PALight Survival

[Wingerr]

Does the PALlight have any kind of auto-off in case it gets inadvertently turned on? I got a red LED one but without box or instructions-
Interesting light, but I'm not sure if the always-on feature would help that much when rummaging through a bag for it, unless it happened to be turned the right way.

I checked to see if mine happened to be one of the regulated ones, and it looks like it draws a constant current of 76mA on high from any voltage in the range of about 6V to 9V, with no discernible change in brightness.
Is this considered one of the regulated ones, or are there other versions that are regulated with respect to input power, like the Opalec? With the Opalec, the current draw drops with increasing supply voltage; where this PALlight just maintains a constant current draw.

 

[Brock]

The light output is regulated, but I think it "burns off" the excess power, but it does maintain brightness over time in that manner until the input voltage falls below a certain point.

I know one of the PAL line does have an auto off, but don't remember which one it is. When we go on trips the PAL's are great to set in a bathroom or hotel room to guide you around at night. Also they are great for checking on the baby with the constant on mode.

 

[JJHitt]

The auto-off is on the 'Workman' (also called the Sure Lite).

Nice little light but it has the PAL "postage stamp" sized tight focus. (I've replaced the lenses on a couple of mine with the eyepeices from an old ViewMaster and it broadened the beam a bit.)

 

[paulr]

I think all the PAL's are regulated (see the listing in glow-bug.com for some info).

The constant on feature is so you can find the light in the dark. It doesn't have to be bright enough to actually see by.

 

[Unforgiven]

Of the 2 PaLights I have, 1 of them are "just barely" bright enough (in always on mode) to see by when my eyes are adapted to the dark. They are both Survivals. The brighter one is the newer model and it is regulated. Level output for 5-7 hours. Where as the other dims as it is used. When battery is nearly depleted, neither light will go into the "bright" mode

 

[JJHitt]

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Unforgiven said:
When battery is nearly depleted, neither light will go into the "bright" mode

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Ahh... I've wondered how to tell when the batteries were low. I've six PALs and all are still on their original batteries. (I think I've got one of everything in every LED color available: didn't plan it that way, I just like the things and ended up with a collection.)

The green PAL's "always on" is brighter than the red version is on low-beam. On high, it's as bright as my (blue LED) Inova X5T: it doesn't light up as large an area, but what it does light up is just as brignt as the the light coming from the X5T.

 

[Wingerr]

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The light output is regulated, but I think it "burns off" the excess power, but it does maintain brightness over time in that manner until the input voltage falls below a certain point.


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Yep, that does seem to be what it does, since it draws constant current regardless of voltage- It would seem to be more efficient with lower voltage rechargeables, if that's the case; less burnoff-. Would have been nice if it was set up a la Newbeam though-
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The constant on feature is so you can find the light in the dark. It doesn't have to be bright enough to actually see by.


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Yes, it's just that the LED is shielded enough so that if it doesn't happen to be aimed right at you, there's little chance of seeing it. Maybe it's particularly so with the red LED one I have.
If it were in a translucent case, it would be handier for that purpose (but less so for all others purposes..)