A little challenge (just for fun!)

[Magic Matt]

Ok, I've been reading the "My light is brighter than yours" thread and it's had me in fits of laughter. Great stories! However, there's an ongoing theme in many threads about "showerhead LED lights".

So, based on this, just for fun, I have a challenge for you all! :twothumbs

I would like to see what you can come up with, either stock or mod, that can beat my newly purchased Rolson 90 LED (looks way tooo much like a showerhead) light.

The only rules are these...
* I paid £5 (about $8) for the light so the budget is $10 max
* You can use whatever cells you like
* It must be able to be carried comfortably in one hand
* It must be shower-proof and able to survive being dropped in a field
* The batteries have to last at least two hours at a useable brightness (which to my mind is 40 lumens+)

Come on then - what you got? Eh?

 

[Gunner12]

Do you have a link to the light?

Is it this one?

What's the prize?

 

[Magic Matt]

Yes, that's the beasty.

The prize? Why the Kudos of being such a brainiac of course!

 

[kramer5150]

Nomination 1)
$9 at my local home depot. Its a 6-Volt H1 halogen lamp assembly, On paper should be good for 200-300 Lumens (someone else can clarify). Comes with cells, recharge cables and can run off a vehicle 12V cigarette lighter port. Its all plastic and rubber and will surely take the abuse better than an aluminum showerhead.

Nomination 2)
$9.99 at my local home depot. Rebel 2AA minimag, multimodes, focus adjustable beam and it includes AA duracells and anti-roll bezel protector.

Nomination 3)
$9 at Lowes, 1MCP spotlight
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=227293-50584-FT-SL-01&lpage=none


Nomination #4)
Romisen RC-G2, a little over your price limit but worth the extra $2.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3607

FWIW the Lowes spotlight is the best of this bunch (IMHO). I have seen it rebranded under the brinkman and coleman names for $50.

I don't own any of the lights in my nomination, but I have owned enough showerheads (I am up to 4-5 by now) to know they all suck. They sell your light at my local micro-center for $29. They sell it open, no packaging, with alkaline cells installed. I was playing around with it one day and was thoroughly un-impressed. Two of the ~15 lights on the shelf had bum emitters and some were flickering. I had to sift through the steaming feces pile a little to find one that worked.

Did I win?

**edit**
Heres the last showerhead I bought. I bought it mainly as an 18650 mod host for an XR-E Q3-5A, open emitter all flood. But I have sidelined that project since getting a Zebralight H501. I run it direct drive off my 18650 cells that have the highest internal resistance, even despite that I have killed off many of the LEDs... LOL who cares really. Mods I am sorry for wasting bandwidth posting this... but I just have to.

Just found out last night my sons 3-week old showerhead is down to 8 emitters... and counting.

 

[DM51]

LOL. There was a guy here quite some while ago who built a colossal multi-LED light, with a staggering number of 1W Luxeons in it, maybe 500 or more. His build quality and attention to detail was amazing, and he had carefully researched all the power and other requirements, and it was the showerhead to end them all. It was a fantastic piece of work.

Unfortunately, someone pointed out to him that he would have done better to use about 5 or 6 Cree XR-Es, which would have given more light and runtime, and reduced the size and weight to ~5% of the behemoth he had built.

On learning this, I think he burst into tears and was never seen again, which is a shame as he would have had a lot to contribute here. Can anyone remember the thread?

 

[kramer5150]

edited to remain on topic....

 

[Zeruel]

Can anyone remember the thread?

I'm not sure if it's the same as this one?

 

[dealgrabber2002]

I would love to read that thread and see how big that baby is.

 

[Magic Matt]

Interesting choice going for the Halogen guns... any idea what the runtime is like? I have a 1mil and 2mil already... light output is ok and has a nice warm colour, but the runtime on both is only about 45 mins (1 hour at best), plus the manuals say not to run them for more than 15 mins at a time. They're rebranded as "Homebase" units though so they probably suck more than a Dyson.

Hmmm... a mod with 90 XR-E's ... :devil:
Where the heck would I get a battery to drive it though... drag a couple of car batteries on a trolley?
I could use the heat to cook my lunch while I walk. :candle:

 

[dealgrabber2002]

I'm not sure if it's the same as this one?

that one uses 5mm right? not 1W Luxeons.

 

[Magic Matt]

I'm not sure if it's the same as this one?

That's seriously impressive. Ok, bad choice on the 5mm LEDs but just look at how well it's been put together. It's a great build, just a real shame the guy didn't know about the higher powered Luxeon and quad-LED units... or perhaps (like me) wouldn't really know where to start trying to cool them etc.

Personally I would have used a microprocessor and SSR control rather than physical switches... then I could have a funky lit LCD screen on the back and added some funky battery monitoring etc. options.

I'd love to see what he would have built once he'd learnt about the other light sources available.

 

[DM51]

Yes - thanks Zeruel, that's the thread!

I was wrong about the LEDs - they were 5mm ones, not 1W Luxeons. I was just going on memory.

It's a pity he hasn't been back - I think he'd be a great contributor here.

 

[Benson]

The only rules are these...
* I paid £5 (about $8) for the light so the budget is $10 max
* You can use whatever cells you like
* It must be able to be carried comfortably in one hand
* It must be shower-proof and able to survive being dropped in a field
* The batteries have to last at least two hours at a useable brightness (which to my mind is 40 lumens+)

So... the cells aren't included in the $10, I presume?

I'm thinking a single XR-E (<$5) with the bottom contacts sanded off, and the thermal pad soldered directly to the - end of an Emoli IMR 26700, and potted in 5-minute epoxy for waterproofness -- bare emitter for that smooth flood, of course.

Use a 1050mA or 1400mA AMC7135 board ($1.70ish each, in quantities of 10-20) potted to make a "tailcap" for the other end (grease the - end, and "cast" the tailcap around that -- before you solder on the LED!) tethered to the potted LED with two wires, and having solder and/or springs rigged so that pushing it on makes contact with both the + and - terminals. Add a bit of foam under it to make it momentary-only. An O-ring on the 26700's neck will keep this sliding joint reasonably waterproof. Just pull the tailcap off to access both terminals for charging.

And we've only got $6.70 in it -- probably could afford some sort of optic with the remaining $3.30 if you don't like flood, or maybe upgrade to XP-G. Plus that covers the cost of however much epoxy, wire, and solder we've got in it....

 

[Zeruel]

Yes - thanks Zeruel, that's the thread!

I was wrong about the LEDs - they were 5mm ones, not 1W Luxeons. I was just going on memory.

It's a pity he hasn't been back - I think he'd be a great contributor here.

His electronic know-how is :bow:
Mwhens, come back!

But I was certainly amused to see him swing the beam of 500 LEDs around on the field.

 

[TorchBoy]

* I paid £5 (about $8) for the light ...

That seems like a rather good price for something like that. Was that a normal retail price or clearance?

So... the cells aren't included in the $10, I presume?

The product Gunner12 linked to stated they were included.

For my submission I'll plug my self-modified headlamp, which came in at about $10 for the finished item (including body donor). Originally a 7 x 5mm LED array, it now has a single Cree XR-E and three modes not counting the glow in the dark highlights. On high it gives about 75 lumens for 2.25 hours on three AAA cells. Medium is only about 30 lumens but I find is still quite usable for many tasks, and should last for 7 hours. Low is under 10 lumens and 20+ hours. The AA expansion pack I made for it increases runtime but blows your specified budget.

 

[Magic Matt]

That seems like a rather good price for something like that. Was that a normal retail price or clearance?

It was on offer... but in the shop I went to, they're almost always on offer! I would never have paid full price for a showerhead.

The product Gunner12 linked to stated they were included.

You get some weird "Ningli Heavy Duty" cells. I've never heard of them.... thought it was a character in Jungle Book. Then I saw they're made by the Ninghai Ningli Battery Co ... they're making that up, right?