Attention ebay AA flashlight owners!

BatteryCharger

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I bought one of those 1AA 12 LED flashlights on ebay a little while ago...love it. Light output is doubled with 3v...love it even more! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I see that the battery is pretty loose inside the light, and I'm hoping that a CR2 battery might fit in the tube. Can somebody with one of these lights, whether it's the 12 or 8 LED, or something else that's similar, please try a CR2 battery and see how it fits? I don't have any CR2 batteries, and don't want to spend $8 on them just to find out they don't fit... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
 

jtice

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i have a 12 LED white, and UV one, ..
Nope /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif the one Cr2 battery I have will not fit.
Looks like you could bore the light out enough, but the walls would be very very thin.

I use a 14500 Li-Ion AA size 3V batt in mine, alot brighter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Just have to watch for over discharge.
 

BatteryCharger

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Ahhh...poop. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Thanks for trying it...I guess I'll be investing in some of those ridiculously overpriced CRV3 batteries. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif A lithium ion would be perfect, but I want an idiot proof light, wish they made protected 14500's.
 

shiftd

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chev, no, they are not the same diameter. CR2 has smaller diameter than CR123

phaser, i would guess the higher voltage of li-ion helped to provide the extra power needed to increase the output of the boost circuit
 

BatteryCharger

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[ QUOTE ]
Phaserburn said:
What does a li-ion cell do to the boost circuit board in these lights?

[/ QUOTE ]

The higher voltage doubles the amount of current it uses...so it quadruples the wattage to the LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

PeLu

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[ QUOTE ]
BatteryCharger said:
The higher voltage doubles the amount of current it uses...so it quadruples the wattage to the LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Why should twice the current give four times the power? It will be about 150% more power (guesstimated).

As these 'new' LEDs usually have quite low forward voltages, it will be worth a try to remove the step up circuit at all and drive the LEDs directly.
Maybe there is not much of a difference in brightness, but a gain in efficiency and most important, you get some deep discharge protection.

Edit: Sorry, thought the comparison is in between Li primary and Li-Ion. My fault.
 

BatteryCharger

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[ QUOTE ]
PeLu said:
Why should twice the current give four times the power?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's also double the voltage. It uses roughly 200ma @ 1.5v or .3 watts. It uses roughly 400ma @ 3v or 1.2 watts.

If I could crack the thing open and direct drive it on a lithium ion it would be wonderfull, but with the driver it goes down so low it would ruin a li-ion and you'd never even know it.
 

BatteryCharger

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Well, I got a bunch of 3v AA batteries from CRV3s. At 3v, the light uses 500ma! That's roughly 34ma per LED, at 100% efficiency! Huge difference in brightness and throw.

[shameless plug] Get your 3v AAs here! [/shameless plug]
 

UVLaser

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I wanted to buy this flashlight for awhile but no one had reviewed it yet.
And since you have it are you going to take beam shots?

THANKS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif
 

BatteryCharger

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Here's the flashlight with a standard AA:
AA2.jpg

And here it is with the 3v AA:
AA1.jpg


The flashlight was roughly 8' away from the wall in each pic. Since it doesn't use any reflector or optics on the LEDs, the beam is very clean and round.

I see my camera has a dead pixel in the lower right corner... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif
 

chevrofreak

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Have you got a light meter to measure the output? I butchered my light before I got the light meter so I couldnt do any measurements with mine.
 

BatteryCharger

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[ QUOTE ]
chevrofreak said:
Have you got a light meter to measure the output? I butchered my light before I got the light meter so I couldnt do any measurements with mine.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I don't. If light output per watt remains the same as the power goes up, it's 5.3 times brighter. I would imagine the circuit inside the light becomes even more efficient as the input power goes up.
 

luminaria

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Any one has been able to open the head of this flashlight?

I have tried heating but no luck. I assume the head is threaded.

I would like to replace the leds...
 

luminaria

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Didn't want to try it until I was sure it was not threaded. As chevrofreak told that it butchered its light I saw an oportunity to know it first hand.
 
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