AA Flashlights - "Cockroach" / "Vampire" / "Drain-me-till-I'm-empty"

Nicolicous · 2019-08-25T06:16:40.000Z

does Gerber Infinity Ultra cause alkaline batteries to leak?

also at what voltage can it drain to?

raccoon · 2019-08-25T06:45:42.000Z

Nicolicous:

does Gerber Infinity Ultra cause alkaline batteries to leak?

Good question!

I don't know the real answer, but I would guess that alkaleaks will gladly leak in anything you put them in.

Just a guess, though.

Lightbringer · 2019-08-25T06:54:57.000Z

They’re hateful little things. They’ll leak just for spite.

Nicolicous · 2019-08-25T09:04:57.000Z

Build my AA vampire light from plumbing parts a year ago. All fit in nicely althought it’s heavy due to brass.

It glow around 5 lumens and run about a month with full AA battery until they battery is completely dead.

Would love to find lighter version for EDC.

Tail stand

forward clicky switch

head stand

raccoon · 2019-08-25T09:07:55.000Z

Nicolicous:

Build my AA vampire light from plumbing parts a year ago. All fit in nicely althought it’s heavy due to brass.

It glow around 5 lumens and run about a month with full AA battery until they battery is completely dead.

Would love to find lighter version for EDC.

Tail stand

forward clicky switch

head stand

I like it!

It kinda has a steampunk vibe.

Henk4U2 · 2019-08-25T12:29:14.000Z

buck91:

$30…. ouch

PP fees included that is a fraction under €26 at AMZ CA…
Which is a lot better than the amount I was contemplating the time that Gerber was on AMZ DE .

snakebite · 2019-08-26T23:30:45.000Z

and a alkaleak will just improve the patina.
verdigris by duraleak!

Nicolicous:

Build my AA vampire light from plumbing parts a year ago. All fit in nicely althought it’s heavy due to brass.

It glow around 5 lumens and run about a month with full AA battery until they battery is completely dead.

Would love to find lighter version for EDC.

Tail stand

forward clicky switch

head stand

MascaratumB · 2019-08-27T13:14:24.000Z

timbo114:

Gerber Infinity Ultra is available in quite sparse amounts on the interweb.

Thanks for the links timbo114
Some of them have quite expensive shipping fees (half the price of the light…) but I will see if them!

sbslider:

A few years ago I ran a test with my Thrunite Archer A1 V3 in firefly mode, which is advertised below a lumen. I got 21 days on an alkaline battery. I must have has more spare time then, as I measured the battery voltage and current twice a day and recorded the data.
[…]

Interesting data sbslider! If I may ask, you just left it to run during those days without stopping the test to take some voltage measurements?

I wanna do a test with some of my AA lights, with alkaline batteries inside to see how long they last. The AAA lights I will probably test are Skilhunt M150, Tool AA V2.0, Sofirn SP10A, Manker E11, Wuben E05, and the AAA Sofirn C01.

jon_slider:

definitely, that is why I have a C01 w 5600k Yuji on my modding visor:
[…]
I respect your quest for an AA version

which are your top 2 so far?
and how low do you go, in lumens, before you dont count it as practical

my aaa thrunite has a respectable 0.09 lm low… at that level, my vision is scotopic and it makes no difference what the tint or CRI is… I cant see colors at that level

so, if you want to have a high CRI cockroach, what is the minimum lumen level at which we can still see colors, and withing what distance do we want to be able to see, just in front of our nose, or just in front of our feet…?

The C01 in warmer tint is probably my favourite High-CRI light I have! Despite I like the 5600K too!
Having a AA light like that would be the best solution for me in what concerns this quest (durable in host and runtime, single mode, …put it in somewhere and it will last… )
I am comfortable when using a light below 0.5 lumens (I have no way to measure how low in lumens I can go, sorry), so to light something nearby it would not raise many questions. In a night scenario, the RRT01 in its loooow modes is enough for me.

I will have to let the C01 almost drain the battery it has inside for months to see how low I can go before it is not useful anymmore!
I just want a light that could eat the almost depleted batteries and still give some useful amount of light

timbo114:

[…]Built like a tank.

This

buck91:

$30…. ouch

But this

Nicolicous:

does Gerber Infinity Ultra cause alkaline batteries to leak?

also at what voltage can it drain to?

Good questions! Also, how low in voltage can an alkaline go before stopping the light from functioning? 0V? Higher?

sbslider · 2019-08-27T13:34:11.000Z

I took the battery out twice a day and measured the battery voltage unloaded, and the current into the light via a tailcap measurement.

MascaratumB · 2019-08-27T13:46:20.000Z

sbslider:

I took the battery out twice a day and measured the battery voltage unloaded, and the current into the light via a tailcap measurement.

Thank you very much for the details! Didn’t have the tailcap measurement in my mind!
I will put the data in an Excel sheet and note down all the aspects I can remember, including these!
Thanks again!

sbslider · 2019-08-27T14:05:23.000Z

I’m glad someone finds my methods useful.

LightUpTheDark · 2019-08-27T15:34:08.000Z

I’ve been using my Enogear AA (Stainless Steel) to drain spent alkaleaks (with <1.2 volts) cells from my home electronics (home security alarm panel) and from workplace battery recycle tub.

With a white thread tube the Enogear AA is used as nightstand/night light for my toddler boys. Occasionally I would use the Thrunite T10 Aluminum as a battery vampire (joule thief) also.

With the Enogear on lowest mode, the light will cut out when alkaline AA is about 0.7-0.8 volts (per my Nitecore D4 charger).

sbslider · 2019-08-27T17:29:35.000Z

Likely the voltage it cuts out as is even lower. I’ve seen that the voltage out of the cell will go up, sometimes a fair amount at voltages that low, when the load is removed. Would not surprise me if the lights cut out around 0.5V, and by the time the cell is measured its up in the range mentioned.

Lightbringer · 2019-08-27T18:20:24.000Z

Yeh, I got a weird AAA alkaleak in an UltraTac. It’ll light up okay, in a few minutes dim and dim and dim some more ’til it just cuts out. Turn it off and let it “rest” a while, and it’ll come back on later and repeat the sequence.

Normally, just switch it on a few seconds, and “blink” it off via the switch, and it won’t have enough oomf to start up again.

snakebite · 2019-10-16T00:21:00.000Z

i have a nebo 1aa similar to to the csi edge.
a 5mm .5w with no heatsinking.
was a piece of dim blue junk till i installed a nichia 219c.just the led on a cheap mcpcb.
it does not even get warm on a li primary.
hey its not a waste when you have a full reel of them.
anyway i tested some alkaleaks in the c9000 and afterward i wanted to know how much usable energy they had esp after a low rate test.
well cells that were run out at 100 ma ran this for about 6 hours of useful light.
useful as in visible on the bench it was laying on under a bunch of double driven fluorescents.
i let it go overnight and shut it down.
the cell recovered to about .9v and the thing lit and ran 2 more hours till it went to a dim glow.
i have seen several nonames with the guts in a plastic slug like this one.
1 is a “police” from autozone.
its getting a 219c soon as it also seems to be a good battery vampire.

buck91 · 2019-10-25T15:01:23.000Z

moderator007:

timbo114:

Henk4U2 you’ll love it.
Built like a tank.

They also have one of the smoothest tail cap twisty on and off’s you’ll ever use. Very fine threads with good machining.
Not easy to get apart but can be modded with a better led.

People have had success with LED swaps in the infinity ultra? I’ll have to see if there are any pics or write ups. With all the warm/neutral and higher cri 5mm options out there that would be pretty sweet!

Henk4U2 · 2019-10-25T15:35:55.000Z

buck91:

moderator007:

timbo114:

Henk4U2 you’ll love it.
Built like a tank.

They also have one of the smoothest tail cap twisty on and off’s you’ll ever use. Very fine threads with good machining.
Not easy to get apart but can be modded with a better led.

People have had success with LED swaps in the infinity ultra? I’ll have to see if there are any pics or write ups. With all the warm/neutral and higher cri 5mm options out there that would be pretty sweet!

Which I’m NOT going to do. Can’t stand the thought I make this one go poof.
It was a gift from my youngest brother, and even Canadian dollars don’t grow on trees.

Hugh_Johnson · 2019-11-01T00:30:43.000Z

sbslider:

A few years ago I ran a test with my Thrunite Archer A1 V3 in firefly mode, which is advertised below a lumen. I got 21 days on an alkaline battery. I must have has more spare time then, as I measured the battery voltage and current twice a day and recorded the data.

The battery ran down to 0.88V before the light came out of regulation, and I stopped the test then. My TH20 I tested with a power supply, and it was regulated down to 0.3V.

These regulated lights don’t do as well with being vampire lights, as the current demand goes up as the voltage goes down to stay in regulation. Simple resistor regulated lights do better as vampires, or the are some “joule theif” circuits that are even better than a resistor.

I’ currently running my Rofis R2 AA light with an alkaline battery, I think its 4 days in so far. The currents a bit higher than the Thrunite Archer A1 V3, I’m expecting maybe 1/2 the run time or less.

I use that that Archer for my kids’ night light. I figure it has at least 7,000 hours run time so far. I actually gave it to my son for his birthday 2 years ago and it’s held up to all the drops and bangs. Impressive.

I also have the TH20 and didn’t realize it will over-discharge batteries. I also love that light. Thrunite hits a certain price/quality sweet spot with the right implementation.

sbslider · 2019-11-01T02:14:24.000Z

Hugh Johnson:

I use that that Archer for my kids’ night light. I figure it has at least 7,000 hours run time so far. I actually gave it to my son for his birthday 2 years ago and it’s held up to all the drops and bangs. Impressive.

Wow, that’s a lot of hours. Only 43,000 left until the LED dies.

Hugh_Johnson · 2019-11-01T03:08:19.000Z

The 50,000 hour rating isn’t a failure rating. I think it’s rated down to 70% brightness. Someone correct me on the percentage if I’m wrong.