Icon is a now defunct division of SureFire (or so I was told by a former employee). Their website went offline of 7/18/2012. So that explains the 90 day warranty -- instead of the normal 1 year warranty that Icon products used to come with.

feliphilia wrote:Would rechargeable batteries work ok for these? I bought some on Woot recently and wondered if this is a good use for them. Thanks.

BrokeDave wrote:Not only will they work, NiMH cells are highly recommended for any 1 x AA (or especially 1 x AAA) light running at 1W or higher drive current because alkaline cells struggle to supply enough current and suffer voltage depression
[...]

I agree with you BrokeDave regarding NiMH, but just want to point out that the batteries feliphilia bought at woot may well have been those iGo Eco-friendly rechargeable alkalines.

pepekraft wrote:I agree with you BrokeDave regarding NiMH, but just want to point out that the batteries feliphilia bought at woot may well have been those iGo Eco-friendly rechargeable alkalines.

I do not know the cell impedance of those to make a reasonably accurate prediction but being rechargeable it is very likely they are still better than non-rechargeable alkalines, falling somewhere between them and NiMH for performance in this use.

Here's a writeup for Ray-O-Vac rechargeable alkalines that recommends only 600mA max continuous current and at less than half the 888mA figure I mentioned previously, has already dropped to 2.5 hours x 400mA = 1000mAH usable capacity so I predict the runtime from the rechargeable alkalines could be less than half as long till the light reaches an unacceptably low light output level. See graph 3, pg. 6.

ftp://ftp2.ni-cd.net/nicd/document/rec_bat.pdf

I'd save the rechargeable alkalines for remote controls, clocks, etc and get a pack of Eneloop NiMH for this light.

Then again if you don't need the light to run for hours at a time...

Black ones are gone only orange left. In for 2 orange.

Thanks to everybody who answered my battery question. It was the rechargeable alkalines I bought. I learned some things about batteries that I didn't know before.

well, was going to get this, but since the Jumbowoot coupon don't work for some reason for the shipping, guess I am not getting it now...

BrokeDave wrote:I do not know the cell impedance of those to make a reasonably accurate prediction but being rechargeable it is very likely they are still better than non-rechargeable alkalines, falling somewhere between them and NiMH for performance in this use.

Here's a writeup for Ray-O-Vac rechargeable alkalines that recommends only 600mA max continuous current and at less than half the 888mA figure I mentioned previously, has already dropped to 2.5 hours x 400mA = 1000mAH usable capacity so I predict the runtime from the rechargeable alkalines could be less than half as long till the light reaches an unacceptably low light output level. See graph 3, pg. 6.

ftp://ftp2.ni-cd.net/nicd/document/rec_bat.pdf

I'd save the rechargeable alkalines for remote controls, clocks, etc and get a pack of Eneloop NiMH for this light.

Then again if you don't need the light to run for hours at a time...

you seem so brilliant re: batteries and flashlights (ok, maybe pun intended a little bit), and so helpful, I'm surprised your Broke, Dave.

BrokeDave wrote:False. These boost regulator designs will direct drive the LED if given a high enough input voltage (a bit over 3.(n) volts), minus a very small voltage drop across a current sensing resistor and transistor, "maybe" a diode too. It is very risky to use any battery type that has a fully charged voltage above the LED manufacturer's rating for forward voltage, and even then a 1 x AA light usually doesn't have enough heatsinking to support full spec'd drive current for a 3W LED, though I am not so sure this has a 3W LED, at 50 lumens and 3 hours runtime from a AA cell, it's probably a 1W LED or at least driven at 1W or less.

Inexpensive flashlights tend to have either boost or buck switching regulation. Having both is costly, takes up space, and lowers efficiency. Since it is boost, all it can do is either pass the full battery voltage or boost it, except in the case of low mode. You might be able to run a 14500 in low mode but it doesn't make much sense when you can do high mode with a common NiMH except with the 14500 you have higher power density but really someone caring about this factor would pick a different light running off a 18650 or at least 18500 cell instead.

When you write "except in the case of low mode", that ought to tell you something. What it ought to tell you is that this is not just a "boost" switching regulator. How do you think low mode is achieved?

I stand by my original comment.

MyPooka wrote:When you write "except in the case of low mode", that ought to tell you something. What it ought to tell you is that this is not just a "boost" switching regulator. How do you think low mode is achieved?

I stand by my original comment.

Measurement of the light in use will show I'm right, the driving voltage (and thus, current) to the LED increases as battery input voltage increases with budget boost circuits.

Ask over at candlepowerforums.com, they know more than you could ever want to about boost circuits for inexpensive single cell (LiMN/Alkaline/etc) lights. There isn't much more to discuss here since the deal is over.

Just got my shipping notice so I decided to check the tracking number to see if there was any hint as to when it would be delivered. To my surprise and delight, the package is already "out for delivery" I've never seen a woot! item ship in less than 3 days much less actually receive a woot! purchase in 3 days.
Way to go WOOT!

Billwaa wrote:well, was going to get this, but since the Jumbowoot coupon don't work for some reason for the shipping, guess I am not getting it now...

I had the same problem and contacted service@woot.com who took care of the issue... seems that Jumbowoot had the coupon expiring at 7pm instead of midnight (as was written in my email???) but service took care of it.

I would try to get that coupon code re-instated for a new order.

Good luck.

fjp999 wrote:I had the same problem and contacted service@woot.com who took care of the issue... seems that Jumbowoot had the coupon expiring at 7pm instead of midnight (as was written in my email???) but service took care of it.

I would try to get that coupon code re-instated for a new order.

Good luck.

Excellent advice, thank you for helping!