LED Tea Candles

chimo · #1 10-07-2006, 06:14 PM

Here is a recent LED find while grocery shopping with my wife. These are LED tea candles. They run off a single CR2032 and claim a battery life of 40 hours. They have a very realistic flicker and seem to work quite well. Cost was less than CAN$6 for two. We picked them up at Loblaws grocery chain. Here are the pics:

packaging

"specs"

battery compartment

with the cover off

3mm amber LED on

"Beamshot"

No matter how bright it is, I guess the output would be 1 Candlepower.

Paul

DUQ · #2 10-07-2006, 08:49 PM

I was looking at those last Thursday. Not a bad deal for the price. Do they flicker at all or just light up?

chimo · #3 10-07-2006, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DUQ

I was looking at those last Thursday. Not a bad deal for the price. Do they flicker at all or just light up?

They flicker. Pretty realistic too.

Walt175 · #4 10-08-2006, 10:09 AM

How bright are they? I think these might be good for Jack-O-Lanterns.

chimo · #5 10-08-2006, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt175

How bright are they? I think these might be good for Jack-O-Lanterns.

They are fairly close to tea candle brightness.

Paul

Canuke · #6 10-09-2006, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chimo

They are fairly close to tea candle brightness.

Paul

ER, no they aren't... I've got some of them ($7 for 4 at Fry's) and while they are cool for romantic picnics at the Hollywood Bowl, they aren't as bright as an actual tea light. I'd say about 8 to 16 of these to equal the output of one regular tea light.

chimo · #7 10-10-2006, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canuke

ER, no they aren't... I've got some of them ($7 for 4 at Fry's) and while they are cool for romantic picnics at the Hollywood Bowl, they aren't as bright as an actual tea light. I'd say about 8 to 16 of these to equal the output of one regular tea light.

Perhaps we have different models. I haven't compared them side by side, but the ones I have are a decent substitute for a real tea candle.

chimo · #8 10-14-2006, 08:54 AM

Finally, here are some side by side pics compared to a wax tea candle. There has been no image manipulation (other than cropping):

Wax Left, LED Right:

Fixed exposure (Wax Left, LED Right) 1.6sec @ f3.5

Fixed exposure (Wax Left, LED Right) 1sec @ f3.5

Fixed exposure (Wax Left, LED Right) 0.5sec @ f3.5

As you can see, the wax candle is brighter. However, the extra brightness seems exaggerated in the photos. In real life, the difference did not seem nearly that much. From my perspective, this LED candle is a suitable replacement for the wax version.

mosport · #9 10-14-2006, 11:16 AM

Nice comparison Paul, with Halloween 2 weeks away these could be good for lighting up pumpkins (excuse to buy them

)

Canuke · #10 10-25-2006, 01:51 AM

Real candles have considerable variability of output, depending on how short you cut the wick -- as much as 2 or 3 stops. with a short enough wick, you can get the candle down to within a stop of the LED.

Apparently you run yours to spec, while I overdrive mine

Here's a sample... to the right on the wine bottle is a small flame (not quite as small as yours is I don't think), in the middle are four LED teacandles, and an "overdriven" votive is on the left (it's flame is about an inch tall, perhaps a bit more). All at about the same distance to the neutral-colored wall.

RadarGreg · #11 10-25-2006, 01:56 AM

Isn't this nice? We are finally having a cooperative effort from members of the CandlePowerForums and the CandleForums!

chimo · #12 10-25-2006, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canuke

Real candles have considerable variability of output, depending on how short you cut the wick -- as much as 2 or 3 stops. with a short enough wick, you can get the candle down to within a stop of the LED.

Apparently you run yours to spec, while I overdrive mine

I forgot to mention that my candle was "stock". No wick cutting.

jayflash · #13 11-23-2006, 04:16 PM

Similar tea lights are sold locally for $2 each and use a CR2450 cell. New cells are available from Amondo Tech for $0.75. They flicker but must be less efficient at only 40 hours of rather dim light compared to the 2032 cell type.

PJ · #14 12-03-2006, 06:23 PM

Dollar Tree stores in the U.S. have some for a dollar, oddly enough.

They run on a single 2032 battery. Externally they look similar to the one chimo posted, internally the board is smaller and the battery is centered in the base. I found them in a cardboard display near the front of the store.

PhotonWrangler · #15 12-03-2006, 06:55 PM

That comparison was performed with red glass. The "real" candle has a broadband-ish spectral distribution with a fair amount of output in the red wavelengths, but LEDs are quite monochromatic. I doubt that there's much red content in the amber LED in the electronic candle, so that has to be taken into account when comparing brightness. If those were amber glass candleholders, the LED would probably appear considerably brighter than it did behind the red glass.

Xrunner · #16 12-03-2006, 11:45 PM

Do the Dollar Tree ones seem similar in brightness to the ones posted here?

Omega Man · #17 12-04-2006, 08:50 AM

I got one from Dollar Tree last week, and it's not bright at all. Definatly not as bright as a real tea light. But it's kinda nice to turn on and fall asleep next to.

WildRice · #18 12-04-2006, 10:34 AM

I have some of that style, but I dont like the fact that the batteries are NOT cheap, and they dont last long. I picked up some 2xAA window 'candles' from Menards. they run for 8hrs (from switched on) then they 'sleep' for 16hrs. I am reworking the setup so the 2xAA batteries lay next to each other and the LED and driver will be on top. I have some wall sconces that look nice with the LED lights (oh, they flicker too with amber LED). will try and get some pics when I get them finished.

Jeff

Omega Man · #19 12-04-2006, 02:43 PM

Could you just snakes 2 leads out of the tea lights and run them on a CR123? I was thinking of trying this when the 2032 dies. The runtime would be alot better.

jayflash · #20 12-04-2006, 04:48 PM

The flickering lights that I got, which look similar to chimo's, draw about 10 - 15 mA from the 2450 cell when new. The 2032 cells can be had for much less than the 2450's so his may be a better find and, except for not having to change cells as often, it may not pay to use a CR123. Of course, the 123s might keep the light brighter. The lights I have will continuously run for many days but are barely visible after about 40 hours.

PJ · #21 12-09-2006, 01:24 PM

My brother gave me a bunch of 2032 batteries so I was glad to find something to use them in. The base comes off the Dollar Tree lights by prying it and the board and LED usually fall out. The LED is soldered at the edge of the board and the leads are bent 90 deg. to orient it. If I get a few battery changes out of 'em before they die I'll be happy.
Hmmm, I wonder how long they would run on 2 2016 batteries, and what if I put an MJ LED in it,and...

WildRice · #22 12-11-2006, 08:16 PM

OK, I got the 'candles' modded, and they work GREAT in the wall sconces.
Now.... the pics.

Here is the candle un-modded

Front of PCB

Back of PCB

PCB taped to battery holder, LED repositioned and 'frosted' with sandpaper.

Full pic

The battery holder is a 3xAA, I just jumpered the center cell position out. The effect is really nice. the timer is great, on at about 5:00 and off just after midnight. I should have to replace the cells every month or so (got a bunch of CHEAP-O AA's)

Cheers
Jeff