20 for $20 LED Lights

[Sigman]

[ QUOTE ]
chalo said:
I have gotten $1/each keychain lights like the one you pictured, along with equally bright squeeze-only lights, from Black Feather Electronics at http://www.blkfeather.com . I have been very happy with the white ones, and I have colored ones on order.

Chalo Colina

[/ QUOTE ]
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Please let us know your opinion of the colored ones when you receive them. These appear to be the same type as CC is selling, though I see they also offer orange, green, and UV as well as the red, white, & blue for the same $1 each cost.

I'd lay into some color varieties and the UVs if they are the same as CC's for that price! However their "disclaimer" about "tested" lights bothers me a little. Sort of implies that they "may be sending out some non-working lights"? At least CC provides a few "extras" as insurance!

 

[drs2000]

Re: 20 for $20 LED Lights/Batteries

I've been going thru CountyComm's $1.00 lights like popcorn. WAY popular with everyone. Very useful. Excellent price and fast. As a side note, I've found decent CR2016s at about .17-.18 each. Try Ebay, ask seller a question for seller cwithk . He will sell CR2016s 100Quantity for about $17-18 shipped. Fresh, hi-current. I've used about a dozen so far, and sent some to Craig at the LED Museum to torture/feed the gaping maws of all those lights. Maybe he'll be able to compare 'em. I'll also send some of the 1000 deal if I end up with 'em and they turn out ok. I've been using cwithk's CR2032 batt in my nightlite testing. 8 days and still going..

I'm also working on a 1000 for $50.00 deal, but that's still pending. (Not cwithk) If I get these, I'll let CPFers know. He's got a couple hundred thousand of 'em.. Could be a hell of a group buy...

More CountyComm lights!!! Great stuff..

yours, DRS the crazed..

 

[MR Bulk]

[ QUOTE ]
Doug S said:
[ QUOTE ]
Hoghead said:
RussH,
You can get Ramen noodles for $0.10 a bag when you buy them by the case at Sams Club /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe so, but their light output and beam pattern Suck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Huaw ha haw!!! Good one.

Yes I, too, noticed from the pitchers that the light pattern is much smoother than the Inova and Photon compared to the Buck-Lites. Oops, izzat a trademarked name?

 

[paulr]

I don't see any colors other than white or blue for those switched lights at blkfeather. Did I miss some? I see they have green squeeze-type lights, but no orange and they're out of UV. I'd actually like some of these in yellow but would have taken some orange if available.

 

[chalo]

Sigman--

I have taken delivery of the colored lights which I am now able to compare to the white ones I had ordered before.

I have tried the squeeze-only lights in The following variations:

white (translucent white case)
amber (translucent white case)
red (translucent smoke case)
jade green (translucent neon green case)
true blue (translucent blue case)
near UV (translucent violet case)

I have tried the switch-only lights in the following variations:

white (black case with white switch)
red (black case with red switch)
blue (black case with blue switch)

All of the lights listed above were outstandingly bright in their respective colors. The green, though bright, is a little watery-looking and less of a pure wavelength than the other colors, and the amber (called "orange" on the website) is the least intense of the bunch.

The switched versions are screwed shut, and the squeeze versions are snapped together but easily pried open. On dissection, I found the switched models have one lead to the LED cut short and curled back to form a contact for the switch, which moves the lithium coin cell(s) to and fro.

Amber and red models had one 3V 2016 lithium coin cell inside, and blue/green/white/UV had two of the same. No surprise there.

Squeeze-only models have LEDs with full-length leads, one of which has a plastic sleeve over half its length. Squeezing the light brings the bare end of the sleeved lead into contact with the battery.

All of the squeeze lights exhibited full brightness when tested. Out of 50 switched lights I have received so far, one was on when I received it, and had grown dim from discharge during that time.

Of the 10 white squeeze + switch Photon clones I received, all were significantly dimmer than the other lights. When I swapped strong coin cells out of one of the brighter lights into one of the dimmer Photon clones, it became much brighter, though still with a slightly weaker, narrower beam than the squeeze-only or switch-only lights.

All the lights came individually wrapped in adhesive-flapped plastic bags except for the UV kind, which were furnished naked with a handful of loose keyrings. These are my first UV LED lights, and I am quite impressed at their ability to fluoresce other materials. Black Feather Electronics does not have them on the site at this moment; perhaps they are out of stock?

I think all the squeeze-only or switch-only lights I got are tremendous value for the money, and I have been giving color assortments of them as small Xmas gifts.

If purchasing the lights for their subcomponents, be sure to get the squeeze-only kind, which have unmodified LEDs, and whose batteries stand the best chance of not having been discharged.

Shipping from Black Feather is about $6 regardless how many items are included.

Chalo Colina

 

[Sigman]

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
I don't see any colors other than white or blue for those switched lights at blkfeather. Did I miss some? I see they have green squeeze-type lights, but no orange and they're out of UV. I'd actually like some of these in yellow but would have taken some orange if available.

[/ QUOTE ]
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Click around a little more on the "Keychains for $1", check out pages 1 & 2. They're still posted...

Chalo - GREAT writeup of your testing! Thank you indeed!!

UnknownVT and/or Chalo...your comments together would make a GREAT addition to our "Reviews" Forum, eh? Thanks to the both of you for the detailed posts!!

 

[James S]

I love mine, I've gotten them from County Comm the last 2 years now. The only thing I think would be cool to add to the switch light would be a little 2nd generation glow in the dark powder added to the translucent white plastic that the switch is molded from /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

EDITed because it's late and I can't seem to express myself through the keyboard worth a darn /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[inluxication]

An informational update, as I recently ordered a mixed bag of 21 keychain lights from http://blkfeather.com/ .

First, the lights themselves:
* The new white lights with both squeeze and slide switch seem good: tough case, nice light. (Not a Photon, and we'll see how the switch holds up, but for $1 this is solidly made.)
* The slide-switch white lights are a bit smaller (one fits neatly in my key *case*); they are less solid, but work fine. Two of five arrived non-working. Fixing them by bending the transistor legs differently was fun, if not cost-effective; one of these had also run down its batteries. They don't seem to switch on accidentally, and I like them.
* The squeeze-on white lights were the dogs of the bunch: yellow-green colored light. Too bad, as their casings are the coolest -- sleek soft plastic uninterrupted by a switch. Don't get these in white, but the colored ones are fine.
* Squeeze-on and slide-switch lights in green (very bright), blue (bright), and red (for dark-adapted night use) are all just fine.

Next, the ordering experience. Apparently because of a recent trade show, some of the lights were backordered, and correspondence was a bit slow and chaotic. However, Black Feather shipped my order in 3 parts as items came in, at their expense (I think/hope: haven't seen my Visa bill yet). And it was a significant expense: a total of over $15 shipping on an order of $21 plus $6 for shipping! If you order from Black Feather, you might ask them to use regular USPS: mine came signature confirmation required, which must have cost Black Feather more, and, while highly responsible of them, was really just a nuisance for me. Black Feather also threw in about half a dozen extra lights for free. All in all, I suspect it was a tough week for them, and they went out of their way to make me happy, at significant extra expense, and even though I had placed only a small order.

Overall, it's easy to recommend these lights for a buck a piece in any mix you want (doesn't have to be 20 of one kind; doesn't have to be 20 at all), and Black Feather went way out of their way to be helpful. Get lots: you don't want to deliberate too long over which of your friends and relatives to give them to!

-Greg

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Greg,

Welcome to CPF.

I have not seen the push on ones, but have a lot of the slide on ones. I also think they are great.

Thanks for the link to Black Feather. Many people wanted to order a mixed bag and that looks like the place to go for that.

Tom

 

[UnknownVT]

Just an update, and looking for anyone else experiencing this problem...........

Yesterday evening while attempting to take some beamshots one of my 20 for $20 CountyComm LEDs which had been working fine up to then, now strobes.

This is the second in the batch I got that strobes.

These are white LEDs that are direct driven by 2 x 2016 coin cells, I would have thought that the coin cells would not have enough power/current to "burn out" an LED

- eg: has anyone had a white Photon or Inova strobe?

Perhaps these were just "bad" LEDs - maybe that's why they are so cheap, due to poorer, or no quality control?

see also this recent thread that might be relevant -

LEDs starting to flicker.. are they bad?

Comments please?

Anyone else had these start strobing?

 

[coolguy]

I just got my pack of white 20 for 20 lights yesterday! This is the first time I'm ordering these lights and I have to say that I'm surprised at how white and bright the leds are. However just like you, I have strobing as well...

 

[UnknownVT]

interesting.....
the plot thickens -

I remebered what paulr had once said about putting in a single 2032 coin cell in place of 2x 2016's to get a dimmer longer lasting light.

So I replaced the 2x 2016 in the strobing 20 for $20 CountyComm LED with a single 2032 -
and lo-and-behold - no more strobing

- hard to judge but probably half the brightness compared to a non-strobing functioning new 20 for $20 LED.

I then put in that 7 year old 2032 from my original Photon I Yellow (now transplanted into a 20 for $20 body) and that tired old battery will light up that offending white LED without strobing, albeit pretty dimly - however in a dark room there is still enough light to read by and see good color rendition if the light is held about 6 inches away from the object.

I can just about navigate without problems in a truly darkened room - but probably would hesitate about trying to use this dim light outdoors.

I'm keeping the tired old battery in this one just to have a sort of "stealth" light that I can use for close tasks with good color rendition which probably will not impact any dark adaption I have acquired (note - probably not true night/scotopic vision) or attracting attention to myself.

Oh, that LED will still strobe as soon as I use the 2x 2016 batteries

Thoughts on strobing and the "cure" by halving the voltage - could this be a hint on what the problem is with these "bad" LEDs?

 

[kitelights]

Is it flickering or strobing? Strobing would be a consistant equal pulsing.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Vincent,

I have handed out over 40 of the lights and have heard of no problems. I know that several people have used them a lot and have changed batteries in them.

I wonder what is going on.

Tom

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
kitelights said:
Is it flickering or strobing? Strobing would be a consistant equal pulsing.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is strobing (can't say for certain if it is of a constant/equal frequency) - as opposed to an inconsistent (bad contact like) flickering - see the thread referenced above -

LEDs starting to flicker.. are they bad?

where it was clarified that the LEDs were "strobing".

From that discussion's description my 2x 20 for $20 LEDs are "strobing", and not flickering.

 

[avusblue]

We attach them to the kid's jacket zipper pulls, and they love 'em. We have given a bunch of them out to their friends too, as a result. Great little lights for a great deal.

Dave

There happens to be one on my jacket zippers, too. But mom so far won't do it.

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:
I have handed out over 40 of the lights and have heard of no problems. I know that several people have used them a lot and have changed batteries in them.

I wonder what is going on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom,

I have always thought LEDs were very reliable and almost indestructable - and up to now all my LED lights have been that way.

So when I first experienced this strobing on one of the 20 for $20 LEDs - I just put it down to a bad LED in the batch - and since CountyComm puts more than 20 in their "bag of 20" - I wasn't complaining.

However when a second one strobed - I became more concerned - to me it was akin to being struck by lightning twice - so I thought I'd update this thread with my experience and ask about it here.

I see one other person has also experienced strobing from a recent batch (I got mine in Nov/2003) -
[ QUOTE ]
coolguy said:
I just got my pack of white 20 for 20 lights yesterday! This is the first time I'm ordering these lights and I have to say that I'm surprised at how white and bright the leds are. However just like you, I have strobing as well...

[/ QUOTE ]

My main concern is the ones I've given away may misbehave/strobe - I alway try them to make sure they work before giving them away -

But in both cases the lights worked fine for a substantial time (several uses as opposed to several hours of constant on) - then without warning started to strobe -

Once they strobed - that's it - they seem to always strobe on the 2x 2016 batteries (but one at least does not strobe if half the voltage is applied via a single 2032 cell)

So is it just bad luck to get TWO bad LEDs - that now strobe -
or are the 2x 2016 coin batteries somehow delivering higher power than the LEDs can handle?

Any other hints or suggestions please?

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I'm guessing the LEDs themselves are the culprit here. They aren't Nichia, so they may not be able to handle the higher currents that Nichia LEDs can.
This is a Loo Loo Enterprises product (see my "Flushlight" review), and uses what I believe are Chinese LEDs; of which I do not know the specific manufacturer.

 

[Semarin]

[ QUOTE ]
The_LED_Museum said:
I'm guessing the LEDs themselves are the culprit here. They aren't Nichia, so they may not be able to handle the higher currents that Nichia LEDs can.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm.. I emailed Nick at CountyComm a couple of weeks ago asking about the LED elements, since I was considering buying them to replace the currnent model that I sell. He said he's not 100% sure, but thought they were 10,000 mcd Nichia's. Guess he was wrong /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif?

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Judging by the emitted LED color, I don't believe these are Nichia LEDs. Guess I'll have to take one apart and examine the LED more closely.

(Edit, a moment later)
I disassembled one of my white CC fashlights and examined the LED. It has that "pinched" leadframe design that most LED users associate with Nichia products, but there is just enough of a difference that I can tell it isn't a Nichia LED.

I've come across this leadframe design before in a non-Nichia LED, but was not sure exactly who made the lamp.

So I still don't know who's LED is in there, but I'm almost absolutely, positively certain it is not a Nichia product.