it doesnt make too much sense to test alkalines since they cant provide constant current which the C9000 tries to draw. after 1 "discharge" cycle of an alkaline, the alkaline recovers (within hours or 1 day) and you could draw again energy (mAh) out of it. that's why on CPF some testers post "extended runtime tests" instead of "runtime tests". it is silly trying to measure the capacity of Alkaline cells, it doesnt make sense. try for example 1000mA current draw. the cell can provide 1.0A, constant, for maybe 5-10mins, then the current drops no matter how small the resistance of your LED is, and eventually (e.g. in brightness tests) you would have to interrupt the test .. and the Alkaline is yet half full! And extracting the other half of energy (mAh) is impossible: you wont get the 1.0A anymore.
Ah I see, Im not sure I can dischage at 50mA though with the C9000 (I dont have it out at the moment)
Would the Energizer lithium batteries handle it ok or would it suffer the same as the alkaline batteries?
Maybe Ill have to think of another way to test them but runtime tests are a pain if I have to monitor them, or I might just stick to rechargeable batteries.
i cant afford Energizer Lithium, they are more expensive than Eneloops so i wouldnt know.
btw, even very low currents cant be sustained by Alkalines, see the runtime graphs for Preon P0 (several reviews and tests on cpf) and also this simple graph for the Fenix E01:
if you're interested in testing cells.. i would just measure runtimes of a reference flashlight ;)
Energizer Lithium’s are just fine with continuous high-current draw.
For example, Ultimate Lithium AA's do 3033mAh at 0.3A draw, and 2984mAh (98%) at 0.8A draw - while Duracell Turbo (alkaline) do 1610mAh at 0.3A, but just 1045mAh (65%) at 0.8A.
so i wouldnt know.