New(?) TekTite Splash lite LED!!

[Stanley]

I did a search on CPF for the Splashlite (or Splash-lite), and I did find some old discussions (dating around Sept last year) on the original Splashlite which runs the incan bulb. However, just browsing thru the Tektite site today, guess what I found!! Seems like a very very handy light to have indeed, now that they are using a LED in it... I was wondering if anyone else has one of these yet, and how they hold up in terms of brightness, runtime, etc??

Edit: Browsed thru the site some more, and I guess the main difference btwn the incan and the led version is this. So I suppose for those who have the original Splash-lite already, you can just buy the replacement led bulb...

 

[Stanley]

NObody has one of these? At all?? Hmm... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[paulr]

I think someone did a runtime test on the L222 bulb a few weeks ago. Check in the reviews section. I guess the LED Splashlite is a nice little light, but man is that bulb expensive. A UKE 2AAA eLED is about the same size as the LED Splashlite and is just as waterproof and costs about a third as much. Lithium AAA cells aren't in the stores yet, but they should become available before the weather gets cold where most people are.

I think it would be more in the spirit of the original Splashlite to make a direct drive light with an LED and a 1/2AA, 3.6 volt lithium chloride cell. It could be somewhat smaller than the Splashlite because of the smaller battery and because with a permanent LED, the bulb/reflector assembly would be simplified. The result would be a compact version of the Trek Lithium, and should run for 100+ hours on a cell. Using a full sized LiCl AA, it should run for 200+ hours like the Trek Lithium does.

 

[Stanley]

Thanks for pointing that review out to me Paul. I checked with Kevin at batterystation, and it seems that he might be getting some of the Splashlites in sometime soon, to be confirmed...
I guess for me its more of the form factor that I kinda like. Plus the use of the single 123 could possibly make it lighter as well, compared to 2 AAAs? Well, until the lithium AAAs are released, I guess this will still be classified as a great emergency light with a very very decent runtime, although your suggestion of a smaller and longer running Splashlite sounds like a great idea too. Tektite, you into this? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[paulr]

The Splashlite and the UKE are about the same size, the UKE slightly wider but with a thinner profile. Weight is about the same, about 37g for the UKE with alkaline batteries and 34g for the Splashlite with a Tekcell 123, according to my cheap postage scale. With lithium batteries the UKE will be a little lighter. The UKE comes with a detachable hat clip that bulks it up a little and adds a few more grams, but which can come in handy. The UKE can also stand on end, which is useful indoors. The UKE may have quite a bit more runtime than the L222/CR123, since a pair of AAA's has about the same total capacity as a 123, and the UKE runs for 20 hours while the L222 on two AAA's only ran for about 7 hours. The UKE has a focusing optic that increases the throw quite a bit without eliminating the sidespill too badly. I don't know how the Splashlite/L222 with its reflector+optic designed for the incandescent 222 will compare. I'd say the L222 is only interesting if you have a #222 light that you're really fond of. Some other CPF'er mentioned using one in a Tekna 2AA, which was a great old light.

I exchanged some mail with Scott at Tektite about a 1/2AA LiCl Splashlite but he didn't seem too interested. I'm not surprised, making new injection molds would cost a bundle and it would be a very slow seller. Tektite still makes the Splashlite presumably because they got the molds from Tekna. The Trek Lithium uses the same body as several other Tektite lights, so they get more mileage out of it.

I see there's a lithium chloride cell in 2/3AA length, which is a little shorter than a CR123A, but you could stretch out the spring in the Splashlite to use that battery. Then you'd just mod a #222 bulb by removing the insides and soldering in a led, to get that long-running light. For that matter, you could get tremendous runtime going direct drive from a standard 3-volt CR123A, though it would be pretty dim because of the low voltage.

I reviewed the Splashlite on the reviews section a few months ago. Basically it was a neat light back in the day, and I enjoy having the one I got recently because I always wanted one, but there's more modern choices around now.

 

[Scott@Tektite]

Yes, we looked into a shorter (3.6v, 1/2AA) splashlight. And yes, the cost for new molds was prohibitive. Yes we made up some samples with a longer spring, direct-drive LED, too. Unfortunatly, the numbers just don't work out for a viable product at this time. It's in the back of my mind, though, and I'll revisit the issue again in future; unless someone wants 10,000 of them now? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[paulr]

Hey Scott, it's cool to see you're reading this thread.

I think using the existing Splashlite tube with a 2/3AA cell would work ok, either with an adapter sleeve or simply with some tape wrapped around the cell. It would be best if the spring were a little longer but the length difference between 2/3AA and 123A is just 5mm or so, which means it could work by stretching the existing spring. I think that wouldn't be so great with a 1/2AA, which is about 13mm shorter than a 123A. I wasn't aware of the 2/3AA when I exchanged those messages with you. So I might try this with a 2/3AA.

Making a #222-base, direct drive LED bulb has to be simpler than making the L222 with its boost circuit, assuming you're making the L222.

Nicest (short of making new plastic molds) would be to make an adapter sleeve to fit a 1/2AA or 2/3AA cell into a 123A space, similar to the adapters you can buy to use AA cells in size C or D spaces. That, plus the direct drive bulb, would give a 3.6V direct drive Splashlite that would still cost less than the Splashlite+L222 and have much more runtime and less complexity, and you could still use a #222 bulb with a 123A. I think that would be a practical light. I did eventually buy a Trek Lithium from another CPF'er, but I still like the idea of a direct drive Splashlite because of its smaller size.

If you're selling enough Splashlites to make tweaking the design feasible, maybe you could just put in a slightly longer spring, to accomodate either a normal 123A or a tape-wrapped 2/3AA, and then offer some direct drive LED bulbs for sale.

 

[Stanley]

Hi Scott, thanks for replying personally... I suppose there is no need for a change in form factor, its a pretty neat package as it is already, and besides as you and Paulr have noted, it also allows for different cell configs as well. Hopefully there'll be enough demand to get you guys going on a project like this... maybe a CPF special 'Limited Edition'? Still dunno if that'll make up to 10000 units tho...

Paul, thanks for sharing your ideas, and pls do let us know of how it turns out if you get a chance to try out with the 2/3AAs! And I'm sure glad that this thread managed to revive an ongoing idea you & Scott have been throwing back and forth! Hopefully something good comes out of this! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[paulr]

Looking at the Splashlite a little more closely, the bulb pokes into the reflector til the shoulder of the glass envelope presses against the reflector hole, which is slightly smaller than the bulb base. Replacing the bulb innards with an LED will require mounting the LED on a standoff, e.g. a little piece of perfboard the right diameter. It should also be possible to make a thicker standoff, enough to effectively make the bulb base 5mm longer, i.e. the center contact would stick that much further down into the light. That should get rid of the need to stretch the spring. The bulb base would still make good contact with the flat metal clip that holds it onto the reflector and touches the ground strip when the light is turned on.

Another approach might be to simply solder or weld the LED bulb base to the metal clip, adding a blob of epoxy to prevent it from breaking loose, again so it pokes down 5mm further down into the light than the stock #222 does. That would be a one-time operation since the LED should never need replacement.

Either of these methods seems more attractive than stretching or changing the bottom spring. I don't know which I'll try. I guess I'll add a 2/3AA cell next time I order stuff from Digi-key, but I don't know when that will be.

 

[paulr]

Oh whee! I made an error about the lengths of the batteries. 2/3AA is the exact same length as a 123A, only the diameter is different. So I don't have to worry about these lengthing tricks. I can just widen the 2/3AA cell with tape, make the direct drive LED bulb, and I'm done.

In fact, lithium thionyl chloride cells are made in the 2/3A (i.e. 123A) form factor (capacity 1.5 AH), but they are kind of hard to find. Powerstream.com has a datasheet for them but doesn't list a price, and their minimum order for that type of battery seems to be 100 pieces or $200 (not clear which, but either is too much for me). The only other vendors I found were outside the US.

Scott, would you consider looking into this, i.e. getting the 2/3A cells from Powerstream or elsewhere, and making direct drive LED bulbs? That would totally eliminate the need for special molds or funky cell adapters, eliminates the fancy electronics of the L222 bulb, and increases runtime by a huge factor. In fact the Powerstream cell is made to deliver high current compared with a computer battery, so it should be feasible to run an 8mm 4-die led.

Yet another approach to this whole problem is to just underdrive a Luxeon with a regular 3 volt 123A cell, from a voltage bin selected to run at 50 mA or so at 3V (any more power than that and the thermally non-conductive plastic light might get too hot inside). I considered doing that with an R2H that I had, but used the R2H in a sandwich module for a Firefly instead.

Edit: yet another method: don't bother with a modded 222 bulb at all. Just epoxy the LED directly into the reflector, solder the leads to the flat disc and to a little piece of PC board in the center of the disc, and epoxy everything to be rigid enough to operate the switch.

 

[Scott@Tektite]

I'll look into the 2/3 LiTh cell with my supplier. I have 1,000s of screw bases on hand, no prob putting a 5mm nichia at the right height.

 

[paulr]

Hi Scott, I've located a source of 2/3 LiTh and am going to buy a bunch ($100 minimum, $5.50/cell or so, want to split an order?). Can I get some screw bases from you? How about some Splashlites with no lamps or batteries?

I've learned that thionyl chloride is very poisonous and I think it's best not to use LiTh batteries for casual purposes, but in an emergency/survival light, I guess it can't be beat.