3AAA light beats 3D light w/pics

Just for fun I pitted my 12 LED x 3AAA light against my 32 LED x 3D light. To my surprise, it looks like the AAA light wins. These are both cheap China lights with no specs that I can give you, but I thought it was still an interesting test. Of course runtime is not included in this test, merely light output.

This first pic shows the two contestants.



This pic shows the beam shots at about 6 feet. The 3D light on the left, 3AAA on the right. The D-cell light, with it's much bigger reflector, has a larger beam/spill, but it is not as bright.



This pic, from about 20 feet from the wall, again with D-cell on the left, AAA on the right, clearly shows that the AAA light is brighter.



I was very surprised. I thought the D-cell light would win hands down. I guess you learn something new every day. However, without specs on the lights it was just a wild guess as to what the outcome would be. Perhaps the difference is that both lights have essentially the same voltage, yet one is powering 20 extra LEDs. So each LED is driven at a much lower level on the D-cell model (just a guess).

Just how cheap are these lights? Did you buy them locally or online?

ace0001a said:

Just how cheap are these lights? Did you buy them locally or online?

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Well the 3D model is sold in a package that includes a 2AA LED light. I don't recall the exact price, but it was fairly cheap. The other one was a gift from a friend. It was a sample that her work may start selling, so I have no idea what the price will be. I could get you more details tomorrow, just don't have the numbers here at home.

I'm sure there are many companies selling similar lights, a little net searching should turn up some results.

There are a few reasons why this is can occur. The 3D may be resistored or regulated and the 3AAA may be direct driven and/or overdriving the LEDs. The 3AAA may be using better, brighter LEDs. In any case, while I have a bunch of cheapo 5mm LED cluster lights like these and they are decent around the house lights, they're more of a gimmick than anything, if you want a high output light you're much better off with one of the high efficiency, high power LEDs (Cree, Seoul, Rebel, etc.). You're probably already aware of all of this, just thought I'd mention it for anyone new to LEDs that gets impressed by these cheap LED cluster lights.

mmmflashlights said:

There are a few reasons why this is can occur. The 3D may be resistored or regulated and the 3AAA may be direct driven and/or overdriving the LEDs. The 3AAA may be using better, brighter LEDs. In any case, while I have a bunch of cheapo 5mm LED cluster lights like these and they are decent around the house lights, they're more of a gimmick than anything, if you want a high output light you're much better off with one of the high efficiency, high power LEDs (Cree, Seoul, Rebel, etc.). You're probably already aware of all of this, just thought I'd mention it for anyone new to LEDs that gets impressed by these cheap LED cluster lights.

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Yep, already aware of the high-output LEDs. This was a test of cheap vs cheap. Not everyone can afford the higher end lights.

I agree with mmm. There's a resistor in there somewhere that is limiting the current too much. 32x20=640ma. That's how much it should be sucking from the batteries. If not, change the resistor to one that = 640ma. Chinese lights rarely have the correct resistor in them.

I still believe there is a place for these multi LED cluster lights. They provide good flood and in a 3D long runtime. I haven't retired my 3D 24 or 100 LED yet.