Runtime and battery life in new Princeton Remix

I bought this Princeton Remix for the 3 red LEDs and at first was disappointed in the low output. But I think I needed to calibrate my expectations. Now I find the output on high is just about right after using it a few times. Low would be good in a tent or confined area.

The specs say it has a 61 hour runtime in the mode I like. Regardless if these are the usual overly-optimistic manufacturer numbers…I sometimes find it hard to tell when a low-lumen output light is starting to fade. The output reduces so slightly that just hard to tell.

Do others simply recharge their batteries after a few trips? I’ll be using it an hour or so per trip walking the dog. I don’t want to bother with removing/charging unless I need it, especially since the headlamp should have a long runtime. But also want max output since it is marginal to start with.

I have been using this light quite a bit lately - I use the red led output while hunting rats. The specs say 61 hours runtime on high (using the 3 “Ultrabright ” leds) yet I feel like output has dimmed after 60 to 90 minutes and I’m ready to swap in fresh batteries. So I was really surprised when I rechecked Princeton’s website and it says 61 hour runtime!

I’m using < 1 year old LSD 900mAh rechargeables from HobbyKing and they are recharged within a few days of taking them on a ratting trip. Charger is a Tenergy T-6280 which has served me well. I just recharged the batteries, ran the light for a minute, and the voltage is 1.42v on each battery.

I don’t expect 61 hours of full output, but shouldn’t I get more than 1.5 hours without a noticeable decrease?

The Remix is not regulated IIRC, so it’s natural for output to decline as the batteries drop in voltage. I think Princeton Tec uses the ANSI FL1 standard to measure runtimes, so that “61 hour” rating is probably measured down to 10% of initial output and probably measured with alkaline batteries. If you’re not familiar with the typical runtime curve of a light run on alkaline batteries, the curve basically plummets from 100% to 50% in a short amount of time and then flattens out and takes forever to get down to 10%. That’s how manufacturers are able to print overly optimistic run times even when they know that the effective run time at useful output levels is much shorter.

All that to say, you might have to live with constantly topping off your batteries, switch to lithium primaries, just get used to the lower output, or get a new headlamp that has brighter red led.