Damn this website, I should have stopped visiting once my KD CD was delivered, but no, I kept visiting and reading.
Now I'm looking for another torch. I was set on buying either a Romisen RC-29 or a Trustfire R5-A3, then I found a thread about the Solarforce L2i. So, how would a Solarforce L2i on 3xAAA's, with drop-in of your choice, compare to the above Romisen or Trustfire?
Sorry but can only say that I have the L2i with R5 3mode from solar force sales..
I heard that 3x aaa doesnt give enough power for an XML bulb...
But I think that other people can help you more.. But just wanna say that the L2i with 3xaaa eneloop are a nice light. (especially if you want to stick with regular Nimh batteries)
The voltage on 3xaaa Nimh in series is 3.6v. With alkaline it's 4.5v so any single cell Li-ion drop-in should work so long as you don't use more than 1amp on max. Those little cells are no good for high drain applications.
Well you need a digital multimeter and follow the instructions here from forum member HKJ: http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/Measurement%20UK.html
This drop-in might work for you but it's not XML. You might not find an XML drop-in that works around 1amp, they tend to be of much higher current. So at low amps getting an XPG or XPE would be better for your 3xAAA light anyway, cheaper too.
Rough runtime: The drop-in below pulls 1200ma on high so if you have 3xAAA in series and Nimh cells of 850mah you can get roughly(very) 42 minutes of runtime. That drop-in is most likely not constant 1200ma, with voltage sag your light will get dimmer and the runtime will increase a bit.
You risk over discharging your NiMh cells with such a low voltage. If you are using alkaline cells then no problem. But NiMh should not be discharged below 0.9v. Or 3AAA x 0.9 = 2.7 volts.