Looking for inexpensive, AA, flood, bright, short distance light, to suctioncup mod

[Raccoon]

whew, wordy title...

Like I said, I'm looking for a flashlight I can mod to drill a hole through the lens and put a suction cup through. The purpose is to create a flashlight that I can suction cup on the windshield of a car when opening a customer's vehicle (as a locksmith).

The specs of the light I'd like to mod:

- LED bulb(s). Since I'm *******izing the lens, I'm not too concerned about purity of the beam, however, I think LED would still be better than incandescent for a more even spread of light. Ultra-brights or Luxeon.

- wide FLOOD beam. I'm trying to illuminate a large area of the interior of a vehicle, from the door panel to the center console. The wider the reflector, the better. Since the light will be working in relatively short distances, throw is not a concern, but spill is.

- AA batteries. Cheap and easy and more cells offer greater brightness. AAA's are doable but it's such a waste when AA's last twice as long and cost the same. C's and D's are too bulky.

- Regulated voltage. Lights with regulated voltage are better at providing more brightness for your buck, but I'll settle for an unregulated light if I have to.

- Plastic Lens. I'd prefer a plastic lens, since I have to drill a hole through it to apply the suction cup.


If you already know of a light with suction cup(s), excellent! But please keep in mind that I'm not looking for some dinky pen light on a suction cup. It needs to illuminate a vehicle cab sub-daylight.

 

[LukeA]

I'll suggest the MTE 1-mode SSC. It's pretty cheap, uses 1 AA, and runs regulated for about an hour. The beam is pretty floody. However, it has a glass lens.

But frankly, I think an easier and more stable solution to your situation would be to take a square piece of 2x4 or 2x6, attach a suction cup to each corner, and drill a hole through the wood for the light to sit in and shine through. In the MTE's case, a 13/16 (20mm) or larger hole would work.

If you do get the MTE light, clean out the contacts in the head with some rubbing alcohol on a q-tip. It does nothing but good, it even brings dead lights back, as there's often an invisible film on the contacts that can cause dimness, flickering, or nonfunction but alcohol takes it off. I have 3 of this light and recommend it.

And, as always, I seriously recommend using low self-discharge rechargeable cells such as Rayovac Hybrids or Sanyo Eneloops. After the initial investment in cells and charger, they are virtually free to operate and each rechargeable cell will save you hundreds of dollars over its life.

 

[Raccoon]

Thanks for the suggestion. Though 1 AA cell doesn't seem like it'd provide the brightness I'm looking for, I'm interested enough to check it out.

You'll have to tell me more about these new rechargeables with low self-discharge. I'm still battling with NiMH batteries that only hold a charge for a month or so. Please direct me to a good thread on this discussion or PM me.

Looking for other suggestions aswell. I'd even be interested in seeing someone develop such a special purpose light for suction-cupping to a windshield. The profile being a disc shape; round and flat, using 4 or more AA's, with a dozen LED's pointing in all directions 90° circle, and 3 or 4 suction cups around the edge.

 

[swxb12]

How about a 3xAAA floody puck-light from DealExtreme? :thumbsup: - http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=172118

Giant plastic lens for you to drill on. It is many times brighter than my domelight in the car, and easily illuminates a room in the house at night.

Not sure about battery life...

The above mentioned low self-discharge Eneloop batteries can now be found at many Costco stores for about $25 for a charger along with AAs and AAAs. Lots of experience of these can be read in the Flashlight Electronics/batteries forum here.

Best of luck!

 

[ZebraLight]

How about a ZebraLight H50, 1AA, Cree, 120 degree flood.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=169180

 

[swxb12]

ZebraLight, isn't the pre-order list full? That's far from even being in stock.

 

[speederino]

The Cree Q5 version pre-order is full. George (ZebraLight) should start selling the P4 version on CPFMP any day now....

 

[KoiSG]

Don't mind me asking but why do you need a light with a suction cup? If you need both hands to be free, won't a head lamp be more appropriate?

Sorry for asking, just being curious.

 

[Raccoon]

As I stated above, the light is to suction cup on the windshield of a vehicle I am working on to unlock, as a locksmith. I do need both hands free, but I also need light to enter the vehicle from a different angle than my own head. This is particularly important when working with tinted windows, as light from my head would only reflect the dark tint rather than illuminate the vehicle's interior.

The problem with suction cup'ing any old flashlight is that most flashlights are spot beam and would simply light up the driver or passenger seat. I need a very wide angle beam that will illuminate the entire door panel and center console while the light is directed at the seat.

 

[Raccoon]

If anyone here is into fabricating custom lights, and particularly fond of 5mm LED arrays, I would like to share my specifications with you. If you can fabricate a prototype or finished product, I have 4 distributors, myself included, who would like to meet you.

 

[Derek Dean]

Hmmmm...... interesting challenge. My initial thought is that it would be easier to just buy a small suction cup with a clamp on it, like those available at any Ace Hardware store for $2-4, and then you will be able to pick your flashlight for it's floody beam quality and battery type (BTW, I agree totally with the recommendation of the AA Sanyo Eneloop NiMh batteries. I've been using those since they came out, great product).

However, those suction cups generally come with a horizontally placed clamp like this:

http://www.suctioncups.com/clamps.htm

Of course, with a bit of ingenuity, I'll bet somebody could add another clamp for the flashlight's narrow body, and some sort of connecting piece between that clamp and the clamp on the suction cup, and bingo. I'll bet if you took a basic drawing with you into the local hardware store they could help you fashion an inexpensive rig to hold a flashlight.

Or.... possibly something like this:

http://www.checkmatemarketing.com/loc_lite_store_led_flashlights.htm

Don't laugh, ha..... it might actually work. If you scroll down, you will see that it's kind of a 'kit' that allows you to customize the size of the bendy thing, add a suction cup on one end, a clamp on the other... etc.

So you could build this thing to suit your needs, and add the flashlight of your choice. Probably not what you are looking for, but I thought I would throw it out there to help get the creative juices flowing. Happy hunting.