radellaf
Flashlight Enthusiast
So, if I'm running one of the new MiniMag Krypton bulbs (350-390mA) and buying Ray-O-Vac 30-packs for $10 (Lowe's), Duracell Ultra 16-packs for $10 (BJs), and E2 Lithium 12-packs for $20 (Sam's), the Ray-O-Vacs are cheapest, the Ultras will give me 15-20% more life for 2x the cost (1.6x the price per minute), and the lithiums 250% more life for 5x the cost (2x the price per minute).
Something that drew an amp would give me 39% more life (1.44x cost, 1.40x cost per W/h) or 341% life (1.47x cost per minute, 1.29x cost per W/h). A Tec20 with Xe MagNum Star might come close to this.
So for most of my flashlights I'd say the Ultras aren't worth the trouble, and the Lithiums might be worth half again to twice the price for the higher brightness and substantially increased run-time and shelf-life.
What I intend to find out is how long the new krypton minimag bulbs will last running off the lithium cells. Given the experiences with xenon vs. krypton 3-cell lamps in a Tec 40 with 4 NiMHs (33% over-voltage), I'd expect the krypton to tolerate the up-to-50% over-voltage better than the MagNum Star or Brinmann NexStar bulbs.
The MagNum Star OTOH would probably pull down the voltage pretty fast, but my Tec20 is presently hosting an EverLED and 2x2300mAh NiMHs and will probably stay thusly configured.
Something that drew an amp would give me 39% more life (1.44x cost, 1.40x cost per W/h) or 341% life (1.47x cost per minute, 1.29x cost per W/h). A Tec20 with Xe MagNum Star might come close to this.
So for most of my flashlights I'd say the Ultras aren't worth the trouble, and the Lithiums might be worth half again to twice the price for the higher brightness and substantially increased run-time and shelf-life.
What I intend to find out is how long the new krypton minimag bulbs will last running off the lithium cells. Given the experiences with xenon vs. krypton 3-cell lamps in a Tec 40 with 4 NiMHs (33% over-voltage), I'd expect the krypton to tolerate the up-to-50% over-voltage better than the MagNum Star or Brinmann NexStar bulbs.
The MagNum Star OTOH would probably pull down the voltage pretty fast, but my Tec20 is presently hosting an EverLED and 2x2300mAh NiMHs and will probably stay thusly configured.