Dorcy 45 lumen 1x AAA Comparison Review

[UnknownVT]

Interesting lights I got recently -
Dorcy 45 lumens 1xAA and 1xAAA

This is the 1x AAA version -
41-4252 45 Lumens 1 Watt - LED Focusing Flashlight With 1 AAA Battery

Size -

Heads -

The most interesting aspect for me is that the light has lens adjustable focus.

First let's compare it with the now classic Dorcy 1AAA (gen4 Spot) -

vs. Dorcy 1AAA both on NiMH -

it's pretty obvious that even with wider coverage the 45 lumen Dorcy 1x AAA is noticably brighter.

Because the head can be focussed - we can sort of compare apples-to-apples by adjusting the spot on the 45 lumen version to approx the same size as the Dorcy 1AAA gen4 -

focussed this way the 45 lumen Dorcy is obviously several times brighter.

But is it really 45 lumens?
That figure is probably only the bulb output -
but how much lower is it out the front?

vs. Fenix L0D-Q4 on Turbo (75 lumens) both on NiMH -

pretty obviously not as bright as the L0D-Q4 on Turbo - but not bad.....

However if one focusses the light for the tightest spot - this is what we can get compared to the L0D-Q4 on Turbo -

that's impressive - but remember that is a very tight spot with not much, if any, usable side spill

vs. Inova X1 Spot - White on NiMH

The original Inova X1 has a kind of unique quality of having a very narrow spot - mine is a late model possibly with the Nichia CS - it does quite well because of that narrow spot.

... to be continued......

 

[mayo]

Great review. Got one ordered, free shipping. Great..

 

[fresnorich]

I saw them in the local Orchard Supply Hardware store here. I think they were around $20.

 

[TooManyGizmos]

:ironic:

Can these be bought on-line somewhere ?


Rather than making multiple expensive trips to all the local Wal*Mart & hardware type stores in the local area ..... trying to find them ?

When ya want an individual item like this ...... it's nearly impossible to find one IN- STock !

I'm low on GAS ...............

.

 

[TooManyGizmos]

UnknownVT ,

From reading the rear of the package , in your "OP" (opening post).... it says " End cap switch" .........

Can you please confirm that it has a clickie switch / or does that mean the tail cap acts as a "Twist switch" ?

it is not clear - I am in state of confusion !!
.

 

[TooManyGizmos]

If this Dorcy "AAA" light does have a clickie switch at the end of it .....

It will be the FirsT AAA with a clickie that I am aware of.

Is that not correct ??????


Many on here have been wanting such an animal.

Who can direct me to a clickie "AAA" .... ??

.

 

[kramer5150]

Nice review... thanks!! I like the only Dorcy light I have, its a very good value IMHO.

can you please compare the dorcy lights with that nuwai river rock 2AA?

thanks

 

[gunga]

If this Dorcy "AAA" light does have a clickie switch at the end of it .....

It will be the FirsT AAA with a clickie that I am aware of.

Is that not correct ??????


Many on here have been wanting such an animal.

Who can direct me to a clickie "AAA" .... ??

.

Clicky AAA:


Streamlight Microstream
Lumapower Avenger (wait a bit on this one till they sort out the new switches).

 

[Inferno]

The Streamlight AAA comes with a clickie... as for this light, well, I'm sure it is; I have the 2AA version and it has a reverse clickie on the back.

 

[UnknownVT]

:ironic:
Can these be bought on-line somewhere ?
I'm low on GAS ................

yes.....

Should have clicked on the link I gave in the opening post -
41-4252 45 Lumens 1 Watt - LED Focusing Flashlight With 1 AAA Battery

you again?

If this Dorcy "AAA" light does have a clickie switch at the end of it .....
It will be the FirsT AAA with a clickie that I am aware of.
Who can direct me to a clickie "AAA" .... ??

Are you in LUCK!
not only does this Dorcy 45 lumen 1AAA have a clicky -
it's a Forward/tactical type clicky.

Should have clicked on the link at the start of my opening post -
Dorcy 45 lumens 1xAA and 1xAAA

 

[UnknownVT]

... to be continued......

Can the Dorcy 45 lumen 1AAA be focussed as tight as the Inova X1 Spot - White to do an apples-to-apples comparison?

maybe not quite as tight, nor is the light as even in the spot - but the Dorcy sure is brighter.

can you please compare the dorcy lights with that nuwai river rock 2AA?

vs. River Rock 1.5w 2AA

River Rock 2AA looked brighter - but its Spot is smaller more concentrated -
how does it compare if the Dorcy is focussed to about the same sized spot?

close but I think maybe the RR 2AA is still a bit brighter -
however the impressive thing is the Dorcy can be focussed and it's using only a single AAA!

Now the possible BAD news -

About 3/4 way through my comparison beamshots the Dorcy 45 lumen 1AAA would not turn back on -
I had already experienced what I thought was an intermittent tail-switch on the AA version -
surely this couldn't be happening on the AAA version too?

Nope it wasn't - it was simply the battery was depleted.

Now this was a bit of a shock - since I only put in a "full" eneloop AAA yesterday when I got the light - obviously I played around with the light trying it out - and these comparison beams shots don't take that long, and I even turn off the light between shots to conserve battery - so I really didn't expect the battery to be "flat" - but it was.

Double checking I took the current draw at the tail -

freshly charged eneloop - 1.44V o-c = 2.25A!!!
used eneloop - 1.282V o-c = 2.05A
Energizer Alkaline 1.484V o-c = 1.68A

Holy-moly these are high current draws about 2 Amps!
This means the power sucked out at the battery is about ~3watts
This is a lot of power to drive a 1watt LED - so either the LED or the circuit - or combination is really INefficient.

My GUESStimate of runtime is going to be in the region of only about 20 minutes on eneloops (800mAh NiMH).

 

[TooManyGizmos]

Thanks to all for the other AAA clickie recomendations - but actually I was asking about other Single battery AAA lights w/clikie

And Vincent ,

No , I didn't see that info you spoke of ........
Because it was in an entirely different thread , not this one.
Quote:
Should have clicked on the link at the start of my opening post -
Dorcy 45 lumens 1xAA and 1xAAA

Is it a nice feeling switch / not too stiff ?
You made a nice find on this.... thanks for telling us.
Thanks for all your reviews , Vincent.

 

[gunga]

The 2 I mentioned are both 1 AAA clickies...

 

[Monocrom]

I was excited.... until you mentioned the runtime is only about 20 minutes.

I have lights with only 20 minute runtimes. Lights like my Surefire M6!

Wow! Only 20 minutes for a 1AAA light?

I have a soft spot for Dorcy. Mainly because they put their lights in common B&M stores, thus making them some of the best lights that many non-flashaholics will ever own. But damn, 20 minutes?? :shakehead

 

[UnknownVT]

No , I didn't see that info you spoke of ........
Because it was in an entirely different thread , not this one.
Quote:
Should have clicked on the link at the start of my opening post -
Dorcy 45 lumens 1xAA and 1xAAA

Is it a nice feeling switch / not too stiff ?

Ha-ha! - you still won't click on that link?

My impression of the clicky feel is in there

 

[TooManyGizmos]

..

O.K. / I got it




.

 

[Robocop]

Very nice review and we appreciate the hard work.....thanks again.

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 .

 

[UnknownVT]

I was excited.... until you mentioned the runtime is only about 20 minutes.
But damn, 20 minutes?? :shakehead

OK caveat - it is only my GUESStimate -

NiMH (eneloop AAA 800mAh) - draws over 2Amps so that's 800/2000 hrs at 100% efficiency = 0.4 hrs = 24 mins.

Alkaline (Energizer AAA 1250mAh but this rating is at low currents ~C/20) -
draws 1.7A - the straight calculation gives 1250/1680hrs = 0.744hrs -
but most know the capacity is much, much lower for higher current drains - and we are talking about 1.34x capacity - so it would not surprise me if the runtime is half the calculation, which brings us back to about 20mins or less..... (more knowledgeable people please advise?)

 

[UnknownVT]

OK caveat - it is only my GUESStimate -
NiMH (eneloop AAA 800mAh) - draws over 2Amps so that's 800/2000 hrs at 100% efficiency = 0.4 hrs = 24 mins.

My crude runtimes with a camera -
start with freshly charged eneloop AAA 800mAh -
compare with reference - Dorcy 45 lumen AA with Kodak Pre-Charged 2100mAh AA also freshly charged, but only turned on for the comparison beamshots.
A shot taken about every 4-5 mins (used a timer - and camera set to imprint date/time)

Start 00 mins ....................................................................... ~ 05mins

~ 10 mins ........................................................................... ~ 14mins

~ 19 mins ............................................................................ ~ 24mins

~ 29mins

I used auto exposure with a -1 stop underexposure compensation -
one could argue the use of fixed exposure -
but since there is a reference light in the pic of essentially constant/same brightness for comparison - I thought the auto exposure would give the dimming light a better chance of actually being seen.

As it is, one can see by ~ 24 mins it was definitely dimmer, and at ~29 mins the beam didn't even show on the comparison despite the auto exposure - although there was still some dim light in real-life. I didn't show the shot taken at ~33mins but the AAA light hardly showed even in real-life and I stopped the runtime test.

So the runtime to 50% on a freshly charged eneloop 800mAh AAA is probably in the region of 19-24 mins - at least from this crude test -
and around 33 mins to close to no light......

 

[Gunner12]

Thanks for the review.

I wonder what would happen if you modded it with a Cree XR-E Q5...