: >: I bought a 3 watt RayOvac 2 AA cell at Wally World and it's great.
: >: Runs long time on 2 AA Nimh. Lots of light. I tossed my Streamlight
: >: into the trashbin because the silver in the reflector was peeling off.
: >: Junk. I wonder _why_ it was peeling off. Dropped too many times?
: >
: >CY: How does it compare to a regular mini mag?
:
: Hi CY
:
: You say *regular* mini mag. They now market a 3 watt LED mini mag
: that takes 3 AA cells. I thought it was too long and the reflector
: too small so I passed on that.
CY: I've been carrying a 2AA minimag in my pocket for years. They now have a
2AA which is about half inch longer. No good....
:
: The *regular* mini mag, with the tungsten-filament wheat bulb and 2 AA
: cells, PALES in comparison with any of the LED flashlights I have.
: The problem with the wheat lights is that they aren't halogen filled,
: and the filament evaporates and condenses on the inside of the glass
: bulb, FURTHER DIMMING the light output.
CY: I've seen that effect. The bulb gets dim by the second change of
batteries, adn finally blows a filament. My Teralux conversion, I really
like. Better than the Opalec or Nite Ize conversion. The 2AA LED mag may be
interesting. Wish they could make it shorter.
:
: I used to use one almost every day on the job, and in retrospect, I'm
: glad LED's have taken over a lot of the market. The reason the
: Xenon's are bright is because, of course, the Xenon gas carries the
: evaporated filament atoms back to the filament to rejoin the circuit,
: instead of letting it condense on the inside of the bulb's glass.
CY: I've heard that about halogen bulbs. You can really volt them up till
they scream all kinds of white light, and then when they cool they go back
to being a tungsten filament again.
:
: >: Then I got a great little light that has 4 light emitting diodes
: >: inside a square diffuser. $8 and it runs 120 hours (they say) on 4 AA
: >: cells at low intensity, and I presume 1/2 that time at full intensity.
: >: It's a good area light so you can see what is where, but is more of a
: >: nightlight than anything for serious work.
: >
: >CY: I saw those. You know, a night light can be useful when the power is
: >off.
:
: That's what I had in mind when I bought it. And you don't need a lot
: of light at night in a car if you're just parked, running down the
: mains battery.
CY: That's also a good idea. It would be good for reading a book at night in
the camper.
:
: >:
: >: Now the interesting experiment.
: >: I bought a 3 watt *Mag light upgrade* LED at Target. My mistake. I
: >: got the 2 cell version. Doesn't fit anything but a Maglite and I just
: >: had a 3 cell and a 4 cell flashlight.
: >
: >CY: I've heard that. The Mag upgrade is a different size.
:
: Yep. They did that because...if you noticed, the bulb holder in the
: Maglite is metal and becomes part of the LED's heat sink. In most all
: other flashlights, the bulb holder is plastic, and would allow the LED
: to overheat and burn out as well as melt the plastic reflector.
CY: Thanks. I'd not known the reson. OK, so the Mag conversion needs a good
heat sink. I'm OK with that idea. At the moment, I don't use my full size
Mag very often. Usually I use a three cell Garrity, for reading house
numbers at night. I'm a mobile service guy. But I seldom do night calls. I
have two Garrity lights, both on the original bulb and batteries. I'd love
to hear about the conversion bulb, if you'll be kind enough to check the amp
draw of the bulb. It sounds like about one full amp.
:
: >That upgrade LED promised 3
: >: watts with 3 volts, but I measured it and it only delivered 2 watts
: >: with 2 cells. So I put the LED in my 3 cell and it is putting out 4
: >: watts now instead of the advertised 3. Multimeters are good. I took
: >: it outside at night and it blows away a Xenon bulb. Hard to believe.
: >: I don't know how long the LED will last pushing it at 4 instead of 3
: >: watts, but don't care at the moment. It puts out a spot light that
: >: goes amazingly far. You can't look at the led as it is blinding at
: >: any time of day when turned on.
: >
: >CY: I remember hearing that the Mag upgrades are brighter than the off
brand
: >of LED bulb.
:
: I've found that the ONLY way to know what is going on is to measure
: your voltage and current. Not to "assume" that 1.5 volts is at each
: cell. Or *assume* that when it says 3 watts on the package that that
: is what you're getting.
CY: Easier to measure current. Unscrew the tail cap and use ammeter for a
tail cap. You're right about not being sure it's three watts. I've got a
couple flash lights I should check some time.
:
: >: The interesting thing is that the 4 watt (measured) 2 cell upgrade in
: >: the 3 cell flashlight blows away the 3 watt RayOvac I bought. Makes
: >: it look like it isn't even turned on. Don't know why. Maybe the 3
: >: watt RayOvac isn't putting out a full 3 watts ... I'll have to measure
: >: it sooner or later.
: >
: >CY: Three watts at three volts, should be one ampere draw. Most of the
flash
: >light bulbs I have are 250 ma for the PR-4 and 500 ma for the PR-2. And
750
: >ma for the Krypton bulbs. At a full amp, its going to eat batteries. 4
watts
: >in a three cell (4.5 volt) light is essentially one amp.
:
: Well runtime on D cells isn't a concern of mine. They even have 8 amp
: hour batteries in Nimh these days. As long as the LED doesn't blow
: from being overdriven, I don't see a problem here.
CY: I've seen those high cap NiMH, 8 or 9 amp hours. As I mentioned earlier,
I don't use a D-cell Mag often enough to really justify the NiMH cells.
Though, they do look good to have. Harbor freight has D cell nicads at 1500
mA, but those aren't worth the trouble.
:
: >: I'm a lucky guy. Looks like I'll be around for my 62nd birthday in a
: >: few days.
: >
: >CY: Want a flash light for your birthday? I know; not funny, Chris.
:
: My birthday gift this year, is being alive to HAVE a birthday. Gives
: one pause to think ;-\
CY: Yep, I hear that.
:
: Lg
: