Can anyone step up for an AA/2AA only BLF budget flashlight?

I might …. it is s fairly nice light though and I need to finish my review first.

Hope there’s a chance this is still alive given the recent bumping. I choose to believe there are lots of aa fans and they’re just really quiet :wink: I don’t use my single aas much outside of travel these days but I’m always keen on improvements to the format. To be fair replacing the lights I use more frequently (li-ion and nitecore multi aa) would probably be in the arena of multi aa and seeing a new blf design there would be great, especially if they are a high cri alternative to existing performance multi aa.

I like AAs! The form factor is better than 18650 for casual use and eneloops are supposed to handle the heat of being left in a car better than li-ion cells. But there aren’t many good budget AA lights.

This is one of the good AA only lights. They do not get the output of a Zebralight, but still it is a good one.

I don’t like boost drivers with Li ion cells, it is too easy to run them too low. There are drivers that keep track of which type cell is in, but I wouldn’t trust that.
I am looking for drivers for Romisen A-6 and A-8 lights, which are 2xAAA and 1xCR123 lights, so with 1.5 V lithium cells in the A-6s they could use the same drivers as 2xAA alkaline. They both take 15 mm. drivers, but 17 mm. will fit in the A-8s. So far, I haven’t found anything better than drivers from cheep zoomies.

My criterion for a BLF Special AA or 2AA light would be —- a wonderfully designed and made HOST — good grip, good thermal mass, good heat handling, all with an easily changeable pill.

Flashlight manufacturers don’t get this yet.
They should make their money once on the excellent light people will keep forever.
They could make that and glue the dagnabbed thing for muggles, but then it would seem way overpriced for people at BLF

They should work with us to design the host, and offer it while they are still in design mode —- not glued, and really well made so we could keep improving the driver and emitter.

Seriously. Wait for design to finish before starting to sell the darned thing.

And commit to actually continuing to meet specifications through the whole process, not nibble the design to death saving a penny at a time.

Yeah, that might mean a private forum and signed nondisclosures, so their competition doesn’t hover here and hoover up the ideas.

Why?

Because: many BLF people will offer ideas the manufacturer needs to consider BEFORE freezing their design.

Look at OrcATorch’s AA — could have been a contender, but the driver has to be replaced, easy to do — but it’s glued shut.

Oops. HOW do they miss this sort of thing?

Why else to offer a good host?

Because: Moore’s Law.

LEDs and drivers are going to keep improving FAST.
They need to be swapped out every year.

Nobody is going to succeed selling a $40 flashlight glued shut every year to people who want the best and the brightest flashlight.

(“and yeah, I do know that ”the best and the brightest” originally referred to the smart fools who led the US into Vietnam, d’oh”:"best and the brightest" got us into vietnam - Google Search)

So — manufacturers need to make that $40 sale once with a stupendously designed and well made host.
Then come back every year or three with a $20 replacement pill for it.
$$PROFIT$$


Just my opinion. Wiser heads will prevail.

40$ is not a budget AA light …

I completely agree! But, it is a very well built light with a good driver and crappy modes.

There are some boost drivers that survive use with a liion but they usually go direct drive with only the boost sense resistor limiting current on high. Ok with protected cells but risky to use with imr’s. Sometimes the boost ic goes, sometimes the diode, and sometimes it’s the sense resistor. More rare are true boost/buck drivers that like I said are proprietary without any mod work posted about them and usually more limited attention the top end. Also, you might be able to get a GB on one but it might be difficult to get it with custom modes.

I tried a driver from Simon of Convoy flashlights, Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com. There seemed to be a firmware problem, and I don’t have a replacement yet. It has a lot of components, so it should do something well.
The firmware acted as if it was written for lithium ion cells and had low voltage protection. If I knew what resistor to remove, that might fix it.
The low voltage protection had been reported before: Test of LD-30 Boost 1-2 AA cell. Low voltage protection is not acceptable in a disposable cell driver, but I don’t know whether anyone will fix it. It would work, sort of, for CR123, 1.5 V lithium or NiMH, but a a 2/3 discharged alkaline puts out less than a volt at one amp., so two of them will trigger LVP. The test shows very good efficiency and o.8 or 0.9 A regulated output above two volts input.

I don’t see any boost driver listed at IOS.

Oh, yeah the LDCH brand LD-30 (and LD-20) driver. Search on those two terms here, and you’ll find quite a few mentions of how strange they are with 1 or 2 NiMH cells, maybe with alkalines too. Looking at pictures of them, there are several different variations all sold with the same name and description at different places and times.

Not real rewarding.

Chuckle.

I’m waiting on RMM at mtnelectronics, who has said that eventually — no promises when — he hopes to have a multi-mode driver for 1 or 2 NiMH. Right now he has a single mode one.

Lots of places sell this driver and they will not necessarily be the same in looks or the way they work. The last few I bought are the best yet. They were from Banggood and look similar to the ones in the link above from Convoy.

I put a Keepower 14500 3.7V in mine works just fine. All modes are present!

How long can you run it before it gets hot?

Simon’s description says “18650” and he said something about that in an email, but what is the sense of a boost driver with Li ion? In the test, it acts like direct drive over 3 V. Two volts is too low for lithium ion LVP.

What we really need is a good 15 mm. boost driver.

I’ll do a test in the AM. I am not sure it is bright enough to generate that much heat. I expected more output on the 14500 than I am seeing.

LD-30 review here (with links out): Review: LD-30 1/2AA boost circuit.

http://lygte-info.dk/review/DriverTest%20LD-30%20Boost%201-2%20AA%20cell%20UK.html

as mentioned several other places — compare pictures, several different versions of this driver have been for sale

I think I have a Nanjg 110, from somewhere. The test looks good. It is high mode that matters most. My relatives all live in cities where it is never really dark. And now days most people can get small amounts of light from their cell phones.
Thanks everyone.

Harleyquin’s designed an Oshpark board that marries the nanjg-110 to an attiny13A. Actually uses the components from the FastTech boost driver with a few upgraded components. Good up to 1A emitter current. Could be a possible driver choice for a AA SE light.

The problem there for me is that I don’t load firmware.