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

Thanks.
How hard wouldsa 14500/2* AA be? I have a Balder that works well on both. I just like the option for “regular” battery use.

Have you tried a 14500? My manual says voltage range 1.2 - 3… Kinda scared to blow it! mine is glued up tight.

BTW the little Orcatorch shows no PWM that I can see. I have tried water and motion. I have not tried a video camera at different shutter speeds yet. They do say that they are working on a version that will support lithium ion batteries… but may never happen who knows.

> T11
I was offered one for $5 in return for a review to be posted at Amazon; waiting on it to come.
I guess they contacted a lot of people.

I suggested they consider offering it and their other lights as hosts, so people can try out various emitters and drivers and compare them directly to the stock lights.

Lots of pitfalls to be avoided with a new manufacturer. Let’s be careful.

I have not… I do not want to cook it as I actually do like it. If I can get it apart, I may try one out but until then I will not. Would make a great little host.

Hank, I hear ya… but everyone was a new manufacture at one time or another. They seem to make quality hardware based on reviews of other lights and now having one in my hand.

Its well built with some mass to it. An XPL on a 14500 would definitely be sweet.

No progress on this yet?

> Have you tried a 14500?

Even the “3v” LiFePO4 cells can be at 3.2v when freshly charged.
I am not inclined to risk that unless I know I can replace the driver and emitter with something more robust when I need to.

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.