Long runtime AAA?

[sambeaux2249]

I realize that this topic must come up a lot. I found a few examples when I searched, but most are 2+ years old. I'm just wondering what's available in a small 1xAAA flashlight with a long runtime. I see the Moonforce AAA says it will output 30 lumens and has a runtime of 50 hours. Is there anything else comparable?

I'm very disappointed to see that most 1xaaa lights are still putting out 5-15 lumens for 5-10 hours. I would have thought that runtimes would have improved with all the advances we've seen in the last few years. My ancient Arc AAA runs for that long...

Sam

 

[leon2245]

I realize that this topic must come up a lot. I found a few examples when I searched, but most are 2+ years old. I'm just wondering what's available in a small 1xAAA flashlight with a long runtime. I see the Moonforce AAA says it will output 30 lumens and has a runtime of 50 hours. Is there anything else comparable?

I'm very disappointed to see that most 1xaaa lights are still putting out 5-15 lumens for 5-10 hours. I would have thought that runtimes would have improved with all the advances we've seen in the last few years. My ancient Arc AAA runs for that long...

Sam

I don't think it does, 30l for anywhere near that long. They must be counting a super long taper into moonlight mode for that.

If you need that level of output, 5hrs or so is probably the longest you'll get in regulation. The e05 is a good one. Or consider a small AA.

 

[sambeaux2249]

The runtime is more important than the output for my purposes. At least for this light. I'd love something that could output maybe 2-5 lumens for 80ish hours.

 

[NutSAK]

I see the Moonforce AAA says it will output 30 lumens and has a runtime of 50 hours. Is there anything else comparable?

Moonforce is lying to you. Today's most efficient single AA lights might achieve 12-13 hour runtimes at 30 lumens at best (to 50% output), and a AA cell has more than twice the capacity of a AAA cell.

 

[shelm]

i never heard of Moonforce, sorry.

do you know Balder?

 

[leon2245]

The runtime is more important than the output for my purposes. At least for this light. I'd love something that could output maybe 2-5 lumens for 80ish hours.

That might still be too ambitious for an AAA, even with latest emitters like for example L3 Illuminations L08- although with it like some other multimode aaa's, in addition to its 3 lumen low mode, you might also be able to use its sublumen moonlight mode and get super long runtimes.

edit- maybe the atom a0's .24 lumen x 120 hours isn't as ridiculous as .03 lumens, but either way it better be really dark to be useful at all. I just know I couldn't even stay awake that long.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

The efficiency of the light will be something around 100 lumens/watt OTF today, if you're lucky. A high-capacity Energizer lithium AAA battery will contain about 1.6 watt hours of energy. So, doing the math, if you want a sustained 30 lumens output, then you'll get about 5.3 hours of run time.

IOW, Moonforce is lying to you by a factor of 10. Run away.

 

[sambeaux2249]

The efficiency of the light will be something around 100 lumens/watt OTF today, if you're lucky. A high-capacity Energizer lithium AAA battery will contain about 1.6 watt hours of energy. So, doing the math, if you want a sustained 30 lumens output, then you'll get about 5.3 hours of run time.

IOW, Moonforce is lying to you by a factor of 10. Run away.

I'm assuming that the Moonforce is unregulated and starts with an output of 30 lumens and diminishes to 3 lumens over the course of 50 hours. If it's capable of outputting 3 lumens after that long, that's good enough for my purposes. I'm looking for a long runtime flashlight for a survival kit.

Thanks.

Sam

 

[sambeaux2249]

i never heard of Moonforce, sorry.

do you know Balder?

No.. That's a new name to me. I'll look into them. Thanks.

 

[treek13]

The runtime is more important than the output for my purposes. At least for this light. I'd love something that could output maybe 2-5 lumens for 80ish hours.

The Klarus MiX6 & Mi10 claim a 66 hour run-time at 3 lumens. That's probably about as good as you can get right now.
I have the very similar discontinued 4Sevens Preon ReVo and really like it.

 

[leon2245]

I'm assuming that the Moonforce is unregulated and starts with an output of 30 lumens and diminishes to 3 lumens over the course of 50 hours. If it's capable of outputting 3 lumens after that long, that's good enough for my purposes. I'm looking for a long runtime flashlight for a survival kit.

Thanks.

Sam

Maybe an e01 & a pack of energizer L92's.

 

[bansuri]

If size and weight are the factors for choosing a AAA light you might consider the L3 Illuminations L10 AA 4-mode light with an Energizer lithium battery.
The light is tiny, weighs 47g with eneloop, 43g with alkaline, and 35g with Energizer Ultimate Lithium. Dry weight is 21g, only 1g more than the L8 AAA! (website lists them both at 20g)
The 4-mode model has a great low-low, has tint options, and is priced right.
The difference between this and a AAA light is minimal. They released the L8 AAA version, but if runtime is a consideration the AA model has the advantage.
If you're in the US shoot me a PM with your address and I'll send you mine to try out.

 

[kreisl]

(double post)

 

[kreisl]

The Klarus MiX6 & Mi10 claim a 66 hour run-time at 3 lumens. That's probably about as good as you can get right now.

current draw is 15mA on a fully charged Eneloop, so the upper bound would be 800mAh:15mA = 53.33h. i actually tested the runtime of MiX6 Low-mode with a fully charged new Eneloop AAA, do a google search on < AAA comparison review mix6 >. i got 45hours. Tested it twice! you might get 66hours if you use a Lithium AAA or Eneloop Super Plus XX AAA. Otherwise it's a plain ly by Klarus. :sick2:

 

[RetroTechie]

Olight i3S (1x AAA) is specced as 35 min. @ 80 lumens, 8 hours @ 20 lumens, or 60 hours @ 0.5 lumens. I've seen this light perform roughly as per spec, and afaik it's one of the better performers in the 1x AAA field. As WalkIntoTheLight pointed out, there's limits to both lm/W and the energy contents of an AAA battery (and both of those haven't improved that much in the last few years!).

For more runtime look at AA or CR123A powered lights... :sigh:

AAA lights are good for their tiny size & intermittent use. If you're carrying spare batteries, you might as well carry an AA or CR123 light.

 

[JKolmo]

Muyshondt Mako!! Excellent AAA, long runtime and extremely durable.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I'm assuming that the Moonforce is unregulated and starts with an output of 30 lumens and diminishes to 3 lumens over the course of 50 hours. If it's capable of outputting 3 lumens after that long, that's good enough for my purposes. I'm looking for a long runtime flashlight for a survival kit.

It might last 50 hours if it dropped from 30 lumens to 3 lumens within the first few seconds!

I echo what bansuri said. If runtime is important, consider upgrading to a multi-mode 1xAA light, like the L3 Illuminations L10, or a more expensive option like the Zebralight SC52. That way, you get very long runtimes on a low output, but pretty-good high output for times you might need it. The AA gives you much more runtime than a AAA.

 

[reppans]

The Klarus MiX6 & Mi10 claim a 66 hour run-time at 3 lumens. That's probably about as good as you can get right now.
I have the very similar discontinued 4Sevens Preon ReVo and really like it.

current draw is 15mA on a fully charged Eneloop, so the upper bound would be 800mAh:15mA = 53.33h. i actually tested the runtime of MiX6 Low-mode with a fully charged new Eneloop AAA, do a google search on < AAA comparison review mix6 >. i got 45hours. Tested it twice! you might get 66hours if you use a Lithium AAA or Eneloop Super Plus XX AAA. Otherwise it's a plain ly by Klarus. :sick2:

Agree with all the above... the Klarus is a stolen design from the Preon Revo, and I've read other runtime testimonials of the Revo doing ~45hrs on an Eneloop. Foursevens did list the light at 1.5 lumens, vs the Klarus 3 lms, but that's pretty consistent with the lumen conservatism/exaggeration between the two manufacturers on other lights. I personally won't support a manufacturer into corporate theft.

How about an Olight i3S EOS which has a 0.5 lms low?

 

[defloyd77]

A lot of you saying these companies are lying are misinformed. ANSI requirements are how many lumens are measured after being on for 3 minutes and how long it takes to get to 10%. So a light could be 30 lumens for 3 minutes, drop down to 4 lumens and then finally drop to 3 lumens (10%) after 50 hours and could make a legitimate claim of a maximum output of 30 lumens and a maximum runtime of 50 hours with the ANSI rating system.

Further more, continuous runtime tests are somewhat useless and impractical in the real world. With runtime tests, you never turn off the light, in real use you will. I have done some experimenting in the past a few AAA lights (Peak Eiger, Fenix E01 and iTP EOS) where I got a good idea of how long they could run as a control test, then repeated the test, except I would turn the light off and back on at regular intervals. They all reached a point where they all would fail to turn back on, all of them falling considerably short of the control runtime.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

A lot of you saying these companies are lying are misinformed. ANSI requirements are how many lumens are measured after being on for 3 minutes and how long it takes to get to 10%. So a light could be 30 lumens for 3 minutes, drop down to 4 lumens and then finally drop to 3 lumens (10%) after 50 hours and could make a legitimate claim of a maximum output of 30 lumens and a maximum runtime of 50 hours with the ANSI rating system.

Gaming the system is in the same category as lying, IMO.

If you bought an electric car that advertized it could go 100 km/h, but then when you drove it off the lot onto the highway it dropped down to a max speed of 10 km/h after 3 minutes, wouldn't you feel you were lied to? You thought you were buying a Tesla, but ended up with a golf cart!