Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 300 Lumen Lantern - MORE INFO ???

[Lynx_Arc]

5v may be ok, but some usb power converters run up to 5.5v or so which would be a volt higher than normal. I would recommend you check the voltage before trying it just in case. A dropping resistor may be a good idea to keep from overdriving the LEDs on high too much.

[Trancersteve]

About to order one of these they look like the all round best LED lantern without spending too much.

Cheapest I can find in the UK is the Varta badged clone £24.99 from Amazon

[Trancersteve]

My Varta 4watt 300 Lumen lantern arrived over the weekend.

I've used it a couple of times out in the garden.. my thoughts? The thing is crazy bright!

Compared to many other LED lanturns I have played with none can touch the Varta. The light spill is very even and easily fills a +medium sized room with light. I agree with others even on low mode the lanturn is still plenty bright, maybe too bright! It could do with having another lower brightness mode.

Build quality is fantastic and being able to take off the diffuser and hang the lantern upside down is brilliant - I will be using it like this for providing light in a tent.

My only minus with it would be the battery cover is a tad fidderly to lock into position.. but ah not even worth mentioning!

A great LED lantern.

[JNieporte]

I have both the 70-lumen and 300-lumen version of the Rayovac Sportsman Extreme. They're both really nice for the money, and the advertised runtimes and brightnesses are pretty close to reality. The 300-lumen uses three D batteries, and that obnoxious "find me" light concerns me. So, I taped over the exposed ends of the batteries with electrical tape. They still fit inside the lantern, ready for use once the tape is removed, but there's no battery drain. I got the 70-lumen one from Amazon for around $18; the 300-lumen lantern was on close-out at Meijer for $12.95 because somebody took the batteries out of the clamshell packaging. They're both very good lights.

[LEDAdd1ct]

...that obnoxious "find me" light concerns me. So, I taped over the exposed ends of the batteries with electrical tape. They still fit inside the lantern, ready for use once the tape is removed, but there's no battery drain.

There's a hack to disable the locator LED. I'll see if I can find it for you, and post a link here. :-)

[filibuster]

There's a hack to disable the locator LED. I'll see if I can find it for you, and post a link here. :-)

Not sure if this is the same hack you read elsewhere, but I removed the outside case from the inside unit by unscrewing three or four screws from inside the battery compartment which allows the outside case to easily pull off leaving the LED and heatsink exposed along with battery compartment which holds the electronics/PCB/switch and the annoying locator LED.

At this point I just wiggle the little green locator LED that is attached to the PCB until it breaks off and reassemble the two parts back together. I've measured the current with a cheap multimeter before and after and the little pulse of current seen intermittently before is no longer measurable and everything works as desired sans the locator beacon.

[LEDAdd1ct]

That's it!

[hotlight]

FYI-

had mine running on LOW since 6-30-2010 5:30PM.... its still going(at a very low but useable output)

started with fresh alkalines(1.54V).. now at 0.85V.

[Egsise]

FYI-

had mine running on LOW since 6-30-2010 5:30PM.... its still going(at a very low but useable output)

started with fresh alkalines(1.54V).. now at 0.85V.

Nice to know, how low is it?
Quark AA can go 2 weeks with a single AA, it's low but still useable...

[jtice]

Bumping this old thread, cuz I think I am going to pick up one of these soon.
They sound like they are great for the money. My only complaint is that I wish they had more output levels.

Still trying to get an idea on the runtime these have.
I understand that on high, they are regulated, then dim over time after they drop out of regulation.
I would mainly like to get at least a couple night camping trip out of one set of batts. Maybe use it on low as much as I can.

I am also tempted to mod one, swap out the circuit, with one with multiple levels.

~John

[jtice]

I got my Rayovac 3D LED lantern the other day, and I am VERY impressed.
It seems very well made, rubber on the bottom top and sides. Its a nice size and shape, and has great light output.
My ONLY complaint would be that it seems to shine more light upward than downwards.
if I have it on a table in the house, most the light is at the very top of the walls, I would rather it shine straight out the side of the lantern.
But other than that, its excellent, and I can see me getting at least one more of these lanterns.

~John

[LEDAdd1ct]

You can unscrew the top and use it like a regular lamp. Perhaps you will like the output that way better.

[jtice]

Yep, I was trying that, and in the house that works well, cuz it bounces the light off the ceiling also, and really fills the room.
But outdoors, that wouldnt work, and with the top on it seems it would light up the trees more than the campsite and ground.
Not that its not going to do a good job of lighting up camp, I can tell it will.
It would just be even better if that brightest part of the output was focused a bit lower.
Just a picky little thing, nothing that should keep anyone from buying one of these!

~John

[hotlight]

Nice to know, how low is it?
Quark AA can go 2 weeks with a single AA, it's low but still useable...

sorry for late response....
not sure how low in terms of lumens. probably equal to brightness of a Quark on low(not moon mode).???? I don't know how else to put it.



FYI- this is a tough little lantern

I've dropped mine twice from probably a little over 6 feet onto hard garage floor.(first time was a direct hit, second bounced off a box or shelf)..... still functions properly. There are "marks"/visible abrasions to the housing, nothing major.... I was expecting this thing to split along the seams from the impacts.

[cgeb]

Amazon has these for $25 with free shipping. The best price I have seen if you consider the free shipping and no tax.

[Rod911]

Posting this up again...

Modded my lantern with a neutral XP-G R4 acquired from KD. I used a copper fin from an old CPU heatsink to cover a hole that was smack right in the middle of the base. The modded lantern looked like this:



Beamshots can be found by clicking here and choosing to "save as". I have compiled the beamshots into one PDF, and it compares the old cool LED versus the modded neutral version.

[daguy80]

Posting this up again...

Modded my lantern with a neutral XP-G R4 acquired from KD. I used a copper fin from an old CPU heatsink to cover a hole that was smack right in the middle of the base. The modded lantern looked like this:



Beamshots can be found by clicking here and choosing to "save as". I have compiled the beamshots into one PDF, and it compares the old cool LED versus the modded neutral version.

Very nice mod. Is this the Rayovac Sportsman Extreme that you modded? Did you only change the led? Or did you add a driver to it also? I am thinking about buying a led lantern and modding it with a xm-l. If it is not to difficult to do then I would like to try it.

[Rod911]

Very nice mod. Is this the Rayovac Sportsman Extreme that you modded? Did you only change the led? Or did you add a driver to it also? I am thinking about buying a led lantern and modding it with a xm-l. If it is not to difficult to do then I would like to try it.

Only the LED was changed. Before the crash, someone modded theirs with an XM-L and found that it produced too much heat and could potentially do some damage to the platic dome.

[daguy80]

Only the LED was changed. Before the crash, someone modded theirs with an XM-L and found that it produced too much heat and could potentially do some damage to the platic dome.

This is the Rayovac Sportsman Etreme 300 lumens lantern right? It was using 3 led before you modded right? Correct me if I am wrong? How hard was it to remove the Led and swap with the new Led. What current is the led recieving?

[LEDAdd1ct]

It definitely comes stock with three Nichia LEDs.

[daguy80]

Will I be able to remove those led and just wire the xml to the lantern?

[Rod911]

This is the Rayovac Sportsman Etreme 300 lumens lantern right? It was using 3 led before you modded right?

Yes and yes.

How hard was it to remove the Led and swap with the new Led. What current is the led recieving?

I didn't take pictures of the disassembly process, so sorry about that.

To access the LED, you unscrew three screws at the bottom of the battery container. Once that is done, you just pull it apart. Note that the original LED was riveted into place and a mild adhesive was also used. You will need to drill the rivets out and twist the LED or wedge a thin knife between the LED and base to finally remove it. After that is done, it's just a simple matter of unsoldering the original LED and replace it with an LED of your choice.

The way I held the XP-G in place was by using adhesive to stick it onto the copper fin. However, before doing so, I placed a small dot of Arctic Silver 5 to help with the heat transfer from the LED to the lantern's base.

[daguy80]

Yes and yes.


I didn't take pictures of the disassembly process, so sorry about that.

To access the LED, you unscrew three screws at the bottom of the battery container. Once that is done, you just pull it apart. Note that the original LED was riveted into place and a mild adhesive was also used. You will need to drill the rivets out and twist the LED or wedge a thin knife between the LED and base to finally remove it. After that is done, it's just a simple matter of unsoldering the original LED and replace it with an LED of your choice.

The way I held the XP-G in place was by using adhesive to stick it onto the copper fin. However, before doing so, I placed a small dot of Arctic Silver 5 to help with the heat transfer from the LED to the lantern's base.

Thanks for the info. I have been looking to get this lantern for a long time to mod, but was unsure of how difficult it would be. So the one xpg led that you substituted for the 3 original led was brighter correct, or did you use 3 xpg led also?

[timmmm864]

The beam shots look great.
I'm interested in how well the lantern dissipates the heat from the XP-G.
Also how are the runtimes compared witth the original 3 Nichia setup?

Cheers,
Tim

Yes and yes.


I didn't take pictures of the disassembly process, so sorry about that.

To access the LED, you unscrew three screws at the bottom of the battery container. Once that is done, you just pull it apart. Note that the original LED was riveted into place and a mild adhesive was also used. You will need to drill the rivets out and twist the LED or wedge a thin knife between the LED and base to finally remove it. After that is done, it's just a simple matter of unsoldering the original LED and replace it with an LED of your choice.

The way I held the XP-G in place was by using adhesive to stick it onto the copper fin. However, before doing so, I placed a small dot of Arctic Silver 5 to help with the heat transfer from the LED to the lantern's base.

[Rod911]

Thanks for the info. I have been looking to get this lantern for a long time to mod, but was unsure of how difficult it would be. So the one xpg led that you substituted for the 3 original led was brighter correct, or did you use 3 xpg led also?

It was just the one XP-G module and it is brighter than the Nichia LED. When I originally did the mod, I couldn't see much difference at first turn on. But after taking the after pictures and using it in the outdoors, the difference was quite more pronounced.

In terms of difficulty - I'm a guy who didn't own a soldering iron at all until I decided to do this project. Before I did this mod, the last time I soldered anything was back in high school (15 or so years ago).

As for the current draw, check out post #18 for the info. I tried to measure it to confirm the figures, but I just couldn't get it right.

The beam shots look great.
I'm interested in how well the lantern dissipates the heat from the XP-G.
Also how are the runtimes compared witth the original 3 Nichia setup?

Cheers,
Tim

I keep on forgetting about the crash, because I posted that information before. I use a 2*AA-in-a-D-cell-adapter setup. Run times are the same as per the original LED - 6 hours in high (2 or so hours of relative brightness before it diminishes in output pretty quickly for another 4 hours) and around +12 hours in low (3-4 hours of useful light, before it goes really low). If you use a D sized alkaline or nihm, I believe you get around triple those run times if memory serves me right.

The way I modded mine, I think it's doing a great job of transferring the heat from the LED to the base of the tower. When left on at high and put together again, you do feel the base getting warm, but not hot at all. Compared to before the mod, you couldn't feel much of the heat transfer to the base.

[daguy80]

Thats great to hear that the mod was not very difficult. I have not modded anything but am thinking about getting into the modd scene because I can't seem to find any cheap high powered led lantern for sale. Also when you mean 2*AA in a D cell adapter, you mean 6 total AA right?

[Rod911]

Thats great to hear that the mod was not very difficult. I have not modded anything but am thinking about getting into the modd scene because I can't seem to find any cheap high powered led lantern for sale. Also when you mean 2*AA in a D cell adapter, you mean 6 total AA right?

[timmmm864]

Thanks for reposting your info.
I must have missed it first time around.
I do remember reading a post where the modder had heat issues.
Thats the problem with lanterns in general I think. As they are not designed to be held in the hand heat dissipation can be a problem - and why they are generally underdriven.
Cheers,
Tim

[radio2]

Where did you find the 2 AA to D adaptor? I have only seen 1 AA to D adaptor

[damn_hammer]

Has anyone purchased the updated version of this lantern? It's not branded by Rayovac, but Rayovac is just reselling another manufacturers product here I believe. The updated version has dimming capability, and a remote. Seen it on Amazon, Sportman's guide, ebay, etc ... Not sure if it's allowed for direct links or not, so won't provide them. Wondering what people think, and how they like the dimming capability vs. the set levels on the Rayovac Sportsman Extreme. Thinking about buying either another Sportsman Extreme, or the new one.