Capacitors
Long-Lasting Power
This next question comes to us from Mike. Mike asks “I may have missed it in the literature, but how long does the charge last? I know it only takes 90 seconds to recharge.”
In just 90 seconds, your Light for Life™ UC3.400™ will be fully charged and ready to produce another 120 minutes of light (60 minutes at 90 lumens and 60 minutes in reserve that starts at 25 lumens and cycles down to 15 lumens.
I hope this answers you question Mike. Let us know if you have any more questions.
Rechargeable Batteries?
Our next question comes to us from John in Michigan. He asks “Can we use rechargable batteries in the flashlight rather than ultracapacitors?”
Thanks John for the question! Let me list some of the reasons we have picked the advanced capacitors as the source of energy for our flashlight.
1. Recharges in 90 Seconds.
2. The advanced capacitors are better for the environment that batteries.
3. You can recharge the advanced capacitors more times (50,000 times)
4. Lighter weight
5. Advanced capacitors hold their charge where as batteries start to lose their potency the older they become.
6. Because no-one else is doing it!
Great question, keep them coming!
What is the Difference between a Capacitor and Advanced Capacitors?
Tom, what is the difference between an advanced capacitors and a regular capacitor?
(A) The biggest difference in advanced capacitors and regular capacitors is available surface area. An advanced capacitor has much more surface area than a typical capacitor. Regular capacitors have some similarities in construction to advanced capacitors, whereas they both have foil-like plates, one positive and one negative. An advanced capacitors takes this a step further and has a thin film of carbon on the surface of the plates. This thin film is very porous and has a very high surface area allowing an advanced capacitors to store a lot more energy than a regular capacitor. Finally, typical capacitors have rated capacities in the micro-Farad range, while advanced capacitors have capacities in the 100s of Farads range. That’s on the order of at least a million times greater.
In summation, advanced capacitors hold more energy and are bigger. 
Holding the Charge
This next question comes to us from James Beatty- How long will the flashlight hold a charge when not in use?
James,
The ability to hold a charge is often known as leakage. advanced capacitors have a leakage comparable to NiCad batteries. They will loose more energy when they are fully charged but the loss decreases over time.
There are no negative impacts to the advanced capacitors when it is left off of its charger. If left off the charger for a month, a flashlight could be used for 45 minutes of light or it could be fully charged in 45 seconds. If you left off the flashlight for a year, there would be 25% of the energy left. No negative memory effects or degradation would result. Similarly, if you left a battery to drain down to 50% of its capacity can reduce its life.
If you left your flashlight off for 5 years, it would only take 90 seconds to recharge the flashlight to give you 90 minutes of run-time.
Thanks for the question!
