Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 - parasitic drain ...ish

[McStitchy]

I'm loving my Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 and carry it nearly every day together with a tool in a pocket caddy for example.

Mighty little light with decent build quality that can accept 1.5v alkaline, 1.2v Nimh or 14500 Li-Ion.

When powered with a 14500 Li-Ion battery the tail cap switch is lit with a blue light (like the grey one in the below picture). That might be handy for some but drains about 3.4mA constantly, resulting in an empty battery in less than 2 weeks.

So far I just used a mechanical lockout by unscrewing the head a bit to avoid this.

Until Matt junior claimed one of my two Tool AA (the grey one below), which lead me to order a full metal version as replacement.



The thing is though that the mechanical lockout doesn't work with full metal ones (like the Titanium version) as there is no anodizing to isolate the electrical contact via the threads.

So I've decided to make a test and disable the blue LED in the tail cap switch. They only glow when the switch is in the off position, and when there is enough voltage (like 3.7v from a 14500 Li-Ion). That convinced me that it's a simple circuit.

When I opened it I was surprised to find not one but two LEDs ...and a resistor to each.



I carefully removed the resistors (marked with R) which successfully disabled the LEDs and the parasitic drain 

I thought this might be of intetest to some here

[Don Pablo]

Nice one.  and it's reversible! Just solder them back on if needed.

A bit of glow is nice, but not when it's being a stupid parasite.
 
Opportunity for a tritium vial or two? 

[McStitchy]

Howdy Pabs 
I was thinking exactly that, but couldn't find the right size 

[Sos24]

Good to know.

I hadn’t realized, because I’ve only used my Tool with eneloops, but that would definitely be frustrating.

[Don Pablo]

Howdy Pabs 

How are you?

I was thinking exactly that, but couldn't find the right size 

Tiny tritium keychain?
It's one of those things I always wanted but never got around to buying.

[McStitchy]

Good to know.

I hadn’t realized, because I’ve only used my Tool with eneloops, but that would definitely be frustrating.

You should be safe from any parasitic drain then  This only happens with a high enough voltage (defined by the resistor and diode) 

[McStitchy]

How are you?

Tiny tritium keychain?
It's one of those things I always wanted but never got around to buying.

That idea is soo tempting 

[GearedForwards]

Cracking fix 

Not had this issue personally, my Tool AA 2.0 doesn't do this, and I exclusively use an Olight 14500 in it 

Having an always on tailswitch light is... weird to be honest, I don't understand the purpose 

[McStitchy]

  GF
I don't know exactly since when they did add that "feature". But I heart about Tool AA 2.0 that do not have it.

[Poncho65]

Great work on disabling the power drain

[McStitchy]

Thanks Poncho 

[jag-engr]

When powered with a 14500 Li-Ion battery the tail cap switch is lit with a blue light (like the grey one in the below picture). That might be handy for some but drains about 3.4mA constantly, resulting in an empty battery in less than 2 weeks.

In use, I found that mine lasted well over two weeks with parasitic drain and intermittent use.  I never really found it to be an issue, but YMMV.

At any rate, I love this thread and the photos of your breakdown and mod.

FWIW, I remember someone on BLF claiming that they switched out the LEDs for red (and possibly the resistors) and got a much lower drain.

[McStitchy]

Thank you very much jag-engr 

I never did a complete and correct real life test myself, and the measurement and calculation from it might be faulty as well.
I guess batteries may vary too.
I did have juniors light (the gray one in the pics) empty in about 2 weeks with no use though.

I don't use mine every day, and the Titanium one has no anodized body, so no insulated threads, which means no manual lock out and button-LED deactivation. That was when I was looking for a solution.

The illuminated button is a nice and cool feature. I personally don't need it though and like my lights ready when needed without having to remove the battery when put away for a while.

Thanks for the hint to using Red LEDs and different resistors. One should be able to reduce the current effectively. That's a good idea 

[jag-engr]

I don't use mine every day, and the Titanium one has no anodized body, so no insulated threads, which means no manual lock out and button-LED deactivation.

I completely understand.  It didn't bother me for one I used regularly, but I carry a UV Tool AA in my satchel, and I always lock it out.  Without the lockout feature, there would really be no point in carrying it.

The illuminated button is a nice and cool feature.

I agree, but I wish Lumintop had executed just a little bit better.

[GearedForwards]

I don't really understand the point of illuminated buttons when the lights off, when it's on they can look cool and provide useful info about the battery, but off it's just drain. My Lumintop GT Nano does the same thing so just lives in lockout, that towering 100mah cell can't take any degree of drain 

[Tasky]

I don't really understand the point of illuminated buttons when the lights off

You will understand the first time you turn it off and then drop it in the dark!!
It's not very bright or anything, but when you're fumbling in a pocket or bag (in the dark of course, because why else would you need a torch) it can be surprisingly useful.

[GearedForwards]

You will understand the first time you turn it off and then drop it in the dark!!
It's not very bright or anything, but when you're fumbling in a pocket or bag (in the dark of course, because why else would you need a torch) it can be surprisingly useful.

Oh that's what it's for 

I can see the use in general the GT Nano's are... well hard to see if you're trying. Personally I just prefer tritium for that purpose 

And err yeah, in the dark, what weirdo would just fondle and play with their torches in a lit room... 

[Tasky]

Tritium is great on high(er) end torches, but for something like this that costs less than £20... ?
There aren't really any suitable recesses for vials either. It's basically just a cheap solution for a cheap torch. I kinda like it, though. Looks cool sticking up from your pocket or in a bag compartment.

[Sos24]

I discovered this on my tool just recently.  I usually use NiMh for AA lights, but put a 14500 because it was closer at hand when I needed to change the battery.  I actually don’t mind it right now because I am just using it in the house and the blue light makes it easy to find without even turning the room light on.  That being said, I would definitely not like it as a rarely used emergency light.

[Blunt Object]

Just noticed I have the same with my Tool 3. Just got it a week ago, charged the 14500 that came with it, played with it some and then carried it for a few days. Today it had drained so much power that I only got very low brightness. This is NOT what I want from my EDC light! Now I'm trying with a regular AA battery. At least the small leds are not on.

What a stupid feature. There are many other nice lights out there.

[Aloha]

Yeah those tail switch leds are lame since they drain the cells.  I have Tool but the earlier version without the tail leds.  Its a great light and glad there are no led to drain my cell. 

[Blunt Object]

Breaking the contact by loosening the tailcap is kinda counterintuitive. I want the clicky switch precisely because there is no twisting. And I detest magnetic heads... Oh well, with a non rechargable battery at least there's no drain.

[Blunt Object]

Update. The problem didn't persist, I deliberately left the Tool unused, with the 14500 in place, contact unbroken, after my last post, and there was no visible power drain. It's as bright as ever. So not a dud after all.