Help ! -Need AA light with long runtime on low/moonlight mode

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AA / 1 x 14500 Flashlights
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The Atoms are wicked, my AAF is nearly the same output as my SWM D40A (0.7 vs 0.8 lms), and will do 200+ hrs (9ma Eneloop tailcap current draw) - I cannot believe they only spec 45 hrs. The 150ish lumen-hours/AA is the best efficiency I’ve ever seen for sub-lumen output, but this driver does lack voltage regulation (i.e., output changes depending upon V, and the light is rated to 4.2V). I bought a bunch for$18 when the reflectored version (“F”) went on clearance earlier in the year, but I think the current AA mules are way out of the OPs price range.

The A0 mules tend to be a bit dim for me too. Although I agree you can wait for deep dark adaptation, I find I’m always blowing my deep night vision with something (eg, smartphone surfing at lowest output), so I tend to prefer the “brighter” moonlights, and with a little more hotspot focus/lux.

Do you have a link to an independent output/tailcap current test of this light? I’m curious since that’s more than twice as efficient as I’ve ever seen for ~3 lms (eg, typically >11ma for a li-ion in my AA/14500 ZLs, Olights, Quarks)

Sure… I share a similar interest in low lumens, long runtimes, the 1xAA(14500) format, and have a bit of pet peeve with grossly exaggerated manufacturer specs, and sadly, your sample at nearly half claim isn’t too bad! (Although most exaggerations short change on lumens since that’s much harder to verify.)

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Did anyone ever actually test the 3L mode for run time with an Alkaline battery? Xtar does not really say which chemistry they used for run time and which they used for Lumen output…. so the user is kind of left to assume they use whichever yields the best result for each.

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Well 28 hours isnt even near half of the claimed 80 hours . I had bought several of these, and am trading 1 for another flashlight that supposedly is great at low lumens, long runtime. The MANKER A01

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Im trading the XTAR, with another forum member . Maybe they will test with a alkaline. I switched over to all eneloops and dont have any other chemistries in AA/AAA format.

Im gonna guess, on a new alkaline, the XTAR may get 60 hours at 3 lumens. That would be more then 2x my runtime on a 2000 mah eneloop.

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lisa3070, I just got back from putting your Manker A01 in the mail. Expected delivery is Saturday, I’ll PM you the tracking number. I will certainly test the XTAR with an Alkaline, a Lithium, and I will rerun your test with one of my new Eneloops. (Just for consistency, not ’cause I don’t believe you.) I feel like I’m getting the better deal, because the XTAR appears to be 14500 capable as well, so I can use my spare purple eFest from my X5. So I’ll test it with that as well.

I played around with the Manker A01 a little before packing it up - I even found a box with the spare o-ring and split ring. Moonlight is pretty low. However, if you let your eyes dark adjust, you can easily maneuver around a small room with it doing a ceiling bounce.

Hmm, now then, how do I go about testing run times…

Arduino with a light sensitive resister maybe

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Thanks……I will get yours in the mail on thursday. Im interested to see what runtime you get on your 2000 Mah ENELOOP AT 3 LUMENS.

I will ship in a bubble mailer, and also put bubble wrap over the head of the flashlight for xtra protection.

I did buy several of these , and may be interested in doing another trade with another member , if you have a single AA/AAA light that has long runtimes on moonlight mode . These XTARS, are very nice lights…with 4 modes of brightness and a clicky tailcap. Unfortunately I only bought them because I wanted a moonlight mode that would run for 3 or more days on a eneloop battery…and this XTAR doesnt seem to accomplish that.

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And don’t forget, also

I think you’re getting somewhat confused attention because people miss responding to one or more of your list of requirements.

How big is the storm shelter? Are the walls and ceiling painted white?

And, again, are you willing to wait the 20 minutes or so — maybe twice that — for dark adaptation?

Remember any brief use of a brighter light (including a screen) will make the room appear much, much darker until dark adaptation is reestablished, under your moonlight source.

Are you willing to use a 2- or 3- or 4-cell light?
If you get one of the fairly common emergency lanterns and use rechargeable C or D cells, it might take care of the problem, although not in the precise way you want.

Here for example: https://www.dorcy.com/950-lumen-area-lantern
(40 percent off with code CYBER right now, and they frequently offer big discount codes — and have very good support online)

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The storm shelter is made out of 8 ft wide x 15ft long galvanized drainage pipe . The inside is silver / galvanized, so it has good light reflection. I dont need the whole shelter bright , but enough to see to adjust a radio, walk , etc. The 3 lumens put out by this XTAR was plenty bright enough . I think 1- 1.5 lumens would work great also. Some moonlight modes are 0.24 lumens and that may be a bit low.

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Hi lisa3070
I lately run eneloop AA ~1800 mAh in ~25$ flashlight ~109 h in low mode (cant say lumens, but low mode= ~2m can read books back on bookshelf and ~5m see what on picture (A4 drawing) on wall)
If interested, then here: JAXMAN E3 Nichia 219B

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> galvanized

It looks silvery but really doesn’t reflect much light, you can look this up.
https://www.google.com/search?q=albedo+galvanized

Can you paint the inside bright or flat white?
Even paint a couple of square feet and compare.

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Impressive runtimes ! But I did want to try and stay in the $10 price range since I would purchase several of them .

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Agreed…a flat white paint would be more reflective and I could buy a inexpensive off brand 1 gallon of paint .

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It more showing that eneloops can run quite long and it was real world test.

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Bugger… That’s less than what I paid each for a bunch of S2+ hosts. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Gearbest has been caught selling fake Convoy lights in the past with bad quality. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Be careful.

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Wellp, I got enough S2+/S5 hosts (FT) to last me quite a while, plus the off-the-rack one I semi-EDC, so I’m good.

Still…

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I have several brands of AA lights with good lows/moonlights. They’re all pretty-much the same efficiency.

For 1xAA lights:

Zebralight SC52’s: moonlight around 0.1 lumens (the spec is 0.28 lumens or something like that, but in reality it’s closer to 0.1 lumens). Run time around 14 days.

Zebralight SC52’s: low mode around 3 lumens, run time is a little under 3 days.

Zebralight SC5: moonlight around 0.1 lumens, run time around 14 days.

Zebralight SC5: low around 2 lumens, run time a little over 5 days.

I’ve got several other brands, but haven’t done run time tests on them. But based on tailcap current measurements, they’re all pretty-much the same. You’ll get about 2 weeks run time on a useable moonlight mode for dark-adapted eyes, and about 3 days on 3-lumen low mode. Constantly on, of course.

For 2xAA lights, like the 4sevens Quarks or Armytek Primes, the numbers are similar, but you get twice the run-time or twice the brightness, because of twice the battery.

For 4xAA lights, the only one I have with a moonlight mode is the Sunwayman D40A. It has a much brighter “moonlight”, of around 1 lumen. It seems brighter, due to the greater throw of that light, so it’s quite usuable. It lasts a little over 2 weeks, so it’s more efficient than the 1xAA and 2xAA lights. Probably due to not needing a boost circuit in the driver.

Anyway, my conclusion is that the model of light doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a decent quality brand,. They all have similar levels of efficiency. Pick a model that has the mode outputs you want, and go from there.

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Yes, I like the old Quark design, but I’m not a fan of their new design currently being sold. I still use my 2xAA Quark Pro (XML2) and Quark Tac (XPG2) for a nice low-light in a dark room (tail-standing), which I leave on all evening in case I want to go in there and don’t want to turn on a bright light. Mine are both slightly greenish, though, and I’m not a cool-white fan anyway. But it’s fine for soft lighting.

I don’t much like the user-interface of the Quarks (mainly because of the flashies that you can’t hide), but since they come on in moonlight by default (or you can program the tac model that way), it’s good for that kind of lighting.

I tend to prefer 1xAA or 1xAAA lights for indoors, because run-time isn’t an issue when I have access to over 200 Eneloops.

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[quote=Jerommel]

I have one of those Atom A0’s, and while I like the concept of it, it’s quality isn’t very good. Flickering on high is pretty common, mode selection can be a little tricky, the tint is awful (way too cool and low cri), and the 25 lumen high is very under-whelming.

For less than half the cost, get a Astrolux A01 with the high-CRI Nichia 219 LED. 3 good mode levels, decent quality, and fantastic tint.

I use it as a night-light for getting up in the middle of the night. The moonlight mode is a perfect level of light for that.

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Seeing the comments about the Jetbeam JET-1 MK got me wondering, so I charged up an Energizer “recharge NIMH ” 2300 mAh AA battery and put in my JET-1 MK at 2 PM Tuesday. Turned it on low mode and its still going strong 52 hours later. I’m leaving it on to see how long it lasts.

I also have Astrolux A01’s, but moonlight is too dim to be useful to my 57 year old eyes. I take two with me when I travel, and leave one lit in moonlight mode in the hotel room so I can find it if I need to get up at night. I usually have to turn it up to see well enough to move around.

EDIT: It’s now Sunday, and the light has been continuously on since 2 PM Tuesday. That’s at least 115 hours, and it’s still going strong. I’m not going to be around the rest of the day to see when it finally runs down, but I’m thinking it will go at least 120 hours on the lowest setting with a 2300 mAh NIMH battery. I may order a couple more of these!!