KEYCHAIN LIGHT QUESTIONS

Hi,
I have a few questions about keychain lights. (Coin cell ones)
1.) Can you change the led bulb in any of the photon microlights?
2.)I can't figure out what color i should get, i need a good amount of light but also good battery life, what color led should i get?
3.)Where can i get cheap coin cell keychain lights? (The ones around 1-5 bucks.) Thank You

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BT1324 said:Hi, I have a few questions about keychain lights. (Coin cell ones) 1.) Can you change the led bulb in any of the photon microlights?2.)I can't figure out what color i should get, i need a good amount of light but also good battery life, what color led should i get?3.)Where can i get cheap coin cell keychain lights? (The ones around 1-5 bucks.) Thank You

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1) Yes, especially if you're patient, persistent and good with needlenose pliers.

2) IMO-The amber Toshiba TLY-180 from Hosfelt etc. -Very bright with just One measly #2032, 2025 cell.

3) Wallymart, Costco, Kmart, gas station mini-mart(?).

1. I'm sorry but I don't know.

2. I've heard that yellow offers the best battery life, but in real life use, I doubt you would notice a drastic difference between them. White offers the best color contrast, however.

3. Countycomm.com has a pack of 20 (yes twenty!) coin-cell keychain lights for $20; $1 a piece! I highly recommend them.

Thx for the advice you guys.

do u know if u can replace batteries or not in the one dollar lights?

You can replace the batteries but I don't know where you can find 2016's for less than a dollar a pair. In fact one use of the dollar lights is a source of batteries for more expensive lights like Photons.

Yes, both the 2016 batteries and LEDs in the $1 lights from Countycomm are replaceable. No screws. Can be opened with a fingernail, like the Photon I. Both LED leads are full length, one of which is insulated. The "switch" is momentary, also like Photon I, but a little firmer. Not waterproof.
I bought 40 of them. I found that about 12 of them were excellent, as nice as my Photon II white. Six were really dim due to poor LED. (I'll use the batteries from these for refills.) Half of the rest were very good, the other half were decent. I sort of "binned" them so I knew which ones to keep, give as gifts, or scavenge.
The LEDs in most of them have little or no artifacts. Nice clean beam. Tint varies from one to another. White or slight greenish white or bluish.

All in all, a good value. Even if you only used several of the best ones and used the rest for spare batteries.

As far as the colored ones, I used a Photon II yellow with original battery as my only EDC light for 2 years just before I discovered CPF. It has a much longer runtime with its single 2032 lithium, but is also MUCH dimmer than the white. Bright enough to find your way around in the dark, though, and is a decent backup light at the very least.

Still, I prefer white LEDs. Best all around for brightness and accurate color rendition.

cool, so ur saying that i can just buy any 5mm led and put it in and it'll work?

Yes. A standard 5mm LED will fit. Just be sure to use the right battery for the LED you are using. For higher votage LEDs such as white, blue or turquoise use the same 2-2016 batteries. For the lower voltage one such as yellow, red or orange, use 1-2032. Also, reuse the insulator tubing on the replacement LED lead and observe the polarity (+ or -).

alright thx, im gonna have a lot of fun with this.

Pete, I wonder if you've tried a red-orange LED with a 2032. That might work out better than yellow. The eye is more sensitive at yellow, but orange-red LED's are more efficient.

you can put any 5mm LED in a photon without any problems and just some scissors to cut the threads of the LED. It may be a bit tricky, but works well. Just make sure to use the right LEDs with the right battery combo (2x2016 on 6V or 1x2032 on 3V).
bernhard

Actually put a countycomm squeeze light through the washing machine, not deliberately, with no problems.

Adam

paulr,
I haven't tried a red-orange yet. The only loose LEDs I have now are yellow and blue. Eventually I'd like to get an assortment of colored LEDs to try out and compare.
My very first LED light was a RED photon I, which was pretty bright. When I lost it, the next one I bought was yellow because it seemed closer in color to (dim) incandescent light, like a near dead maglite. Yellow seemed to be a little better at color rendition than red from what I remember.