• Bell & Howell Flashlight How To Install Batteries

Shop our selection of Dorcy, Flashlights in the Tools. Led flashlights dorcy 450 lumen flashlight maglite blue flashlight. Flashlight with Batteries. Dorcy Flashlight How To Install Batteries In Fire. Basic Flashlight Tutorial. Many of the Maglite flashlights have a spare lamp in the tailcap. Shop our selection of Dorcy, Flashlights in the Tools. Led flashlights dorcy 450 lumen flashlight maglite blue flashlight. Flashlight with Batteries.

Basic Flashlight Tutorial - An Introduction to High Performance Flashlights Basic Flashlight Tutorial An Introduction to High-Performance Flashlights Overview: I know what you're thinking to yourself. What is there to know about a flashlight, switch it on and it lights up, switch it off and the light goes out. That's true for the most basic flashlights. When looking for a new flashlight, I discovered that there is a huge community of people that are interested in (or obsessed with) flashlights.

They typically refer to themselves as 'flashaholics'. Initially, it was difficult to understand some of the discussions on the various forums because there were so many new terms.

This page is a primer. After you understand the basics you'll better understand the discussions on the various flashlight forums (like the Candlepower forum). Note: There will be products that I recommend on this page. I receive no compensation for this.

These are simply products that I have used and would recommend to my friends. Flashlight Basics Until recently, virtually all flashlights were simple on/off devices (like the one below) with very limited output. Flashlights like the 4D-cell Maglite were considered to be some of the best, in terms of light output. Those flashlights used an incandescent lamp (hot wire filament producing light). Except for the cheapest flashlights, incandescent lamps are being phased out. The newer flashlights using LEDs produce much more light than most of the flashlights using incandescent lamps. Most people have never seen a flashlight that has anything other than a simple on/off switch.

The newer LED flashlights have many modes and various output levels. This makes them much more versatile. If the only options for a flashlight are off and full-on and the flashlight produces an intense output, it makes it almost useless for close-up use (reading a map while someone is driving, etc.) because it's simply too bright. With multiple output levels, the light becomes much more versatile.

The various output modes will be described in more detail later. A quick note. Most people think it's normal to have to beat on a flashlight to make it work. We do it without thinking. It's almost as if it's coded into our DNA. Having to beat on a flashlight is normal for older, budget lights but not for high quality lights.

High quality lights switch on flawlessly EVERY time. Popular Brands There are dozens of popular manufacturers of high performance flashlights. Names like 4Sevens, Fenix (pronounced like Phoenix), Nitecore, Surefire, Streamlight are considered some of the best. Most of these lights remain on the cutting edge and, at any point in time, produce lights that produce the most intense output possible. Maglite (a familiar example below) is another very common brand but they're not typically considered to be at the cutting edge of technology (although the new XL100 may be an exception). That doesn't mean that they're not good quality lights but if you're looking for bragging rights (brightest light, smallest size.), Maglite isn't generally in the running.

However, if you want a light that's going to be reliable and will last nearly forever, Maglite is still a very good choice. Flashlight Prices When you initially get into flashlight collecting, you may be shocked by the prices. Many people are used to buying a two D-cell Rayovac flashlight for $2 at Wal-Mart (really, $2.00, batteries included). Some spend $30 on a two or three D-cell LED Maglite.

For most people, these will do everything they need them to do. If you want higher performance flashlights, you'll have to pay significantly more. For example, there are LED flashlights that operate off of one AA or one CR123A battery that produce significantly more light than a 2D-cell Maglite but you can expect to pay at least twice as much for those tiny, high performance lights. For example, the Nitecore EX11 below sells for approximately $60. On average, small single cell high performance LED flashlights cost approximately $50. Small high performance two cell flashlights (those that use two AA or 2 CR123A batteries) can cost $100 or more.

The second image below (Maelstrom G5) is one example. It's powered by two CR123A cells or one 18650 lithium-ion cell.

It sells for $100-150 and is about 6' long. Custom lights (custom machined housings with high performance emitters and custom reflectors) can cost $500 or more. High performance handheld HID search lights can cost well over $2000. Note: In the two photos above, you can see that there is a chrome bezel on the end of the flashlight. In some instances, this is cosmetic only and serves no special purpose.

In other lights, the ring is used to maintain force against the reflector which maintains force against the LED which keeps it tightly against the internal heatsink. If the bezel is loose, the LED may not remain tightly against the heatsink and that could cause it to fail prematurely. If the bezel gets so loose that it falls off of the light, the lens and reflector may fall out and become lost or damaged. Check the tightness of the bezel on your flashlights. They don't often get loose but if they do, it could lead to the flashlight becoming unusable and un-repairable because not all parts are available for all lights. Light Sources Incandescent Lamps: Incandescent lamps have been around since the 1800s.

They are nothing more than a that's heated (by driving current through it) until it glows. It's simple and has served us well. It's not, however, very efficient. High power lamps produce a lot of heat and use a lot of energy. Incandescent lamps are also fragile. This isn't a big problem with most stationary lights (in the home, installed into a table lamp or in a light fixture) but in a flashlight, it can be a significant problem. Dropping a flashlight often causes the filament to break (especially if it's lit when dropped).

If you're in a situation where you rely on the light for your safety and it uses an incandescent lamp, it's important that you carry a spare lamp. Many of the Maglite flashlights have a spare lamp in the tailcap. Most others don't. Incandescent lamps have a filament in the glass envelope. The wire that makes up the filament is generally tungsten. In the most common incandescent lamps the glass envelope has the air evacuated, leaving a vacuum. This prevents the tungsten filament from burning (as it would if oxygen were present).

This is why an incandescent light bulb instantly burns out when the glass envelope is broken. Other types of incandescent lamps are filled with an inert gas (vs having a vacuum - no gas). Halogen lamps will typically be filled with argon, krypton or xenon gas. Halogen lamps are typically brighter than standard incandescents for a given wattage.

That's why many people replace standard lamps with xenon or krypton lamps. The image below is an incandescent lamp with the filament lit. As you can imagine, the wire is VERY hot. When the filament is hot, the tungsten is constantly evaporating. In time, the wire becomes thinner and thinner until it opens (burns out).

LED Emitters: Most of the newer, more advanced flashlights use LED (Light Emitting Diode) emitters in place of incandescent lamps. They're typically much more efficient (more light output for a given amount of energy used) and last a very long time.

They're generally rated for 50,000 hours or more when operated according to the manufacturer's specifications (i.e., not over-driven to produce more output). LEDs are also much more durable. Dropping them generally causes no damage to the emitter. There were a few early LED flashlights that were easily damaged if dropped but that's no longer an issue. The LED emitter below is shown at approximately 50x the actual height/width (depending on your monitor and the display resolution).

The actual device is 3.45mm wide. In general, common flashlights don't heat up when used. It's surprising to some that high performance LED flashlights heat up when used at or near the highest output level.

The ridges or cooling fins around the head of a flashlight aren't cosmetic, they are there to promote cooling. The ridges increase the surface area of the head and therefore make it easier to dissipate the heat produced by the LED. Without the ridges, the light would get significantly hotter which would mean that the LED would run hotter which could cause the LED to fail prematurely. Power dissipation in the LED causes it to heat up. The LED dissipates heat because there is current flowing through it and there is a voltage drop across it.

The voltage drop will generally be between 3.25 and 3.8v and varies depending on the current flowing through it. The voltage drop is the greatest when the LED is being driven the hardest (most current flowing through it). Higher current must flow to make it brighter. If you look at the Ohm's law formula P=I.E (power dissipation equals current flow multiplied by voltage) you can see that increasing either the voltage or the current cause the power dissipation to increase.

Since increasing the current flow also forces an increase in the voltage drop, you can see that when you get more output, you produce more heat. This is why the larger flashlights with higher output must have larger heads (which have more surface area). It's also true that, many times, they have larger heads because they have larger reflectors but even if they didn't need larger reflectors, they would still have to have larger heads to keep the operating temperatures low. If you want/need a refresher on Ohm's law, go back to the of the site. The image below is from a Dorcy flashlight.

The LED is the square device in the center. The outer ring is a reflection. Is a photo of the LED with no power applied. The blue tint in the photo is due to the polarizers I used. This is a white LED. HID Tubes: HID (High Intensity Discharge) flashlights are a bit more complex than the previous two types of flashlights.

HID lights use a tube filled with metal halide gases. On each end of the tube, there is an electrode. The lamp uses a 'ballast' to drive the tube. Initially, a higher voltage is required to produce an arc between the electrodes. After the arc is produced, the ballast reduces the voltage to whatever the tube requires to sustain the arc.

These are typically VERY bright lights. The best bang for the buck in this type of light is probably the Stanley HID spotlight. It's VERY bright. Similar lights cost $300+ while the Stanley costs only $60-70.

Below is a photo of the HID tube with the arc formed between the electrodes. This arc is incredibly hot. It took less than 2 minutes to get the photo I wanted but if it would have taken any longer I would have needed gloves to keep the light from burning me. Runtime Runtime vs Output Level: A lot of people look only at the output level of a flashlight to determine it's worth. I have several 1AA and 2AA flashlights that produce more output than a 2D Maglite (especially out at 10-20 yards).

Some would consider those lights better and they may be better under some circumstances. If you're never far from a fresh set of batteries, the smaller light may be a good choice. If you're going to be out in the woods or somewhere that won't allow you to get replacement batteries, the 2D Maglite may be better. The smaller light may not be able to operate for more than 1 hour on a set of batteries at the highest output level. The Maglite may be able to go for 12 hours on a single set of batteries. Maglite is being used again as an example because so many people know the lights and because I've seen so many people criticize Maglite products.

Not everyone needs high performance lights (which can be a bit more finicky). Maglites are extremely reliable and still a very good choice for emergencies. Many of the small high-performance flashlights only run about an hour at the maximum output level.

In most instances, using the light at 40-50% of full brightness provides more than enough light and can greatly increase the runtime. This will also reduce the cost of replacement batteries. Generally, rechargeable batteries are available for most lights but that's not always the case. For example, lights that produce intense output and use the CR123A batteries may have no option. They have to use the CR123A primary battery. The RCR123 is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery but it can't produce the current required by some of the high performance lights. If you have a light that must use the CR123A batteries, buy them online.

They're about 1/3 the cost compared to local retailers. Regulation: Most of the inexpensive flashlights use 'direct drive'. This means that they're driven directly from the batteries.

This is simple and reliable but it means that the light output varies with the battery voltage. As the batteries discharge, the light output drops. This can begin almost immediately. This isn't always a bad thing. For instance, the old directly driven incandescent lights would give you plenty of warning before the light output dropped to a point where it was unusable (this is especially true when using alkaline or carbon-zinc batteries). Unregulated (directly driven) LED flashlights operate in a similar way but LEDs require a minimum voltage (typically 3-3.5v) to operate and as soon as the voltage drops to that point, they will no longer produce any usable output. Lights that are not directly driven use a 'driver'.

There are several types of drivers. For flashlights that use a voltage source that doesn't have enough voltage to drive the LED directly (i.e. A flashlight with a single 1.5 volt AA battery driving an LED that requires 3+ volts to operate), the driver will have to be a boost regulator/converter. For flashlights that easily have enough (or too much) voltage to drive the LED directly, the regulator/driver will be a 'buck regulator'. There are driver ICs that are buck/boost drivers but I don't know if they're used in any flashlights. For most driver/regulators, they use 'current' regulation instead of 'voltage' regulation. This is because the output of the LED is determined by the current flowing through it.

For regulated flashlights, the output will generally be absolutely constant until the battery is drained. The output could go from full to almost no output within just a few minutes. When looking at runtime graphs for regulated lights, it's common for small, high performance lights to operate for about an hour and a half at 100% brightness and within approximately 10 minutes go from 100% to VERY low output (some simply shut off). You'll see the term PWM (Pulse Width Modulation).

Pulse width modulation is an efficient method of controlling current or voltage. In general, there are two types of regulators, 'linear' and 'switching'. Linear regulators provide good regulation and are very simple but they're very inefficient. Inefficiency is not good for battery powered devices.

Switching regulators are much more efficient. Switching regulators are more complex but circuit design is becoming simpler due to the availability of integrated circuits (chips) that can perform as well as discrete components. The input/control circuit and the switching transistors are all in one tiny package. A regulator that uses pulse width modulation is a type of switching regulator.

In a switching power supply with no regulation, the pulse width is constant. In a PWM switching regulator, the pulse width varies to control the voltage or current in a circuit. In the following image, you can see that there are three different switching waveforms. Smashing pumpkins unplugged mtv.

The top one is only 'on' 20% of the time which means it's 'off' 80% of the time. If this were driving an LED, the LED would be relatively dim at 20% duty cycle.

Bear in mind that the switching is so fast that it's not visible. The second waveform shows a square wave that's on 50% of the time.

This would make the LED moderately bright. The last one has a 90% duty cycle (on 90% of the time).

This would make an LED almost as bright as it could possibly be with the available voltage. Driving it directly (100% duty cycle) would make it only slightly brighter.

Some flashlight manufacturers may choose to never drive an LED at the equivalent of a 100% duty cycle until the battery voltage drops a bit. In effect, this would allow a longer runtime with no drop in brightness. Directly driven LEDs start to dim almost immediately and continue to get dimmer as the batteries become discharged.

Starting at 80-90% gives the regulator a bit of 'headroom' to work with. As the batteries become discharged, the pulse width gradually increases to keep the current through the LED constant.

The LED brightness will remain constant until the batteries become discharged to a point that the 100% duty cycle (fully on) cannot maintain the current. At this point, the LED will start to become dimmer (it's brightness will follow the battery voltage). Boost regulators work in much the same way but they must boost the voltage. They use the pulse width to boost it just to the voltage or current required.

Bell & Howell Flashlight How To Install Batteries

The following light (Proton Pro) uses an (.

With the exception of the MAG-TAC® flashlight that runs on lithium CR123 batteries, all of Mag’s non-rechargeable LED flashlights operate on AAA, AA, C or D-cell batteries. All of our published ANSI-standard performance data (Light Output, Beam Distance, Peak Beam Candlepower and Run Time) are based on testing with alkaline batteries; and when we ship these flashlights with batteries, the batteries we include with them are alkaline. We do this because the designs of these flashlights are optimized for use with (non-rechargeable) alkaline batteries. Alkaline AAA, AA, C and D batteries standardly have a nominal output of 1.5 volts.

NiMH rechargeable batteries in these sizes typically have a somewhat lower nominal output (1.2 volts). Also, the discharge curves of NiMH batteries typically differ from those of alkaline batteries – so the two battery types may behave differently under load. That said, the flashlights will operate with NiMH rechargeables, and use of NiMH rechargeables will not harm the circuitry nor otherwise damage the flashlights in any way. You should not, however, expect the flashlights’ performance to be consistent with our published ANSI data if they are operated with rechargeable batteries.

(For example, ANSI Light Output may be lower, and/or ANSI Run Time may be shorter with rechargeable batteries.) The degree of difference is hard to predict. We have noted variation in the quality of NiMH rechargeable batteries on the market, and if you choose the best-quality NiMH batteries you might find that any performance shortfall is, for your purposes, not meaningful. Bottom line, if you are willing to tolerate a possibly significant decline in flashlight performance, there is no reason you can’t substitute rechargeable NiMH batteries for (non-rechargeable) alkalines. Click to Expand How long should an LED last? What is its “life expectancy”? A MAGLITE® flashlight’s LED light engine is a permanent component, not a “perishable” or “consumable” item like a battery or an incandescent lamp. In normal use, the LED should last for the life of the owner and should never need to be replaced.

The explanation for these statements is a little complicated. It starts with answering a preliminary question, which is, “How do you define when the useful life of an LED is at an end?” With an incandescent (filament) lamp, this question is so easy that nobody even asks it: The life of an incandescent lamp is over when it burns out. The “burning out” of an incandescent lamp is a sudden, catastrophic, complete failure; there’s no mistaking it when it happens. “Burnout” occurs when the lamp’s filament (typically made of tungsten, a very high-melting but brittle metal), grows so thin and weak that it can’t support its own weight, especially if it is jarred.

So the filament breaks. When it does, the flashlight can’t complete the electrical circuit that ordinarily would flow through the filament, so if you turn on the flashlight, it does not give any light. When we say that an incandescent lamp is “dead,” what we actually mean is that its filament has suddenly and catastrophically failed. But if we ask the same question about an LED – “How do you define when the useful life of an LED is at an end?” – the answer is not nearly that simple because an LED typically does not fail suddenly and catastrophically: There’s no filament to “burn out,” nor is there any other clear, distinct event you can point to and say that the LED is dead. Instead, what typically happens to an LED is that its light output extremely slowly, and extremely gradually, declines with use.

Much of the literature states that in a typical installation, an LED should perform for 50,000 to 100,000 hours before its light output falls to 50% of its initial output. So if we define 50% as the end-of-useful-life point, and if a flashlight is used for 1 hour a week (and even that might be a lot for a typical homeowner, who would use the flashlight sporadically, occasionally and in short episodes), the LED’s “useful life” (as defined above) should be 50,000 to 100,000 weeks – that is, between one and two thousand years. Even if the user is a night watchman whose flashlight is actually on for 4 hours a night, 5 nights a week – which would be a lot — the LED’s “useful life” (as defined above) should be between 1,666 and 3,333 weeks (i.e., between 48 and 96 years). Also to keep in mind is that the “50%-of-initial-light-output” definition of the “endpoint of an LED’s useful life” is an arbitrary definition, and one can argue that it is much too short: 50% of the initial light output of a high-powered LED flashlight is still a lot of light, and it seems doubtful that a typical user would discard the flashlight at that point (even if he lived long enough to reach that point). For comparison, the widely-followed ANSI/NEMA FL-1 Flashlight Basic Performance Standard (2009), in prescribing how to rate a flashlight’s “Run Time” on a fresh set of batteries, defines the endpoint of the “useful life” of batteries to be the point where light output declines to 10% — not 50% — of initial output. So in the view of the committee that drafted the ANSI Standard, 10%, not 50%, of initial light output is the reasonable point at which to say that the user would likely regard the batteries as no longer fit for use and in need of replacement.

If we were to define the end-point for an LED’s “useful life” as 10% rather than 50% of initial light output, then we might need to speak in terms of a “useful life” of centuries rather than years. Nobody would claim, however, that an LED is completely bulletproof under all conditions. It should go without saying that one who uses his LED flashlight as an impact tool or a fire-poker is looking for trouble. And, for example, if an LED were driven grossly in excess of its design-rated voltage and/or current, it could fail quickly. Even if an LED were driven somewhat (but not grossly) in excess of its rated voltage and/or current over a long period of time, that could accelerate the rate at which its light output would decline.

Excessive operating temperatures could also threaten the longevity of an LED. MAGLITE® flashlights, however, are carefully engineered to keep voltage and current within rated specifications when used with batteries of the correct voltage; and means including good, efficient heat-sinking are built in to keep operating temperature within rated bounds. In view of all this, the statement with which we started this discussion is quite reasonable: A MAGLITE® flashlight’s LED light engine should be seen as a permanent component, not a “perishable” or “consumable” item like a battery or an incandescent lamp; and the user should expect the LED, in normal use, to remain serviceable for his or her entire lifetime, never needing to be replaced. Click to Expand Every time I put a new replacement lamp in my Mag-Lite® flashlight, it burns out. It sounds like you may be using the incorrect replacement lamp for your flashlight. D & C Cell Mag-Lite® flashlights have different numbers of batteries or cells and therefore operate at different voltages, so each size Maglite® flashlight needs its own unique lamp size. For instance, if you have a 4-Cell Mag-Lite® flashlight and you put a 2-Cell or 3-Cell lamp inside, it will burn out very rapidly because the 4-Cell flashlight runs at a higher voltage than the lamp of a 2 or 3-Cell flashlight was designed to handle.

For our personal size flashlights and your information, we manufacture a 2-Cell AA Mini Maglite® flashlight, a 2-Cell AAA Mini Maglite® flashlight and a Single Cell AAA Maglite® Solitaire® flashlight each of which require its own unique lamp. If you use the single cell Solitaire® lamp in a 2 Cell AA or 2Cell AAA, the lamp will burn out immediately.

Make sure to buy the correct lamp for your flashlight. It’s marked on the packages of our replacement lamps. If you are unsure of which lamp to use in your flashlight do not hesitate to contact us at 1 800-283-5562.

Click to Expand I can’t remove the tailcap from my flashlight. I have even put pliers on it and tried to twist it off, but it's absolutely stuck. Is this problem covered by my warranty? When you cannot remove the tailcap to change the batteries, it is probably that the batteries leaked and caused corrosion inside. Mag Instrument does not warrant against battery leakage. If the flashlight has been damaged by leakage of batteries, do not return the flashlight to Mag Instrument but determine what brand of battery caused the damage and follow the battery manufacturer’s instructions about how to make a damage claim.

For details, see the above FAQ entitled “ If my flashlight is damaged by a battery leak, what should I do?” Click to Expand Are Mag flashlights waterproof? When this happens, it probably means that the batteries have leaked and are stuck inside the barrel. Oftentimes, batteries will swell before leaking, causing them to get stuck inside the barrel. Mag Instrument does not warrant against battery leakage.

If the flashlight has been damaged by leakage of batteries, do not return the flashlight to Mag Instrument but determine what brand of battery caused the damage and follow the battery manufacturer’s instructions about how to make a damage claim. For details, see the above FAQ entitled “ If my flashlight is damaged by a battery leak, what should I do?” Click to Expand Are Mag’s flashlights “explosion-proof” or “intrinsically safe”? Yes, unfortunately, they can. All alkaline batteries are filled with a caustic material that can damage (corrode) any device, including a flashlight, if it escapes from the battery cell. Given the limitations of alkaline battery technology, there is always some risk that a battery might leak under some conditions. There are a number of specific reasons why this might happen.

One is a defect in the battery, or physical damage to it. Another reason has to do with the fact that all alkaline batteries have a self-discharge rate, causing them to gradually weaken and die even if they are in a package on a shelf, or in a device that is not used. Leaving dead batteries inside a device can cause battery leakage and resulting corrosion damage. Putting new batteries together with old batteries, and/or with batteries of a different type, can also cause rapid discharge, pressure buildup, and leakage.

And misuse of the batteries (e.g., by attempting to recharge batteries not designed to be recharged) can also cause leakage that can damage or destroy the flashlight. Click to Expand Besides staying with reputable brands of alkaline batteries, is there anything else I can do to minimize the battery-leak-damage risk? Yes, just follow these simple rules:. Never leave dead or weak batteries in a flashlight, as they are the ones most likely to leak. It is good practice to replace your entire set of batteries at least once a year, even if the batteries still seem to be functioning normally. When your batteries get low (which you can generally tell by noticing that your flashlight is less bright than it used to be, or goes from bright to dim shortly after it is turned on), replace the batteries – and be sure to replace the entire set at the same time, with freshly-dated batteries that are all of the same brand and the same type. Stick to premium brands of alkaline batteries.

Never mix old and new batteries together. Never mix different brands or types of batteries together (e.g., don’t mix alkaline batteries with carbon-zinc or lithium batteries).

Never try to recharge batteries that are not designed to be recharged. Carefully inspect your batteries before inserting them into your flashlight, and make sure all batteries are inserted correctly (with the + and – terminals oriented as indicated for the device). Inspect your batteries at least once a month while they are in service. Inspect your batteries immediately after the flashlight has been dropped or otherwise has suffered a hard impact.

Immediately remove from service any battery that is found to be leaking or swelling, or that shows signs of damage to its casing or terminals – e.g., denting, crushing or puncture. Remove from service any battery found to be past its marked expiration date. When removing and replacing a damaged or date-expired battery, replace all other batteries in the same set at the same time, even if they appear undamaged and are not date-expired. (Again, the idea is to never mix old and new batteries together.).

Importantly, when your flashlight is to be stored for a month or longer, or when you otherwise expect to use it less than once a month, you should remove the batteries and store them separately – not inside the flashlight. Given the limits of alkaline-battery technology, the unfortunate fact is that there’s no completely foolproof way to prevent corrosion damage from alkaline battery leakage. But if you follow the simple rules above, you can minimize the possibility that batteries will leak inside your flashlight. Click to Expand How can I tell if my alkaline batteries have leaked and damaged my flashlight?

Visual signs of battery leakage and crusty deposits (corrosion) inside your flashlight are a sign of leakage and damage, and if the flashlight is non-functional, this corrosion damage is likely the cause. It sometimes happens that batteries become stuck inside the barrel and are hard to remove.

If this happens, it likely means that the batteries have leaked and have swelled up, and if the flashlight is non-functional, corrosion damage from the leaking batteries is almost certainly the cause. It also sometimes happens that the tailcap becomes stuck on the flashlight and is difficult to unscrew. When this happens (and there is no evidence of barrel crushing or denting), the cause likely is that a battery leaked and produced corrosion that involved the tailcap threads, seizing of the tailcap onto the flashlight’s barrel. In any of these situations, the likely cause is alkaline battery leak damage. Click to Expand Is battery-leak damage covered by my warranty?

Because our warranty excludes battery-leak damage, you should NOT take or send the flashlight to Mag Instrument’s Warranty Service Department. What you CAN do is contact the battery manufacturer to see if it has a program to repair or replace your leak-damaged flashlight. Every reputable alkaline battery manufacturer has some form of device damage policy under which you may be eligible to have your flashlight repaired or replaced if it has been damaged by leakage of alkaline batteries that came from that manufacturer.

(NOTE: It is good practice to write down and remember the brand name of any batteries you put in the flashlight. If leak damage does occur, it is sometimes difficult or impossible to get the batteries out of the barrel to see what brand they are.) Different battery makers may call their device damage policies by different names, and the exact terms may differ from one maker to another and may change over time. Some of the policies may have special requirements, so it may be important to contact the battery manufacturer without delay if you discover battery leak damage. And do not discard the flashlight or the batteries before finding out whether the battery manufacturer requires you to submit them as proof of claim. You should communicate with the battery manufacturer before you send them the damaged flashlight, and should confirm exactly what their device damage claim eligibility requirements and procedures are.

Information can typically be found on the battery manufacturer’s website, and/or on its retail packaging for batteries, and/or via a customer-service phone number appearing on its website or retail package. For your convenience we provide the following website links and contact numbers through which you can get more information concerning battery-leak-damage policies and procedures of various battery manufacturers. Duracell® – Support Team 1-800-551-2355 Energizer® – Customer Service 1-800-383-7323 Ray-O-Vac® – Customer Service 1-800-891-6091 or 1-800-237-7000 Please understand that the battery manufacturers are companies separate and independent of Mag Instrument. Mag Instrument did not create, does not control, and cannot be responsible for the terms or operation of battery manufacturers’ device damage policies and practices.

The above battery manufacturer contact information, current as of late September 2016, is provided to you as a courtesy but is, of course, subject to change by the battery manufacturer. Click to Expand What Is ANSI?

Flashlight Performance Testing – The ANSI Standard In 2009, the American National Standards Institute, in cooperation with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, published a standard called the ANSI/NEMA FL 1-2009 Flashlight Basic Performance Standard. The ANSI Standard has become widely accepted in the portable lighting industry because it affords a practical way to make “apples-to-apples” comparisons among different flashlights. Although the ANSI Standard is not mandatory, Mag Instrument has chosen to follow it. That is why, on our product packaging, in our product literature, and on the website, we display certain flashlight performance data in the form of an “ANSI Strip,” so called because it uses the officially-designated ANSI logos and reports data taken in the ANSI-prescribed way. The ANSI Standard defines four basic performance categories, and prescribes official logos for displaying results.

The following table lists the categories, and for each one indicates the unit of measure, the official logo, and the basic meaning of the category: Light Output versus Beam Distance Judging from questions and comments we receive, the distinction between Light Output and Beam Distance is a source of some confusion. It is important to understand that these two concepts – Light Output and Beam Distance –deal with quite distinct characteristic which, surprisingly to many people, don’t necessarily go hand in hand. A flashlight can have a very high Light Output (measured in lumens), and yet have a very short Beam Distance (measured in meters). And the opposite can also be true: A flashlight can have a very modest output in lumens and yet can be remarkably effective in lighting up an object very far away. Why is this possible? Because Light Output is simply a raw measure of the rate at which a light source generates light – i.e., how many photons, how much “luminous flux,” the source generates per second. It tells nothing about how well or poorly that light is gathered and directed.

Beam Distance, on the other hand, is a measure of the maximum distance from which an optimally focused flashlight will cast a useful amount of light on a target. The ANSI Standard effectively defines a “useful level of light” by prescribing that the Beam Distance is the maximum distance at which the flashlight will produce ¼ lux of light. A quarter of a lux can roughly be described as the light level provided by a full moon in an open field on a clear night. That’s not as bright as day, but it is bright enough to see by – a good, standard, working definition of a “useful level of light.” So while a flashlight’s Light Output – its “lumen rating” – tells you nothing at all about how good or bad a job the flashlight does at forming a useful beam of light, the flashlight’s “Beam Distance” rating is all about its ability to form light into a useful beam and send it in a useful direction. “Beam Distance” thus strongly correlates to a flashlight’s optical quality; whereas Light Output has nothing whatsoever to do with beam-forming optics.

In fact, to get a high Light Output score, a flashlight would not even need to have a reflector or lens, at all! Optics Matter Since the beginning, Mag Instrument has prided itself on its beam-forming optics — the quality of its precision-designed and precision-crafted reflectors, and the versatility of its spot-to-flood beam focusing mechanism.

High-quality optics help a flashlight to direct light in a useful way without excessive power consumption – something that the “brute force” approach of maximizing lumen output cannot do. Optics and Run Time High-quality optics can also play a role in slowing battery consumption and prolonging Run Time. As LED technology continues to advance, the number of watts of power consumed per lumen of light generated goes down; but it is still true to say that the more lumens you want, the faster you will consume battery power. So it is still true, and probably always will be true, that excellent beam-forming optics will enhance a flashlight’s ability to deliver useful light while avoiding the need for enormous lumen output and correspondingly fast battery drain.

Click to Expand If I wanted to know the current draw and the wattage of a particular Mag® incandescent lamp (say, the LMXA301 Xenon lamp for the 3-cell Maglite® flashlight), how would I find that information? Each of our incandescent lamps was designed and developed with only one purpose in mind – to operate optimally in the particular flashlight for which the particular lamp is designated. We publish data describing how each lamp performs in its flashlight – for example, our website, catalog and package literature supply light output, peak beam intensity, beam distance and run time numbers for the 3-D-cell Maglite® flashlight running the lamp you mention. All such data are based on testing according to the ANSI/NEMA FL-1 Flashlight Basic Performance Standard (2009).

We do not, however, test for or publish current-draw or wattage figures for the lamp itself, as these are not ANSI performance categories. Just as we do not publish any claim, we also do not guarantee any rating, as to the current draw or the wattage of the lamp you reference. It is against Mag Instrument policy to provide engineering advice to persons seeking to use Mag Instrument parts or components to build non-Mag devices.

And of course we do not warrant, endorse or recommend any such use or any such non-Mag device. You can, however, obtain approximate wattage, current-draw and voltage-drop numbers for the lamp in its intended operating environment by following the procedure described in the answer next above. Click to Expand How do I retrofit my Maglite Flashlight with the new Mag-num Star II Bi-Pin Lamp?