Voltage wise, I don’t see why this would be an issue - but maybe the current won’t be high enough, or the LVP could kick in too soon. Does anyone have any insight on this?
Voltage wise, I’m fairly certain you’ll be fine. For the best performance, you should consider NiMH. If your driver can handle MORE voltage, you’ll get even better performance from lithium primaries, but those are expensive and one-time-use, and they will put your total voltage over 5v, which might be a little bit TOO high for the MCU in a 1S driver. You could always use a buck driver, though.
3 years ago it was critical, but with nowadays’ low voltage leds (XP-L2, SST-40, Luxeon V) it is an extreme good combination, especially with NiMh cells like Eneloops. The only problem is that the flashlight manufacturers have not discovered it yet, stuck with old ideas and old leds.
Really cheap lights use 3xAAA in series, and they work, mostly. 3xAA would certainly give you greater output due to the ability to deliver more current at a higher voltage.
There are already plenty of 4xAA lights on the market which give 1000+ lumen output. They probably use linear regulators for their drivers, or maybe even buck, and it works very well.
So, I’m not sure there’s a specific need for a direct-driven 3xAA light. You’d lose the ability to regulate output.
I have a Crelant V4A which uses 4xAA. I’m pretty sure it just uses a resistor to drop voltage, because it’s horribly regulated. 3xAA would be no better, and probably have lower maximum output.
Thanks for the input. I have a Black Diamond Moji XP and I’m thinking of throwing in the driver I took from my H03 since I have that laying around. The PWM on the stock driver is completely unbearable, as mentioned in the short review I put together on reddit.
Under load, the nominal 4.5V will drop enough to be within the 4.2V max of a just-out-of-the-charger Li cell. It should also push a decent amount of current, but not that much.
The Thorfire TK4A, Sofirn SF11, and I think Thrunite TN4A, all use 4 AA alkaleaks in series. I know the TK4A can put out over 1k lemons on high, so it’s pushing the emitter hard enough.
Some lights come with 3 cell cartridge. The tac beam whatever lights and other is what I was thinking
Wellp, even the F13 (26650) comes with a sleeve for an 18650, as well as a cartridge for 3 hateful little AAAs.
You’d have to be truly desperate to use the last, but it’s there…