These RR lanterns come in very handy especially in power outages or when having evening bar-b-ques out in the backyard. Recently, one of my 1st generation 1.5 watt lanterns went dead so I decided to try my hand at replacing the LED with one of the SSC P4 USW0H LEDs. It was my first LED swap and I learned a lot of things such as:
(1) having a GOOD soldering iron is a must
(2) my soldering skills leave much to be desired, but it helps if you have (1) above
(3) After swapping LEDs and putting the lantern back together again, check the (+) and (-) with a meter BEFORE turning on the switch. Otherwise, this makes for a very HOT situation.
I haven't tested it out for runtime yet...I'm just glad it lights up
Also, I decided to go to my local Target to check out the new RR K2 lantern. They had a couple in stock so one followed me home. I like the high/low modes and that the lens is partially frosted.
Anyway, I decided to take some pics of the family. Actually, this is just part of the family...I have a couple more 1.5 watt lanterns that I bought on clearance before the K2's came out.
On the original RR lanterns, I have used some Glad press n' seal wrap to act as a diffuser.
Original 1.5 watt on the left, new K2 on the right:
The following were taken with my camera in manual mode:
I received my light meter and was able to get some runtime testing on my 3 lanterns above. I don't have a sophisticated test lab so I had to do everything manually i.e. take a Lux reading every 30 minutes for each lantern...phew I can't believe I did that for almost 9 hours. I used AA alkalines from Costco for this test run.
My observations:
* The graph may be a little misleading when it comes to the K2 since I am measuring lux. Though not registering a lot of lux, it was outputting a lot of light. This may be why a lot of people think it is brighter than the original - it's not necessarily brighter, BUT it is outputting more light.
* Is the K2 a regulated light? I'm not sure what the graph says about its driver.
* The SSC-P4 LED impressed me quite a bit. it consistently was the brightest for the longest time out of the 3 lanterns.
* The SSC-P4 and the 1.5 watt fell off the radar at about the 8-hour mark. They were still generating enough light to navigate a darkened room during a blackout, but not enough to register a lux reading on my meter.
* I don't know if the lanterns would perform better on duracell alkalines or with NIMHs.
Here's the runtime using 2400 mAH Titanium NIMHs. They were fully charged and allowed to settle for a few hours before starting the test.
I wanted to focus on how the K2 performed in the first couple of hours so I took readings every 15 minutes. I was surprised that the K2 went to 50% brightness within 1 1/2 hours with alkalines. It seems that this is the behavior with NIMHs as well.
Again, these are lux readings and not a measure of total light output.
I like the K2 and may get more as they become more available. I may even transplant a SSC in there.
Let me know what you guys think.
(1) having a GOOD soldering iron is a must
(2) my soldering skills leave much to be desired, but it helps if you have (1) above
(3) After swapping LEDs and putting the lantern back together again, check the (+) and (-) with a meter BEFORE turning on the switch. Otherwise, this makes for a very HOT situation.
I haven't tested it out for runtime yet...I'm just glad it lights up
Also, I decided to go to my local Target to check out the new RR K2 lantern. They had a couple in stock so one followed me home. I like the high/low modes and that the lens is partially frosted.
Anyway, I decided to take some pics of the family. Actually, this is just part of the family...I have a couple more 1.5 watt lanterns that I bought on clearance before the K2's came out.
On the original RR lanterns, I have used some Glad press n' seal wrap to act as a diffuser.
Original 1.5 watt on the left, new K2 on the right:
The following were taken with my camera in manual mode:
I received my light meter and was able to get some runtime testing on my 3 lanterns above. I don't have a sophisticated test lab so I had to do everything manually i.e. take a Lux reading every 30 minutes for each lantern...phew I can't believe I did that for almost 9 hours. I used AA alkalines from Costco for this test run.
My observations:
* The graph may be a little misleading when it comes to the K2 since I am measuring lux. Though not registering a lot of lux, it was outputting a lot of light. This may be why a lot of people think it is brighter than the original - it's not necessarily brighter, BUT it is outputting more light.
* Is the K2 a regulated light? I'm not sure what the graph says about its driver.
* The SSC-P4 LED impressed me quite a bit. it consistently was the brightest for the longest time out of the 3 lanterns.
* The SSC-P4 and the 1.5 watt fell off the radar at about the 8-hour mark. They were still generating enough light to navigate a darkened room during a blackout, but not enough to register a lux reading on my meter.
* I don't know if the lanterns would perform better on duracell alkalines or with NIMHs.
Here's the runtime using 2400 mAH Titanium NIMHs. They were fully charged and allowed to settle for a few hours before starting the test.
I wanted to focus on how the K2 performed in the first couple of hours so I took readings every 15 minutes. I was surprised that the K2 went to 50% brightness within 1 1/2 hours with alkalines. It seems that this is the behavior with NIMHs as well.
Again, these are lux readings and not a measure of total light output.
I like the K2 and may get more as they become more available. I may even transplant a SSC in there.
Let me know what you guys think.
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