Pocketable Everled Hosts?

I've been searching recently for a decent quality light, preferably metal but plastic is ok, that throws a narrow beam with an EverLed and is fairly easy to pocket. After looking through the racks at Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Ace Hardware I've sorta given up hope. My ideal size would be 2AA but all the Prbase 2AAs i've seen are plastic, the metal 2AAs all seem to use those annoying tiny bi-pin bulbs.
I thought I had a winner today when I spotted a 2AA focusable PR bulbed coleman Graphite. It was in a combo pack with an enormouse 2D Graphite light, $15 later I had it home and was trying it out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif. It doesn't focus all that well with the Everled and the bulb mount doesn't inspire confidence, the bulb can move just enough that it stops making contact with the negative contact and you have to smack it to get it to come on again. The 2D is the biggest 2D light I've ever seen it's 3 inches shorter then my 4D mag. The spot setting on these lights is ok I guess but blotchy, the flood setting is a bad joke.
At this point I'm ready to give up and just buy a 2 or 3 C Mag. Not an ideal size but I could shove it in the back pocket of my jeans without much trouble and have a nice narrow beam for my Teal EverLed. It would also help with heatsinking. I really wanted to stay away from mags but they have superior construction to anything I've seen in their price range. But I'm holding out hope that one of the cheap 2AA lights at Wal-mart has the beam I'm looking for. Rayovac 2AA Sportsman, Dorcy 2AA frostbite, Everactive steel and rubber 2AA. Has anyone tried these lights with an EverLed or have a suggestion that can prevent me from giving Mag more money?

Try the Princeton Tec 20. It can be had for way under $8.00 on sale. It's not metal but it is well made (for its price) and dependable. Just make sure that you have the batteries positioned for the correct polarity or your everLED will go POOF.

Before I killed my Teal EverLED the best host I tried it in was an older (couple years at least) Rayovac 2AA Industrial. Not the tight focus you seem to be looking for... (I try not to have anything super tight, I find a nice flood usefull for most things)... but it did make a very nice beam with no funky stuff.

I had ordered a Koehler/Bright Star 3D as the host, but the beam had an outer line, not perfect.

The one M*g 2D I tried it in had a very funky beam pattern that radiated out in spikes. I ain't NEVER seen anything like it!

If I hadn't killed the EL, I would be able to report on some other small lights. I still await an email from Led Dynamics either telling me they'll replace it or that I'm screwed!

If they read the forums, than I probably AM screwed!

I have a plastic everyready (EvereadyOne) which my kid uses. This is a single D sized flashlight with a PR base. I would like to use it for my first generation everled with the a 3-D adaptor.

How do I check if the flashlight is wired correctly for the everled? I don't want it to go poof on me?

I've thought about the Tec20 but I have 2 Tec40s and even with the smooth reflector I'm dissappointed with it's EverLeded performance. At least with my Teal EverLed, just not nearly narrow enough, for some reason I get a kick out of seeing a 1 watt led lighting something up at 200ft or more. I reached for one of those Rayovac Industrial 2AAs as well a nice looking small light, unfortunatly it seems rayovac has redesigned them to use bi-pin bulbs. I did notice that the Rayovac Industrial lights are among the smallest for their size class, being only slightly larger then the batteries. The 2D doesn't look much bigger then a surge. Plus I saw the 2AA with a Blue case which is always good for me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. As for polarity I just use my cheapo battery tester, remove the bulb from flashlight, turn flashlight on, put positive lead on bottom contact in bulb socket, negative lead on side contact. If the little needle moves to the right all is good, if it flops to the left then the flashlight has reverse polarity. There's probably a better way to do it but that's how I get it done /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif.

I was pleased with an EverLED in a Tec40 with textured reflector. I sold it as they are driven to spec and not as bright as most of my homemade lights. Not a bad beam, fairly tight spot and good runtime with NiMH cells.
Rob

Ummmm, Robk, the everled is regulated!!

Now I have a question. In the Tec 40, do you put the batteries in as normal? I don't have one, yet. Please state the following for correct polarity:

With the printing on body of light facing you, is the positive on the left or right?? Note, in the Impact (4AA), the positive is on the left. (positive up)

[ QUOTE ]
In the Tec 40, do you put the batteries in as normal?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes.
Positive up is on left and - up on the right in Tec40.

TheFlashlight;

I read your answer to be: Both.

If positive is up on both sides, I doubt it would work, unless it was wired for series/parallel.

If in series, positive is going to be up on ONE side, and negative up on the other side.

In order to work properly with the Everled or other positive tip LED bulb, we have to know which way is correct.

could you modify a legend lx to take aa batteries?

I think my little - is causing the confusion. I used that to indicate negative instead of writing the word negative.
The positive end of the batteries face up on the left and negative end of the batteries is up on the right side. Which is the way the Tec40 is labeled, so as long as you obey the markings in the Tec40 the EverLed will be fine.

I suppose you could modify the LX to run off AAs. Someone on CPF did it with an E2. You just need to make a long battery extension tube. Long enough for 4 AAs.

The EverLed was tested in the following lights:

TurtleLite 4xAA (Fresh lithiums)
Disappointingly dim despite fairly narrow beam. Noticeably dimmer (in all aspects) than UBH/KL1

Ray-O-Vac Sportsman 4xAA (Fresh lithiums)
Considerably brighter than Turtlelite. Well focused white beam with slight HID cast. Brighter and whiter than UBH/KL1 ( whitest of my 7 KL1s), but with very little spread. UBH peripheral illumination is much greater.

TEK 40 4xAA (Fresh lithiums)
Brighter and more defined beam than Turtlelite but noticeably dimmer than Ray-O-Vac with a beam that appeared slightly blue-tinted. Although it will throw further than the UBH/KL1 or E2E/KL1 (a second KL1), it's total output was less.

MAG 2C (Fresh Ray-O-Vac's)
Larger but less coherent beam than Ray-O-Vac, possibly brighter but would need side-by-side tests to confirm, impossible with a single EverLed. Beam characteristics are typical MAG and are very similar to those of incandescents in this light. Total output of UBH/KL1 and E2E KL1 appear greater than EverLed.

MAG 3D (Fresh Ray-O-Vac's)
The 3D appeared slightly brighter than its smaller brother, but that could be due to expectation coloring observation. The beam could be focused into a larger non-donut spot than the 2C, which was puzzling given the Mags' identical reflectors. Total output seemed close to UBH.

In a brief comparision with a UK 2L the EverLed was easily dominated. The 2L was superior in output, spot brightness and amount and brightness of peripheral spread, in addition to being smaller and lighter than the other tested lights. Although I admire the design of the EverLed, when walking I will most likely use the UBH/KL1 or LSH-P for long burn (5-6 hrs regulated) along with a KL4 and/or a brighter 2x123 as spot backup

Despite this, of the five lights previously tested the best small flashlight host for the EverLeds was the RAY-O-VAC Sportsman, and the best large flashlight performance was in the MAG 3D.

Judging only from this single sample, the term "white" most accurately described the central-most portion of the EverLeds' beam, but much of the periphery was pale HID blue. It is certainly whiter than most other 1 watt Luxeons, but still no match for the stark moon-white of the SN II's 5 watter.

The EverLed seems to have met its design goal to be a good, longer-burning (hopefully) alternative to an incandescent lamp in some flashlights, but because of its very narrow beam I personally would not use it as a LED substitute. EverLed is to be commended for creating this sophisticated, versatile and eminently practical little device.

Brightnorm

My experience parallels many others, results with smooth reflectors were poor. In faceted ones, especially larger ones, it's very impressive.

The best light I have that meets this requirement is a 2 AA Dorcy yellow and black thing with a flashing red LED to locate it with. A bit larger in diameter than most AA lights, but takes PR bulbs and has a faceted reflector.

Doug Owen

This stretches the definition of "pocketable," but just by chance a few months ago I popped my EverLED into an Energizer 2 in 1 flashlight (follow this link to see it) and it's fantastic! This light has a huge faceted reflector with a partial acrylic ball set into the middle. That gives you the a smooth partial flood with a small but much brighter central hotspot that carries a surprisingly long way. Plus you can use the light as a lantern by pulling the reflector away from the bulb. (You'll see.) All in all, it's one of my most-used lights.

Important note! This light uses the WRONG polarity for the EverLED! I had to cut a small section off the inner sleeve (which holds the bulb) so I could turn it 180 degrees from the way it normally inserts. I also had to add some quick-n-dirty aluminum foil balls over a couple rivets so they would contact the batteries. None of this is difficult, but remember that the EverLED will NOT work without the mods!

Actually, I've been meaning to post my "mod" over in the modified flashlights forum but have been procrastinating. Maybe tonight... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

Forgot to mention that the EverLED also does a nice job in the Craftsman 4AA Tool Light (the one that's rubber-armored, has a faceted reflector and a battery indicator). In this application it serves as a nice short-to-medium range light, and the size is comparable to the TurtleLite.

Wylie reported that the Responder 4AA flashlight works very well with the EverLED.

Broke down and bought a 2 C cell mag today. I think this will do fine for now, though I may look a little strange toting it around everywhere, oh well /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif. Thanks for the suggestions.

If anyone has an Aztec 4xAA flashlight lying around, it makes a good host for an EverLED too. The hotspot is medium-narrow (wider than a Turtlelite 1 but not that much), the corona surrounding the hotspot is about 1/2 the diameter of the hotspot itself, and the amount of spill light is low, but in my opinion it's usable if you're at least partially adapted to darkness.

The hotspot is a bit mottled, but that's to be expected out of a flashlight with a smooth reflector.

I've never tried a regular bulb in this light, so I don't know what kind of beam it was meant to produce.

I gave a lady friend a Everactive steel and rubber 2AA with a white EverLed. It is now the biggest part of her keychain. Not a spectacular quality beam, but is is cheap, waterproof, and MUCH SMALLER than a 2D Mag. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

P.S. I wonder why the EverLED folks haven't yet fielded an ideal host yet?

Is it feasible to build a heatsink slug for a Mini-Mag/Brinkmann Legend, that would drop in like a sandwich, and utilize the reflector?

As far as I can tell, the limiting factor would be the length.

I put a Mini-Mag reflector over the 5 watt SE in my Megaclops, and the beam wasn't that bad.