On Wed, 4 May 2016 19:22:30 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:
On 5/4/2016 10:21 AM, My 2 Cents wrote:
Curiosity got the better of me and when I was at Dollar General
yesterday getting some cheap glucosamine for my knees... I took the
giant leap and got the flashlight. I'm still trying to figure out why a
big double D size flashlight with only one D cell? Maybe because it's
an election year and anything can happen.
Of course I took it apart and there is what looks like a simple
transistor/resister circuit. The voltage at the bulb was about 1 volt
with the light in the circuit. The battery measured... well it's a D
cell so it's 1.5 volt. I suppose the transistor is actually some kind
of voltage regulating thing. The thing will probably be "repurposed"
for a bike light...maybe... or it will fall off the shelf and roll under
the bed.. to be discovered someday and taken to that "what the hell is
this thing and what's it worth" show on PBS.
Further independent study for those wanting extra credit...
http://www.edn.com/design/led/441654...d-measurements
I had a weak moment, today. Went and bought one. The
one battery worked, the light shines a very blue,
poorly focussed spot on the ceiling. It's about
twilight, so it's a pretty fair test of light output.
I plan to do some testing after dark. Also check amp
draw, battery life, and a few things like that.
So far, with the initial moment or two of testing, it
appears to be a reasonable value.
While I do have some inexpensive LED flashlights and lanterns - one
with a crank generator, I bit the bullet in the last couple of years
and got some better lighting.
For better made lighting with reasonable battery life, try dorcy.com A
step up from there is fenix-store.com/
The 200 lumen Dorcy "camping" lantern ($23) runs 39 hours on 3 D cells
http://www.dorcy.com/p-410-41-3103-2...g-lantern.aspx
The 65 lumen "warm white area" lantern ($25) runs 60+ hours on 3 D
cells This also has a "nightlight" amber LED with unspecified run
time.
http://www.dorcy.com/p-637-41-3104-w...a-lantern.aspx
I have both and will report when (if) power is off long enough to
provide a valid test. In 11 years at this location, the longest
outage was about 16 hours - that was before I had these lights.
For an every day carry flashlight, look at the Fenix E12.
http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-e12-led-flashlight/
I initially thought it was a bit pricey ($26) and put off buying it
for a while. However, unlike most of the inexpensive LED lights, I've
never had to shake or thump it to get good contact with the battery -
even if it's been sitting for months (same is true for my two AA
MagLite with LED conversion).
The E12 uses one AA cell and the specs a
High - 130 Lumens (1 hour 30 minutes)
Mid - 50 Lumens (6 hours 30 minutes)
Low - 8 Lumens (40 hours)
I don't remember the last time I changed the battery in it and even
with recent use for two nights as the nightlight in a hotel room that
didn't have one, it's still bright on the highest setting.
It's waterproof to 6 feet for 30 minutes - and has been through the
washing machine once (shirt pockets not checked).