Dual Color coin cell light?

Hello all, Ive stumbled upon this forum looking for a decent coin cell that has a multi switch for an LED that has multiple colors.

I know awhile back brookstone had those microbeams with two colors in one keychain, but I am unable to locate anything of the sort anymore.

Ideally i would like to be able to take any coincell, with a 3 or 4 way switch (color 1, color 2, and 1+2 or off)

i would be willing to make modifications to the housings to get this to work if it were possible to do something like this.

currently, ive only toyed with inova microlights and soldered 2 3mm LEDs in place of the single 5mm. this created a wider beam, while also enhancing the brightness as the LEDs i used were a bit brighter (or so it appears).

Ive also tried using two different color 3mm leds (having two colors simultaneously), but obviously since electricity flows the path with least resistance, some colors are incompatible with each other.

Hello and welcome! :welcome:


The closest I've seen to what you want are these:
http://www.coastportland.com/displa...60¡270¡276¡271¡272¡273¡274¡275¡261¿&mastCat=5


http://www.coastportland.com/displa...60¡270¡276¡271¡272¡273¡274¡275¡261¿&mastCat=5


They're not coin cell but are still pretty small

hmm, I believe those are still too large for my application. They still need to fit on a key chain(or be small/light weight/etc).

But, if they had something like that in miniature size (short and slender, pencil like) it may work....

thanks for your reply.

You seem to know your way around a soldering iron so you might be able to work something out with one of these:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/TriColor LED.htm

I'm sure there are brighter ones available but this was the 1st I found

EDIT: I'm sure you're already aware of this but when you light up all 3 colors you get white light. Good luck!

Actually, thats somewhat similar to what i was going for.. but theres no housing/switch i can use to choose which lights to turn on or off...

To get all of them to light (or more than one) i could just bridge two of the leads together and then they will just be on anytime that the light is on.

unfortunately, with the tri color LED i am limited to whatever combination of RGB comes out of it. I would like to be able to make something like a white/UV combo.. or maybe white/red combo.

I suppose ill keep trying to search for those microlights from brookstone. hopefully id be able to find something similar for cheap.

You might want to look at the Gerber Mongoose, although it is bigger that the typical coin cell light, and is a bit spendy.

It uses a dial to select one of 5 LED's (you can only activate one at a time): white, red, green, blue, and near-UV. I'm not sure about the wavelength for the UV, but it's definitely not very deep UV.

It is a lot bigger than a normal coin cell light, so you might want to look at one in person to get an idea (REI carries them).

Why do you need two different colored LEDs?(If it missed the point in one of your posts, sorry)

I haven't seen what you are looking for in a keychain size.

:welcome:

I hope im reading that wrong, but the mongoose is 7inches long.

thanks for the warm welcome!

it would be nice to have dual functionality of the light, perhaps a dim red led for night vision and a white one for normal illumination. maybe even a UV to take advantage of what UV tends to do to things.

The last time i saw the brookstone microbeams was years ago. i believe if you pushed on one part of the switch, it would turn to the first color, then the opposite side of the switch had the other color. Center was off. If you pushed the center, i think both turned on. i would be sure that now, so many years later, there would have to be another alternative..hmmm

I just have two Photon II's on my keyring, one with a white led and one with a red led. They don't take up much space. It never occurred to me to even desire having both colors in one light that small.

i used to carry multiple lights in my pocket, but after awhile, id find that they would turn themselves on after being in my pocket, draining the batteries. carrying a single light lets me move around a little more freely, without having to worry about the lights rubbing on each other, turning themselves on.

miztahsparklez said:

i used to carry multiple lights in my pocket, but after awhile, id find that they would turn themselves on after being in my pocket, draining the batteries. carrying a single light lets me move around a little more freely, without having to worry about the lights rubbing on each other, turning themselves on.

Click to expand...

That is weird, I have never ever ever experienced that and I've been carrying two Photons for years. They are just on a standard split ring with my keys. Have you tried carrying them that way?

yeah, it just happens when everything in my pocket gets jumbled, then i bend down or something, it pulls my pocket tight, turning the lights on... then i dont notice it unless i look at my pants and see bits of light shining through.

miztahsparklez said:

I would like to be able to make something like a white/UV combo.. or maybe white/red combo.

I suppose ill keep trying to search for those microlights from brookstone. hopefully id be able to find something similar for cheap.

Click to expand...

I don't know if this is still available anywhere:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/litepro_quasar.htm

that looks pretty neat actually. interesting idea with the freq scanner too.

though it seems that even if i did find one, it may not be that durable

thanks for giving me hope though! perhaps ill find that one perfect light to work out.

miztahsparklez said:

I hope im reading that wrong, but the mongoose is 7inches long.

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Oh, no, the light itself isn't 7 inches, they must be including the weird magnetic flexi-strap thing that comes with it, but that's easily detachable.

However, the light itself is still about 2 1/2 inches long, and it's kind of an odd shape, with an odd protrusion on the bottom for the two 2032 cells along with the selector dial.

miztahsparklez said:

it would be nice to have dual functionality of the light, perhaps a dim red led for night vision and a white one for normal illumination...

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http://www.brightguy.com/products/Proton_LED_Flashlight.php

Not coin cell, but definitely dual color.

-Aaron

I know you said that you don't like small lights tendency to be activated in your pocket... However, a clever solution might be to buy white and red photon freedoms, and activate the auto-off features on them, then use a bit of velcro, or double-sided tape and mash them together so that the button for red and the button for white are on the opposite sides... Then you can have brightness ramping for both, auto-off after about 3 minutes and it'd still be small enough to carry on your keys...
What do you think?

cv3po said:

I don't know if this is still available anywhere:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/litepro_quasar.htm

Click to expand...

I picked up a few of those on close out at circuit city last year. I think they were selling for $1.97 each. They are a neat little light. The UV works fine to bring out embedded security images.

Enzo Morocioli said:

I know you said that you don't like small lights tendency to be activated in your pocket... However, a clever solution might be to buy white and red photon freedoms, and activate the auto-off features on them, then use a bit of velcro, or double-sided tape and mash them together so that the button for red and the button for white are on the opposite sides... Then you can have brightness ramping for both, auto-off after about 3 minutes and it'd still be small enough to carry on your keys...
What do you think?

Click to expand...

well, it seems like the issue im having now is that if i leave my inovas on signal mode (press to flash) they end up somehow going to normal mode (multifunction switch). then they activate in my pocket when either a key or keychain (or light) sandwiches it against my pocket. after a number of automatic turn on/offs (without me noticing) there is a noticeable decrease in light output. perhaps i just need to use a different brand light..

the main thing i like with the inovas are that they are a decent quality coincell light for relatively inexpensive (about 7-8 bucks or so) and i can find/try them locally.