# Regulated vs. Non-Regulated Flashlight



## DavidTHR (Nov 19, 2003)

In other posts, I see some people refer to "regulated" flashlights (especially in regard to battery usage).

What does "regulated" mean in reference to flashlight, what are the pros and cons of a regulated flashlight, and what are some examples of some popular regulated and non-regulated flashlights?

Thanks.


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## illumiGeek (Nov 19, 2003)

Regulated lights have additional circuitry that controls the flow of electricity to the LED (or lamp). The advantage to this is that certain types of batteries, like Alkaline, will substantially drop in voltage over their usable run time. This causes the light output to noticably dim long before the batteries are spent.

With regulation you feed a constant power to the source and maintain a more consistant brightness level. This can not only give you more useable run time from your batteries, it can also extend the life of your light source.

Note: NiCad, NiMh and Lithium batteries have a much flatter voltage curve and don't benifit as much from regulation.


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## illumiGeek (Nov 19, 2003)

As for the "cons" of regulated lights... well, the I guess that would be the cost. The extra circuitry adds to the cost of the light.

I suppose it could be argued that more complexity to a device can have a negative affect in its reliabilty as well.


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## illumiGeek (Nov 19, 2003)

Regulation is most common in LED lights, since LEDs have a pretty narrow power band.

You also find it in HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights, due to their power requirements.

I believe there are a few regulated incandescent lights, but this is not common.


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## chamenos (Nov 19, 2003)

as far as i know the only regulated incandescent is the surefire A2, but most LED lights are regulated. an example of a popular unregulated incandescent light would be a maglite, or any 2D light you find at your the supermarket /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## Quickbeam (Nov 19, 2003)

Beware, too, of the difference between "Regulated" and "Semi-Regulated".

A true regulated light will have a flat discharge curve like this one:







Semi-regulated generally use a step-up circuit of some sort to create a discharge curve that doesn't decline as rapidly as the battery would naturally, however the discharge is not flat.






Unregulated lights, without step-up circuits, generally look like this with alkalines:






Lithium batteries will flatten this curve with LED lights, but in high powered incandescents, it will look similar to alkalines in general.

Graphs courtesy of member Roy, more HERE.


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## js (Nov 19, 2003)

One more PRO of regulated lights in regards to incandescent: the resistance of a lamp filament changes drastically with temperature. When it is cold (i.e. at turn on) the resistance is very low, and thus there is a surge of current at first, that is much higher than steady state operation. This start up current is hard on the lamp filament, and causes it to fail sooner than it otherwise would. Regulation circuitry can limit this start up current to provide a "soft start". And this means that the filament can be run much closer to tolerance, giving a whiter, higher temperature caracteristic light. The SureFire A2 does exactly this. In fact, as this_is_nascar reported, if you direct drive the A2 LA with 2 123A batteries, you will blow it. Check out this web site for some more stuff:

voltage regulators

I don't see why more incandescent lights aren't regulated. The circuitry is NOT that expensive when made in any kind of quantity, and it adds so many bonuses. I am currently dreaming of making a regulated light using a WA 1185 super bulb.

To my mind, the biggest plus of a regulated light is that there is absolutely no doubt about when to change the batteries! And also that this means you can suck the life out of your batteries without harming your filament. I think that it's unfortunate that all the regulated lights on the market are LED lights except for the SF A2. Ah, well. Maybe I'll start my own company . . . well, I can dream, can't I?


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## Doug Owen (Nov 19, 2003)

[ QUOTE ]
*chamenos said:*
as far as i know the only regulated incandescent is the surefire A2, but most LED lights are regulated. 

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have to disagree with that statement. I know of very very few (true) regulated LED lights out there. For sure the largest number of LED lights are keychain direct dirve ones from coin cells. Even in 'conventional' LED flashlights, I bet you can't name half a dozen? After I get past the Arc and a couple of the SFs I hit a big blank....

Doug Owen


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## Doug Owen (Nov 19, 2003)

Regulated means the output is automatically controlled to maintain a set level. Sorta like cruse control on a car, as long as there's enough power in the engine (battery capacity), it runs at a fixed speed until the tank runs dry.

Very few lights do exactly this.

Some regulators are more suited than others. Those that control current are to be preferred over those that control voltage for LED use. Simple linear regulators (often incorrectly called 'buck', a different sort of regulator) can only reduce the output voltage but can be simple (cheap) and very efficient in the right cases. Switching types can raise (boost) or lower (buck) voltage, some even both, as needed but are more complex (expensive) and have an efficiency 'penalty' that can be significant. They are often the best call for batteries who's voltage changes a lot over the discharge cycle.

Doug Owen


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## chamenos (Nov 19, 2003)

doug owen: perhaps i've been spending too much time on CPF...now that you mentioned it, i do agree most LED lights are not regulated. sorry about that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif perhaps i should have said that you will find more LED lights that are regulated, as compared to incandescents, of which the only example i'm aware of is the surefire A2.


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## Bullzeyebill (Nov 19, 2003)

I guess, for now, the most available quasi-regulated incadescent lights are those run on rechargeable batteries.

Bill


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## xcandrew (Nov 20, 2003)

[ QUOTE ]
IllumiGeek wrote:
Note: NiCad, NiMh and Lithium batteries have a much flatter voltage curve and don't benifit as much from regulation. 

[/ QUOTE ]

How about Li-ion batteries? I'm researching headlamps and found that the Black Diamond Soliras comes with Li-ion batteries (not too many replies on that thread yet). Are lights a good application for Li-ion batteries? It seems like even the expensive bike and orienteering/skiing lights use NiMH rather than Li-ion. (I had a very poor experience with NiMH in my old laptop).

It appears that the Black Diamond Supernova (AA's) as well as the Soliras (Li-ion or AA's) are incandescent for their primary light and have some kind of regulation. Are these considered regulated or quasi-regulated (as Bullzeyebill says many lights are)?


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## illumiGeek (Nov 20, 2003)

It's my understanding that Li-Ion batteries are not good for high current applications. I don't have much data on Li-Ion battery chemistries, though. But I have heard that they can be damaged by too much durrent draw. Could explain why the light you mentioned has regulation - it may actually be to limit the current draw to protect the battery?


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## xcandrew (Nov 20, 2003)

Maybe, but the Supernova (reviewed by Flashlight Reviews) looks like it has the "soft start" regulation and a dimmer with three settings and it doesn't have Li-ion batteries. Oh well, I don't know.


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## DavidTHR (Nov 20, 2003)

Thanks for the info!


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## phyhsuts (Nov 20, 2003)

illumiGeek- Depends on what you mean by "high current". In fact, Li+ cells can deliver VERY large current. Thermal runaway is then a problem that may result in the cells exploding. They therefore have current limiting devices built in (often PTCs - thermisters). These devices have slow cut in characteristics, thus the cells become less efficient after a certain discharge current value. Actually, the same applies to the 123A primary cells. These have thermal fuses built-in. As far as Li+ cells go, the sort of current seen by flashlights (<4A) should not be a problem for the larger cells. Regulation is not to protect the cells. They already have protection built-in.


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## JacobGreen (Feb 8, 2012)

Compared with the traditional Non-regulated flashlight. The Regulated flashlight have many advantage.
But among the less obvious advantages of truly regulated light is the experience of cost-saving benefits of instantly responsive machine vision light-level control.


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## Samy (Feb 8, 2012)

I'm sure lights have come a long way since this thread's last post 9 years ago 

Cheers


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## AlphaZen (Feb 10, 2012)

Necrobump!


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## angelofwar (Feb 10, 2012)

I only wish SF would have followed through with their planned regulated incans (besides the A2)


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## reppans (Feb 10, 2012)

What does the term "digitally regulated output" mean? [Klarus]


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## Chrontius (Feb 11, 2012)

chamenos said:


> as far as i know the only regulated incandescent is the surefire A2, but most LED lights are regulated. an example of a popular unregulated incandescent light would be a maglite, or any 2D light you find at your the supermarket /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



Black Diamond produced a headlamp or two with a similar incandescent-lamp regulator.



angelofwar said:


> I only wish SF would have followed through with their planned regulated incans (besides the A2)



I'd have loved a three-cell light that fed a regulated P61. It would have behaved a lot like a P90, with better bulb life and whiter output across the entire battery lifetime.


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## Bullzeyebill (Feb 12, 2012)

This is a dated thread. LOL, back when I first started posting on CPF. If someone wants to start a new "Regulated vs Non-Regulated Flashlights 2012", that would be good. I'm closing this one.

Bill


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