Santa Shopping

[xila]

Great forum - but you guys are going to cost me a lot of money....I have managed to control my spending to my first light a Romisen RC-G2 II from Shinging Beam which is really great, but I realise I now need some real lights, but first Santa's problem.

Please help Mr Claus. My 3 kids are aged 5, 7 & 9. Since they have seen my light they want a good torch and see Xmas as their opportunity. I want to get them a robust light which isn't too bright, which will run a long time on a single AA, also easily replaced. Budget - I would hope $10-15 each (these will get lost or broken) but would go a little higher if it's the right thing to do. I'm Ireland based, but happy to buy in US.

How much abuse will a LED take?
Can a LED light damage a childs eyes?
How bright is safe?
I know some of the LED lights can get hot - any chance of a fire hazard if used in bed?
Is this an order I should place with DX or stick with Brian at ShingingBeam?

I have searched through a lot of posts, but I haven't been able to come to a conclusion.

Thanks in advance for any input

 

[hyperloop]

stick with brian, get them all RC G2s so there will be no quibbling over the lights.

You might want to see if their names can be engraved on the light too. i'd recommend engraving on the head of the light not the body cos if one light spoils they (being kids) might just switch heads with one of the other kids and huge fights may erupt, if the names are engraved on the heads, there can be no question of whose light doesnt work.

Dont forget the "CPFuser" code.

As for DX, they're oooooooookkkkaaaaaaayyyyyy but just to share, i have been waiting for a dropin module for the past 2.5 months with no end in sight.

How much abuse will a LED take?
I'm assuming that you mean the body of the light and not the actual LED itself, Romisens are pretty hardy for their price point, but i would advise you to stress to your kids to look after their lights and not go out of their way to abuse them.

Can a LED light damage a childs eyes?
yes but (others please correct me if i am wrong), its just going to be seein spots for a while, its just common sense, if i listen to music everyday for 5 hours a day at maximum volume, sooner or later something is going to give way.

How bright is safe?
The RC G2 (not the II) is safe enough, i'd recommend using NiMHs (eneloops) as i think the kids are going to run through cells pretty quickly.

I know some of the LED lights can get hot - any chance of a fire hazard if
used in bed?
As far as i know, if using NiMHs, no issue. The heat issues usually occur only when using high voltage lithium ion cells, with normal alkalines and NiMHs, no issue of fires in bed. Also, the heat issues will usually only cause damage to the LED emitter.

Is this an order I should place with DX or stick with Brian at ShiningBeam?
answered above.

One more thing, get enough cells so that there are some charged at all times, would also recommend getting a cheap mulitmeter just to check voltage levels, you dont want to run the eneloops down to nothing and damage the cell.

 

[bansuri]

Let me state ahead of time that my choice is dated, not very bright, has a poor tint compared to more modern lights, and others will probably post many more reasons to not get one, that said, I'm getting my kids Gerber Infinity Ultras for Christmas.
If they leave them on overnight they'll still be useful the next day.
They shouldn't cause permanent eye damage.
Proven technology with a good track record.

They have some SafeLights (9V) which are fantastic and some cheap but funtional CR2016 Walmart headlamps which also work great but I'm indoctrinating them into the different lights for different uses mindset so the Gerbers should round out their collections nicely.

 

[Number Six]

I'm buying ITP EOS for everyone this year

 

[xila]

Sorry for delay in replying, I was working in London this week.

Hyperloop

Thanks for taking the time to respond so fully. Really great input and fantastic suggestion about engraving.

Only concerns about the Romisen is would they be too bright and go through batteries too quickly?

Bansuri
Really like the look of the Gerber - not too bright, long battery time. Runtime of 100 hours seems great - I think this is the prime candidate at the moment. Do you intend to use standard batteries rather than eneloops since the runtime is so good? Looks like you went through exactly the same process as i did. In case you haven't bought yet, when I was searching for reviews I found the Gerber at $12 each ! Any experince of Katerno or know of any reason why I shouldn't buy from them?
http://www.katerno.com/detail/s/176...ght,-White-LED---Black-Body---Clam---22-80012

#6
ITP is interesting also, although, I think I'd prefer an AA model.

Many thanks again to all for your input.

Xila

stick with brian, get them all RC G2s so there will be no quibbling over the lights.

You might want to see if their names can be engraved on the light too. i'd recommend engraving on the head of the light not the body cos if one light spoils they (being kids) might just switch heads with one of the other kids and huge fights may erupt, if the names are engraved on the heads, there can be no question of whose light doesnt work.

Dont forget the "CPFuser" code.

As for DX, they're oooooooookkkkaaaaaaayyyyyy but just to share, i have been waiting for a dropin module for the past 2.5 months with no end in sight.

How much abuse will a LED take?
I'm assuming that you mean the body of the light and not the actual LED itself, Romisens are pretty hardy for their price point, but i would advise you to stress to your kids to look after their lights and not go out of their way to abuse them.

Can a LED light damage a childs eyes?
yes but (others please correct me if i am wrong), its just going to be seein spots for a while, its just common sense, if i listen to music everyday for 5 hours a day at maximum volume, sooner or later something is going to give way.

How bright is safe?
The RC G2 (not the II) is safe enough, i'd recommend using NiMHs (eneloops) as i think the kids are going to run through cells pretty quickly.

I know some of the LED lights can get hot - any chance of a fire hazard if
used in bed?
As far as i know, if using NiMHs, no issue. The heat issues usually occur only when using high voltage lithium ion cells, with normal alkalines and NiMHs, no issue of fires in bed. Also, the heat issues will usually only cause damage to the LED emitter.

Is this an order I should place with DX or stick with Brian at ShiningBeam?
answered above.

One more thing, get enough cells so that there are some charged at all times, would also recommend getting a cheap mulitmeter just to check voltage levels, you dont want to run the eneloops down to nothing and damage the cell.