Lowest Cost 4-LED lights yet

[Hemingray]

I was at a local flea market (Hollis NH) and was
poking through the "gray market" cheap-tools-made-in-China dealer's setup, and found he had some
LED flashlights. These were a brandname I have
never heard of before - LED Club - and came in two
"flavors", a blue LED keychain light for $2, and a 3-AA cell 4-LED light for $9, which was available in white or blue, complete with three
no-name (FairDeer) made-in-China AA cells. The 4-LED'ers are aluminum, with a threaded tailcap and LED "head". THey look vaguely like shrunken
3 cell Maglites, but are of fairly light construction, the battery tube would not stand up to Craig Johnson's "punishment zone" testing.
But for 9 bucks, why not take a try... They work reasonably well, not as bright as the better 3 or 4 LED lights, obviously they do not use Nichia's
best LEDs. The usual twist-on, twist-off system, no switches or buttons. The LED circuit board has a metal contact soldered on, not like the solder blob in some of the earlier C Crane LED lights.

I didn't go for the $2 keychain light, maybe next weekend.

Now, I don't know if this is the usual price, or if he was just getting rid of some old stock.
I'll try to find more details and post them here.

/ed in NH

 

[Alan]

Does it look like this?

Alan

 

[Hemingray]

Yep, that's the one... also look on www.ledclub.com for more details about Loo Loo Enterprises.

Hey CJ, you have one (White LEDs) coming your way for testing and torturing. From what I could see by peering up inside the business end of it, they
have small SMD resistors in series with each LED,
and have a decent brass contact to connect with the battery's positive end.

If the same seller is there next week, I'll see if he has any of the $2 blue LED keychain lites left. The 4 LED blue flashlite has a fair amount of UV component, as it makes dayglo things light
up brightly, and white clothing glows a brilliant blue.

/ed in NH

 

[SidewindR]

hi,
those look great
i got some from
Ebay not that brand but you may know them
in clear white case,
very bright for $1.99( even has the switch)
but cheap feelin
well i got a few of them
and when the batteries run out i stick them into a house lighting system have my bathroom lit up with discarted cheap lights

 

[B@rt]

I like these ...

 

[SidewindR]

hey those are pretty!

 

[B@rt]

Try CPF chat at bottom of this page...
and play a sound, under "commands"

 

[lemlux]

I bought a red 4 LED L.E.D. Club on EBAY for $12.95 shipped, and I am very disappointed. It is only equal in brightness to my red Infinity with black stuff scratched off and a lithium battery.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I just got the light Hemingray sent, and I too am disappointed with it. I may have to take a hint from my infomercial website, and start adding "Toilet Seat" ratings just for flashlights like this.

If a lot of people buy these, LEDs will get a black smudge on their reputation that will take a long time to wipe clean.

 

[Hemingray]

As the old adage says, ya get what ya pay for, and a $9 4 White LED light is just about what one should expect. Give it a 4-Flush "Toylet Bowl" rating, though the blue one is maybe only a 2 - flusher. I did get a couple of the $2 blue LED keyring lights from the same seller last sunday, they are better, in fact brighter than the 4 - LED
blue "club" light. It costs more to replace the batteries (2 CR 2016) than the foolish light cost in the first place. The seller had a lot with dead batteries, maybe I'll offer him 25 or 50 cents each for them, just to salvage the blue LEDs.

If I can dissect the 4 LED white light head without destroying it, I'll try putting in 4 of the latest Nichia NSPW500BSs and see what happens.

/ed brown in NH

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Originally posted by Hemingray:
Hey CJ, you have one (White LEDs) coming your way for testing and torturing.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I just finished putting up a page for this light.
www.ledmuseum.org/ledclub.htm

I didn't give it a "**** On It! 0 Stars!" rating because it isn't fragile like the Turbospyder. At least this one should survive most common flashlight accidents - if you ever use the thing anyway. So I gave it 1 star (poor/unacceptable), and a strong "do not buy" recommendation.

Easily stomped on by an Arc-AAA with its SINGLE LED!

 

[Hemingray]

Hi Craig,

You're far too generous and kind to the LED Club
light... I figure it's rated at two flushes and a few embarrasing bodily sound effects

I tried my other one side by each with a Brinkmann Rebel, and the Rebel outblasted it.
Next rainy weekend, I'm going to attempt a NSPW500BS "brain transplant" and see if I can do this without destroying it, which would render it only slightly dimmer than original.

This is going to be a leading contender for my latest creation - the FlashDark. Which emits a cone of total darkness, and is very efficient, indeed batteries or even a functional light source are not required. See details next April First.

The blue version is brighter (what else isn't?) and seems to have a fair amount of UV or near-UV
in its spectrum, it makes white clothing glow a brilliant and eerie blue, and makes "day-glow" colors shine.

I wonder if a Luxeon could be shorhorned into one of these... Then at least the carcass of it could be re-incarnated into something useful.

/ed brown in NH

 

[Cutter]

Originally posted by The LED Museum:
I didn't give it a "**** On It! 0 Stars!" rating because it isn't fragile like the Turbospyder. At least this one should survive most common flashlight accidents - if you ever use the thing anyway. So I gave it 1 star (poor/unacceptable), and a strong "do not buy" recommendation.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">And now....here's a quote from Craigs website regarding this light. Man....Craig....you seriously crack me up.

So you probably won't want to throw this in the pool and have the kids go after it. It should survive though, if the dog gets upset at the dim output and takes a leak on it.

 

[Orion]

I saw those. I'm glad I didn't actually bid anymore than the $3.00 that I did.

Probably still would have been ripped off at THAT price.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Originally posted by Hemingray:
Hi Craig,

You're far too generous and kind to the LED Club
light... I figure it's rated at two flushes and a few embarrasing bodily sound effects

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Officially, I gave it 1 star because the body isn't a total waste. But I probably shoud have given it this rating:

Originally posted by Hemingray:
I tried my other one side by each with a Brinkmann Rebel, and the Rebel outblasted it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">An Arc-AAA outshone it. So I'm not the least bit surprised.

Originally posted by Hemingray:
This is going to be a leading contender for my latest creation - the FlashDark.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Funny you should mention that - I was thinking verys similar thoughts as I went to bed last night. You know, for some funny commentary to add to the web page. Something like "If you pick up this flashlight in the dark, you're only making things worse for yourself" or something along those lines.

 

[Hemingray]

Where's that big white peppermint that usually sits on those "splash guards".

I'll have to do a run-off between the LED Club
"light" and the CMG infinity white. I think CMG
will be a decisive victor.

Next to try is to locate a very tired and anemic firefly and see if it can outshine it.

How about something like "The LED Club Light is so bad that it actually reduces the ambient light level when it is twisted on"...

/ed

(sound of commode flushing reoeatedly)

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Hey Hemingray,

I finally decided to use the "**** On It" rating for this light. And I'm seriously considering using some of your rather colorful statements on this "tampon string" flashlight page too.

 

[hemightbe]

yeah...i got one of those for christmas....the switching mecanism is cheap and hardly ever wprks, and one of the LEDs doesnt light up, cheap.....cheap.....cheap....

 

[Hemingray]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

After less than 2 hour's "on" time, two of the white LEDs have died, making this a 2-LED light, which has the approximate light output of a lump of coal (not set on fire).

After the remaining 2 LEDs die, I'll prythe damn thing open and see if I can make anything else useful out of it.

Maybe the battery tube part of the body can be re-incarneted into another light, or perhaps a big metal firecracker.
Kids, don't try this at home (or anywhere else).

So, my rating system: P.O.S. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif

/ed in frozen solid NH

 

[webley445]

I had one once. As Craig said, I liked the body. But then I died very quickly. I thought that the LED club lights had already been reviewed as POS's and that it was common knowledge. Did what I could to dissect mine. You will end up destroying the head to get the guts out, but maybe the body tube could be useful.