2 All New LED Lights from Ray-O-Vac !!

Slick

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I had some returns to make at the local Walmart tonight and of course just *had* to cruise the flashlight aisle looking for a DB to mod..

Well, low and behold I saw 2 brand new entries into the LED market by Ray-O-Vac. A compact flashlight and a headlight.

The flashlight: One single bright white LED that has a throw somewhat like the Dorcy cool blue but with MUCH more sidespill. This light is very usable due to the evenly dispersed sidespill with a small hotspot in the center. It's powered by 3 AAA's and they are loaded into a holder that slides into the body of the flashlight. The light is 4" long and 1 1/8 swelling to 1 3/8 at the business end - much smaller than a Brinkmann Longlife. It also comes with a really nice "holder clamp" that has a ball swivel joint. I rate this to be a very nice quality unit for $10.

The headlight: This one is REALLY interesting! It has a single white LED (for "low power"), 2 BRIGHT red LED's (for "night vision"), and a Krypton bulb (for "long range"). This light appears to use the exact same 3 AAA battery holder as the flashlight. The rotary switch on the end of the battery compartment rotates to 1-white, 2-red, or the Krypton bulb. If you can use a PT Aurora on "low power" then the single LED will work for you. I was VERY surprised at how bright the 2 red LED's were! The krypton was, well like any average krypton I seen. The unit seems to be well made and the headband removes for laundering. The headlight sells for $13.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the output and especially the quality of both of these lights considering their low selling prices.

I have not performed any run tests and haven't torn them apart yet, so I don't know if there's any resistor(s). However, neither of the single white LED's are as bright as my modded mini-mag with a single white led direct driven at 4.5 volts, so I suspect a small resistor is in the circut. Both lights carry a lifetime warrantee - just ship it back pre-paid. No other fees are mentioned.

Sorry I don't have digi-cam, but I'll see if I can find pix on the web somewhere. I'm very pleased with this purchase, and no, I don't own any Ray-o-vac stock (but maybe I should).
 

Slick

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There are NO photos or other mention of these 2 lights on Ray-o-vac's websight..

If it helps, the flashlight is called the "Grip-Clip LED Lght" and the headlight is called the "3-in-1 Head-Lite".

My first thought for a mod would be on the headlight. I'd replace the Krypton with a Luxeon - direct driven off of the 3 AAA's. If a test run showed sufficient resistance in the batteries to over come the lack of good heatsinking I could avoid throwing a resistor at it - maybe. Unfortunately, I expect run-time (off 3 AAA's) will literally suck if overused.

The Walmart just put these out tonight and only had 3 of each...
 

Wim Hertog

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I own the 1 LED light !
Nice quality, but the switching mechanism is going to wear out one time...the little pins are scraping against the circuit board.
So far no damage.
It's sealed by very small O-rings, the LED is a Nichia, probably S-rank and color rank A. It's driven at 75 mA! (I use NiMH> 25 mA)
The light is made by Favour light HONG KONG.
 

Jake

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I just found these today, thanks to your tip. The red LEDs in the head lamp are indeed bright but the switch is a bit too hard to turn. I thought I was going to break it when I first tried to turn it on. I don't see myself using this thing very often. I really like the other little flashlight though. Very compact, easily fits in my coat pocket. The push-button switch is always a welcome feature on a smaller light. It puts out a nice amount of light for just one LED, it would be very useful for closeup tasks. I don't have any other single white LED lights so I can't compare it to anything else. Overall, it's a great little light for only $10!
 

Slick

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The switch on my headlight is pretty stiff to turn too. I'm guessing that there's an O-ring under it since it's a rotational switch. I'm going to check into lubing it with some silicone to see if that lightens it up.

I think I'm going to find this headlight fairly usefull, but not necessarily with all of the different light settings. I had never even had a headlight until a few months ago, and now I can't imagine being without one... No more spit-soaked & tooth marked flashlights for me!
 

Wingerr

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I just saw these two lights at Walmart as I was getting some replacement wiper refills, and was hemming and hawing at them, especially the headlight item- I then figured I would check with the CPF resources to get some reviews of it first, so I let it be-
So naturally, I decided later to change my wipers in the darkness under some dim street lighting, and of course I didn't have my BD Moonlight with me at the time, just my ever present Arc AAA.
You just can't appreciate head mounted lights until you try juggling wiper refills with loose metal inserts in the dark along with a handheld light... there's just no substitute for a hands free light when you need both hands for the task.
So, throughout the whole thing, I was thinking I should have bought that light, it would have been ideal just about now..
Oh well-

So, were you able to rework the switch with silicone to make it more "slick" operating?
 

Slick

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Originally posted by Wingerr:
So, were you able to rework the switch with silicone to make it more "slick" operating?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Because of the design of the switch, I couldn't really see a good place to get silicone into it.. So I just continued to use it. Now the switch has become easier to active (or my fingers have gotten stronger) and it has a very positive "feel" to it. This is on my sample anyways. The two red led's are pretty impressive to me (even tho I don't use them as much)

Headlights are so useful, I can't believe that I never discovered them earlier. While not as bright as an Aurora, it's still a nice unit, I like mine... It's most useful range would best be described as "indoor range". I use mine while inside of my RV when I don't want to burn main battery for full interior lighting. Out doors, you'd want an Aurora (or other white multi-LED light). I still like my LS modded Rayovac "Kids Adventure" headlight best.
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On lithiums, it's like having a CMG Reactor poking out a your forehead..
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Wingerr

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I guess turning on the light with one hand is going to be a difficult proposition?
The Moonlight I have has a pushbutton, so I can turn it on and off easily with one hand, which is nice.
I'll have to pick one up next time I head over to Walmart-
 

Slick

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Originally posted by Wingerr:
I guess turning on the light with one hand is going to be a difficult proposition?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'd say more like "impossible"... but for me that's no reason not to have this light.
 

Quickbeam

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There is also a second LED headlamp at Walmart to look out for. It has 3 white leds, and above them, a faceted reflector with an incandescent bulb. Runs on 3 AAAs but no "carrier" - the batteries just slide in. The switch is a 2 position switch. Click one side for incandescent, the other for the 3 LEDs. It's not from a big name-brand manufacturer. About $20. I did not get one since I am quite satisfied with the Streamlight Trident (also 3 leds and incandescent).
 

cave dave

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Quickbeam:
I just saw that same LED/incan headlamp at walmart for less than $13. The incan beam in its own faceted reflector and dual switch should make it better than the Trident. The Trident has a terrible beam. I bought one even though I have no use for it.
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I will compare them.
 

L.E.D.

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I think the Clipper light has a step-up circuit, because I put 1 dummy cell (alum. foil) into the battery case with 2 new AAA's, and it still lights up bright enough to actually see my way around in the dark.
 

Lux Luthor

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I have both the Rayovac and Cyclops headlamps mentioned here. I'll touch on the numerous points you all made.

The Rayovac is too small to fit an LS into it, unless you could find a longer cap. Switching is stiff, but loosens up a bit. You can turn it with one hand if you put your 4th finger on the head to steady it. It has purely mechanical switching with a resistor for each LED (I know since I took it apart). Yes the 2 reds are pretty bright.

The Cyclops has 3 whites and an incandescent. It's definitely amenable to an LS mod. One thing I don't like is the LEDs are on the bottom, and the spill light from them gets cut off too much near your feet. I've also had problems with the switching. They're using 2 little microswitches and some circuits to drive the LEDs, but the microswitches are a bit small and don't give positive switching. Also, don't think about modifying the circuitry. They have a multilayer PCB in there, with very small components, so that's not going to happen.

****'s Sporting Goods sells a $25 version with one red, 2 whites, and one incandescent. This is also amenable to an LS mod. It also has a microprocessor driving the LEDs, but I have no clue what it does. The light is of better quality IMO, and so I'm modding this one. Switching also appears excellent due to its beefier microswitch.

Runtime on 3AAA is not so great - atleast not if you're used to 2 or 3AA. You get a couple of hours of good light. I left an LS on 3AAA overnight, and by this morning it was near dead. The good thing is it's very easy to store an extra set of 3AAA, since the batteries are so small.

BTW, the current draw of an LS on 3AAA alkaline is enough to cause to batteries to drop their voltage to a point below that of 3NiMH. So you will get more current from NiMHs with this setup, but you will need a resistor. You can design your resistor for NiMH, then don't worry about using alkaline, since the current will be less.

edit: One more thing about the Cyclops. The threading is simply too fine, and easily cross threads. The one from ****'s has coarser threading and the cap is interchangeable with the Rayovac kids headlamp, so that will give you an idea as to the light's size.
 

Slick

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Originally posted by Lux Luthor:
The Rayovac is too small to fit an LS into it, unless you could find a longer cap.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hey now, don't be talkin' that...
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I'd have to go 'an hack-up a nice little light jus to see..
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Seriously, I don't have any plans to drive Luxeons with dimunutive 3 AAA packs. If I did somehow go that insane, I sure don't see a resistor in the plans.
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But that's just me. YMMV!
 

BugLightGeek

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Since it sounds like some people aren't familiar with the Rayovac Headlamp, I thought I'd post some picts.
1 White LED

2 Red LED's

Incandesceant Bulb

Headlamp - I will most likely use some WrightRight to smooth out the beam unless I swap the bulb for another LED, maybe a blue one, or two...

I did open it up to see about the mod possibilities, much to the disapproval of my wife who had actually BOUGHT IT FOR ME
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and there is the possiblity of changing the LED's around for different colors and switching out the incandescent bulb for another LED if desired. However, I don't know about the possibility of a LS, I doubt it since there is very little room inside the lens/reflector.

Pretty nice little headlamp, even if it is my first one.

For the future, does everyone prefer photos as URL's or seeing the actual image inside the post?
 

BugLightGeek

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There were other things (unsure exactly what, though) along with the resistors. I'll try to post some picts of the PCB board today.
 

BugLightGeek

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