Light-a-Life lantern

Kilted

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I just picked up from REI. It was an impulse buy but it seemed like a good idea.

http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/18//4:5/

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I had to do a BBQ tonight so I had a chance to try it out. I was surprise at how well it work. It does not have any batteries, it will run off a 12v battery. I have one of those AGM 12v 12A SLA. Hung up the lamp and tried it. Bright but will not replace a Coleman but there's no broken mantle to replace or gas bottles to buy and add to the land fill. There are 66 leds inside for a full arc of light. There is a connector on top so up to six lamps can be daisy chained. And it will do a TAIL STAND!!

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Here is the bulb, note that it is a 12V bulb. I did web search on the model number abd there a lot of 120/240V versions. I never did find a 12V vendor in the U.S.A. this might be a RV store item.

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Over all I like it. For lovers of warm or neutral tint's well you will be disappointed. Check the rest of the Goal Zero website their Solar Power medium and large units use LiFe batteries, small units NiMH and AGM SLA.

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This looks like a very good camp/emergency light.

=D~~ Kilted
 
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LEDAdd1ct

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Very, very cool! This looks incredibly useful. We used 12v UPS system during the storm, and one of these would have been (maybe?) even more efficient than the CFL.

How many lumens is it rated for?

Also, do we know who makes those LEDs? The runtime tests have found that many of the no name LEDs drop in output rapidly.
 
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Kilted

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Very, very cool! This looks incredibly useful. We used 12v UPS system during the storm, and one of these would have been (maybe?) even more efficient than the CFL.

How many lumens is it rated for?

Also, do we know who makes those LEDs? The runtime tests have found that many of the no name LEDs drop in output rapidly.

LEDAddict,

Hi, well with an ups you have all the conversion losses to consider. I have a couple of them and they are great for what there designed to do and so-so at other tasks. I have three ups at home and three more battery inverter/charger systems but I'm always looking for things that run directly off the 12V battery.

Lumen's across the top of the box washed out by the flash it say's "270 Lumens of Light" it took me awhile reading the box in the store to figure there were no batteries! Three watt and 270 lumen s had me interested. Just remember these are spread in a 360 degree circle.

I also have a Black Diamond Titan with about the same rating and more directed light. The DB-Titan is a task lighter, this LAL-Latern is a campsite/room lighter the light is really spread out.

Who makes the LED's .... some one in China. Web search on the model number, there were many hits many 120/240V a very few were 120/240/12V I'm sure that you had to specify at time of ordering. All I found were Chinese distributors. What I like is for $40 some one else assembled all the bits and all I needed to do was plug-it-in.

See; http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...n-V60C-Solar-Charger&highlight=sunwayman+v60c

Run time from fully charged 12vx12a=144w/2=72 useable watts/3w load = 24hours under ideal conditions.

=D~~ Kilted
 

LEDAdd1ct

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...with an ups you have all the conversion losses to consider. I have a couple of them and they are great for what there designed to do and so-so at other tasks. I have three ups at home and three more battery inverter/charger systems but I'm always looking for things that run directly off the 12V battery.

Whoops, my fault for being unclear. We have a whole bunch of 12v batteries in the garage, which we then hooked up to the UPS to vastly extend its runtime. Any of the 12v batteries (literally a "battery" of six 2.1v cells) can be hooked up to whatever we want, making them perfect in this application.

270 floody lumens sounds great for the room. Now if the manufacturer would just swap those LEDs for something a little warmer, say, 4000k, I think we'd have a real winner on our hands!
 
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Kilted

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Whoops, my fault for being unclear. We have a whole bunch of 12v batteries in the garage, which we then hooked up to the UPS to vastly extend its runtime. Any of the 12v batteries (literally a "battery" of six 2.1v cells) can be hooked up to whatever we want, making them perfect in this application.

270 floody lumens sounds great for the room. Now if the manufacturer would just swap those LEDs for something a little warmer, say, 4000k, I think we'd have a real winner on our hands!

That sounds like a a really cool setup. Check the picture the bulb has a standard Edison screw base, put in what you want ... 12V only as this is what the cord is rated for.

I searched on S760E27 66LED WHITE 12VDC, which is the label on the bulb;
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/487503638/E27_led_corn_light_S760E27_66DF6_.html
voltage: 230V or 125V or 12V
Scroll and you will see they come in "Warm White - 2600-3000k" and "White - 6000-7000K"

Still unable to find a retailer.

Also try a search on: "12vdc led e27" I came up with this one: http://www.1portal.net/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=61 available in WW, NW, CW.

=D~~ Kilted
 

NickBose

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Side question @Kilted: how does the Titan stack up against this Light-A-Life and the Favourlight "300 lumen" (aka Rayovac Extreme). A reviewer on Amazon was disappointed and said the Titan was dimmer than the Cabelas Bug Proof which is rated at only 160 lumen
 

Kilted

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Side question @Kilted: how does the Titan stack up against this Light-A-Life and the Favourlight "300 lumen" (aka Rayovac Extreme). A reviewer on Amazon was disappointed and said the Titan was dimmer than the Cabelas Bug Proof which is rated at only 160 lumen

Two entirely different lights meant for different jobs. The BD-Titan has a built in reflector system that produces a downward cone of light. Set it on the ground and it will produce a very bright circle about 2.5-3ft in diameter with nothing going up and very little going 180 deg out. This is with the lantern fully open. With the BD hung there is a big dark spot underneath. Put the DB on a table slightly elevated and then start to lower the top a band of light will start to raise when set correctly the BD will light an area about 30ft in dia. Sitting at the table your hands are well light and you have NO GLARE in your eyes, none what so ever. So this is why the BD-Titan is a task light.

The LAL is a pendant light just like any other pendent light with an equal spread 360 degrees and with the down facing LEDs lights right under it, no black hole under the light like the BD.

Brightness, because the BD lantern has a tightly controlled beam your table is brightly light, the LAL because it's light is diffused in a full 360 deg. arc horizontally and below the lumens on the table are much lower BUT the whole room is lite up. The LAL is good at lighting up a room/tent one LAL will provide a well lite room but even directly under it I am not comfortable reading ... caveat I have bad eyes and need a lot of light to read, note - your mileage will very. With a BD on the table 3-4 ft away there is easily enough light for me to read or work. Now remember I mention the downward cone of light this means no glare from the lantern while working also remember there is a big shadow underneath the BD so hanging it does not always work very well.

So as an area/room/tent light the LAL wins as well as any other area lighter will. As a task/work light the BD-Titan wins. As always pick your light for your task.

Oh and nothing beats a good head lamp.

An image I stole from Facebook;
38581_426846416841_693931841_4808554_6626734_n.jpg



=D~~ Kilted
 
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NickBose

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Excellent explanation.
So I guess you don't have the famous Favourlight to compare.
 

fonaryk

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Very nice Kilted! 2 off topic questions. How do you like the Big Steel Keg? I am on the fence between that and a Big Green Egg.

Why do you have what looks to be a drill as part of your BBQ arsenal? Just curious.

M
 

Kilted

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Fonaryk,

It's a heat gun used to light the charcoal :).

BSG forum Roll Call thread " Hello, its .... all your fault .... " ;
See; http://forum.bigsteelkeg.com/index.php?topic=7769.0

BSK and BKK announcement; http://forum.bigsteelkeg.com/index.php?topic=6217.0

BSK vs. BGE; http://forum.bigsteelkeg.com/index.php?topic=7194.0
This is just one thread there are many. For me I just could not stomach the cost of a BGE. I even did not want the cost of a BKK so I went with the BSK-2000 from OSH and added a few things like wheels a second grill, check the roll cal thread above it is all in there.

The first BBQ was almost a disaster but I managed, I'm getting better also.

Short answer, I like it!

=D~~ Kilted
 
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fonaryk

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Ahh,a heat gun! Going to have to try that trick.

Thanks Kilted for the good info. I agree, the BGE is over the top price wise.

Peace.
 
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