Stanley 5 Watt LED Spotlight

[ZardHex]

Nice review Bluebeam! I stopped at my local WM last night....and low-and-behold...they are finally carrying these Stanley (5W LED, 2MCP Halogen, and 35W HID) lights ...not gonna pull the trigger on a $70 HID purchase yet (My POB still is quite the handy long-range torch )
I noticed the little 5watt sitting on the shelf, curiously fondled the packaging for a few minutes (debating, debating, debating)...I finally came to my senses with my wallet intact and came home and searched CPF and found this thread, and was wondering how it compares to a typical M@glite ROP-low(by typical, i mean: stock head, smooth KD reflector, borafloat lens, run-of-the-mill protected 18650's, 2A measured at the tail....nothing special)

 

[Mark620]

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.

Go for the AA's...there is plenty of room Only Problem would be the length of the pack..it will work.

 

[talonts]

Any update from owners on cramming AA NimH in it?

It's $25 at Lowe's right now, might have to pick one up, but don't have any solder-tab NimH to mess with, nor a 6-cell holder (probably wouldn't fit).

 

[electrothump]

Saw the light for $30 at wally about an hour ago. You can test it in the pack. I was way impressed with the beam in the store. You could see the beam clearly on the walls, and ceiling very clearly, even close to the large metal halides they use for store lighting. I picked up several and "tested" them while there. Had a real nice tight spot, and plenty throw. I think I'll be dropping a few of them in some stockings. Wish I could get them at the same price from somewhere other than a mega shop. I'm always concerned about "the high cost of low prices". Now that it's dark, wish I had already picked one up to test tonight. Oh well, should've, could've, would've.

 

[electrothump]

Went ahead, and took the plunge for one of these. I'm pretty surprised at the throw this little thing has. I like throw, but I also like some spill, or the choice of both in the same light. Charges fast, and is very easy on the hand (light weight). Kinda fun checking out how the led "cools off" after turning it off. It will glow for several seconds. Yeah, a memory of the last used setting would be handy. I also think it takes too long to start the cycle of up or down after pushing the buttons. Haven't taken it apart yet, nor have I had time to check the run time on it. But, so far I like it.

 

[dda]

On default brightness on full charge mine ran 1 hr. 58. min. before shutting down.

 

[rekd0514]

I couldn't find this at Lowes or Walmart here. I only checked one Walmart though. Just curious, what it the item number/SKU at Lowes or Walmart? I would like to see if it is available online possibly. I doubt it.........

 

[kimjac]

Wally world is carrying the Spotlight with a belt clip for $29.99 in Automotive - Atlanta. Go around the corner and they have the same model w/o the belt clip for 39.99????

 

[Gbcue]

Has anybody dis-assembled the light to remove/quiet the noisemaker?

I'm thinking of doing that since those beeps are just too loud.

Any pictures of the insides?

I'm looking at the light and the sides are held together with hexagonal screws vs. the back, phillips screws... Which to disassemble?

 

[Roberts30]

I was at wally world last night to pick up my HID and they had these LED spotlights on sale for $19.99.. (Northern MO) but they might have them on clarence other places. :thumbsup:

 

[ScottFHall]

I've got one of these little Stanley Ultra Bright LED Spotlights. I haven't yet bothered to shut off the irritating beeps when it hits max or min, but I did figure out how to force it to max each time you pull and hold the trigger alone:

Open it up, cut a window in back to hold a little spst on-off slide switch. Solder the new slide switch in so that (in its on position denoted by the little white triangle sticker I added ) it forces the built-in "high" switch to be constantly on. This in essence is a shorting-out the switch to the board function that I've added. So you pull and hold the trigger--the circuit finds itself already set "on" for rise and it rises on up in a few seconds to max and commences with the irritating beeps. But at least it's up to max without having to make a second button pushing and hold motion with your same-hand thumb or opposite hand. Ugh, cool little light but what was Stanley thinking with this 80% start and these goofy beeps?

Alternately, when the new spst switch is in the off position (away from the little white triangle), it reverts back to stock function--it just comes up to 80% brightness.

It is a little tedious to do this mod . It's a bit risky to be poking around with there with your exacto knife and soldering iron since the whole thing is so tiny. The clumsy might accidentally kill the whole circuit by trying this. But I like the result--when I start any flashlight up, I want max power asap! :devil:

 

[dda]

I like the default startup for battery conservation. After all, how often do you need the highest brightness level. By my tests, on high you get about 20% more light and less than 1/2 the runtime.

 

[ScottFHall]

That makes good sense--moderate start up for longer battery life. My own approach is usually to run a light for rather shorts bursts at max power rather than to let it burn longtime. I'm usually back inside and recharging long before the batteries are actually drained on any my lights.

 

[KarstGhost]

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

Yeah, I thought getting the Stanley HID was a great deal for $70, but my sister told me earlier tonight I was out of my mind to pay that much for a light. She did admit it was bright.

 

[Apollo Cree]

I got one and am rather impressed. I wasn't expecting much since I've had "5 watt" LED lamps before. I'm guessing the lumens are higher and the reflector is better because it seems to throw a lot better than the other 5 W lights I've used.

Having to push and hold the buttons to get full light output is a definite design flaw. Needs a switch or memory to come on at full power without any fiddling with the buttons, which takes two hands.

I find the "slow fade" of the light hilarious. I wonder if it's just an unintended consequence of the circuit design or some sort of deliberate thing.

How does it compare with the Coleman 535 lumen spotlight?

 

[Dougzilla]

Stanley 5 watt LED spotlight Runtimes are in the instruction manual, page 4, at the bottom under USING THE DIMMER SELECTORS

10 hours on minimum
50 minutes on maximum

 

[Joe_Atlanta]

Wally world is carrying the Spotlight with a belt clip for $29.99 in Automotive - Atlanta. Go around the corner and they have the same model w/o the belt clip for 39.99????

Took a look at my local WMs, Stone Mtn had only the $39.99 version, Tucker had a whole rack of the $29.99 belt clip version. Well, I would have been losing money not to buy one.....

 

[IlluminatedOne]

I picked up one of these lights and i think there great for the money, got it at walmart for $29.99 with belt clip.

Throws really good even with all the ambient street lighting, i have been meaning to take it out somewhere with less ambient light and see how far it can throw.
It fits nicely in the hand and just seems to be about the right size and weight.

I like the cool afterglow effect and the slight delay in the light coming on does not bother me that much although it would be nice to have instant on.

The only things i find annoying about it is the delay in ramping up and down in brightness when using the buttons on the back, it not remembering the last used brightness setting and the buzzer sounding when it hits full or lowest brightness setting can be annoying when your using it in the dead of night when people are sleeping lol.

I took it the back off the light can see the 6xAAA pack and i also think there would be enough room for a 6xAA pack inside after a bit of trimming of the internal plastic.
Also i think it should not be that hard to remove/disable the buzzer if you simply de-soldered the buzzer from the circuit board.

One thing that would be nice on this light would be a variable trim pot on the back so you could just set it to what brightness you want, leave it there and not have to mess around with the buttons on the back, although that might only be possible with a driver change which would start to add up in cost for this little light.
But then again it is fun to mod things .

By any chance does anyone know what LED emitter is in these lights ?

 

[Benson]

Also i think it should not be that hard to remove/disable the buzzer if you simply de-soldered the buzzer from the circuit board.

Yeah, I did this on mine to go with the brighter-button mod. (Like ScottFHall's, but couldn't find a suitable switch handy, so it's permanent.)

By any chance does anyone know what LED emitter is in these lights ?

Cree XR-E

 

[Arnulf]

I looked at both the Stanley and the Brinkmann Q-Beam Cree LED spotlights and went with the Q-Beam.....reason.....3 Cree XP-E LEDs.....5hr run time on high 600 lumens and 10hrs run time on low 300 lumens....33 red LEDs for NV.....if you only ran it on low all the time.....its bright enough for most uses.
The Q-beam also come with a quality charger....my Stanley HID came with a really cheap light weight charger.