Mini-Review of the River Rock Half Watt 2 AAA Flashlight

[attowatt]

Updated the clicky switch that was posted in this thread (earlier), with a new and improved fairly easy mod, using the same switch as for the dorcy aaa light. This switch is available from digikey for $1.22 each.

This is a DPDT switch, but is only being used as a on/off setup (read the dorcy aaa link below, if you have questions).

Have not quite figured how to secure this switch in tailcap; will probably use silicone to hold in place. As you can see in pics below, I left the pin contacts "out" so they make contact with main body of tube. The center pins on this switch are touching the negative side of battery(as well as each other to increase the current capacity). This is a lot easier to mod this light for clicky on/off feature as NO soldering is needed; in case you decide to restore to original switch.

Enjoy,
Jim





EDITED IN: THIS SWITCH ALSO HAS THE MOMENTARY/TEMPORARY ON WITHOUT ACTUALLY CLICKING IT ON.

It's no surefire clicky switch, but it operates the same way.


Dorcy clicky on/off:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92736

[pradeep1]

Has anyone been able to put a Luxeon in this light and make a cheaper Fenix?

[onthebeam]

I took mine back to Target today. Didn't like the blue beam and wished it had more spill, although it is well made and a good buy. I have a $6 light (free shipping, too) I like much better from Surplus Computers. It's brighter with a decent spot and very wide and smooth beam, but not quite as sexy as the River Rock:

http://www.surpluscomputers.com/stor...&item=CES10669

[pradeep1]

I took mine back to Target today. Didn't like the blue beam and wished it had more spill, although it is well made and a good buy. I have a $6 light (free shipping, too) I like much better from Surplus Computers. It's brighter with a decent spot and very wide and smooth beam, but not quite as sexy as the River Rock:

http://www.surpluscomputers.com/stor...&item=CES10669

I have that one from Surpluscomputers as well. It is bright, but it is not regulated and is more of a flood light with limited sight distance. I thought the RR2AAA had a decent spill....maybe your was a dud like the one I got a while back ago.

[Illuminated]

Has anyone been able to put a Luxeon in this light and make a cheaper Fenix?

FWIW - I believe a BB from the Shoppe is the same diameter as the original circuit board, so a Luxeon might just be possible...

John

[onthebeam]

Yep, maybe mine was a dud. The local Target just had one more so I didn't pick it up. The Surplus light is suprisingly white and bright for the money-a great around the house light. But you are right that it's not meant for serious throw. For that I'd reach for the ProPoly AA Luxeon.

[Ledean]

Got the River Rock from target yesterday and i must say for the money it is a great deal.
I discovered that it is able to work on just one battery . Used the regular battery that came supplied with the flashlight
The output was about half. Still a much better beam than a dorcy 1 AAA.
Incidentally that was the last River Rock around . Seem to be the hottest selling flashlight now.

[Vikas Sontakke]

For $9.99 walk out the door now price, it is a great light. I picked up a silver one and popped out the clip. I wish the clip was silver. I did not like to looks of black clip on the silver light. The quality of the light is nice and I lucked out on the LED. It is bright and white with the usual bluish tint with good tight throw and decent spill.

It is regulated. Any 3V light based upon 2 AA or 2AAA has to be! Regulation is not that great. With the included duracell alkaline, it pulls about 150mA. With freshly charged NiCd it pulls only 110mA. You can notice the difference in the brightness between 110mA and 150mA. Regulation circuitry in the Costco 2AA is far better.

This light has the length of Emilion's single AAA "Moonbeam". That is not saying much :-)

What does bother me is the unnecessary thickness of the tube. Why do most of the manufacturers fail to capitalize on the size of a AAA cell and make a flashlight as thin as possible? Compared to Arc AAA, River Rock seems to almost the double in the thickness.

- Vikas

[Flying Turtle]

I'm with you, Vikas, regarding the thickness of the battery tube in this light. It does seem more than necessary, at least compared to most other AAA's. Maybe a little extra is needed because of the 2 AAA length making it more suseptable to bending. Seems like most manufacturers need to put their lights on diets. To me, smaller/more pocketable is always better.

Geoff

[sween1911]

Is this light brighter, as bright, or less bright than a Streamlight Stylus?

I'm thinking I just might want to pick one up (the RR 0.5W) today on the way home from work.

[Lurker]

I am very interested in doing the clickie switch mod posted above in this thread by Attowat on 9/21/05. The only question/concern I have is that in the modified version of the flashlight, I am not seeing a spring battery contact anywhere.

It looks like battery contact is maintained only by compression forces through imcompressible parts. The risk I am seeing here is that if you overtighten the tailcap even slightly, you will be driving the batteries mercilessly into the circuit board at the front of the light and possibly causing cracking, dislodging, misalignment or other problems there.

Also, maintaining good contact is achieved by having the tailcap tightened to just the precise point-- too lose and the light would probably flicker.

I would assume that the rubber switch boot does privide a very minimal amount of springiness between the endcap and switch body. Maybe this is sufficient to maintain good battery contact and avoid too much trouble if you are careful about the overtightening issue.

Still, I think it would be ideal if there were a spring battery contact in there at one end or the other. But it looks like there is not much room and attaching it properly is another thing to figure out.

So I am wondering if anyone has any input on this? Did I miss something in the instructins or is this nothing to worry about anyway? Easy solution?

Also, just to throw this out there, the River Rock .5W 2AAA headlamp has a dual-brightness clickie switch. Anyone figured out how to stuff those electronics into the flashlight? That would be neat too.

[cmendoza]

sween1911,

The RR is much brighter than the Stylus. I've modded a Stylus with a MJLED (actually the Shoppe version) which has the same throw as the RR but puts out much more light.

[LightObsession]

It is regulated. Any 3V light based upon 2 AA or 2AAA has to be! Regulation is not that great. - Vikas

When I look at the runtime plots for this light using alkaline batteries, I wonder why it it considered to be regulated. What is the definition of regulated? I would think that a regulated light would have a pretty flat discharge curve, but many people call lights regulated when the discharge curve is decending, sometimes pretty significantly. Maybe I'll start another thread to ask this question. "Regulated" seems pretty subjective.

I'm not trying to be hard on you, but it just seems that this term has been used pretty loosely by manufacturers & reviewers.

Sorry for the rant.

[LightObsession]

sween1911,

The RR is much brighter than the Stylus. I've modded a Stylus with a MJLED (actually the Shoppe version) which has the same throw as the RR but puts out much more light.

Wow! Your modded Stylus is now brighter than a RR 2AAA .5w? Man, you must really go through those AAAA batteries!

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

At this precise moment (when I should have been in bed at least an hour ago!) I know not exactly where my RR 2AAA is... eek!

Good Night!

[cmendoza]

LightObsession,

Haven't gone through a set of batteries yet. I'm thinking of doing a runtime test though. I have lots of "AAAA"s taken from Energizer 9volts! I was thinking of putting an MJLED in the RiverRock. Would this drive the LED too hard?

Chris

[Charlie Fox]

I bought mine last summer and have been EDC'ing it since. Not as bright as some other lights but I needed a small light for my back pocket. I am very pleasently suprised by its toughness and beam. I'll have to pick another one....or two...or four