AA Flashlights - "Cockroach" / "Vampire" / "Drain-me-till-I'm-empty"

Would using Energizer Ultimate lithium cells make for a truer test down to a dead cell?

I understand the Maratac AA is no CockRoach
but I hope you dont throw out the baby with the bathwater

different lights have different pros and cons
your maratac has a lot of other things going for it, that cockroaches dont have

I think trying to reconcile specs and real runtimes, is the road to dissapointment, and you have not yet tried an alkaleak or lithium primary, the latter might cheer you up a bit :slight_smile:

as far as drivers… a Reylight might interest you

apology for the non cockroach hijack

now back to your regularly scheduled, single mode, super dim, practically useless amount of light, unless youre trying to live in a cave after a nuclear holocaust, cockroach thread… :stuck_out_tongue:

Well it’s really a combination of the rather bright low mode along with the rather dim high mode. I purchased a light rated at 75hrs low and 235 lumens high and received neither. Pretty disappointed. Compared to my reylight from mass drop or my lumintops from AE which appear at least close to spec.

Ahah, I get it :smiley: And now that I saw this, I remember reading that in a thread some time ago ! Hence recalling that info :wink:

Hum, this would be a nice solution! 100hr brightness would be amazing for this type of light!
If I understand correctly, they are not sold anymore, are they? The robustness and draining capacity would certainly be the more important things to have on it!

Is this a “robust” light? Meaning , with the plastic body, is it capable of taking “some beats”? Seems a good option, although different from a “vampire” light!!

Funny thing you mentioned this! I was thinking about that too! Recently I received the Skilhunt M150 that supposedly lasts 55 days on the lowest setting with a 2450 mAh Ni-MH battery! So I guess that fits the “regulated” and runtime, but this is not the same type of light as that Gerber or a Sofin C01. Meaning, it is not a cheap robust light that you will be able to use with single mode and also when you don’t have a charger, relying then only on Alkalines.

But your input matches my latest thinking when buck91 started the test on the Maratac!

Thanks for testing it! And I’m sorry they “let you down” with those specs. I guess this last sentence may resume it all :zipper_mouth_face:

These are not rechargeable, are they? Says 20years shelf life :o And leak proof :smiley:

Ahah, jon, that sense of humour :smiley: When were going to the boundaries on the top edge of illumination (100000 lumens) why not dig the lowest edge too? :wink:

BTW, if that cockroach has +90CRI, wouldn’t you like it too? :stuck_out_tongue:

Gerber Infinity Ultra is available in quite sparse amounts on the interweb.

A few years ago I ran a test with my Thrunite Archer A1 V3 in firefly mode, which is advertised below a lumen. I got 21 days on an alkaline battery. I must have has more spare time then, as I measured the battery voltage and current twice a day and recorded the data.

The battery ran down to 0.88V before the light came out of regulation, and I stopped the test then. My TH20 I tested with a power supply, and it was regulated down to 0.3V.

These regulated lights don’t do as well with being vampire lights, as the current demand goes up as the voltage goes down to stay in regulation. Simple resistor regulated lights do better as vampires, or the are some “joule theif” circuits that are even better than a resistor.

I’ currently running my Rofis R2 AA light with an alkaline battery, I think its 4 days in so far. The currents a bit higher than the Thrunite Archer A1 V3, I’m expecting maybe 1/2 the run time or less.

definitely, that is why I have a C01 w 5600k Yuji on my modding visor:

I respect your quest for an AA version

which are your top 2 so far?
and how low do you go, in lumens, before you dont count it as practical

my aaa thrunite has a respectable 0.09 lm low… at that level, my vision is scotopic and it makes no difference what the tint or CRI is… I cant see colors at that level

so, if you want to have a high CRI cockroach, what is the minimum lumen level at which we can still see colors, and withing what distance do we want to be able to see, just in front of our nose, or just in front of our feet…?:slight_smile:

scotopic light level depends on target distance also… for example at 0.1 lumens I can see high CRI red color at a distance of 1 foot or less, but at 5 feet I cannot see the object is red, it just looks dark brown, like it does with a low cri source

Im not really clear what the following quote means… but maybe it helps others learn more about scotopic levels

https://docs.agi32.com/AGi32/Content/references/Photopic_Mesopic_Scotopic\_-\_Concepts.htm

Scotopic: This term refers to rod vision and corresponds to an adaptation level below 0.01 cd/m2. The peak sensitivity of the rods is at 507 nm, in the blue-green part of the visible spectrum. (See blue curve in figure.) While there may be some (very little) cone activity at 0.01 cd/m2, once the light level drops to 0.001 cd/m2, only the rods are active.

At this point, the ability to discern colors is gone. In addition, since there are no rods at the fovea and the cones there are not receiving enough light to be stimulated, the ability to discern fine details is gone.

This light level is what you will find on a moonless night out in the desert, far from any town or highway luminaires. … With light only from the stars overhead, you will be able to see large objects like boulders and shrubs and perhaps a rabbit scampering by. But no colors, and you can’t read the newspaper!

I know! Saw a few on Ebay but I was not even sure if I would receive one with wear and tear on it.

Fortunately my younger brother is coming over from Canada soon and has bought one for me HERE. !

Henk4U2 you’ll love it.
Built like a tank.

$30…. ouch

They also have one of the smoothest tail cap twisty on and off’s you’ll ever use. Very fine threads with good machining.
Not easy to get apart but can be modded with a better led.

congrats!

lol, its only canadian dollars :wink:

does Gerber Infinity Ultra cause alkaline batteries to leak?

also at what voltage can it drain to?

Good question!

I don't know the real answer, but I would guess that alkaleaks will gladly leak in anything you put them in.

Just a guess, though.

They’re hateful little things. They’ll leak just for spite.

Build my AA vampire light from plumbing parts a year ago. All fit in nicely althought it’s heavy due to brass.

It glow around 5 lumens and run about a month with full AA battery until they battery is completely dead.

Would love to find lighter version for EDC.

Tail stand

forward clicky switch

head stand

I like it!

It kinda has a steampunk vibe.

PP fees included that is a fraction under €26 at AMZ CA…
Which is a lot better than the amount I was contemplating the time that Gerber was on AMZ DE .

and a alkaleak will just improve the patina.
verdigris by duraleak!

Thanks for the links timbo114 :wink:
Some of them have quite expensive shipping fees (half the price of the light…) but I will see if them!

Interesting data sbslider! If I may ask, you just left it to run during those days without stopping the test to take some voltage measurements?

I wanna do a test with some of my AA lights, with alkaline batteries inside to see how long they last. The AAA lights I will probably test are Skilhunt M150, Tool AA V2.0, Sofirn SP10A, Manker E11, Wuben E05, and the AAA Sofirn C01.

The C01 in warmer tint is probably my favourite High-CRI light I have! Despite I like the 5600K too!
Having a AA light like that would be the best solution for me in what concerns this quest (durable in host and runtime, single mode, …put it in somewhere and it will last… :stuck_out_tongue: )
I am comfortable when using a light below 0.5 lumens (I have no way to measure how low in lumens I can go, sorry), so to light something nearby it would not raise many questions. In a night scenario, the RRT01 in its loooow modes is enough for me.

I will have to let the C01 almost drain the battery it has inside for months to see how low I can go before it is not useful anymmore!
I just want a light that could eat the almost depleted batteries and still give some useful amount of light :wink:

This :slight_smile:

But this :frowning:

Good questions! Also, how low in voltage can an alkaline go before stopping the light from functioning? 0V? Higher?