Looking for a defocusable AA light for a friend

[jtr1962]

A friend of mine needs a new AA LED light for his mom. She's elderly and a defocusable beam would greatly help. By defocusable I mean something similar to what Maglights do. Thus far I've been unable to find such a light. The Romisen RC-G2 appeared to work that way to me, but he said the defocus capability was next to useless. Besides the defocus capability it needs to be fairly inexpensive (<$25 for sure, <$15 even better). I don't care about what LED it has-I plan to put in either a Rebel 100 or R2 Cree anyway. And it needs to have either a simple on-off switch, or even better two levels-off-low-high or off-high-low. None of these fancy multimode lights-his mother would just get confused.

 

[tebore]

Would the new Mag2AA LED with the Rebel fit the bill? It is multi-mode but it can't be that hard.

Failing that, the old Mag2AA LED should be straight forward no?

 

[pipspeak]

I'm no flashlight expoert by any means but it seems the only AA light that fits that description is a 2AA maglite. If the new multi-mode Rebel version is too complicated, get an original incan and add the Terralux TLE-5EX, which is a cree drop-in (although I have to say I'm a little disappointed in it, but it's far better than incan or the old LED version)

 

[jtr1962]

Would the new Mag2AA LED with the Rebel fit the bill? It is multi-mode but it can't be that hard.

Failing that, the old Mag2AA LED should be straight forward no?

I already mentioned the Mag2AA LED to him but he said wants something with a single AA which she can easily carry. Basically I'm just looking for some type of host which has inherent focus/defocus capability (doesn't anyone else but Maglight see the value in this feature?). I'll happily add a driver board and the LED if need be.

 

[sol-leks]

I would recommend the fenix e20, I like mine very much, but it is over your budget.

 

[tebore]

I already mentioned the Mag2AA LED to him but he said wants something with a single AA which she can easily carry. Basically I'm just looking for some type of host which has inherent focus/defocus capability (doesn't anyone else but Maglight see the value in this feature?). I'll happily add a driver board and the LED if need be.

It's going to be hard to find only because Mag has a patent on the head focusing so most American companies are afraid to go near it.

 

[TONY M]

The RC-G2 is indeed next to usless in its capability to defocus so that rules that out. The E20 is slightly out of you're price range of course though and its 2xAA.

Maybe Fenix will dare to make an E10?

 

[Gunner12]

I haven't seen a defocusing 1 AA light. Maybe LedLenser has one but if it's an older LedLenser(Luxeon ones), don't buy it.

Why defocusable beam?

 

[Moonshadow]

It might help to understand exactly what the 'defocusing' ability is required for.

If you want a spot-to-flood capability, you might consider something that you can fit a diffuser cap to. This could be something like the F04 diffuser, or one of the bottle-cap diffusers that wouldn't cost anything.

Having said that, almost any two-level light with a reasonable level of spill will give you a better effect than the blob-to-doughnut that you get with a MagLite. L1T will do this with a twist of the bezel to switch from high to low and a switch on the back for on and off. Sorted.

 

[Marduke]

E20 is very close to what you want, except for the price.

You could probably pick up any number of basic single mode lights in a B&M store for <=$20, and simply add some diffusing film onto the lens. Satin scotch tape works well (not matte or clear).

 

[NonSenCe]

hard to find such.

Led Lenser p5 (Coast something, in usa i suppose) 1aa and spot to flood, but way over your budget 60-70$?

dealextreme has those cheapo spot to flood lights too.. cr123 or 3*aaa models.. sku 18697 and sku 18303 and sku 18696 .price under 10$

been thinking about getting one of them.. just to check them out.

for elderly person i would just stick with simple one mode light with orangepeel reflector to get more flood. or getting 2 cheap lights.. one for close up things and one for throw/outdoor use.

also as far as i have seen pretty much any new led beats old small maglite incans output.

 

[sol-leks]

DX also has this guy but it uses aaa's. I've also heard mixed reviews as far as its quality.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13732

hmmm, looks the same as what nonsence posted but more expensive, weird.

 

[BBnet3000]

the e20 looks like the one that is going to get my recommendation. $40 really isnt that bad, and you get a great light, bright, focusable, and waterproof.

that being said, if you do need to keep the price down, a minimag might be your best choice. make sure you get one of the new ones with the better LED.

i have a coast LED lenser thats focusable, and can be found at lowes, but its 3x AAA and the battery life isnt great.

 

[jtr1962]

DX also has this guy but it uses aaa's. I've also heard mixed reviews as far as its quality.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13732

Hmm....not really what I'm looking for but this is giving me ideas. Maybe put an aspheric lens or even a cheap surplus magnifying lens into an RC-G2 and I might have something similar.

Since someone asked the reason why it must be defocusable from what he told me is if his mom is using the light in a very dark room she would want to defocus it so that it's easier on her eyes (and the flood would be more useful). But in certain situations she might want a tighter spot.

And the reason for going to LED instead of her simply using an old incan minimag is output. With her old eyes she needs a lot of light. In fact, I sent him several Rebel 100 modded RC-G2s with different drive levels. The only one he said was satisfactory from an output point of view was the one driven at ~800 mA. So basically what is needed here is upwards of 200 lumens in a 1AA form factor, and with defocusable capability. I'll ask if 2AA is OK but I'm pretty sure he said it must be single AA.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions so far and the ideas. This is looking more and more like something I may have to piece together myself.

 

[sol-leks]

you want 200 lumens from a single AA with an adjustable head for under 25 bucks? Don't you think your asking for a lot here? Especially since I don't think any light out there will give you that kind of lumens from just one AA. Maybe a 14500, I'm not sure.

 

[krazy89]

hey OP...

i think this will fit your bill...

http://dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=414253

i hope i'm allowed to post links???

i know this isn't going to be the brightest thing around... but i know it's $20 CDN at local store in vancouver... it uses an asperical lens to do the focusing... with that said tho... i haven't tried one myself...

KraZy

 

[Marduke]

Bottle cap diffuser on a UF C3 for $10 might do.

 

[MonkRX]

Buy another Romisen G2 and slap an MC-E on it. It has far higher efficiency than XR-E's (each individual die from the MC-E is the same efficiency as a single XR-E). You'll get more than 200lm on it at 800mA. Plus, you can't draw that much more current from AA's, you won't get that much more lumens unless you go get a multi-die LED, or a multi-LED setup.

You're simply limited by the ability of the battery to power the LED.

Good luck on the build.

 

[jtr1962]

you want 200 lumens from a single AA with an adjustable head for under 25 bucks? Don't you think your asking for a lot here? Especially since I don't think any light out there will give you that kind of lumens from just one AA. Maybe a 14500, I'm not sure.

Basically I'm looking for a host for that kind of money. I already mentioned I'm going to upgrade the LED (and driver board if need be) as I don't expect a high-brightness bin for the kind of money this guy wants to spend. I already have the LEDs in my parts box so that part is essentially free.

hey OP...

i think this will fit your bill...

http://dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=414253

i hope i'm allowed to post links???

i know this isn't going to be the brightest thing around... but i know it's $20 CDN at local store in vancouver... it uses an asperical lens to do the focusing... with that said tho... i haven't tried one myself...

That might work provided I can upgrade the emitter. It looks like they're probably using a Luxeon III, and likely not one of the better bins for the money they're asking. I can probably more than double the output with a Cree R2, Rebel-100, or U-bin P4.

You're simply limited by the ability of the battery to power the LED.

Yes, I'm aware of that. With a decent driver board and a good AA NiMH I'm probably limited to around 700 to 800 mA drive current. That's about 200 lumens with the best binned emitters, or maybe 250-275 with an MC-E or P7.

On another note, any simple 2-level driver boards (low-high) out there? It's looking likely I'll not only need to upgrade the LED but also the driver board to get the necessary current. Everything DX and Kai has seems to be either single level or a gazillion modes. I've already used this board in one of the RC-G2 mods I sent the guy. I changed it to work on high only but two levels would be even better here.

 

[krazy89]

hey op... for the Dorcy... i don't know if it's gonna be that easy to get at the board or the emitter... but i've looked at other dorcy products and it seems they seem to use pretty normal stuff... ie, star boards...

i don't know what size of driver board they use... not sure if the standard 17mm ones from DX or KD would work...

i know there's a 2 stage board from KD that would work for u... just check the DIY section of KD... you'll see it...

KraZy