New led light at target

Saw a new led light at target tonight in the seasonal section. The package was labeled "random acts of summer" and said 1 Watt Luxeon. The package contained two flashlights. One was obviously a 1AAA the larger one look like a 2C flashlight. On the back side there was 4 AAA batteries. This peaked my interest so I read on and discovered that the larger flashlight was a 3AAA light with a spare carrier attached. At 19.99 I did not purchase it but I am curious if any one knows anything about them.

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"Random Acts of Summer"—Hmmm. . .Interesting. Will have to check that out too.

Were these lights plastic? I didnt see any such thing while I was out there,they must be real new,and have not hit my area yet.. Anyways,with a name like that I am assuming that they are plastic

Russ

They were metal.[font=&quot][/font]

Thanks for your reply,I may have to keep an eye out for them..

Russ

Haven't been to Target in a couple of months.
Will need to check out the current shelf stock there.....

If the 1AAA light wasn't LED, it may be getting a 1watt name brand light would be better as you can get dorcy metal gear for under $20 at walmart. One thing to look out for is seasonal items always go on clearance if not sold in that *season*.

Went out at lunch and picked these up at Tgt ($19.99)....but I didn't make it out of the parking lot with them.
SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

The 1AA IS a single 5mm LED, but it's so dim that I doubt the beam would even hit the ground from waist level.

The 3AAA, "1 watt", had a flaky switch and the bezel fell off if you pointed to down ! The only somewhat neat thing about it was that it had an extended body with a compartment for carrying 3 extra AAA's...but then maybe that tells you something about its runtime. (??):thumbsdow


SO...I got my $$$ back and picked up the River Rock 1AA. Can't go to Target and not get some kind of flashlight!!

flashlife said:

Went out at lunch and picked these up at Tgt ($19.99)....but I didn't make it out of the parking lot with them.
SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

The 1AA IS a single 5mm LED, but it's so dim that I doubt the beam would even hit the ground from waist level.

The 3AAA, "1 watt", had a flaky switch and the bezel fell off if you pointed to down ! The only somewhat neat thing about it was that it had an extended body with a compartment for carrying 3 extra AAA's...but then maybe that tells you something about its runtime. (??):thumbsdow


SO...I got my $$$ back and picked up the River Rock 1AA. Can't go to Target and not get some kind of flashlight!!

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Bezel fell out :lolsign:,did you by chance notice ,or could you tell what kind of led the one watt had?? Oh,I just got my self a RR_1AA I love mine,How do you like yours??

Russ

Russell52 said:

Bezel fell out :lolsign:,did you by chance notice ,or could you tell what kind of led the one watt had?? Oh,I just got my self a RR_1AA I love mine,How do you like yours??

Russ

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The 1 watt chip looked like a LUX , but wasn't very bright...at least not with the cheap Chinese batts it came with. The 'bezel' was just the front end of the light with the reflector and a "press-fit" ring holding it on....'cept the 'press-fit' didn't fit. The bezel appeared to be focusable but the press-fit ring loosened up during the 'focusing operation' and remained sloppy loose everafter. This left the light in 'Lux-candle-mode', with its circuit board exposed.

RR_1AA: Don't know for sure yet..gotta wait til dark. Though I'm not a huge fan of focused-beam spot lights, this one seems very bright with a difuse edge to the spot. It's a very tight beam, only spreading to about 1.5" diam from 1 foot away...that equates to about an 8:1 ratio. It's a nice size, tho maybe a little large for EDC. And, of course, being a River Rock, it's built like a Rock.

I'll report back on my impressions after I shine it around my backyard, etc tonight.

I stopped in my Target at lunch after reading this thread earlier. Not available here in the midwest yet, aparently. Is the RR 1aa a 5mm led? I was looking at it while I was there and thought about getting it just because I have the 2C and the 2aa one. Thought it would be cute to have the whole family.

RR_1AA: The RR package says it's a 5mm, but the spot image seems to show 4 bondwires...more like a MJLED or Jupiter . (??) It is a cutey; really pretty, nice OD-green anodize, very solid...gotta be a re-labeled Nuwai.

Correction to my previous post: The beam ratio is NOT 8:1, but more like 6:1
(ie, 1 foot diam spot at 6 foot throw).

My experience with RR has been wholly good. I've got the 2AAA, the .5w Headlamp, the LED/Krypt Combo, and the Jupiter Lantern. All are top-notch, IMHO, and none over $20.00 !!!

The RR_1AA Is most definatly a 5mm led,As I have already had mine apart If you want to see the circuit that the RR_1AA contains,There is a thread I just started about it last week..

Russ

I tried out the new RR1_AA after dark...impressions:

1. Beam is sharply focused, but has a very annoying dark halo between the main spot and weak spill circle.

2. Throw is very good, but the dark halo makes me want to wave the beam around to "see" properly...I wouldn't use this light for indoor navigation, the beam's too small at close range and the dark halo gives the impression of looking thru a soda straw.

3. Light draws 220ma.

4. LED is a 5mm, 2 bondwires are focused in the spot.

5. The Flash Mode may be useful in emergency situations but is annoying for everyday use. I'd rather have seen a Hi-Low mode switch.

5. The switch appears to be 'electronic'...it resets to "OFF" when the battery is disconnected.


Russell52: How did you get it apart? I'd like to take out the collimator lens and get a more floody effect. With a reflector and flat lens, this mod would out shine the new X1, I think.

flashlife said:

I tried out the new RR1_AA after dark...impressions:

1. Beam is sharply focused, but has a very annoying dark halo between the main spot and weak spill circle.

2. Throw is very good, but the dark halo makes me want to wave the beam around to "see" properly...I wouldn't use this light for indoor navigation, the beam's too small at close range and the dark halo gives the impression of looking thru a soda straw.

3. Light draws 220ma.

4. LED is a 5mm, 2 bondwires are focused in the spot.

5. The Flash Mode may be useful in emergency situations but is annoying for everyday use. I'd rather have seen a Hi-Low mode switch.

5. The switch appears to be 'electronic'...it resets to "OFF" when the battery is disconnected.


Russell52: How did you get it apart? I'd like to take out the collimator lens and get a more floody effect. With a reflector and flat lens, this mod would out shine the new X1, I think.

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Every thing you describe with the beam,mine is the same way,I just cant belive a 5mm throws like this thing does.. Best 5mm light I have ever had,beside the mjleds..

I put a paper towel around my light,and put it in the vise,then took a pipe wrench to the head,These RR's are extremely hard to take apart,There is thread lock all along the threads.. If you are going to remove your lens for sure,then You could apply a little heat to it with a heat gun to help loosen things up good luck,let me know how the lens mod goes,and performs..

Thanks
Russ

Thanks, Russell.

I tried softening the 'dark-halo' via scotch tape on the lens. That worked, but killed the throw. SO then... I cut a 1/4" hole in the tape at center-lens and that let the throw out...better. So then I enlarged the tape hole to ~3/8" and that let the dark-halo out...Bummer ! ...back to where I started!
What the heck!...I peeled all the tape off and found that I had scribed the lens with the two circles I had cut (thru the tape)...but it didn't seem to hurt the output any.

Deconstruction -
Russell, is the lens pressed into the bezel?
Is there a reflector in there also? ...or just the bare LED aimed at the lens?
I'll try a combination of 'heat and twist' this weekend, and let you know.
I'd like to get the lens out in one piece, so's I can reassemble it back to stock if necessary.

The dark halo seems to come from an off-axis reflection, somewhere between the LED and the lens. Maybe it just needs a dark lining inside the tube to kill that reflection...?? If I get the bezel off I'll try that 1st, 'cause I love the long throw for outside work. If I can kill the dark halo on this one, I'll get another to convert to a flooder by replacing the collimator with a flat lens.

The AA booster seems to work really well, driving the LED very bright...I'd love to have both a clean spot AND a flood version of this light.

I belive there is a reflector in the lamp head,I will take it apart to night and get a close up pic of it for you,I am not sure how to get it out,But maybe I had better figure it out,cause if there is a reflector in there,it might be black like it is in my RR_2AA light,And I would like to paint it silver or white..

So check back later tonight,I should know something about the lens/head

Russ

Flashlife:

You might try a strap wrench. You can get them pretty cheap (around $10) for a two wrench set at most Wal-mart/Meijer/etc type stores. If you have two of them, you might be able to use one on the body and one on the head. Let me know how the disassembly works for you!

Russell52:

Did you use a metal wrench? Did it eat up the head?

Rando, Yep...Strapwrench. I've also used heat and padded visegrips on other lights; an old leather belt works well as 'padding'. I was mainly concerned the the head wasn't pressed on, like the RR_2C (??), or I might wind up with the light twisted up like a pretzel. IMHO the best mods are sorta like Recon in Vietnam: "Never let them know you're coming, never let them know you're there, never let them know you've been there."
Of course that's not always possible, and I HAVE resorted to hot melt glue and duct tape...tho' I'm not proud of it.

Rando said:

Flashlife:

You might try a strap wrench. You can get them pretty cheap (around $10) for a two wrench set at most Wal-mart/Meijer/etc type stores. If you have two of them, you might be able to use one on the body and one on the head. Let me know how the disassembly works for you!

Russell52:

Did you use a metal wrench? Did it eat up the head?

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I used a metal wrench and some paper towels,didnt just really scar it up untill just now Oh well wont stress a 12$ light,I might take a dremel to the thing just to get the reflector out,It appears that the head is attached with like a male to male adaptor,somthing like would be used on plumbing,So I see no way to unscrew the lens part once the head has been taken off the body Damn shame to,I really would like to paint the reflector

If I get to desperate,I will bust out the dremel,and epoxy it back together..lol

Russ