Multi-led flashlights

j_conway

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Nov 24, 2005
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6
eBay has cheap-as 21 LED flashlights, like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Brand-new-21-LED-Water-Resistant-Torch-flashlight_W0QQitemZ8738164240QQcategoryZ83552QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My brother bought one locally, and seemed pretty bright to me. I, of course, have no real idea about flashlights - all I know is that I've spent about $100 on what's turned out to be garbage so far.

So the question is, what's wrong with these multi-LED lights, and how do they compare to say the Fenix lights that everyone's raving about?
 

TORCH_BOY

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Jan 25, 2004
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Welcome to CPF

I have both these lights, the Fenix wins hands down Better runtime,
brighter LED and only one battery not forgetting a propper clikie switch.
A lot of the Multi-led lights sold on ebay are just Cheap Cr@p
It is worth parting with the extra $$ to have a decent light
The Fenix would be a good choice
 

carrot

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Dec 6, 2005
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New York City
Fenix uses Luxeon LEDs, which are much bigger and brighter. All the multi-LED flashlights I've seen so far use the smaller, less powerful LEDs.
 

Learjet

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Oct 19, 2005
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Mackay QLD Australia
Aw they're not that bad! Different animal completely to a Fenix. Like comparing apples to oranges. The multi lED lights are wide flood beams, good for short distances but have little throw. Good for walking, lighting up a room in a blackout or a worklight but no good for seeing who's hiding in the bushes 50m away.
 

Trashman

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I've bought one of those that you've linked to, and it's surprisingly bright for the money. I think those are actually a pretty good deal, especially for "regular" people. I gave my bosses (father and son) each one of those last year and they were ecstatic. The son (the one that speaks english) has commented several times how amazingly bright it is. A couple of weeks ago he told me how he was at a night time camping trip with his daughter's church youth group, and everybody brought flashlights. He said all the others had "regular" flashlights, and she had the 2-cr123 21 LED flashlight that I gave him last year. He said it caused quite a stir and everybody crowded around her wanting to know what she had because it was so incredibly bright! Afterwards, she told him, "Dad, this flashlight is cool!"

If you can get a good one that works reliably(I've had 2 or 3 out of ten that needed to be replaced, and one more that has a faulty contact somewhere and turns on and off when shook), then I'd say they're one of the best bang for your buck deals around. The 2-CR123 model might be a bit brighter than that one, which runs off of 3AAA, but that's one's still pretty bright.
 
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IsaacHayes

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Jan 30, 2003
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Missouri
They are cheap and usualy there can be either problem with the contacts keeping them from turning on, or the leds are overdriven so much that they start dieing one by one until there is nothing left (as more die, it increase power to the others and causes them to die faster.)
 

Learjet

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Yes some of them are overdriven. I have a 41/21 LED like that. The very first thing I do is put an amp meter on to see how much juice they are pulling from the batts. Some of these lights use voltage drop from cheap carbon batteries to regulate the current to safe levels, but when nimh or alkaline are dropped in they will blow!

I try and keep the current to 20ma per LED. In the 41/21 version it uses 4AAA. I made a dummy cell for the batt holder and now it runs at about the correct rate on 3AAA nimh cells.

I guess the average consumer wouldn't be doing any checking though and may end up with short torch life if they put high discharge cells in them.

Edit, I should also mention that my 28 LED and 45 LED AAA versions do not overdrive on high discharge cells. The 28 is on the high end and the 45 seems underdriven if anything. The difference in brightness between the two isn't that great either.
 
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Luxman

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Local dark area
The Lightwave multi-LED lights are very good. They have versions in 3xAA, 3xC and 3XD. VERY long runtime, Large Flood beam and they make Excellent general purpose work lights.
 

LEDninja

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Jun 15, 2005
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Hamilton Canada
You get what you pay for.
If you pay 1/20 the cost of a surefire, you get 1/20 the build quality.
However among the cheap cr@p a few stand out:

Dorcy 1AAA 1led v1 andv3 only. Jury is still out on a new v2.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/dorcy_aaa.htm
http://safeco2.home.att.net/dorcy1.htm

Xnova 1AA 8led new reverse battery model.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/sz_8led_1aa.htm

7x7mm (according to Emillion's site) 7x8mm (according to Dae's site).
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/third/7mmflite.htm

Buy house brand stuff from stores with a reputation to protect. Examples:
Sears Craftsman.
1 watt 3AAA toollight, 1 watt headlamp.
Target River Rock.
0.5 watt 1AAA/2AAA

It is possible to get decent quality and brightness at reasonable prices but careful selection is required.
 

Learjet

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Oct 19, 2005
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Location
Mackay QLD Australia
Ok, I think I've been too kind on some of these torches. I received my latest 9/15/45 LED flashlight from ebay and this one is a concern. There are 3 modes of operation, first click turns on 9 of the middle LEDs, second click turns on an outer ring of 15 LEDs and third click is all 45.

For these tests I used 4x900mah nimh cells that came off the charger a couple of hours ago. Measuring current from each selection reveals 9 LEDs = 400ma or 44ma per LED. 15 LEDs = 500ma or 33ma per LED. 45 = 600ma or 13ma per LED.

Assuming these LEDs are meant to be driven at 20ma each, the first two modes are badly overdriven and full mode is underdriven not using it's greatest potential. Cheap carbon batteries may save the torch from overdriving on low mode, but they wouldn't be able to supply the 900ma needed for high mode.

I'm thinking the best all round number of LEDs for these shower cap designs is in the early 20's, and rather than use multimodes it may be best to get a single mode, although I guess there's no reason they should drive that correctly either.
 
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