Ultracapacitor LED Flashlight Charges In 90 Seconds

Iddo Genuth writes "The California based company 5.11 Tactical has recently introduced a new innovative flashlight — 'Light For Life' UC3.400. Unlike regular flashlights requiring constant battery changing this new LED torch offers a rechargeable battery that can be recharged in as little as 90 seconds using ultracapacitor technology. Various military and rescue units might benefit from this new development, ensuring them a light source at all times."

Comments

90 seconds!

[hansamurai]

ensuring them a light source at all times.

Except those 90 seconds.

In which you will be eaten by a grue.

Re:90 seconds!

[click2005]

Yeah and it'll be like every PC FPS with a flash light (HL2/F.E.A.R etc) where it lasts 30 seconds at a time.

Re:90 seconds!

[SleptThroughClass]

That's actually a myth, the flashlight in Doom 3 is actually grue powered.

Do they have a small grue on a treadmill, forever running away from the light which it generates?

Better be a mighty fine flashlight for $170

[jfengel]

TFA says it's a $170 flashlight. It's got a lifetime warranty, but I always lose flashlights before they fail on me.

What I want to know is, how quickly does it self-discharge? It doesn't do me any good to have it charge in 90 seconds if I don't need it until the power goes out.

Re:Better be a mighty fine flashlight for $170

[Feanturi]

I paid $10 for a wind-up flashlight that appears to have the same style of 3-LED array as this one. It's nice and bright, requires about 1 minute of winding to provide 15 minutes of full illumination, with less-bright light available after that. Considering that I never need anything other than a working pair of hands to charge it, I think the one I've got is much better for ensuring there will always be light when I need it. In a power outage, or out in a tent somewhere, a 90-second DC charge time doesn't do me any good at all.

Limited usefull information.

[B5_geek]

VapourWare: Lights will be delivered on a first come, first serve basis in early 2009.
90-minute runtime
270 Lumens

The claim is 270L for 1.5h, using three emitters. It looks from that close-up of the head that Crees are used, so most likely XR-Es. I'll use a rough 100L/W for my estimates.

270L/3 = 90L per emitter

90L corresponds to about 350mA at 3.2V (very roughly) from an XR-E.

If*Vf*emitters*time = energy

0.35A*3.2V*3*1.5h = 5.04Wh

So, the supercap has about 5Wh in it (again, very roughly).

The above assumes 270L at the emitter. Let's say it's 270L OTF, which would mean around 360L at the emitters.

360/3 = 120L per emitter

120L corresponds to, say, 450mA at 3.3V or so.

0.45A*3.3V*3*1.5h = 6.7Wh

This more optimistic estimate (in terms of both energy storage and lumen claims) puts us at a little under 7Wh for the supercap used in the light.

Let's see what we get with a common AW 18650:

3.7V*2.2Ah=8.14Wh

So, this flashlight's power source has around 62% (pessimistically) or 82% (optimistically) of the energy of an 18650, but is several times the size.

I think I'll pass on this one.

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Monkey]

None for me, thanks. I'm driving.

Re:Hmm...

[Java Pimp]

I was gonna mod this as Funny cause I almost spit out my Pepsi when I read this. Then I saw someone modded it Informative...

Then I did spit out my Pepsi.