Dollar store "find" sort of...

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

3AAA 9LED lights with "batteries" for a buck.

They are made with some sort of non-magnetic metal. They are way thin and don't weigh much. They use a battery holder that is plus at one end and minus at the other about 1/4" longer than a C cell and about 1/8" thinner than a C cell.

The "batteries" that are included are "penesamiG General Purpose". The set in one package would do nothing. The set in the other DID cause the LEDs to glow faintly.

The body takes the vacuum test with flying colors. I can detect NO leak around the plastic window. The body is thin, perhaps a 16th or less. But it seems pretty strong.

The tailcap has a forward clickie, and seems to leak like a straw!

The tailcap has the same threads as the 14LED 3AAA light I payed 7 bucks for at a general store.

I got one black body and one silver body. There is some fluting and other decorations on the body and tailcap. They don't seem to be very slick.

There is NOTHING in the way of electrical parts. The back side of the LED board has the plus "bump" on it.

They come with a so-so little loop lanyard that would allow a little finger grasp of the light.

Even thogh they came with CRAP batteries, it is amazing what I got for a buck each!

 

[zk188]

Pics?

 

[mmmflashlights]

Which 'Dollar Store' chain was this, specifically?

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Not a chain afaik. It is called King Dollar and is on hwy 105 in Conroe,TX

My camera is cantankerous and not a very good one, but I shall try to get a pic or two up.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Still no pics...

I went back and got 6 more! SUCH a deal!

 

[Oranac]

my first post on this forum.

I think i may have exactly the same torches as PlayboyJoeShmoe, i got 3 of them, then even had the same dodgy brand penesamiG batteries

the body seems to be chromed plastic or just really thin alu, and comes completely apart really easily, although once thats done the lens doesn't always want to stay stuck in.
I've already changed half the leds over in mine for 30kmcd white 5mm leds.
I'm somewhat sure they overdrive the leds a buttload, but for a tiny dirt cheap torch its nice.

i'll see if i can find mine and take some pics.

btw im in Australia, and i've seen plenty of places peddling these things.

 

[TorchBoy]

my first post on this forum.
...
I've already changed half the leds over in mine for 30kmcd white 5mm leds.

Heh heh - they cancel out, you know. 30cd is fine.

How similar are these to DX's LYCKEBY?

 

[Oranac]

torchboy: doh

link doesn't seem to work from where i am, but you can be almost certain if the one i have is the same as joe's then anything anyone is selling on the internet would be of better quality...as harsh as that sounds

but its pretty easily improvable with some silicon, solder and some leds, mine is a decent little water resistant light...pitty i can't find it, i think my 4 year old niece might have pilfered it heh

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

I would venture to say that the leds are in fact driven somewhat hard.

After maybe 12-15 minutes last night the light (particularly at the head end) was warm.

Should be mentioned however, that I have Hybrid AAAs in this light and the current may be higher with them. It doesn't SEEM any brighter than the one with Alks however.

Interesting first post Oranac! If it is the same light it will have lengthwise details and 3 sets of shiny cuts around the head. The tail has holes partially drilled around it.

I don't see taking any of them apart in my future.

 

[Oranac]

yep joe sounds exactly like the ones i got.

yeh, driven fairly hard i think, the one of mine i altered had half the leds dead before the dodgy batteries even died, so i replaced the dead leds with the better ones, and the batteries with some lithiums that weren't doing anything useful at the time, and after one night of urbex the rest of the original leds were dead and the head was pretty hot.

taking it apart was half done for me as the thin plastic cover over the leds wasn't glued in properly, and once that fell out i could push the entire board/reflector assembly out of the barrel.

I was considering trying to put a 1w luxeon in the head, but now im leaning toward making the whole thing myself out of extruded alu and assorted bits and pieces.

just wish i could find one now :S

 

[TorchBoy]

link doesn't seem to work from where i am, ...

Great - DealExtreme's site is down again. (DoS attacks.) From Joe's description it doesn't sound quite the same.

and after one night of urbex ...

Er... "Urban experimenting"?

I was thinking of using a Cree XR-E with optics in mine - should be as bright as a 5 D cell maglite for a little while at least.

And FWIW my last $2 shop keyring torch got "aquired" by a 7 year old nephew. Good luck on getting your one back.