Clocks.

I’ve got a half-dozen quartz analog clocks that use a single AA, and three “atomic” LCD clocks that use three cells. They can run for a year or more on “discharged” AA’s. They come out of the flashlights, and replace what’s in the clocks. Keeping in mind all alkalines will eventually leak…

I also have the Niteize bulb kits in all of my 2 AA mags, and am generally very pleased with them. It’s not a Surefire, but it’s better than the single yellowish bulb. Walmart sells the Niteize bulb kit for about $4, compared to $9 or $10 elsewhere. The kit includes a bulb (3 leds on a piece of PCB with a small resistor) and a replacement reflector. You remove the old and replace with the new. I have had a few instances where the bulbs flicker because I didn’t have the bezel switch just right, but they generally work very well and are very good on batteries. The light is a clean blue-white, and looks very different from the yellowish incandescent bulb. It doesn’t seem to project very far. About 10 ft of diffused light, which cannot really be focused, unlike the original bulb and reflector. So far, I give them a 7.5 on the small, close task, intermittant flashlight use scale, where the original bulb was about a 5, due to bulb failure, darkening, and battery drain. If the batteries leak because they don’t drain fast enough, that will be irritating, but not really the bulb’s fault.

On a side note, what do you do with 75% used batteries anymore to use them up? Walkmans and gameboys are out. Flashlights with LEDs won’t do it. I don’t have a remote controlled car. Maybe I need to find one of those AA powered screwdrivers or dremels!

Since the cells last longer, they will remain in the light far longer, increasing the odds of leaking. In my experience, all alkalines will leak eventually. Multi-cell flashlights compound the problem, where one cell may fully discharge, while the others still have some charge left. The good cells wind up reversing the dead cell, which makes it leak. This happened on my dual AA Maglite with the Nite Ize 3-LED upgrade. Still had lots of light, but the cells had been in there for two years and when I went to change them after the intensity had dropped about 50%, one cell had leaked acid all over the inside. UGH.

Moral: Replace the batteries at the first sign of discharge, only use cells from the same package, check them frequently.

Self:
Are those the guys that ran enough juice through a flashlight to get to light things on fire? I don’t recall where I saw it but there was video involved. In any event, the light was so powerful that the heat it produced would light materials on fire up close within seconds.

If you’re looking for a smoother beam at broad angles, many options exist. Block off a day on your schedule, and head over to the Candlepower Forums. Toolmonger has been posting a lot of flashlight-related stuff lately, but if you want to get past the stuff you can find at a big-box store, check out some of the handmade stuff CPF folks come up with.

Personally, I’m waiting for the Terralux TS-18, a drop-in conversion for high voltage (18v nominal) power tool flashlights. They’ve been “available soon” for quite a while now, and I just got word from Terralux that they’re in distribution and should hit retail later this week. I’ll post a review as soon as I get my hands on one!