Fake Shake Lights?

Is there a way to determine if a shake light is real (without disassembling it), or just a fake with coin cell batteries inside?

I tried a search but just received this message:

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Thanks.

jb

You know, the funny thing is that I want to find/buy one of the fake shake lights for my collection. I mean I have all these other lights that are, if not unique, then at least representative of various "era" in light technology so why not add one or two examples of "shady dealings" in the world of lights.

The way things go those "fake shakers" will wind up being the most valuable because everyone else will have thrown them out when they stopped working.

Turn the light on. If it's been sitting around for a while, it should be dim. Then shake it a bunch. If the brightness doesn't change, it's a fake.

Go here and look at the shake lights. Pay special attention to the runtime graphs. They start bright, but die very quickly. If the light doesn't visibaly die like that, it's a fake running off of batteries.

zespectre said:

The way things go those "fake shakers" will wind up being the most valuable because everyone else will have thrown them out when they stopped working.

Click to expand...

Now that's funny! :laughing:

However, it seems like there are more fake ones available than real ones. So if you buy a few, one or more are bound to be the fakes.

I would still like to be able to determine which are real without buying and disassembling one.

jb

Real ones have a pretty strong magnet in them that easily attracts appropriate metal objects held against the light, from what I've read the fakes don't use a real magnet so will fail this simple test.

Andrew

Some of the fakes do have real magnets, as well as other real components of the circuitry, they just aren't hooked up. You're right though, that if the metal slug isn't magnetic then it cannot be a real shake light.
Most of these fake lights are very easy to take apart because the inner workings come out as a complete assembly. Just unscrew the bezel and take care not to drop the lens. You can usually grip the cup that holds the LED and mirrored mylar "reflector" using one finger and drag out the entire inner unit. This will allow a better view of what's actually inside and how it's wired. Sometimes the outer shell is transparent enough to see that it's clearly a fake without having to dissasemble.

Here's a review thread -

$5 LED Shake Light

lots of discussion from CPF'ers about whether it was fake -
and how I determined/proved that it was not a fake -
but it was still not very good.

A friend of mine who sells these at auctions gave me 5 or 6 of them & so far only 1 has failed. The light on mine is not that bad either & the price was right !

The batteries are visible through the plastic case. There's a store near me that sells them. I looked at one and started laughing. It took several minutes to explain to the clerk exactly what was funny.

zespectre said:

You know, the funny thing is that I want to find/buy one of the fake shake lights for my collection. I mean I have all these other lights that are, if not unique, then at least representative of various "era" in light technology so why not add one or two examples of "shady dealings" in the world of lights.

The way things go those "fake shakers" will wind up being the most valuable because everyone else will have thrown them out when they stopped working.

Click to expand...

Hey zespectre, I've got a fakey that runs off 2 coin cells. Maybe you have a <$5 you wanna trade for it? If so, feel free to PM me.

paulr wrote: "The batteries are visible through the plastic case."

The $5 LED Shake Light (linked) I got had a shrink-wrapped coin-cell battery pack that could be seen through the plastic casing too - but they were NiMH rechargeables.

It was not a fake - but it did not work very well either
(please click on the link for lots of CPF discussion)

Not a fake, but you can get two everlasts (the big and the little one) at walmart for around $14....

Thanks for the responses guys.

UnknownVT's link, with the help of Ray of Light, provided a good explanation of how a shake light is supposed to work.

So, according my interpretation of that discussion a shake light:

...may have all the proper components (LED, coil, magnet, charge storage device) but still may not be assembled correctly, on purpose or not;
...may have rechargeable NiMh batteries that store the charge;
...may just have regular batteries (alkaline)(a real fake?);
...may have a cheap, or quality capacitor, in which case it may be real...
...may not have the proper compenents at all...

Geeeeeee... it doesn't seem so easy. :shrug:

...and thanks Planterz, for the Flashlight Reviews link. I didn't realize there is a section on shake lights.

jb

The presence of battery in a shake light does not mean it is a fake shake light, if it is using rechargeable battery.

If the battery is non-rechargeable then it is a fake shake light.
The cost of rechargeable battery is very much higher compare to a capacitor,
So the logical choice would be to use capacitor for energy storage in a shake light.

Most of the Fake Shake Lights have a cheap and nasty feel about them

After attempting to discharge the light overnight and taking the light apart, I realized it contained the two 2032 coin cells batteries. After making modifications you can store all kinds of survival tools in the handle. Since the light works well on the two coin cells, I used a hacksaw and removed the slide tube just behind the coin cells. (The magnet is now on the refrigerator). The cup will slide too far into the handle but this can be solved but an "o" ring from the hardware store. Try a 1-1/16x13/16x1/8 which is a #16. My 7 inch light will provide light for 18 hours. The lens is a magnifying lens and will turn a black cinder into a glowing coal in bright sun light. The following survival items I store in the cup around the the LED: Fishing line, dental floss, and 20 feet of snare wire. In the handle I have the small size butane lighter, a high quality lock blade knife, small sharpening stone, a button compass, 10 fish hooks, 5 matches, Jig saw blade, man made flint, 2 safety pins, LED key chain light, a small piece of a tissue and several small pieces of coal (for the lens). I plan to make additional room for storage by removing the small (storage) device with two leads on the bottom side of the circuit board. This will allow space for a 3/4 " square piece of solid fuel for fire starting. The only draw back that I have with this as a true survival light is that while the lens cap can be sealed with an o ring, the light I have does not contain a water tight switch. I am working on that.