LED flashlights.

[ka5piu]

Hello.

I love flashlights.
I had an everedy 2 AA cell penlight for years.
Later, the mini-Maglite.
When nite-ize came out with the LED conversion, I just HAD to get this.
Later, nite-ize came out with the 1 watt LED conversion.
Now, Maglite has a 3 watt mini-Maglite.
So, I decided to see, what is the limit.
Right now, one can buy a 10 watt LED unit, but it runs on the CR123 cells and is not as slim as the Maglite offering.
So, when will it end, 50 watt LED penlights? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I find that most millon candlepower lanterns are not really all that they claim to be.
They are perhaps a 20 watt halogen capsule and a good reflector, nothing bad but not really all that good.
So, a 300 watt hand held spotlight was something that sounded good, but I would have to see it up close.
This is a Osram aircraft landing light with halogen capsule that lives up to its promise.
The housing is all metal, with a muffin (computer) style high volume fan.
The manual says that it is thermally limited to 5 minutes.
My hand says about 3, unless fire retardent gloves are worn.
So, where is the upper limit?
And, who needs a 10 watt pocket flashlight or 300 watt spotlight?
Do not get me wrong, I think that this stuff is neat, but who uses it?

[n3ixq]

I have slowly made the switch over to LED flashlights in the last 2 years. I have 4 now. The first 2 are the small ones that shine white light. I now have the Black and Decker one and I love it. It serves as a flashlight and when used it opens up to a table standing hands free directional light.

For emcom ability you still need the big D cell Maglite, but nice to have a back up that can stay lit for weeks on AA batterys.

[w2amr]

Quote[/b] (ka5piu @ Aug. 12 2007,09:57)]Hello.

I love flashlights.
Ah, ok.

[KG4CGC]

Quote[/b] (ka5piu @ Aug. 12 2007,04:57)]Hello.

I think that this stuff is neat, but who uses it?
You don't fish, do you?

[k4kyv]

Not worth a damn. I have bought a total of three of the things. Each and every one crapped out before the demise of the 2nd set of batteries. They worked great at first, but then one of the LED's would start to get dim, and quickly go dark. Then another one, and then another one, until there were only 2 or 3 still shining.

The first one, I just thought I had bought a lemon. Second one, I took it apart to see if there was a bad connection on the circuit board. Found nothing wrong. When the third one started to do the same thing, I tossed it out and went back to the incandescent bulb.

I would love to have one that actually worked as promised. But to me, three strikes makes an "out".

[AG3Y]

I sure wouldn't pay the price that they are asking for some of those "Mini MagLight" flashlights, but I went to one of those "everythings a dollar" stores, and bought a couple of generator flashlights. One kicked the bucket in a rather short time, but the other one is going strong!

I love amateur astronomy, and I converted a small flashlight to an LED unit some years ago for viewing the star maps while out in the field. ( Red light - night vision, you know ! ) That light is still going strong, and the batteries last almost as long as their shelf life! Of course, it doesn't put out the lumins that the super LED lights do, but it's not SUPPOSED to ! ! !

73, Jim

[ka5piu]

Hello.

I do not fish, but have been on a trawler, does that count?
I do agree, the early units have had troubles.
The first nite-ize unit I bought also had progressive LED failures.
I finally ended up replacing all of the LED's with even brighter units, it has been going strong ever since.
But, now the single 1 watt LED's, and units with up to 10 watts, we will have to see.
The 300 watt spotlight thing has a low position, a 55 watt halogen capsule that puts out just the right amount of light.
I just got it, learning all the way.
This was after I saw this cyclops thing.
The front lens is a very much standard aircraft and automotive lamp, mounted in a purpose built handle.
But, for fishing? what does one do, fry the fish in the water, and just wait for them to float up out of the boiling water?

[kd5kfl]

The way to fish:

Put on SCUBA gear
Dive
Select fish
spear fish

Removes all that randomness and waiting.

Laser pointers drive fish crazy. They snap at the beam but come up empty, obviously.

Point the laser pointer at something shiny, like a fishing lure, they hit it hard.

Cheap laser pointer, a little RTV, an amusing dive.

[N3ATS]

I bought the LED kit for my Mini-Mag lite (2 "AA" version). What a waste of money that was.

The stock bulb was considerably brighter, and could be focused, unlike the LED.

Better battery life? Certainly, at the sacrifice of light. I bought a flashlight not a battery preserver. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[KD7ZRT]

I have an LED headlight (http://www.rei.com/ProductDisplay.do?productId=48131048&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&color=&img=/media/921848.jpg&view=large) for my bicycle. The burn time is wonderful (4-8 hours) for such a small battery. Even the lowest power setting is more than sufficient for city riding. Nice bright white light. My only complaint is the beam is a little too narrowly focused. My rear light is a AA powered LED model.

I also have a Black Diamond Moonlight (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamond-Moonlight-Headlamp/dp/B0000AMKVT) for hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, and blackouts. I bought it shortly after it was released and within a few months the cable connecting the LEDs to the battery pack had failed. BD promptly replaced it with a newer model with a more durable cable and I haven't had any trouble since, and its not like I baby the thing.

I'll never go back to halogen.

[AB8RU]

What I heard is that the technology is getting better this years technology on LED flashlights will be replaced with a newer version.

I have 2 LED night lights in my house and also switched over to these new energy bulbs.

at 18 Watts I love mine.

also the Dome at MIT is all LED technology check out their site.

Sooner or later I heard that they are working on better brightness of LED house lighting and the CP rating will need to improve.

Sooner or later they will have it perfected.

[n2ize]

Speaking of LED's and lights I bought myself one of those green laser pointers a few months ago. Man, that thing is bright as heck. As night you can see the whole beam and not just the dot is projects. On a night with low clouds I can easilly project a visible green dot on the clouds.

[ve2nsm]

Quote[/b] (n2ize @ Aug. 12 2007,22:19)]Speaking of LED's and lights I bought myself one of those green laser pointers a few months ago. Man, that thing is bright as heck. As night you can see the whole beam and not just the dot is projects. On a night with low clouds I can easilly project a visible green dot on the clouds.
Please, tell me, what model? how many mW? I want to buy one too but there are so many.

[kb1oev]

When LED flashlights were first introduced they used 5mm diodes that produced a small amount of light. To get more light manufacturers added more LED's until some lights had nearly 100. Some cheaper brands also began designing their circuitry to overdrive the LED's to get a little more light out of them. This caused premature failure of the Diodes, the cheaper construction of the lights also caused electrical problems too.

Then LED technology began to get better, and more efficent diodes were produced. These were usually marketed as 1W, 3W, etc. These ratings roughly described the brightness of the diodes. Soon manufacturers began to inflate these numbers rapidly as LED efficency rose slowly, until we now have 10W and 12W LED's. Most of these numbers are pure marketing and should not be trusted as a good way to judge a flashlight. If a number of lumens is given, this is usually a much measure of light produced.

The most usefull LED lights I have found are the dual level ones that give you an efficent and dim beam (plenty of light when your eyes are dark adapted) and a bright beam if you need to light something up. You usually need to spend a little more $$ than most people if you want to get a really nice reliable and bulletproof light.

[KG4CGC]

"But, for fishing? what does one do, fry the fish in the water, and just wait for them to float up out of the boiling water?"

At night, you submerge the flashlight at the same depth as your bait. It attracts some really large. Mainly catfish but very large none the less.
Most all high end flashlights are waterproof these days.

[NL7W]

Quote[/b] (N3ATS @ Aug. 12 2007,15:33)]I bought the LED kit for my Mini-Mag lite (2 "AA" version). What a waste of money that was.

The stock bulb was considerably brighter, and could be focused, unlike the LED.

Better battery life? Certainly, at the sacrifice of light. I bought a flashlight not a battery preserver. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Try the LED kit for the 3-cell, C or D battery Mag-lights. I believe they're 1-watt (maybe 3-watt) LED units, and they're awesome.

BTW, the 3-watt LED flashlights are just killer -- don't flash yourself with one, you'll regret it.

[kb1oev]

Quote[/b] (NL7W @ Aug. 13 2007,04:06)]Quote[/b] (N3ATS @ Aug. 12 2007,15:33)]I bought the LED kit for my Mini-Mag lite (2 "AA" version). #What a waste of money that was. #

The stock bulb was considerably brighter, and could be focused, unlike the LED.

Better battery life? #Certainly, at the sacrifice of light. #I bought a flashlight not a battery preserver. #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Try the LED kit for the 3-cell, C or D battery Mag-lights. #I believe they're 1-watt (maybe 3-watt) LED units, and they're awesome.

BTW, the 3-watt LED flashlights are just killer -- don't flash yourself with one, you'll regret it.
I keep a Mag 2D LED light in my truck's center console. #Its decently rugged and will last quite a long time. #I also keep a larger incandecent light for lighting things up at a distance. #I have been happy w/ the output of the Mag and would buy another one.

As far as LED's go, the first major departure from the 5mm's were the Luxeon series which were available as 1, 3 and 5W. #Next came the K2's which were brighter and more efficent, and now we have Cree LED's which are still brighter and more efficent. #I just bought a Fenix P3D with a Cree LED that puts out 160 lumens on high. #Compare this with about 30-50 lumens with a standard D cell Mag incandecent light. #The Fenix is about 5" long and 3/4" thick.

As N3ATS said, you want to make sure you keep these out of your eyes.

[ka5s]

Quote[/b] (k4kyv @ Aug. 12 2007,14:48)]Not worth a damn. I have bought a total of three of the things. Each and every one crapped out before the demise of the 2nd set of batteries. They worked great at first, but then one of the LED's would start to get dim, and quickly go dark. Then another one, and then another one, until there were only 2 or 3 still shining.

The first one, I just thought I had bought a lemon. Second one, I took it apart to see if there was a bad connection on the circuit board. Found nothing wrong. When the third one started to do the same thing, I tossed it out and went back to the incandescent bulb.

I would love to have one that actually worked as promised. But to me, three strikes makes an "out".
I've got several, including one Mini-Maglite™ Chinese "conversion" LED. They work pretty darned good.

At a hamfest here, one guy won three door prizes, all LED flashlights. That was unusual. What made it ODD was that he's blind. God really does have a sense of whimsy.

Fiat lux!


Cortland
KA5S

[KD6NIG]

I've converted 2 of the "mini-mag" for myself and have them at home. With 3 LEDs they are pretty bright for such a small package.

I recently invested in a 3 AA cell minimag though. The only drawback of the 3 LED conversion kits is you lose the ability to focus the beam-not on the new one. Its a single LED, and kicks the pants off the 3 LED as for light output.

But the 3 LED are still handy. I can use the 3AA at work though and light up the back of 53' trailers fairly well with it. For the fact its AA powered, I'm impressed.

I'm waiting for the outdoor floodlight LEDs to get perfected more. A buddy of mine bought some off the internet and the first rain we had last year-they promptly stopped working. I'm guessing they were made cheaply.

I've converted most of the house to CFL, so if I can get LEDs on those outside motion sensor lights, those are about the only ones I have left consuming above 25W http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[WA2ZDY]

The best LED flashlight so far for me is the Streamlight Twin Task. Mine has LEDs and a halogen bulb. Amazing light and last year cost me $32.

If you buy a good brand name, and Streamlight is among the best, you'll get a good light. Buy junk and that's what you'll end up with.

[n2cfj]

Around 1960 we had neighborhood competition with flashlights. #Some were commercially made some home brew. #The competition was who could turn off the streetlight by shining the light on the photo sensor. #Distance from the pole would determine the winner. #Some of the homeberw stuff was amazing considering we were limited to incandesant bulbs, battery power and a kid's pocket money.

[AG3Y]

Quote[/b] (ve2nsm @ Aug. 12 2007,23:55)]Quote[/b] (n2ize @ Aug. 12 2007,22:19)]Speaking of LED's and lights I bought myself one of those green laser pointers a few months ago. Man, that thing is bright as heck. As night you can see the whole beam and not just the dot is projects. On a night with low clouds I can easilly project a visible green dot on the clouds.
Please, tell me, what model? how many mW? I want to buy one too but there are so many.
Orion™ supplier of telescopes, binocs, and accessories for amateur astronomers sells green laser pointers for just under $100 dollars. It is listed as an "<5mw" unit, but I have seen them in action, and THAT is BRIGHT ! Any dust or moisture in the air, and the beam can be visible seemingly forever!

Check them out on the internet. I'll leave it up to you to find the address. It's not difficult!

73, Jim

[n2ize]

Quote[/b] (ve2nsm @ Aug. 12 2007,19:55)]Quote[/b] (n2ize @ Aug. 12 2007,22:19)]Speaking of LED's and lights I bought myself one of those green laser pointers a few months ago. Man, that thing is bright as heck. As night you can see the whole beam and not just the dot is projects. On a night with low clouds I can easilly project a visible green dot on the clouds.
Please, tell me, what model? how many mW? I want to buy one too but there are so many.
Depends on what you are looking for and how much power you want. I got mine for just $36.00 from these people...

Link - Green Laser (http://www.lasersale.com/catalog/display_item.asp?id=1901)

For pointing out stars at night or for general use it is more than adequate.As a bonus you also get a combo LED flashlight plus red laser pointer.

Of course if you want something with much higher power (at a considerably higher pricetag) you could take a look at what these people have to offer.

Link - Wicked lasers (http://wickedlasers.com)

But For most normal people a standard <5 MW model is more than adaquate.

Hope that info helps

[W2ILP]

Did you know that the British call flashlights ELECTRIC TORCHES?

British flashlights are the bulbs used for photography in the dark...which we in the US call FLASH BULBS.

w2ilp (Intermittent Light Power)
BTW. #My XYL looks sort of like Angela Lansbury...but only when she holds a flashlight and squints.