Flashlights are getting pretty good
Oct. 7th, 2008 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyI got a tiny little $25 flashlight, and while my $250 HID system is brighter, it's not much of a difference, and the HID is like 30 times bigger and heavier.
First, for comparison, my 13W HID headlight - to be fair it's 3 years old and I don't think it's quite as bright as it once was.
Next, the new flashlight with a 14500 li-ion cell (3.7v 900 mAH) loaded:
Same flashlight with 2 AA NiMH cells:
With 1 AA NiMH cell:
For fun, here's a Nashbar "Brilliant 2" 5-LED headlight - this is the sort of thing you'd get if you went to a bike shop and bought a $25 or so "bright" headlight:
I have ridden with it in a pinch if my main light died, but it's not fun. It's not really quite as dim as that, it's the camera settings, but the comparison is valid, I used the same camera settings for all photos.
Here are all three on the bar:
That's the new flashlight on the far end. They backordered the proper headlight mount, so I improvised something. Yes, it's tiny; about 5mm bigger around and 50% longer than a single AA cell. It came with an extension tube so you can put in 2 AA cells, but it's brighter with the LiIon (you can't use two LiIons, you'd fry it).
2 AA cells are 2.4v x 2.5A = about 6 watt hours. 1 LiIon is 3.7v x .9A = 3.33 watt hours. So, less run time but brighter. But not a LOT brighter, and I have a whole lot of AA NiMHs, so I don't know which I'll use in the end. The LiIons and charger were only $15 combined so it was a cheap experiment, and if they last an hour each I'll just use them while they last and keep the extension tube and some AAs as backups.
Tomorrow I'm going to try this in real life. Assuming it works out, I'm going to get another of these flashlights and an extra mount. I don't ride at night without a backup light, and at $25 I don't think there's much need to use anything else as a backup. Also the HID has been getting squirrelly; it took me a couple of minutes to get it to strike this morning.
Frighteningly enough, there is another flashlight that's significantly more powerful than this. It uses a SSC P7 LED, and users say it's "about the same as a car headlight". It does require 18650 LiIon cells though, the same ones in laptop batteries, and about $5 each.
First, for comparison, my 13W HID headlight - to be fair it's 3 years old and I don't think it's quite as bright as it once was.
Next, the new flashlight with a 14500 li-ion cell (3.7v 900 mAH) loaded:
Same flashlight with 2 AA NiMH cells:
With 1 AA NiMH cell:
For fun, here's a Nashbar "Brilliant 2" 5-LED headlight - this is the sort of thing you'd get if you went to a bike shop and bought a $25 or so "bright" headlight:
I have ridden with it in a pinch if my main light died, but it's not fun. It's not really quite as dim as that, it's the camera settings, but the comparison is valid, I used the same camera settings for all photos.
Here are all three on the bar:
That's the new flashlight on the far end. They backordered the proper headlight mount, so I improvised something. Yes, it's tiny; about 5mm bigger around and 50% longer than a single AA cell. It came with an extension tube so you can put in 2 AA cells, but it's brighter with the LiIon (you can't use two LiIons, you'd fry it).
2 AA cells are 2.4v x 2.5A = about 6 watt hours. 1 LiIon is 3.7v x .9A = 3.33 watt hours. So, less run time but brighter. But not a LOT brighter, and I have a whole lot of AA NiMHs, so I don't know which I'll use in the end. The LiIons and charger were only $15 combined so it was a cheap experiment, and if they last an hour each I'll just use them while they last and keep the extension tube and some AAs as backups.
Tomorrow I'm going to try this in real life. Assuming it works out, I'm going to get another of these flashlights and an extra mount. I don't ride at night without a backup light, and at $25 I don't think there's much need to use anything else as a backup. Also the HID has been getting squirrelly; it took me a couple of minutes to get it to strike this morning.
Frighteningly enough, there is another flashlight that's significantly more powerful than this. It uses a SSC P7 LED, and users say it's "about the same as a car headlight". It does require 18650 LiIon cells though, the same ones in laptop batteries, and about $5 each.
