greg_in_canada
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've been shopping around for an LED flashlight for
my car. First I bought the yellow Dorcy (4AA, single
LED on sale at Canadian Tire for $12 CDN). A bit
dim but decent. My 2 year old loves it and I think
it is his flashlight now.
I bought the 3D 12 LED aluminum flashlight at Princess
Auto ($18 CDN). It was very purpley blue compared to
my EverLed. Decently bright but seemed too big to carry
around in my car so I returned it.
Today I bought the 1 watt Luxeon light that Radio
Shack has on sale ($30 CDN). What a nicely made light.
I'm a but dubious about the run time with 3 AAAs but
I guess I'll stick a spare set in the car. It's a little
bluer than my EverLed but a nice shade. Has a couple
of coloured rings around the bright spot even though
most of the reflector is stippled.
So I was trying various things to smooth it out and
ended up sticking Scotch Magic tape on. Wow, what a
nice beam. I made an integrating sphere (Fuji film can
with end cut off, wrapped in aluminum foil) and used
my photographic meter to try to measure the total light
output change. It has a resolution of 1/10 of a stop
which is about a 10% change. With the tape on it was
between .1 and .2 stops dimmer (between 10 and 20% dimmer).
So, not too bad for such a nice beam improvement.
I also stuck some on my mag/Everled light and it helps too.
Probably a bit too much. I'll have to try harder to
get some of that matte picture framing acrylic. (The
3 shops I tried only frame pictures with glass). Or
get some Krylon and spray my reflector.
Anyone hacked the Radio Shack Luxeon to use lithiums?
Cheers - Greg
my car. First I bought the yellow Dorcy (4AA, single
LED on sale at Canadian Tire for $12 CDN). A bit
dim but decent. My 2 year old loves it and I think
it is his flashlight now.
I bought the 3D 12 LED aluminum flashlight at Princess
Auto ($18 CDN). It was very purpley blue compared to
my EverLed. Decently bright but seemed too big to carry
around in my car so I returned it.
Today I bought the 1 watt Luxeon light that Radio
Shack has on sale ($30 CDN). What a nicely made light.
I'm a but dubious about the run time with 3 AAAs but
I guess I'll stick a spare set in the car. It's a little
bluer than my EverLed but a nice shade. Has a couple
of coloured rings around the bright spot even though
most of the reflector is stippled.
So I was trying various things to smooth it out and
ended up sticking Scotch Magic tape on. Wow, what a
nice beam. I made an integrating sphere (Fuji film can
with end cut off, wrapped in aluminum foil) and used
my photographic meter to try to measure the total light
output change. It has a resolution of 1/10 of a stop
which is about a 10% change. With the tape on it was
between .1 and .2 stops dimmer (between 10 and 20% dimmer).
So, not too bad for such a nice beam improvement.
I also stuck some on my mag/Everled light and it helps too.
Probably a bit too much. I'll have to try harder to
get some of that matte picture framing acrylic. (The
3 shops I tried only frame pictures with glass). Or
get some Krylon and spray my reflector.
Anyone hacked the Radio Shack Luxeon to use lithiums?
Cheers - Greg