Diamond Visions Inc. FL-9R

[Joshatdot]

Hello CPF! This is my 1st post, and my 1st LED flashlight.

I work at ACE Hardware, and was intrigued by this cheep LED flashlight we had for sale. We are selling it for $6.99 USD, while other LED flashlights we had are selling for $30+.

So I got this lil'bugger, I am impressed. It's a no name-ish brand, nothing jumped out in the display box saying what brand they were. The UPC sticker on it said: FL-9R MADE IN CHINA and its UPC is 856434001188. I Googled the UPC and it looks to be from the vendor Diamond Visions Inc.

It has 9 LED's and runs off 3 AAA batteries, aluminum housing, rubber grip & button. I do not know its mcl rating or lumins or what type of LEDs are in it.

 

[Derek Dean]

Howdy Joshatdot, and welcome to CPF,
The guys at my neighborhood ACE hardware are the friendliest, most helpful dudes anywhere, and they always have just what I'm looking for. My only problem with going in there is that I feel like I want at least one of everything.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time here on CPF. We've got a great bunch of slightly obsessed, but very nice folks.... so pull up a chair, hold on to your wallet, and enjoy the ride.

 

[Joshatdot]

Howdy Joshatdot, and welcome to CPF,
The guys at my neighborhood ACE hardware are the friendliest, most helpful dudes anywhere, and they always have just what I'm looking for. My only problem with going in there is that I feel like I want at least one of everything.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time here on CPF. We've got a great bunch of slightly obsessed, but very nice folks.... so pull up a chair, hold on to your wallet, and enjoy the ride.

HAHA! I got similar welcome speech when I joined Head-Fi forum back in January. I turned into a slightly obsessed headphone-phile since joining them.

That's how I found about this forum, from a member over at Head-Fi. His profile name there is GAD & his avitar is of Prof. Frink.

I look forward to wasting my time here, so to speak , and learning alot more about flashlights (mostly LED ones)

Anyone else have this cheep LED light? I am also a amature DIY kind of guy, and looking into mod'ing this lil fella.

 

[Derek Dean]

Lol, yep Head-Fi is where I learned about headphones too, and I ended up with nice pair of Sennheiser HD-580 phones.

Be sure and check out the modders forum here on CPF, you will quickly learn everything you need to begin modding your own lights. Have fun.

 

[Gunner12]

Welcome to CPF!

I'm betting a 9 5mm LED is how some of us got started. I had a similar light that cost me a dollar something but your seems to be built a lot better then mine. Once you see a high power LED, like a Cree XR-E or a Rebel 100, the cluster 5mm LED lights won't seem that attractive anymore.

How many lumens is 9 5mm LEDs? I'm guessing up to 30 lumen with good LEDs(they can be up to 60 lumen with the best 5mm LEDs but that will require some work on your part). Or maybe get a heat-sink and direct drive a Cree LED(the Q5 is the most efficient, an most expensive)? Without a reflector, you would get a beautiful flood light with the Cree LED.

There's an ACE hardware down the street from me and guess what, they have AAAA batteries for sale and that surprised me. It's a nice place.

 

[Joshatdot]

Whats a good upgrade from this 9 LED/tripple AAA light? We have this 1 LED Lumix? super-ultra LED light ACE Brand.

I'll get more info tomorrow.

 

[Gunner12]

Could you get a picture?

Though there is one thing I should say, Luxeon LEDs( besides the Rebel kind), though still great, are only have about half the efficiency of the newer LEDs(Cree XR-E, Seoul P4 and Luxeon Rebel) so for the amount of energy, you would get twice the amount if light with a newer LED. Compared to most of the cheap 2 D lights, a good Luxeon should crush them in output and a good Cree should beat the Luxeon in output. The thing is that these newer LEDs are just beginning to reach the everyday market. Fenix Cree and Rebel lights at ACE? now that would be amazing.

A step up from the 9 LED, well you could go many places with that request.

Do you have a price range in mind?
Batteries?
Quality?

 

[Joshatdot]

Could you get a picture?

Though there is one thing I should say, Luxeon LEDs( besides the Rebel kind), though still great, are only have about half the efficiency of the newer LEDs(Cree XR-E, Seoul P4 and Luxeon Rebel) so for the amount of energy, you would get twice the amount if light with a newer LED. Compared to most of the cheap 2 D lights, a good Luxeon should crush them in output and a good Cree should beat the Luxeon in output. The thing is that these newer LEDs are just beginning to reach the everyday market. Fenix Cree and Rebel lights at ACE? now that would be amazing.

A step up from the 9 LED, well you could go many places with that request.

Do you have a price range in mind?
Batteries?
Quality?

Luxeon that's it! the ACE one says the Luxeon one is 10x brighter than normal LEDs or something. I'll have to look thru our catalog to see what kind & brand of LED flashlights we carry.

BTW - I just got promoted to Dept head of Electrical!

 

[qip]

first off , these people here at cpf are nuts ,they will turn your simple maglite into this ,its super bright ......... in no time i guarantee you will buy a fenix , a drop in for a maglite whether terralux or malkoff " yes they are worth it " then maybe a really high powered light if you have the $$ , you will wander to the flashlight section in your store more than you thought because its like a new toy aisle and then after a while you will be fired from ACE for stealing flashlights cuz you were addicted to them like it was crack welcome to cpf ...seriously you need a fenix :thumbsup:


cpf motto

whered my money go:thinking:

 

[swxb12]

Tough looking 9 led light. Welcome to CPF.

Josh, I'd recommend reading the sticky thread in this LED forum about Cree, Seoul, and Rebel LED lights. These are some of the latest and greatest in consumer LED technology. Have fun.

 

[Joshatdot]

first off , these people here at cpf are nuts ,they will turn your simple maglite into this ,its super bright ......... in no time i guarantee you will buy a fenix , a drop in for a maglite whether terralux or malkoff " yes they are worth it " then maybe a really high powered light if you have the $$ , you will wander to the flashlight section in your store more than you thought because its like a new toy aisle and then after a while you will be fired from ACE for stealing flashlights cuz you were addicted to them like it was crack welcome to cpf ...seriously you need a fenix :thumbsup:


cpf motto

whered my money go:thinking:

Thats TOO bright!

I got a 3 D-Cell (or maybe 4 D's) Maglite I could mod...so I just need to get a Fenix thing and drop it in eh?

 

[Joshatdot]

Tough looking 9 led light. Welcome to CPF.

Josh, I'd recommend reading the sticky thread in this LED forum about Cree, Seoul, and Rebel LED lights. These are some of the latest and greatest in consumer LED technology. Have fun.

The sticky with the list of Cree LED flashlights...ok, I just skimmed it earlier.

 

[LEDcandle]

Welcome to CPF Josh!! You are going to junk your 9-LED light really soon Have fun and hang onto your wallet!

 

[Joshatdot]

Welcome to CPF Josh!! You are going to junk your 9-LED light really soon Have fun and hang onto your wallet!

HEHE...but I have the DIY/Mod bug...I want to replace the LEDs with 18000 mcd LEDs in this lil bugger.

I just to figure out how to take out the PCB, its held in with a pressure washer thing....I could maybe unscrew it, but I'll need teeny-tiny needle nose to dig into the holes.

 

[Joshatdot]

Dang yo! I just found practically the same thing on DealEx Compact 9 LEDs Flashlight. I guess mod'ing this thing won't make it much brighter. The one on DealEx uses 16000-18000 mcd LEDs and has 22.3 lux overall, 31.00 lumens.

 

[Gunner12]

According to the White LED lumen testing thread, the JeLED 50,000 mcd would give you the most improvement in brightness. It might jump up to 60 lumens with those LEDs. Try eBay for the LEDs.

I still think you should also get a cheap 1 AA Cree light, like the SAIK RC-A3 Cree, or the Ultrafire C3. Just to say you have a Cree light

Have fun modding!

 

[Joshatdot]

Thanks Gunner12 for that testing thread.

Hmm...the SAIK looks to be the small formfactor I like. I can't tell the size of Ultrafire C3, but I seems to be brighter & more versitile.

 

[Gunner12]

They use a 1 AA battery and should be smaller and thinner then your 3 AAA light, the dimensions are also on the page. Most 1AA lights fit in a hand pretty easily, they are usually a bit longer then my palm. The 1AA lights are not driveing the Cree and where close to its limits, so much more lumens can be pushed from the light. Both lights are about the same size. The WF-606 looks a bit like a minimag, I find that intresting.