers!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes , but those current levels were measured using an Arc+ second , less brighter !

peter said in another thread (the r123 thread i think) that the readings will be over an amp with these batteries.

not sure why that would be... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

Well, if it was in buck mode, since the battery is 4.2V, the Vf is below the battery voltage, it would have to buck the voltage down to the Vf of the LED. That being the case, the current draw should be well under 800mA, the maximum current draw of a non-permium. That is, unless the efficiency of the buck is real bad.

The other scenario, is that when lowering the battery voltage down to the LED Vf, is that the switcher/regulator is not actually operating as a buck, but is operating as a series pass resistor/linear regulator, and just burning up the energy as heat.

[ QUOTE ]
MR Bulk said:
Ya gotta measure with the DMM leads between the LED lead and its respective wire. Not possible unless you disassemble the light...

[/ QUOTE ]

Only if he's trying to measure the current to the LED. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

He's reporting the current draw from the battery. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Both are useful measurements.

I just measured my current draw on level 1 on my ARC4 second, and I get about 720mA (unloaded battery voltage was 2.7V). A fresh batter (3.2V from a Yungtong) allowed 510mA draw at level 1. The draw at level 16 was 4mA - that would give me about 2 straight weeks at level 16.

Well, I just measured my 4+ 2nd, and at 3.00V, I recorded a current draw over 2.4A.
I used a lab supply set to 3 volts, connected the negative to the side of the unscrewed head, put an inline DMM on the 10A setting, and applied the voltage to the center contact, clicking the switch suitably to get it into full boost mode.
Almost 2.5A (!). The output was measured to be roughly that of my KL1; a bit less, in fact.
Hmmmm- ignorance was bliss...

Apropos power consumption, Arc's web page http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arclsnfomo.html shows the Arc LSHP at 614 lux at 3 feet (close enough to a standard 1 meter).

http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arc4premium.html says the Arc4+ can run at 600 lux (presumably again at 1 meter) for 15 minutes (or 300 lux for 2 hours).

That implies that the Arc4+'s maximum is less bright than the LSHP (and runs 1/8th as long!), which makes no sense. Can someone -- ideally, Peter Gransee -- please clarify?

[ QUOTE ]
inluxication said:
Apropos power consumption, Arc's web page http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arclsnfomo.html shows the Arc LSHP at 614 lux at 3 feet (close enough to a standard 1 meter).

http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arc4premium.html says the Arc4+ can run at 600 lux (presumably again at 1 meter) for 15 minutes (or 300 lux for 2 hours).

That implies that the Arc4+'s maximum is less bright than the LSHP (and runs 1/8th as long!), which makes no sense. Can someone -- ideally, Peter Gransee -- please clarify?

[/ QUOTE ]

Belive this 2 things :

1_Every Arc4+ first makes MORE than double (at level 1) Lux of the best LSHP.

2_MY Arc4+ second makes MORE than double lux of MY LSHP at 1 meter, measured with MY lightmeter.

Just for fun I tested my 4+ for amperage draw at the battery. At max. brightness it was drawing 1.4 amps. Should also add that mine is a second. With regards to heat mine will run at Level 1 until the battery poops out. At which time it starts it's blinking and lowering its level routine. Batteries I'm using are Duracell Ultra 123

zulu, how long does your 4+ run at level 1? my second goes for 22:45 in 3-5 minute periods with water cooling (similar to Peter's protocol)

Wingerr recently tested my 4+ for draw at the battery and it drew 2.1 amps while his second drew 1.5. Seems to be quite a bit of variation. zulu, is your 4+ a second or a first?

daloosh

daloosh,
-mine is a second
-on a fresh battery it drew 1.4 amps at the battery L1
-it took 33 minutes in level 1 before it dropped a level
-No special treatment for the heat thing. Sometimes in my hand sometimes lying on a rubber coated bench. Thermal sensor never kicked in.

cheers,
zwf

[ QUOTE ]
Miciobigio said:
Belive this 2 things :

1_Every Arc4+ first makes MORE than double (at level 1) Lux of the best LSHP.

2_MY Arc4+ second makes MORE than double lux of MY LSHP at 1 meter, measured with MY lightmeter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, I believe the 4+ is brighter than the LS, but that's not what the Arc web pages say, and they should be corrected.

As for "double"... well, just about, sometimes, for a 4+ second. Wingerr and Daloosh and I measured a couple of seconds against some other lights: see table below. Our light measurement was probably semi-directional (somewhere between lumens and candela) and is in meaningless units which I'll call LU (light units). Oh, tables are a problem, so try this:

Arc4+ (daloosh): 400 LU, 2100mA, 63 LU/watt
Arc4+ (wingerr): 250 LU, 1500mA, 56 LU/watt
Arc LS (inluxication): 200 LU, 470mA, 142 LU/watt
Surefire E1e KL1: 300 LU, 630mA, 159 LU/watt

So the brighter 4+ second was just twice an LS (and less than twice an LSHF not in the table). (Both 4+'s were at level 1.)

But disturbingly, the 4+'s were running at less than half the efficiency of the LS or Surefire. I know that LEDs are less efficient at higher power, but this seems extreme. And wingerr's Arc4+ was practically 1/3 as efficient as the KL1 head while putting out _less_ light.

Is this an Arc4+ issue, or because both these units are seconds? Can Arc weigh in on this? Or if someone on the forum has a factory-first 4+ and LS, light meter and ammeter, they could offer us another set of figures (preferably with the 4+ set to level 1, and also set to a level giving the same brightness as their LS).

From the opening post, sharkeeper's measurement was 1.05A for his first; assuming his brightness is at least equal to daloosh's second, it seems the efficiency is then more in range with the KL1-

/edit: oops, he made the measurement running 4.2V, so that'd have to be taken into account too-

The following are light levels and currents taken at the battery for two ARC 4+ firsts, one stock ARC LSH-P with a Q4J emitter, and one ARC LS 2nd gen circuit modded to 636ma with a TWOK III emiter and fraen optic.

Light levels are taken at one meter and are in Lux at the center of the hotspot. Total lumen output is area integrated lux readings converted into lumens.

LSH-P- 362 lux @504ma 2.8v total output 29 lumens

ARC4+sn314- 867 lux @815ma 2.9v total output 33 lumens

ARC4+sn393- 696 lux@1023ma 2.9v total output 39 lumens

LS-TWOK mod- 1016 lux@769ma 2.9v total output 43 lumens

The dimmer hotspot ARC4+ puts out more total light than the higher center intensity ARC4+. You can miss the big picture of total efficency if you just compare center hotspot intensities. You really need to measure total output.

Steve

[ QUOTE ]
SDS said:
TTotal lumen output is area integrated lux readings converted into lumens.



[/ QUOTE ]
Steve, you have access to a photometric goniometer? Tell us more about your instrumentation.