Help / advice needed

[Didje]

Hey guys,

I did a night dive yesterday and quickly came to the conclusion that my 90 lumens light clearly wasn't powerful enough.
My buddy was diving with a UK C4 eLED and I was very impressed by its output. After doing some research on the interwebs, I'm getting quite confused
I see a lot of smaller lights that output more lumens than the quite larger C4 (for example). How can, say, 3 x AAA batteries output more than 4 x AA's?
I guess I have a hard time understanding how that can be, simply because I take for granted that the bigger ones will be more powerful. Is there something else, aside from the lumens, to be taken into consideration?
I apologize if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find anything on SB.
Thanks a bunch!

 

[BB1]

First off I am not an electrickery minded person - I swear its a dark art understanding all that stuff but saying that here's my take on what you're trying to understand:

A lot of these lights use similar or the same LED, the difference in the "3 x AAA batteries output more than 4 x AA's" thing is that the same LED will run longer on larger batteries before tailing off output and may (someone else step in here please!) run a little brighter if the LED control circuitry doesn't regulate the power going into it - direct drive versus regulated.

Thats my best guess at it all after a LOT of reading!

 

[gcbryan]

BB1 has it right. Most led's need approximately 3.6V and use drivers to hit that target. The batteries for the most part just effect how long the light will run rather than how bright.

The specific led used determines how bright it's going to be. The current (rather than the voltage) determines the brightness as wel

 

[SangP]

Your best bet would be to get in contact with a store that has a bunch of lights and have tested all of them.

Send an email to Edd at caveadventurers@hotmail.com or Randy at piranhadivemfg@aol.com

I went n got a dorcey because it uses aaa batteries which is cheaper than the batteries of the Intova 4.7

Regardless, the Dorcey produces 220 lumens for 8 hrs which is more than enough for a 5 days of diving.

SangP

 

[Hatul]

Also take the manufacturer's rating with a grain of salt.

There are differences also in the efficiency of the LEDs and as mentioned, the length of burn.

Adam

 

[Didje]

BB1, gcbryan, SangP & Hatul, thanks for your input, much appreciated.
So is there any advantage other than burn time in having a bigger light? Like a wider beam covering a larger area for example?
I have to admit I hate buying cheap, but I hate it even more to overpay on something if I could have gotten something similar for less.

 

[jdfmail]

It all depends on your needs. Lot's of folks like a tight beam others like a flood of light. Big doesn't mean better imho. Do you really want to hold a big light during a dive?

 

[Didje]

It all depends on your needs. Lot's of folks like a tight beam others like a flood of light. Big doesn't mean better imho. Do you really want to hold a big light during a dive?

Good point! I'd rather have a smaller and lighter light for the same result in brightness!

 

[mksmith713]

Check oput the SSC P-7 Cree Dive Light.
At about $80. shipped you get 900 lumens with multiple settings.
I love mine.
Just do a search ar DealExtreme: Cool Gadgets at the Right Price - Site-Wide Free Shipping (Page 1)

 

[lulubelle]

I love this one. I used it as a primary for OW night dives and it gives me more than I need. It is also great during the day for peeking into little spaces.

Tabata USA, Inc. - NEW : TUL-300 LED DIVE LIGHT [TUL-300]