[ale] way OT amazing new LED flashlight technology

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi Guys,

I spent much of today updating my flashlight collection, to be ready for storms and such.  I found some amazing new technology, which I wanted to share with you.  The main problem is that I had a couple of old 6V  big bulky lantern flashlights, the kind with the big reflector and a krypton incandescent bulb.  I'm not talking about omnidirectional camp lanterns, but the flashlights which throw a tight beam.  They work well, but the big square 6V batteries are about $ 10 each.  So, rather than buying new batteries, I decided to look into LED technology.  For the first time ever, I've found LED flashlights that I feel comfortable replacing my lanterns with.  I've bought flashlights at both the mid / top and bottom of the scale today.  I'll share the pros and cons of each.

The mid / top of the scale is represented by lights with a single large powerful LED emitter and generally a focusing lens, which may be variable.  This is the best option to replace something like a lantern flashlight.  I bought the Nebo 5610 220 Lumen Redline Tactical at Batteries Plus.  This unit costs about $30.  They warrant the unit for life.  It has a very bright LED emitter called a Cree.  I haven't done research into the merits of this, but it IS very bright.  This is the first one I've seen to exceed the brightness of a focused krypton bulb.  Don't even think of looking into the beam.  It has 4X variable focus so you can go wide or narrow.  As the name suggests, it puts out 220 lumens.  This seems to be about the level where it competes with krypton bulbs.  This particular model has 5 modes of light - high, medium, and low (which saves batteries), strobe SOS in Morse code, and strobe.  It runs on 3 AAA batteries and lasts 4, 8, 15 hours respectively in lighting modes or 72 hours in strobe modes.  This unit also has a magnetic base so you can stick it to a metal object or refrigerator, but don't get it near your credit cards.  You can, of course, spend more than $ 30 on an LED flashlight depending on your needs.  If you don't need the lifetime warranty, the exotic modes, the magnet, and local returns, you can get most of this functionality online for $ 10 or less.  I've decided that this is now my go to flashlight.  When my 6V big square lantern batteries expire, I'm retiring those flashlights.

Now, let's consider low end flashlights, which can also be quite useful for finding your way in a dark room.  A typical and, I think fairly impressive, example of this may be found at Autozone.  They have a 3 pack of LED flashlights for $ 5, Duramax FT-AZ001.  For that price, it's amazing that they can be marketed at all and that they work at all.  Actually, they work pretty well, but who knows how long they will work.  At under $ 2 each, I figure that if I get 6 months use from them, that's pretty good.  More is even better.  They even come with 9 AAA heavy duty batteries.  I never use those.  I've had many stories in the past of heavy duty (carbon zinc) batteries leaking in my equipment and corroding it.  I toss those and use alkaline batteries instead.  If the flashlight fails, be sure to save your batteries.

These type of flashlights usually have multiple individual LED bulbs and no focusing lens.  The more bulbs, the more light, and the quicker your batteries drain.  These don't cast a beam at all, but a diffuse floodlight style illumination in the general direction you're pointing.  At the end of a dark hallway, the light is much dimmer than a good krypton bulb / reflector or than the high end LED flashlight with focusing lens.  What these flashlights can do is serve as a handy light to keep in a pocket, toolbox, or on a desk, and to illuminate a room enough to walk through in the dark or look into dark corners.  They are actually quite useful for things like when you drop something by your chair into the shadows and want to find it, etc.

The particular flashlights from Autozone have (according to the package) 9 LED bulbs, 24 lumens output, 50' beam distance (it would be quite dim at that point), and 12 hour battery life.  They also have a rubberized plastic shell and feel decent in your hand.  The switch seems solid, although, as I said, no guarantees on how long something like this will last.  At this price, I bought a few of these to serve as an inexpensive but functional addition to birthday gifts for my family.  NOTE, I wouldn't recommend any of these, and especially the high power ones, for really young kids.  These flashlights are way to bright to be shined into people's eyes, which would invariably happen.

In this case, you screw off the non light bulb end to insert batteries.  In this case, there are no directional markings.  So, you put the flat end of the AAA batteries against the springs in the modular battery case and you put the knobby protruding end of the battery case toward the LED bulbs and the recessed end of the battery case toward the switch.

Finally, you can buy LED bulbs to replace the krypton bulbs in your existing flashlights.  Many flashlights have PR style bulbs with a smooth body and flange mount.  You can get bulbs such as Nite Ize LRB-07-PR1W (1 watt) and Terralux TLE-1F Ministar 1 to put in standard flashlights.  You can also get bulbs specifically to replace Maglight bulbs, which have a different shape.  The catch with these bulbs is that they usually cost in the $ 10 or more range.  So, it might just be more practical to replace an existing flashlight with a new LED one than to buy the bulb.  The other catch is that flashlight bodies with focusing systems don't always work the same as if there was a filament.

Here are some numbers for comparing power levels, but I don't have data on the corresponding lumen levels.

PR style bulb, 6V lantern, 4.8 V, .75 A, 3.6 W, center pin negative
PR style bulb (different from above), 6V (4 AA) small handheld lantern, 4.6 V, .35 A, 1.61 W, center pin positive

In both cases, a replacement 1W LED bulb should (probably) provide greater brightness an will definitely provide battery savings.

Note that, for many LED's without compensating circuits, polarity matters.  Some won't work in flashlights with the old big square batteries which have a negative center pin.  In some cases, you can reverse the direction of the batteries in a flashlight to get it to work, if the contacts still work, although that won't work with big square 6V lantern batteries.  Not matter which way you turn them, the polarity is the same because of the contact design.

LED  bulbs may not work as well in omnidirectional applications, since they may not output much light to the side.  Compare to, for example, a handheld lantern with the bulb facing downward but the filament of a krypton bulb is visible from all directions.

I also have some old fluorescent omnidirectional lanterns and some small omnidirectional hand lanterns that I'm considering replacing.  At this point, I don't know if I'll just relamp them or replace them.

I hope you've found this information interesting and illuminating, pun intended.  If you've had experience with type of equipment, please share.

Sincerely,

Ron


--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity.

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com


--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity.

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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