Cheap eveready 1D? LED lights

[elseis66]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

I picked up one of the Eveready 1D Led lights at a gas station today for $2.89 and tool it home and put the PR based emitter into an old 2D light. I have not run it for very long but the LED seems to be holding up just fine under the increased voltage of 2 cells and is alot brighter than it was in the 1D set up. I have not tried it at night yet but it looks like it is going to have a very long throw. Might be picking more of these up for some other 2D lights. Should I try it in a 3 cell light?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Should I try it in a 3 cell light?

I couldn't recommend you try it even though there were some 2-6 cell LED dropins made and this could be the same circuit design I wouldn't count on it holding up on 3 batteries. I would be curious to see the current drive levels of 1 vs 2 cells to get an idea if it is overdriving it on 2 batteries.

 

[elseis66]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

I just covered the reflector with scotch tape and ran it for another 5 mins or so just playing with it. It makes a nice little flood but I thinl I prefer it as a thrower, just seams like a light like this would have more use as a flood as it has almost no flood with smoth reflector and the beam is so narrow. I am going to pick up a few more of these for this drop in.

 

[roverjohn]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Has anyone else noticed the AM interference these things produce? I take my G6 Aviator out camping with me and these lights really wreck hovoc with reception if the two are close. BTW these things may only have 9 lumen output but that still seems pretty bright when it's pitch black out. I'm going to try disecting one to see if maybe a better emitter is possible.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

I just bought 2 at Target. They were labled as Energizer lights, but the cell inside and the switch both say Eveready on them. Surprisingly throwy beam with reasonably artifact free spill.

I've been waiting for someone to make a 1D light...this isn't quite what I had in mind (I was thinking like a Quark or something), but this is a step in the right direction.

--flatline

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

I removed the PR LED bulb and put it in a Duracell Voyager (2AA with smooth reflector) and achieved some very nice results. Tight hot spot with very even spill (minor rings close to the hot spot). This is a light suitable for my 3-year-old.

It is significantly brighter running on 2 cells than just one. I'm hoping that the extra voltage doesn't burn out the LED.

Has anyone figured out how low these will drain a cell before they fail to light? Are these potential battery vampires?

--flatline

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

I think the bulbs would be battery vampires if they can run off one cell and you can drive them with 2 and not fry them.
I would guess they would run down to at least 1.1v which means 0.55v average for two cells.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

I picked up one of the Eveready 1D Led lights at a gas station today for $2.89 and tool it home and put the PR based emitter into an old 2D light. I have not run it for very long but the LED seems to be holding up just fine under the increased voltage of 2 cells and is alot brighter than it was in the 1D set up. I have not tried it at night yet but it looks like it is going to have a very long throw. Might be picking more of these up for some other 2D lights. Should I try it in a 3 cell light?

Have you experimented any more with this bulb in 2 or 3 cell lights?

I've run mine for 10 minutes or so on 2AA and haven't seen any indication of tint change or drop in output, so I'm optimistic that this thing can handle 3v without damage. Next, I'm going to run it on a mostly dead cell and see how far it can drain the battery.

Edit: Only old cell I could find had an open circuit voltage of 0.765v and it wouldn't light up at all. I'll hunt around a bit to see if I can find anything else.

--flatline

 

[DaveG]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Ran a pr-1 last night in a 2-aa light,for about 4-hr on 2 new ROV alkaline cells.Still was bright from what I could tell by my eye balling it.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Ran a pr-1 last night in a 2-aa light,for about 4-hr on 2 new ROV alkaline cells.Still was bright from what I could tell by my eye balling it.

Excellent news!

They should sell these PR LED bulbs separately, or at least advertise on the packaging that the bulb can be moved to other flashlights since they work really well in lights other lights I've tried it in both smooth reflectored lights like the Duracell Voyager 2AA and geometric reflectored lights like the Duracell Industrial 2D. The LED without a reflector has a really nice smooth flood, only slightly brighter in the center than the edges.

I'm going to pick up 2 more packs of 2 of these next time I swing by Target. Kroger has single lights for sale, but they don't include a battery like the Target packs do, so I can't test that the light works before purchasing it. For $2, it's not a big risk, but there's no reason to take the chance.

--flatline

 

[DaveG]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Excellent news!

They should sell these PR LED bulbs separately, or at least advertise on the packaging that the bulb can be moved to other flashlights since they work really well in lights other lights I've tried it in both smooth reflectored lights like the Duracell Voyager 2AA and geometric reflectored lights like the Duracell Industrial 2D. The LED without a reflector has a really nice smooth flood, only slightly brighter in the center than the edges.

I'm going to pick up 2 more packs of 2 of these next time I swing by Target. Kroger has single lights for sale, but they don't include a battery like the Target packs do, so I can't test that the light works before purchasing it. For $2, it's not a big risk, but there's no reason to take the chance.

--flatline

I am going to pick up a few more also.If these things hold up under the strain of the extra voltage,seems like a cheap up grade for my old 2-aa cell lights.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

If running at 3v halves the LED's useful life expectancy, it's still cheaper to use these than regular bulbs. Both because replacement bulbs cost more over time and because you spend less on batteries.

I'm hoping that one of our resident CPF engineers with lots of time on their hands develops an interest in characterizing these PR LED bulbs for the rest of us.

Specifically, I'd like to know:
1. the maximum safe input voltage (our anecdotal evidence seems to support that there's no at 3v).
2. current draw at 1.5v (nominal) and 3.0v (nominal)
3. relative output comparison at 1.5v vs 3.0v (my own eyes say that it's more than twice as bright at 3v, but I have no way to objectively measure it)

I'd also love to know about the actual circuit used.

--flatline

 

[Burgess]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Very interesting !


What does the Package look like ? ? ?


Are these listed on Amazon ?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Very interesting !


What does the Package look like ? ? ?


Are these listed on Amazon ?

I haven't seen a picture of the package online. The package if you want to call it that is simply a cardboard hanger that two cheap 2D size plastic incan flashlights slips into. The cardboard cradles the heads of two lights but sometimes you will find a single one in the styrofoam base but they are sold in pairs.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 2D LED lights at Home Depot

Very interesting !


What does the Package look like ? ? ?


Are these listed on Amazon ?

Go to Amazon and search for "eveready led economy 1d flashlight

The pair I purchased at Target claimed to be Energizer rather than Eveready, but the lights themselves and the D-cell inside both say Eveready. I paid just under $5 for the pair and yesterday saw the same light for sale by itself for $2 at Kroger.

Edit: the light from Kroger doesn't include a battery, hence the price difference.

--flatline

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Cheap eveready 1D? LED lights at Home Depot

I finally went ahead and bought a pair of these lights. It came out to be $5.15 after sales tax here (about 8.5% locally). I measured the current off 1D cell and 2AA cells and got about 76ma off the HD D cell and about 132ma off two old alkaline AAs measuring about 3v between them. I went and for grins measured my old gen1 dorcy 1AAA and got 140ma off a 1.5v AAA alkaline. If the circuits are about the same efficiency (I seriously doubt it) then the Eveready module off 2 batteries is driving the LED at about 80% or so more than a dorcy 1AAA does. After closely inspecting the LED in the PR base I believe it can take more current than average 5mm LEDs due to the larger leads coming off the emitter itself but as for how much more I have not a clue.. maybe it can handle 40-60ma input without frying but I wouldn't bet on it. I may take one of the PR LED bulbs apart as it looks like if you just unsolder the + tip end the whole thing will just come out as I see no - lead attached anywhere so maybe it is just press fitted inside.
Over all I would say these lights are worth the price for general use if the output is bright enough for you they are light and very cheap such that you can give them away or destroy them or equip them with adapters to use AA and C batteries in an emergency outage.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 1D? LED lights at Home Depot

I like to keep at least one cheap throw-away flashlight under every sink in the house (kitchen and each bathroom) for use in emergencies or as loaners. They just need to provide enough light to get by and have a long runtime. I'm especially pleased that these particular lights run on 1D since that means that I can use any old cell I find, AAA, AA, C, or D in it without worrying about finding a matching cell. Considering the price, my only complaint is that they could have easily been made with a flatter bottom for more stable tailstanding.

Out of curiosity, I've also put two of the bulbs into 2-cell lights (a 2D beater and a 2AA beater) to see if they can take it. The output with these LED bulbs is vastly superior to the original krypton bulbs. The question is whether or not the LEDs will survive the increased voltage. So far I've gotten a couple of hours on one bulb and maybe 30 minutes on the other without any obvious problems. Even if they burn out, it's no big deal since the whole experiment only cost about $5 to conduct.

At first, I thought these were regular 5mm LEDs, but upon closer inspection, I'm not sure what they are. The actual emitter is far closer to the top of the LED than I'm used to and it doesn't have the built in lens above it. As a result, the output by itself is a nice flood, and combined with a reflector it puts out a nicer beam than a regular 5mm LED or filament bulb. I don't have any PR-based lights that have optics, so I haven't experimented with that type of setup.

--flatline

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Cheap eveready 1D? LED lights at Home Depot

I just noticed that it has two lanyard holes sticking out that are also used to keep it upright with the switch on top and prevent rolling. You could put a lanyard on it to neck carry or wrist lanyard to hang it up with also.
For ~2.50 each they are a great buy for a cheap power outage emergency kit.

 

[Burgess]

Re: Cheap eveready 1D? LED lights at Home Depot

to Flatline --

Thanks to your help, i found these on Amazon.

Sadly, my local Kroger supermarket did not have these today.

 

[flatline]

Re: Cheap eveready 1D? LED lights at Home Depot

to Flatline --

Thanks to your help, i found these on Amazon.

Sadly, my local Kroger supermarket did not have these today.

It looks like they're selling these everywhere now either under the name of Eveready or Energizer. I've seen them at Kroger, Target, Home Depot, and Lowes. I'm guessing that they are intending to replace the ubiquitous plastic 2D model with this model. Or, at least I hope that's the case.

--flatline