Dorcy 45 lumen 1x AAA Comparison Review

[parnass]

A runtime of less than 30 minutes is a deal killer for me. Thanks for your fine work, UnknownVT. I enjoy your reports.

 

[Monocrom]

Thanks for doing the runtime testing and posting the pics. :thumbsup:

 

[Lynx_Arc]

oh if it only was reflector instead of optics.... $16 with free shipping is a good price.

 

[UnknownVT]

oh if it only was reflector instead of optics.... $16 with free shipping is a good price.

Hmmm.... the adjustable focus optics was the feature that I liked the most, and exactly ther reason why I got this light (the forward clicky was a real bonus).

CPF seems to have this thing about optics "Spot" lights -
this Dorcy 45 lumen AAA light at approx 4ft in front gives about ~3ft sideways, ~4ft diameter extending forwards - this is quite a good area of light - especially considering the light is very even in the circle - which makes things look almost "Hi-Def".

The lens can be focussed to a pretty tight spot for more distant viewing - when most of us (whether we like it or not) are using basically the hotspot only - this light tightly focussed rivals a L0D-Q4 on Turbo (that's a rated 75 lumens light).

Anyway as always YMMV.

 

[UnknownVT]

It looks like this Dorcy will have very good mod potential and if that circuit pulls that much maybe a good 3 watt luxeon would do very nicely. It would interesting to see the circuit so some of our tech guys can tell us what type parts are used. Have you tried to take the light apart yet? I am curious to see if it is hard to reach the internals as if it is easy I may buy a few just to mod .

Can't quite bring myself to take the light apart yet -
the LED/circuit assembly looks as if it's crimped in place -
here's a shot of the LED assembly -

That's supposed to be a Nichia LED - has a soft dome and looks kind of "frosted",
what looks like cut-outs and tabs each side of the LED - is actually a circuit board - mounted in a similar way as the board is implemented on the classic Dorcy 1AAA -
since it's in the body tube I can't see or photograph it unless I take it apart - for now I can't see an easy way without prying the crimp/hold apart which may destroy the mounting.

 

[Ty_Bower]

It's nearly as big as a Fenix L1. That would be a tough sell on me.

Give the price and fuel source, it needs to be competitive with the Streamlight Microstream (1xAAA). I'm not certain I see that here.

 

[Illum]

I'm surprised it doesn't have a reflector

 

[UnknownVT]

Standardized Stairway shots -

the eyes in real-life see a lot more than the shots show - there is plenty of light at the widest angle setting - and the quality in terms of eveness is really good - things seem to look "Hi-Def" compared to almost any reflectored light.

At the other end, the light can be focussed to a pretty tight spot which is great for more distant viewing when most of us are using only the hotspot anyway.

Overall as a light this is very, very good especially the adjustable focussing optics -

BUT for me the killer is the runtime of only about 20 minutes.

I reported this to Dorcy - whose engineers said to get that sort of brightness they needed to drive it with 2Amps -
well we're back to the bad old - brightness, cost, runtime combination -
pick any 2 out of three........
I was hoping we were beyond that by now......

 

[Gunner12]

The problem is the LED they are using. Tell them if they use the current gen LEDs, the could do with a much lower drive current(1.5 hours runtime shouldn't be a problem).

 

[UnknownVT]

The problem is the LED they are using. Tell them if they use the current gen LEDs, the could do with a much lower drive current(1.5 hours runtime shouldn't be a problem).

This is right - however to do the focussing with lens they have to use the Nichia - I think it's because the dome is more like the 5mm shape which puts most of its light forwards (like a lens). They said they tried LumiLEDs like Luxeons and they could not focus with a lens........

 

[Gunner12]

That does sound like a small problem. Also it seems like the emitting surface of the Nichia is pretty smooth so you won't get the waffle pattern of the current gen LED dies.

IMO the extra output would make up for the lack of output.

But what do I know about business and engineering a light.

 

[jufam44]

They had these at target today (here in Alameda, CA) and got a chance to play with one in package. It's a neat little light, but a little too light in my hands (i like heftier lights) Anyone else have weight issues with it?

 

[Robocop]

Sounds like this is a very hot little circuit and while knowing nothing about the electronics I am curious if the draw is due to the type emitter used or the circuit itself. In other words how would this circuit perform if a nice 3 watt emitter such as maybe a TWOK was swapped. I have always enjoyed the Dorcy products as they are always easy and fun mod hosts.....we all remember that great little AAA circuit on the old 5mm single AAA lights.

Maybe this version could be changed to use a nice 3 watt and reflector set up by some of our modders. It does not look as if it would be a hard swap and a thin heat sink could easily be made for the added room in the bezel.

 

[mayo]

Got my Dorcy 45 lumen AAA in today. I am very impressed. Did the usual bounce test in small bathroom. It is just a hair brighter that my LOD CE on medium with nimh. Foward clicky is just the right pressure. Not a huge range of focus but the beam gets a little square on the tight end. It throws as well as the LOD CE on high with nimh, just with no spill. Tint is not too bad, just a hair on the purple side to me. I like the finish and feel. Seems very well made to me. I use the LOD CE between my lips quite a bit, although larger this one does not seems any heavier. The AA clickies are a little too heavy for my mouth. I like the size of it in my hand better than the LOD CE. Haven't run it down yet but the 20 minute runtime stated earlier is the only problem I see. Can't wait for someone to start modding these. This is just a real winner for me. Thanks UnknownVT for sharing this.

Forgot a few things. Kinda tail stands at a slight angle, could be fixed. And does candle mode. Cheers

 

[mayo]

Had time to do a runtime test on mine and it is the same as UnknownVT. 20 minutes is all you get. Bummer

 

[umberto]

what would be the runtime with the AA light?

 

[UnknownVT]

what would be the runtime with the AA light?

The AA light also drew about 2Amps - so on eneloops this would be about 1 hour.

However there is a slight wrinkle - there is a relatively high threshold voltage below which the light will NOT switch on -

That's probably the reason why I thought there was something wrong with the AA's tail switch see Post #11 -
I now have two samples of the AA light - and the voltage thresholds were about 1.3V and 1.27V -
these are just way too high for rechargeable NiMH usage -since the "nominal" voltage for most NiMH is supposed to be 1.2V!!! -
I'm lucky they worked at all!

The AAA version isn't quite as bad its threshold voltage was about ~ 1.18V - that's still too high for NiMH, and a bit too high even for alkalines, which are supposed to go down to as low as 1.1V before depletion.

IMPORTANT NOTE: these threshold voltage meaurements were on the used batteries just after I removed them from the flashlights - ie: the open-circuit voltages, and NOT the actual operating voltages of the batteries in the flashlights.

Both the AAA and AA versions can drain a battery down low - eg: the AA drained an old RayOVac 1600mAh NiMH down to 0.9V with a "flash amp" = ~0.03A - that is really depleting the battery....
BUT the problem is if I had switched the light off any time during the drain test - the light would not have switched back on, if the battery had dropped below the relatively high threshold voltage.

The real quandary is - with such high current drains and short runtimes - these lights really ought to be used with rechargeable batteries -
but the high voltage thresholds means the lights will not turn on if the voltage drops below those relatively high threshold levels -
meaning the lights will not work even when there is still plenty of charge left in the batteries.

So for reliablity they should be used with alkaline - better yet 1.5V lithium cells - which do maintain their voltage levels -
but now we're talking about an expensive battery in a "budget" priced flashlight.

I still very much like these lights -
and will continue to run them on eneloops (rechargeable NiMH) -
but this is for home usage, where I have plenty of batteries and eneloops charged up -
for outings I would strongly suggest carrying at least one recently fully charged spare.

 

[mayo]

Mine also has the high voltage threshold. Thought something was wrong at first. Somehow I still like this light.

 

[UnknownVT]

Mine also has the high voltage threshold. Thought something was wrong at first. Somehow I still like this light.

Yes, it's funny isn't it how we can still like something that "on paper" or even the majority may consider a deal breaker.

The optical lens focussing ability and the very even light are the aspects that make it for me in these flashlights - for now they are unique.

I have been told by Dorcy that the runtimes are more reasonable using either 2x AA (41-4255) or even 3x AAA (41-4285)

If I recall correctly 41-4285 3x AAA model at WalMart claims 15 hours runtime on the packaging - this sounds much better - if this is correct, then the light is drawing only between 50-80 mA - which seems a bit too low?

Anyway I'll try to get hold of a 41-4285 (3x AAA) or 41-4255 (2x AA) to try out......

 

[parnass]

...
I have been told by Dorcy that the runtimes are more reasonable using either 2x AA (41-4255) or even 3x AAA (41-4285)
...
Anyway I'll try to get hold of a 41-4285 (3x AAA) or 41-4255 (2x AA) to try out......

The local Sears store has the Dorcy 2AA model in the tool/hardware department displayed with other flashlights. I did not see the 1AA or 1AAA light there.