Strange Results With Sunbeam Alkys

I have encountered strange results in burn time of testing some AA Alkaline batteries. I bought some Sunbeam batteries from the local $ store. I used three different lights on high mode. Here are the lights;
Tank TK 566, Acebeam L10, and a Streamlight Pro Tac 2 AA.

I normally have found that alkalines in such lights on high run from 3 ½ hours to as much as 5 hours. However, this test left me confused, and if I had only used one light I would not believe the results. Here are the results using the Sunbeam alkalines.
L 10 - 10hr 27min ,
Tank 566- 10hr 28min,
Streamlight –10hr 04min.

I tried the L 10 again, but only got 4hr 31min.
However, I decided to see what another test would reveal. I used a Sipik I mode, and a Tank TK 566. Here are the run times.
Tank TK 566 11hr 25min
Sipik SK68 Clone 1 mode 17hr 25min

Since I have no instruments to measure light, I compared the light to an ARC AAA which I think is 5.5 Lm. When it went below that point for a short time I terminated the test. Your own criterion as to where it should be terminated could differ.

I hesitated to post these figures, and only after a second test did I decide to do so.
It seems that the lights reach some level from 5-8 lm and evidently do not draw much current so last a very long time. However, I have not found any other battery that matches these run times.
When terminated the lights would not turn on, but after resting both lights would turn on and reach hi mode. Voltages were 1.19 and 1.21 volts. I believe they would power the lights for maybe several hours in a moon mode. The 566 ran through the three modes, and the mid mode might be useful for a couple of hours or so.

In considering camping trips and long overnight hikes the prevailing thought is to carry several lights and a lot of nimh or li-on batteries. Unless one just wants to play with the lights it makes more sense to use these alkaline batteries. If an eneloop runs about 2hrs it requires 4-5 to equal one alkaline that burns 10 hours.
Obviously your determination as to level that is useful will vary.

If you say these results do not make sense, I agree. But I intend to buy a few more of the 25 cent batteries.
Jerry

I think that a cell that has decent capacity, but high internal resistance could be responsible for these results.
On a camping trip if it is not possible to have or use rechargables, i think there is something to be said for carrying lots of cheap cells. Especially if there is a chance of someone forgetting to turn a device off.
Safety in numbers.

I have also had similar results letting AA alki’s run down to as low as .6 V
the trick is that you cant turn the light off or it will not fire back up. I cant explain why. but I have repeated the test many times.

I’ve tried the Sunbeam AA, both HD and alki’s, and the QC was awful. Both types had highly variable batteries in each pack; some cells were excellent and some died quickly or were D.O.A. I also didn’t notice much difference between the two types- perhaps the alki label was fake?

Even with the bad ones accounted for at this price they are OK so long as you don’t need to rely on them and you have replacements on hand. Not quality, just cheap, and sometimes that matters more than quality.

Phil

If you use a 1.5V battery in a JT it will still work down to below 0.6V but it must be above that value for the oscillator to fire up. Not recommended for rechargeables unless they’re really old and expendable, but fine for primary cells.

For some reason I have had great luck with sunbeams using them in my Vivitar 285 flashes. when they are good they are very good.