Blast from the past. Streamlight TwinTask

[DrunkenDonut]

Well, sort of the past - apparently they still sell this light (hopefully upgraded), but this one has a short story attached to it.

Long long time ago my dad came home with a Streamlight TwinTask. It's the shiny 3AA version. It has 3 LEDs and a bulb. I don't recall if I was impressed with the output, even back then. But it made light, and it had a bunch of LEDs! That's all that mattered. :huh:

Well, my dad and I went worm hunting in the backyard one night, and I somehow lost track of it. I believe the lanyard broke, because I see it that it's broken now. We couldn't find it in the dark, and for whatever reason, didn't find it in the day, or forgot about it. Then winter came. Then summer came. This went on for awhile.

Last summer or fall it showed up while my dad was doing yard work. It was a mess. Water had gotten in, probably via the switch, and the batteries had all leaked. After a long cleanup, a lot of the innards were still a mess, and the LEDs never turned off completely. The reflective coating on the plastic reflector also mostly washed off.

Several months passed as it gathered dust. Because of my recent renewed interest in lights, I took it out and cleaned it up again today. I'm now having troubles with the tail cap spring not making a circuit. Bah. Other than that, it took a beating and it still ticks! Not bad! I'm pretty sure it was there for a few years too, because when my dad found it and showed it to me, I didn't recognize it. I had totally forgotten about it.

The circuit itself is rather simple. Two circuit boards, one in the expected position with LEDs and bulb mounted, and the other perpendicular to mount the switch on. After the cleanup it now turns off completely rather than leaking power somewhere. From what I can see, there's no regulation whatsoever! Just a switch, a bulb, and some LEDs! Not even a resistor, unless it's hidden away (I risk breaking something if I want to take it apart further)! :thinking: Primitive!

Pics are *here*. Not sure what I want to do with this light now though. Any suggestions? Shelf it? Upgrades and mods? :shrug:

Jonathan

 

[m2usa]

Ha! It's like a archaeology project. "Here is an example of what an LED flashlight was years ago. :candle:" Cool that you found it, and I like the photos. Fun to have a small project like that. Let us know what you do with it.

 

[BIGIRON]

You may find it hard to believe, but many of us like simple things that work and keep on working. That's why Streamlights and such are still produced. Would the latest whizbang light work after enduring what the Streamlight did? I'll guarantee a CMG Infinity would.

 

[DrunkenDonut]

Not hard to believe at all. I do love my gadgets, but if my taste in watches shows anything, it's that I also appreciate simple elegant things (at least from an aesthetics standpoint - time keeping doesn't tend to be that simple but that's a different discussion).

I guess depending on your particular motivation, as seen by the large variety of lights out in the market, you can do anything - the most robust, the most cool features, brightest, smallest, etc. Personally I find this light combo a little strange. The "driver" is certainly simple, but not elegant.

I'm not bashing this light - It has actually done well considering it's not really waterproof, just "resistant," but it survived years out in the backyard with all the rain, snow, freezing, and thawing. :twothumbs As expected, the solid and solid-state components that haven't been weathered work just fine.

A lot of times, it looks like I'm over critical of something, but I really just like finding out how things work or how something was put together. A lot of times this involves taking things completely apart.

 

[kramer5150]

Thats pretty impressive, given the weather extremes it must have had to endure.

 

[BIGIRON]

And by the way, DD - hunting nightcrawlers is one of my fun things. We just don't have them naturally around here. Have to buy them at the bait stand for $2.50 dozen.

 

[metlarules]

Call Streamlight and tell them the story. I wouldn't be surprised if they fixed it up for you.

 

[fxstsb]

Call Streamlight and tell them the story. I wouldn't be surprised if they fixed it up for you.

They have lifetime warranties.

 

[Frankiarmz]

I bought the 3AAA Twin Task last year and was very disappointed by the output compared to the other lights that were starting to come on the market. The LED mode is nothing to write home about and the incandescent is really lame. Still and all it was very well made and I don't want to get rid of it so it stays in the draw. Too bad they didn't give it more lumens. Corvette body with a 4 cylinder engine.:sigh:

 

[kelmo]

I've got a 3C model. Its still a handsome light!

 

[DrunkenDonut]

Neat, but I probably won't bug them, just seems like more work for me. ;-)

I just gave the tail cap some MicroMesh love so the spring and tailcap have good contact, and the light's working fine again. The light wasn't working well after the initial cleaning, and it was probably the tail cap's fault back then too. The chems did quite a job on the inside surface, but a little sanding shined things up real quick. The spring looks pristine though! Guess the plating on it is pretty good.

The outside of the light looks great! It shows only a little wear - you can't tell that it's been out there all this time. It's only when you open it up and have a look inside that you see the damage caused by water and leaky batts.

Actually, I'm kind of surprised that the lawnmower hadn't found it sooner! I wonder exactly what spot my dad found it. I guess at the back where the lawnmower doesn't get to.

 

[DrunkenDonut]

The LED mode is nothing to write home about and the incandescent is really lame.

Heh, true, the beam from the LED mode is a little wonky and they're probably being overdriven. My beam has a bunch of blue in it - or the LEDs of that era in combination with the weathering and batt leaking has changed the characteristics.

As for the incandescent, even with my non reflective reflector, I believe it's a better incan than LED light. There's simply a whole lot more useable light coming from the bulb than the LEDs. I hope the bulb doesn't blow any time soon. It seems that the pins are fused to the socket, at least in a semi-permanent way. I'll leave it alone until i have to deal with it again.

I will definitely keep this light as a momento.