Weird light find - what is it? (Images!)

[Cydonia]

Subheading:
"Or how an obscure old craptacular light gets its 5 minutes of fame in the spotlight" :hahaha:

Does anyone know a brand name? Who made it? When? etc.,

It just says made in Hong Kong - and on the tail cap "UK Design - Registration No. 988991" Takes 6C cells in series, loaded side by side.
Amazingly there is nothing broken, cracked or missing as far as I can tell.
It's a poor mans fluorescent "multi" lantern by the looks of it - only it is not fluorescent - it's a bulb behind a white plastic cover. The bulb (screw base) simply has "7.2V 0.5A" on it. It is burnt out and won't light. What size is the screw base bulb? Could it be replaced with this for monster run time? That or do a Cree Q5 star on aluminum strip powered with a low 350ma Micro Puck in high efficiency buck mode from the 6 cells.

Another bulb (9V) which is a mechanical "blinker" bulb is behind the orange plastic lens. A silvered plastic reflector "floor" is below. It works and blinks as it heats up.
Modded with a low current Amber K2 or high current Lux III would liven things up :devil:

3rd bulb in small front reflector (for the "thrower" beam) is missing. Bulb holder is basic but not able to hold another screw base bulb. Again, no parts missing or broken. Tried a PR base bulb but the contact point bends too much and threatens to break if pushed more. Easy enough to mod in a large heatsink in the internal space provided and get 100 warm lumens out the front. Is this light worth anything to anyone? Inquiries welcome.

Picture time:

 

[Guy's Dropper]

It is unworthy of your attention. Destroy it!

I'm sorry, I do not like the design, it looks cheap, and it is an incandescent.

I'm kidding about destroying it though. I'd give it away if I were you. I have had lots of lights in a similar configuration and they all sucked.

 

[KeyGrip]

Have you tested it out? My guess from the configuation and the amber "blinker" is that it's some sort of automotive emergency or roadside repair light.

 

[Cydonia]

Have you tested it out? My guess from the configuation and the amber "blinker" is that it's some sort of automotive emergency or roadside repair light.

That's right. And only the blinker light works in this thing.

It is unworthy of your attention. Destroy it!

I'm sorry, I do not like the design, it looks cheap, and it is an incandescent.

I was planning on stomping it to pieces and making a video of it - how did you guess? :devil:

 

[Flying Turtle]

Let's show some respect here. Back in the pre-LED age any true flashaholic would have snapped this up. At least if it was less than $10. Well, I might have anyway. Actually, I kind of remember seeing something like this maybe ten years ago at Big Lots.

Geoff

 

[matrixshaman]

I've got this exact light. I've had it a long time and I'm trying to remember where I got it. It might have been a Christmas present but if not it may have come from a local department store where I used to live or a tool store. If I can recall I'll jump back in here. At the time it was a cool light as it seemed to have so many functions :crackup:

 

[Beamhead]

It is a trinket/marketing roadside emergency light, I have one very similar to it from the 90's and IIRC it was a gift for a free auto quote.
I still have a Craftsman toolbox/organizer full of my "pre CPF" lights.:crazy:

 

[tebore]

I had one of these too but then one day it exploded. The pressure of the springs caused the cheap plastic to just give way ripping the light to pieces. Took 6C cells it wasn't light. Runtime was crappy. It had the fittings for fluoro tube. But I wonder where you'd but the ballast.

 

[Cydonia]

I've got this exact light. I've had it a long time and I'm trying to remember where I got it. It might have been a Christmas present but if not it may have come from a local department store where I used to live or a tool store. If I can recall I'll jump back in here. At the time it was a cool light as it seemed to have so many functions :crackup:

Small world :) I hope you can remember more details!

Let's show some respect here. Back in the pre-LED age any true flashaholic would have snapped this up. At least if it was less than $10. Well, I might have anyway. Actually, I kind of remember seeing something like this maybe ten years ago at Big Lots.

Geoff

I am going to mod this light in some way... I've got so many 5mm yellow / orange LED's around here + Luxeon III's from my MagLED emitter swaps.
I wasn't really going to smash this old timer up just yet :)
This light has been sat in a basement covered in dust since at least 1996.

 

[D-Dog]

I had a very similar light (same functions down to the imitation florescent), however, mine ran on 4AA. I remember it being from one of those roadside emergency kits. The orange was a signal "flare" for drivers while the imitation floures was for under-the hood work. Have fun modding it :-)

 

[duck911]

I had a light JUST like that when I was maybe 10 years old.

I am 33 y.o. now. I swear it looks identical to the one I had. I really have no way to know, but I'd be willing to bet that light is at least 20 years old.

It's an antique!!

--Duck911

 

[Tirodani]

I am going to mod this light in some way... I've got so many 5mm yellow / orange LED's around here + Luxeon III's from my MagLED emitter swaps.
I wasn't really going to smash this old timer up just yet :)
This light has been sat in a basement covered in dust since at least 1996.

I was thinking ROP. :D

 

[Cydonia]

I had a light JUST like that when I was maybe 10 years old.

I am 33 y.o. now. I swear it looks identical to the one I had. I really have no way to know, but I'd be willing to bet that light is at least 20 years old.

It's an antique!!

--Duck911

I guessed it was early 80's... or from the Orange plastic a "hang over" from the late 70's. Either way it is a fragile, brittle plastic, "don't get water on it" and "one-drop-it-shatters-to-pieces" craptacular specimen. Not worth one of my bright 5mm amber leds to mod it really. Changed my mind on mods... I've given this light it's 5 minutes of fame... now it can Rest In Peace :laughing:

I'm really surprised at how many people here know this light. I didn't expect that.

Just one main question not yet answered: What type bulb (flange, screw base, bayonet) does the front round reflector use? Can anyone remember or find out?

 

[Martin SH]

We had one of those. It was a free gift when you joined the AA (Automobile Association) Road side assistance organisation in the UK. Some time in the late 90s I think....

Martin

 

[Skyeye]

I once had one of those in the trunk of my car. It literally fell apart even without any use. I think it was a safety idea that went wrong. Yes, it was used as a promotional item by a lot of companies years ago mainly because it was CHEAP:knight:

 

[tebore]

Passed by a dollar store and found a black variant of it. So I guess it must be very very cheaply constructed.

 

[idleprocess]

Wow. That actually triggered some unexpected nostalgia for me.

When I was a kid in the mid-1980s, the family had a flashlight in the exact same housing, only instead of the lame incandescent area light it had a floro tube. It might not have had the blinker light ... I think that was where the ballast lived. Also probably had a single 3-position switch on one side to toggle between flashlight, off, and area light.

It worked fairly well and seemed durable enough.

'Wonder if the folks still have it...

 

[Cydonia]

I once had one of those in the trunk of my car. It literally fell apart even without any use. I think it was a safety idea that went wrong. Yes, it was used as a promotional item by a lot of companies years ago mainly because it was CHEAP

This generally solves the mystery of what this light is all about. Thanks. :thumbsup:

Based by a dollar store and found a black variant of it. So I guess it must be very very cheaply constructed.

Obviously a cheap junko... but I didn't think it was that cheap. True Dollar Store meterial huh? :ooo:

 

[tebore]

Wow. That actually triggered some unexpected nostalgia for me.

When I was a kid in the mid-1980s, the family had a flashlight in the exact same housing, only instead of the lame incandescent area light it had a floro tube. It might not have had the blinker light ... I think that was where the ballast lived. Also probably had a single 3-position switch on one side to toggle between flashlight, off, and area light.

It worked fairly well and seemed durable enough.

'Wonder if the folks still have it...

That was probably the good copy that "they" decided to base the cheap copy off of.

 

[TITAN1833]

I think it is one of those lights the UK would not admit to designing,but the evidence is clear.:crackup:

I had the later version that had a fluorescent tube but like all things in those days that took 6c cells,once the batteries had depleted it often ended up in a box never to shine again :mecry: