Rayovac 1aa headlamp

[jar3ds]

yeah.... i'm sorry guys... but i use a lot of headlamps and I went to walmart to look at this rayovac 1aa headlamp... and i'm sorry to say... i couldn't pull the plug...

its just not a good deal.... if it was $8... i'd buy it... but for what you pay you could just buy some princeton tec headlamp

 

[f22shift]

yeah.... i'm sorry guys... but i use a lot of headlamps and I went to walmart to look at this rayovac 1aa headlamp... and i'm sorry to say... i couldn't pull the plug...

its just not a good deal.... if it was $8... i'd buy it... but for what you pay you could just buy some princeton tec headlamp

it's the form factor. i could take only AA batteries with me to camping for various light. i still might get the zebralight also though.

 

[BlackDecker]

Dropped my Rayovac from hand to hardwood floor. Ceased to function, no visible damage on the exterior. Can this thing even be opened up?

Pressed the button super hard, and it works again. Have to press it down super hard every single time for it to turn on and cycle now, though. Guess the switch inside shifted a little? I have to figure out how to pry this open sometime.

And yes, when it feels it is finished with the battery it just shuts off completely. It'll come back for a few seconds at a time if you turn it on again until it really can't handle it anymore . Definitely need to carry spares!

Nope, it's glued/welded shut. You'd destroy the case prying it open. Someone here tried opening the case in order to swap the blue LED for a white one.

 

[f22shift]

Dropped my Rayovac from hand to hardwood floor. Ceased to function, no visible damage on the exterior. Can this thing even be opened up?

Pressed the button super hard, and it works again. Have to press it down super hard every single time for it to turn on and cycle now, though. Guess the switch inside shifted a little? I have to figure out how to pry this open sometime.

And yes, when it feels it is finished with the battery it just shuts off completely. It'll come back for a few seconds at a time if you turn it on again until it really can't handle it anymore . Definitely need to carry spares!

exchange it

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Yep. When it hits the end of acceptable battery power it almost goes out like the flick of a light switch.

Kinda hoovers when I'm almost asleep and reading to have that happen. I keep batteries close and CAN change it...

But it's easier to use my older Energizer 3 LED with the slide switch. Red to get all settled with my book and white to read.

 

[RonM]

yeah.... i'm sorry guys... but i use a lot of headlamps and I went to walmart to look at this rayovac 1aa headlamp... and i'm sorry to say... i couldn't pull the plug...

its just not a good deal.... if it was $8... i'd buy it... but for what you pay you could just buy some princeton tec headlamp

Does PT have a single AA offering with similar or more features? It's that 1AA form factor that was the big draw for me.

 

[s23246g]

I've had this light for a month or so, and I love it. It totally blows away the 3aaa Energizer I replaced with it. Took it deer hunting, hoping to see how well the blue led worked on blood, but unfortunately all the deer managed to keep their blood that night.

The patterns on this cheap LED are far superior to the ones on the Streamlight Sidewinder I spent $60 on.

I also use it for bike riding at night... works great, with good throw. And when it started going out on the way home, I was able to get home by turning it off for a couple of seconds and then back on. Made it home with enough to get ready for bed with the blue led.

Lots of bang for the buck IMO.

 

[degarb]

Yep. When it hits the end of acceptable battery power it almost goes out like the flick of a light switch.

I tried Brinkman (1 watt, the shallow reflectored Dorcy 1 watt) My favorite light by far is Garrity 8 led (1watt, 3 white, 4 red), which Wall Mart discontinued recently, and now, one only can buy from Garrity, directly. It has 11 hours of super bright usable light, and 20 hours of very bright light, and 50 hours of battery life on low level. Yes, I dropped it many times onto concrete, too. Used it in a light rain.

This Ray-O-Vac light is tempting (to convert to wrist light), but doesn't seem very efficient. If 3 AA gives 20 hours, I expect 6 from one AA on 1 watt. and 10 hours with a type %50 of 1 watt setting.

Then, what's up with the no white led for reading?

Surprisingly, to a greater advantage than my 1500 watt halogen work light, I find a dynamic, constantly moving lighting helps move the shadows, thus making texture more noticeable, detectable, than with a stationary halogen or even daylight. So--day or night--, I use headlamps for carpentry, drywall, automotive, painting, sanding, caulking work. In addition to my headlamp, I make my own wrist-lamps for an extra alternative angle to see more texture.

Is there a place to complain to their missed design? Improvements to the paltry 2 hours of working time?

 

[Any Cal.]

I finally got one. Have only had it a couple days. I bought it for the battery type, and the easily changeable spot/flood on the led, and the red leds. I really like the light. It seems more comfortable than my tikka. The white flood is very nice, with the ability to go to a spot. It was a toss-up between this and the zebra light, but I chose this due to the addition of the red led's and spot pattern.

So far, I am really impressed w/ the light, especially given it's price point. I don't know about battery life, but am not really worried about it, since it will only see rechargeables.

Time will tell if I continue to like it as much, but right now I have to say, if I am not the last person on earth to buy one, that you should give it a shot.

1 AA is nice.
The flood beam is nice.
The diffused red led is nice.
It is lightweight.
It is comfortable.

Thanks everyone for convincing me to get one of these.

 

[kitelights]

I tried Brinkman (1 watt, the shallow reflectored Dorcy 1 watt) My favorite light by far is Garrity 8 led (1watt, 3 white, 4 red), which Wall Mart discontinued recently, and now, one only can buy from Garrity, directly. It has 11 hours of super bright usable light, and 20 hours of very bright light, and 50 hours of battery life on low level. Yes, I dropped it many times onto concrete, too. Used it in a light rain.

This Ray-O-Vac light is tempting (to convert to wrist light), but doesn't seem very efficient. If 3 AA gives 20 hours, I expect 6 from one AA on 1 watt. and 10 hours with a type %50 of 1 watt setting.

Then, what's up with the no white led for reading?

Surprisingly, to a greater advantage than my 1500 watt halogen work light, I find a dynamic, constantly moving lighting helps move the shadows, thus making texture more noticeable, detectable, than with a stationary halogen or even daylight. So--day or night--, I use headlamps for carpentry, drywall, automotive, painting, sanding, caulking work. In addition to my headlamp, I make my own wrist-lamps for an extra alternative angle to see more texture.

Is there a place to complain to their missed design? Improvements to the paltry 2 hours of working time?

The long run times that you're referring to - are YOU getting those run times, or are you getting those figures from the package that they came in? If you're going on experience, then you will have discovered that the light is not regulated and dims as the batteries are depleted. Any three cell 1.5V LED light is highly likely to not be regulated. If it WERE regulated, it would be more efficient than requiring a single 1.5V cell to do the same job. An unregulated LED will run for a very long time, however at a drastically decreased output.

Obviously, that's not a fair comparison to a regulated light that has the same output when it poops out as when it started on fresh cells. Add to that the small lightweight form factor that weighs at least 3 times less than the Garrity and a 2+ hour run time on a single AA cell is still pretty impressive to me.

The diffuser makes it a perfect light for reading, although I agree with others that one or two 5mm white LEDs would be very practical and a lower power mode would be nice; although, if it was set up to cycle with both one or two of the white 5mm LEDs, I don't think that the low mode would be necessary.

Bottom line is that I just don't have much respect for 3 cell 1.5V LED lights, especially compared to a single cell one that is doing a better than average job.

 

[GaryF]

I really like the Rayovac 1aa headlamp overall, but in support of degarb, my biggest gripe is the runtime. A point of comparison would be the Fenix L1d-CE, which puts out about the same amount of light (medium setting) for close to 6 hours from a single AA battery.

An easy change that would help a lot would be to use a white 5mm led in place of the blue. This would offer a long run time with a white LED at reduced brightness.

My wish list would be: Replace the Luxeon with a Seoul SSC4 or Cree LED, and adjust the circuit to increase runtime while maintaining brightness comparable to the current Luxeon. Give a high and low option for the primary LED, and get rid of the blue. A 6 hour runtime on high might be optimistic, but 4 hours or more should be fairly easy to achieve.

 

[kitelights]

You're comparing a light that costs 3x what the ROV does - not exactly apples to apples.

Your suggestions for improvement, IMO, are good. Has anyone yet determined exactly what LED is used in the ROV? If it's a low grade Lux I, then a decent Cree or Seoul would probably double the run time with a little adjustment. But, as the "improvements" are made, I doubt that it'll remain an $18 light.

You can get a bulky, heavy multi cell head lamp that'll run longer and or brighter (I've got them), or you can pay more money and get the small, lightweight form factor that's longer running and brighter with the ZebraLight. Currently the ZL only offers a flood, but they will have future models that offer different beam patterns. I personally think that they're well worth the money.

But, for the size, weight, cost and availability, I still think that the ROV is an exceptional value with a very adequate run time for a single AA light. I do hope that they're reading this thread and considering the input for future versions.

 

[GaryF]

Has anyone yet determined exactly what LED is used in the ROV?

It's a 1 W Luxeon according to the product's web page: http://www.rayovac.com/flashlight/se1whlt-b.shtml

I agree the ROV is a good value. With the selectable flood or throw it's the most versatile small headlamp I have. That said, I'd pay more for one with better runtime, and I think they could do that without a huge redesign.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Put a white LED in place of the blue and it would be an in-the-park homerun.

Put an SSC or Cree instead of the 1W and a white LED instead of the blue and it would be a Grand Slam!

As it is, I'm glad I got one!

 

[Turbo DV8]

I just bought one of these today. Has anybody noticed this? When I push the power button to turn the red LED's on, the red LED's come on full brightness, but as soon as I release the pressure on the switch button, the brightness diminishes by about 10-20%. It is not huge, but would like to know if other's units do the same thing, or do I have a lemon? Would some of you take yours into a dark room where the brighness shift would be noticeable, press the button while noting brightness, then remove the pressure from your finger on the switch to see if the brightness diminishes. Thankyou mery vuch.

 

[Magichunter]

Yep, mine does the same thing. It's not broken; I guess thats just the way it is.

 

[LightBen]

Mine does that also.

 

[Turbo DV8]

Is it my imagination?

It could be my eyes playing tricks on me, but I swear once the 1 watt LED has been on for a few minutes, the output diminishes significantly. This is with freshly charged Eneloop cell. I am wondering with such a small and unventilated enclosure, is the regulator cutting power to the LED as it heats up? Anybody else sense the light output drops off after a few minutes? Or are my rods and cones frying from the blazing 1-watter?

 

[lasercrazy]

Re: Is it my imagination?

I noticed it dimming slightly after about 2 hours not a few minutes. Maybe you have a defective unit.

 

[MorePower]

Check my post in the other thread for a runtime chart. There's an initial drop using alkalines (it would be smaller for NiMH), followed by fairly flat regulation after that.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2225322&postcount=49