Any Actual Eye Damage at 3800 Lumens?

I'm getting a cheapish 3800 Lumen light - $45 - which won't hit 3800 but who knows what it will get to. At what point does a light do actual damage to the eye, anyone's if shined within 15' or less distance. I see "The Torch", whatever that is, sets paper on fire and have seen warnings for that one as to eye damage.

I assume at 3800 supposed brightness there wouldn't be, but wanted to make sure. How about household animals who wander into indoor test of the light?

Are you referring to "The Torch" from Wicked Lasers? It has 4100 Lumens and uses a 100W Halogen. The burn time is only 5 minutes lol.

Depends how much ambient light is around and how well adjusted your eyes to the dark or the light before you look at it. Depends how much throw and the distance you're looking at it from. If it's a skyray that you bought, the worst distance is probably at 1 foot where the 3 led's merge into one but I still wouldn't want to put my eyeball to the glass and turn it on on high. Good luck with your experiment! See ya! (hopefully).

It's the lux (intensity) not the lumen (flux) that causes eye damage, of course UV/Infrared spectrum contributes to damage as well. Stadium floodlights usually use General Electric ED/T32 series HIDs that are capable of outputing 100 000+ lumens at 12kW but you don't hear any damage of eye damage at all due to its floody beam patter. However, if all that light gets focused into a small area (like a short-arc) that would amount to around 100 million lux (like in the Spectrolab SX16) and that would definitely cause permanent eye damage up close.

Howdy gvf, and welcome to CPF!
I suppose your new high lumen torch uses some type of batteries in series, possibly even lithium-ion rechargables. It's a good idea for you to learn about the safe way to use such batteries, as they can be hazardous if not used correctly.

For instance, it's important that the cells be charged to the same voltage before using, especially if used in series, and that they are able to handle the large discharge rate required for a high output torch.

Here is a good place to start learning about batteries:
Battery University:
http://batteryuniversity.com/

Also, if you are using lithium-ion rechargeable cells, don't leave them charging unattended, and check them often to make sure they aren't getting hot while charging, or during use.

As to your original question, better to not point your new light at either people or pets within 100 feet, even if it is a floody light.

gvf said:

I see "The Torch", whatever that is, sets paper on fire and have seen warnings for that one as to eye damage.

Click to expand...

That torch must be made from Bees-wax and Paraffin-wax on a stick ...
.

The direct sunlight here gets me about 100k measured in tropical latitudes. So i guess that is about the limit. If you stare at anything long enough even at 10000 lux, i guess it would cause damage.

I have an approx 3.8 million CP searchlight (measured). So that works out to about 5 metres.