CMG Infinity Improvements

I bought a white Infinity for my daughter last year for a birthday and could not resist getting a second for myself. Of course, we live in a place without city lights and so can really test the thing. The original light was OK for getting around the dark woods- but just barely. Didn't compare with my 2 and 3 led conversions. So, I've been playing around with the idea of improving it. Of course, with 2 identical lights, comparisons were quite accurate.

1. First try. Add lithium battery to one light, alkaline to other. This resulted in a slight improvement in output for the lithium.

2. With great effort, I managed to scrape off the anodizing and polish the reflector of one light. This resulted in a slight improvement in light output in the form of a more intense outer circle of light. But, it was hardly worth the effort. And it made the light look crappy

3. Before giving up, I tried putting lithium batteries in both the stock light and in the polished reflector light. I was quite surprised to find that the Infinity with lithiums & polished reflector had a MAJOR improvement in light output over the stock light with lithium bats. Functionality was greatly enhanced. Maybe I'll try and get that reflector more finely polished....?

Very interesting.
Why do you think the Lithium would make so much difference over the alkaline cell?
Maybe I should try this on mine. It must have been difficult doing the polishing without scratching the LED.
The best way ti improve the output would be to modify the circuit limiting the power to the LED. This however would mean having to gouge out the PC board.
Let us know how you go.

I think that CMG is missing the boat here. This light would be twice as useful if the led was powered at 30ma and had a polished reflector. The light would put out like the arc-AAA and have a life of 15-25 hours. And a large market of outdoors people could open up. Of course, it would still have the problem of slowly dropping light output.

Even better- maybe Peter Gransee would build the Arc-AAA in a one AA configuration. The Arc-AAA is great, but for a serious outdoors-person, the AA configuration is as small as a light of this type needs to be. The brighter led, consistent output, and longer AA battery capacity (+ availability of AA lithium cells) would be a major attraction to serious outdoor folks.

I took an easier solution to scraping and polishing the 'reflectors' on CMG Infinities. I simply painted them with glossy white enamel. It does make a small, but significant difference, and with an Infinity, even a few % increase in output makes an improvement. I was too lazy/cheap to go to the hardware store, to buy a pint of silver paint, to see if it works better than glossy white. Any opinions on that?

Yes, that would be a great idea!

When looking for a pocket sized single LED light, I looked at both the Arc AAA and the Infinity AA. I preferred these over the other small lights because they are built much tougher, and they use standard batteries instead of lithium coin cells. After reading Telephony's review of both, I went with the Arc because of its brightness. He showed a side by side comparison of the light beams and the Arc blew away the Infinity!!

I hope Peter considers making an Arc AA version!

There is also a really cool "baton" lite I saw on The LED Light's web site. It's made by Streamlight, and is made of aircraft aluminum like the Arc and Infinity, but is a 3 LED flashlight and boasts 42cd of light. The only drawback is that it uses 3 N cells. I would rather see a 2 AA version with that incredible regulation circuitry that Peter has developed for the Arc lights.

Hmmmm..... I wonder if this flashlight could be easily modified??.....

True, the Arc has much more output than the infinity, but I find there are times when the lower output is very useful, esp when you don't want to totally blow away your dark adaptation. Hence why Gransee is looking into the possibility of the Arc XL (Extra LongLife?) with lower output but longer battery life.

I too really like the Infinity.

In the blue-green it puts out a truly useful amount of light and with that you get the really long battery life from a single, cheap AA. Also, I love the build quality. It just feels good in the hand.

If we are talking about what would be "ideal", IMHO it is a single AA LED unit with a simple dimmer (selecting either long life with low output or shorter life with bright output) plus an easy push button for momentary on/off.

Well, I just took a night walk in our dark woods using the white Infinity with polished reflector + lithium bats. NO problem with getting around with this outfit. I could easily find footing and see clearly out to 15-20 feet or so. Trees, branches, twigs, holes, etc were easily illuminated. I also could function pretty well in a dark garage while looking for tools. This is really not too bad for a basic backpacking or mountaineering light. Still could be a lot better with a REALLY polished reflector and the led set at a higher output. I guess that an Arc-AAA type current regulator would be too much to ask???

I also like my Infinity. But I don't have an Arc YET. I think the Arc would not be good for DARK situations where you want to preserve night vision, but when the wolves are out and you are half a mile (or more) from shelter a brighter light gives a little more confidence.
BTW does anyone else hold their light in their mouth? I found that a piece of flexible plastic tubing fits nicely over the end of the Infinity giving a much nicer bite feel . The auto parts store near me sells by the partial foot and you only need an inch. It would probably work for the Arc also.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ikendu:
I too really like the Infinity.

you get the really long battery life from a single, cheap AA. Also, I love the build quality. It just feels good in the hand.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll agree with that. That is what I like about the Arc and Infinity. They are well built machined aluminum, not just plastic. The Arc does feel good in the hand, and I'm sure the Infinity does as well.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>If we are talking about what would be "ideal", IMHO it is a single AA LED unit with a simple dimmer (selecting either long life with low output or shorter life with bright output) plus an easy push button for momentary on/off.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This would be absolutely ideal! I would prefer to have a single flashlight with these two options. I'm sure this could be accomplished with something like the Zetex regulator circuit. I just built up one of these circuits, and am in the process of testing it. It looks very promising so far....

Now heres a thought for you manufacturers out there (esp CMG). Why not make it dimmable? Here's a potential mechanism:

Look at the inside of a Inova x5 - uses a pin in the head that disconnects the circuit when the head is screwed in, but the pin is quite long. What it were set up so that pin were attached to a potentiometer? Tight is off, loosen and it comes on full brightness, keep loosening, the pin extends out from the head inside the body still making contact with the batteries, but adjusts the POT in the head and makes the LED dimmer.....

I'm no engineer, but it may be feasable...

Or how about a head in 2 sections - one has the screw threads to screw on to the body, the other twists to adjust the brightness...

Nice idea. I'd love to see that done. I'd also love to see an Arc AA.

I don't have either the Arc AAA or the Infinity, but I'm planning to get an Arc or two and possibly an Infinity as well. How hard would it be to hijack the regulator and LED assembly from the Arc AAA and put it in the Infinity? It seems like everybody would love the circuitry of the Arc with a AA battery. I'm sure you'd wreck the waterproofing, but could this be done without destroying both lights completely?

- Russ

try it .youll destroy both lights. been there done that

CMG is supposed to bring out a 2 AA light later this year. It's supposed to be much stronger than the infinity. They are seem closed mouthed on the type of LED.

Thanks for the heads-up on that. I trust you'll post in the forum when you have the gory details? By the way, I want to publicly express my delight at the service I've received from TTS

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tesla:
I want to publicly express my delight at the service I've received from TTS

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Certainly would second that.

That's the way we are down here in Houston...Right William??? TX

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TTS:
CMG is supposed to bring out a 2 AA light later this year. It's supposed to be much stronger than the infinity. They are seem closed mouthed on the type of LED.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's it, feed the the bloodline! Yes, I will second, third all favorable responses concerning William. Anything mail order light I buy, if he has it in stock it will come from him.