Stanley 5 Watt LED Spotlight

[BlueBeam22]

Hi Bluebeam,

Thanks for posting the great photos of the new Stanley 5 watt. It's a very nice compact hand held spotlight.

Thank you for your nice reply Richie086!

I just realized something unusual about this light, it has no memory of the last mode it was on, which means my beamshots of it were not accurate. Its default brightness is only about 70% as bright as when it is adjusted to its maximum output, and it is in fact quite a bit brighter than the Husky 3 watt LED Spotlight and has a brighter hotspot. It was just a few minutes ago that I discovered the Stanley LED spotlight's high mode.

On maximum output the Stanley nearly equals the Dorcy 220 lumen in output and hotspot brightness. I will post a beamshot tonight of it on high shining at that shed, and the difference will be very noticeable.

 

[Sadsack]

It would be nice if the switch on the back could be rewired so the light comes on at 100% instead of the 70-80% seeing how it doesn't have a memory function.

 

[BlueBeam22]

I have added a beamshot of the Stanley on high and the Coleman 530 lumen LED spotlight to my first post in this thread.

I took the Stanley outside tonight for testing against the Dorcy 220 lumen, and I was truly shocked. On high it was able to match the Dorcy exactly in throw, and when I shined them at the top of a tree over 200 yards away I could tell no difference in which one put a brighter spot on it, just that the Stanley had a warmer color beam and wider hotspot that actually does better illuminating distant objects. The Stanley actually has more output than the Dorcy and beats it quite noticeably in the ceiling bounce test.

The Stanley easily out throws the Husky 2D and Husky 3 watt LED spotlight. They are absolutely no competition for it and it blows them away in throw and brightness.

I was amazed at how easily the Stanley was able to cover a huge 300 yard (estimated) stretch of my neighborhood and brightly illuminate the top of a very distant tree behind a house. The Dorcy 6W K2 Luxeon LED spotlight is the only LED light I have that out throws it, but by a very negligible amount. I love my Stanley LED spotlight!:thumbsup:

ADDED:

Here are some beamshots I took tonight of the Stanley on high. This thing is just an insane thrower!

Shining at house 20 yards away:

Still 20 yards distance but now shining at top of house:

Shining at house from 30 yards away. Notice the incredibly bright hotspot in the middle.

 

[zapper]

Anyone think this would make for a good P7 or MC-E host? I definitely like the form factor. Anyone open one up yet for modding possibilities?

 

[lemonvr6]

I saw it also, but it's not as impressive when at that very moment you're carrying a 225 lumen 1xAA light in your pocket

And exactly how long does that AA light run for?

 

[StarHalo]

And exactly how long does that AA light run for?

50 hours on low

It'd be nice to see someone get a lux reading on one of these spotlights, I'm wondering if this light might be a budget lux-per-dollar champion..

 

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by StarHalo
I saw it also, but it's not as impressive when at that very moment you're carrying a 225 lumen 1xAA light in your pocket

And exactly how long does that AA light run for?

I think you already know the answer....'not very long, perhaps 60-90 minutes at the most.' By the same token, exactly how much run-time does StarHalo need for a night time walk or taking out the trash? For that matter, exactly how large of a light are you willing to carry that outputs fewer lumens than the AA size which runs for 60-90 minutes?


The real question is how long does the Stanley run? As far as I can tell I don't think it has been determined yet.

zapper
Anyone think this would make for a good P7 or MC-E host?

I'm not sure if it would be worth it or not. You have a base price of $40 and then you'd spend $30-40 on a P7 or MC-E and driver and you'd still be left with the proprietary NiMH batteries. A person could probably install two or four protected 18650's for another $40-50 but now you're in the territory of a Jetbeam M1X, EagleTac M2/X, Fenix TK40 and a host of other high quality lights which are waterproof, metal bodied and have full factory warranties. For me personally it wouldn't be a worth while mod unless I was just looking for something to do.

 

[Benson]

I'm not sure if it would be worth it or not. You have a base price of $40 and then you'd spend $30-40 on a P7 or MC-E and driver and you'd still be left with the proprietary NiMH batteries. A person could probably install two or four protected 18650's for another $40-50 but now you're in the territory of a Jetbeam M1X, EagleTac M2/X, Fenix TK40 and a host of other high quality lights which are waterproof, metal bodied and have full factory warranties. For me personally it wouldn't be a worth while mod unless I was just looking for something to do.

I opened mine up the other day and took a look.

Re: the "proprietary" batteries; it's a shrinkwrapped 6xAAA pack, IIRC 700mAh, with a thermistor. I think there's room in the light for a 6xAA pack instead, using the plug, wires, and thermistor from the original pack, which I'm seriously considering. The main issue is whether I can leverage a bigger battery pack for more brightness, instead of just more runtime (which I expect is adequate already), and I haven't really looked at the driver yet. If I can crank the current up, then either a high-flux low-Vf overdriven XR-E, or an under-driven MC-E or P7 might go nicely. (I doubt it can be cranked to 2.8A, and it's probably not constant-current up to 6.xV for a 2s2p MC-E...)

Not sure about 18650s -- I don't think you can fit them, but I didn't really look, because I'm planning to preserve the original charging circuit. (And I need to see what the charging circuit seems to be doing -- obviously some sort of smart charge termination, given the beep when the battery's full, so I expect it'll be fine with 3-4x capacity cells, but not 100% certain.)

Still haven't gotten the reflector assembly apart to see how I can fix the off-center emitter in mine, which was the driving force behind the dismantlement. Yeah, I was in a hurry and didn't think to pick the one with the best-centered emitter. I should know better by now...

StarHalo, I suspect the $70 HID beats this in cd/$ , but if I get the emitter lined up over the weekend, you can bet I'll take some lux@10m readings. (I can just make 10m at a ****-eyed angle through my living room, the hallway, and the spare room.) If "budget" can't be stretched to $70, even for an HID, then I think this has a good shot at it.

 

[StarHalo]

StarHalo, I suspect the $70 HID beats this in cd/$ , but if I get the emitter lined up over the weekend, you can bet I'll take some lux@10m readings. (I can just make 10m at a ****-eyed angle through my living room, the hallway, and the spare room.) If "budget" can't be stretched to $70, even for an HID, then I think this has a good shot at it.

$70 is "budget" only to a flashaholic, keep in mind that the ~$25 for this spotlight is pushing it for most people..

Looking forward to your numbers

 

[Benson]

OK... I got the emitter more centered, but still not perfect. Now I'm getting 177lx @ 10m = 17700 cd (aka lux@1m).

I think it would be well over 20000 cd if I can get it aligned right, but they didn't quite make it easy to adjust. I'll have another go at it some other time.

It's not quite as fun as I'd thought it would be; the delayed start just feels wrong, and the shrieking when I adjust the brightness to high....

I think when I get to seriously modding it, I may just obliterate the driver and put in my own single-mode driver so it comes on when I squeeze the trigger. That makes battery selection much more open.

 

[StarHalo]

OK... I got the emitter more centered, but still not perfect. Now I'm getting 177lx @ 10m = 17700 cd (aka lux@1m).

That's very impressive, nearly twice the throw of a Mag at nearly the same price. Tiablo A-series territory for $25, definitely an entry-level winner..

 

[Benson]

That's very impressive, nearly twice the throw of a Mag at nearly the same price. Tiablo A-series territory for $25, definitely an entry-level winner..

You keep mentioning $25... where is that? I got mine at Walmart, but it was something like $36, and Amazon has it for $40 -- still budget for me, but I wonder if I missed a better option?

 

[BlueBeam22]

IMHO this light is definitely the best budget LED thrower currently available. To my eyes it is actually generating higher lux than the Dorcy 220 lumen. On distant objects they seem about the same, but I prefer the Stanley's warmer color beam and perfectly formed, extremely intense hotspot.

 

[L.E.D.]

I just bought this as well, not a bad thrower at all, well regulated and has a glass lens..

 

[BlueBeam22]

Congratulations on your new Stanley 5W, L.E.D.. I am very enthusiatic about this light. Please post your impressions on it once you get a chance to test its throw on some distant targets. :thumbsup:

 

[L.E.D.]

Thanks, BlueBeam22, and thanks for your awesome photos too. After a full charge and discharge test, I must say I'm pretty pleased. The battery indicator light will change to red once the voltage starts to sink below a certain level, meaning that it needs charging, but it still runs at the default brightness setting for a good hour after the light turns red. After this, the spotlight will turn off and beep 5 times. To my eye, it seems to be VERY well regulated for the entire runtime, even after the indicator turns red.

 

[L.E.D.]

Well, more observations. There is a huge heatsink for the LED that surrounds barrel, you can feel it heat up pretty quickly. To see this heatsink, take off the rubber bezel by lifting the lip up. They probably used so much metal / sinking to make up for the fact that most of the metal is covered in plastic and rubber. I'm not too fond of the delay between the trigger press and the light turning on, but I think they did this to kind of mimic an HID light, like a mini warm-up time, because the way the circuit also gradually decreases the brightness after you release the trigger to turn it off reminds me of a high powered halogen / HID spotlight, how you can see the afterglow for awhile after it's turned off. So, not fond of the fake warm-up, but love the afterglow effect they did. This light has grown on me, I like it alright. It does have pretty short runtime on high, but it's saving grace is that it stays real bright the whole time, right until the automatic shutdown, really nice regulation. I was able to get a decently centered LED on mine. On default brightness setting, it barely edges out the new D-cell Rebel Maglite (which has impressed me as well with it's better heatsinking and deeper reflector!!). On highest, well, you get the idea.

 

[BlueBeam22]

L.E.D., Thank you for your kind words, and I really enjoyed your impressions on this light. I like the afterglow too. I kind of like the delay between the trigger press and activation, however the fact that it has no memory is the one aspect I dislike.

It is an awesome light, and definitely a throw champion! I now like it many times more than the Dorcy 220 lumen.

I know what you mean about the high setting; it is extremely impressive on default and out throws most other LED lights, but when you turn it up to high its throw is truly shocking.

 

[L.E.D.]

Glad to discuss this light, and I've always enjoyed all your light photoshoots Bluebeam22, you always include great shots of the lights themselves, and medium range and long range shots at all brightness modes. Very concise. Another interesting observation: The charging circuit appears to be a peak charger, rather than a simple timer charger, which is a GREAT aspect. I tested this by plugging in the cord a few minutes after charging, it blinked red for about 15 seconds after which point it turned green and beeped. This means that replacing the 6 AAA 700 mAh NiMH's with 6 AA 2900 mAh NiMH's would require no change in the circuit, it's just a matter of whether or not there's enough space in the case. I've not fully opened mine up yet, someone who has, is there FOR SURE enough space in here? Some 2000 mAh AA Eneloops in here is sounding REAL sexy, charge 'er up and she'll be good for QUITE some time. A correction to make as well, the light beeps SEVEN times at the end of the battery life, at the forced shutdown, not five like I had said, that was just a weak not-paying-attention estimate...

 

[jagster936]

Yea really like this light, someone just needs to figure out how to force the brightness to 100% by default . hmm, must be a way. If only a schematic was available