Spring Powered

Clouddancer

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Can anyone recommend spring powered spotlights, lanterns, or flashlights, similar concept to those carried by Sharper Image, perhaps with high intensity/LEDs?
 

Icebreak

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I see this is your first post so, welcome to CPF.

I have no experience with these but I've heard to watch out for the powerful magnet they contain. I'm sure you knew that it would erase your media but I did not realize it would sizzle a monitor.

Member # 3333 ...pretty cool.
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B@rt

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Replace the accolades with square brackets.
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{URL=http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/prod_Detail.asp?Product_id=5322-711&CategoryID=28000&SourcePage=PROD_LIST.ASP&SubmittingPage=Prod_subcategory.asp]sentinel[/URL}

sentinel

Or, use the URL button in the Instant UBB Code section...
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Icebreak, I like that price a lot better.
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SurefireM6

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"A wind of 30 seconds will provide approx. 5-8 minutes of light (normal beam) "

So if I wind it for 20 hours straight, the light should give me 3000 minutes minutes of light right?
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Icebreak

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Thanks B@rt.

SurefireM6 -

I got 200 hrs.

20 * 120 * 5 / 60 = 200.

(20 hrs winding) times (120 30 second units per hour) times (5 minutes claimed output per 30 second unit) for 12,000 minutes divided by (60 minutes per hour) resulting in 200 hours runtime.

Now if Surefire would offer this option we'd be cookin'...or something would be cookin'
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LoneRebel

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Surefire, chop off the hand crank and attach a propeller and you've got yourself a wind generator:) Otherwise your hand would probably have to be amputated after cranking for 20 hours strait.
 

Icebreak

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"Also runs on 3 AA batteries (purchase separately) or 2 AA NiCad rechargeable batteries (included)."

That's interesting. Someone here probably knows of a high performance lamp you could install. If not the "Homemade..." forum would probably know. I'll step out of your thread for a while and let the more smarter guys help you.

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B@rt

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from the manual:

"handcrank
charging time 45 min
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service time 15 min
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The Sherpa does better: " A quick wind (about 30 seconds) gives approximately 8 minutes of light on normal beam and you can rewind at any time for as much shine-time as you want."

Of course for even better runtimes, convert to LED...
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Clouddancer

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Thanks B@rt Does that mean the bulb doesn't (or the LEDs wouldn't) run directly off the spring? If so I wonder why not.
 

B@rt

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Hi Clouddancer,
The Sherpa/Sentinel uses an AC alternator driven by the crank via a transmission.
My guess is that the "emergency radio/spotlight" uses a simular technique...
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If you want a spring driven radio/flashlight, the 3 LED 3 band Freeplay Plus would be a good choice. Price is a different matter at $129.-. This radio is in another league as the Sharper Image one though. Interesting is the detachable light.
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AFAIK there are no spring driven flashlights yet.
 

Clouddancer

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Thanks B@rt . Ah-ha, I see. The small handcrank types like the Sherpa and SI's don't use springs to store power, they just recharge the batteries for a short time. The Freeplay Plus is another matter though. Spec's say it uses a spring to store power and drive a DC generator. Whether the LEDs run directly off that also I can't tell and they don't indicate a run time. I have a message in to them asking. $129 is a bit much but not bad I guess if you want the radio. In any case that seems close if not actual to a spring powered LED flashlight. Wonder why someone hasn't done this yet in a long run (30min+) version? Doesn't seem like rocket science to me.
 

Chris T

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FWIW my Grundig crank radio with the built in light gives about 5 seconds of light for a minute of cranking. It also can run on 3AA but the batteries don't operate the light at all. Maybe someday I'll open it up and rplace the bulb (same as the mini maglight) with a LED.

Chris
 

Clouddancer

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B@rt This is a link to what I found at SI. Their catalog link takes too long to laod so I'm not sure of the run time. As I recall though, it's a good deal longer than 5-8 min. Not sure I want all the whiz-bang extras but I suppose the radio would be useful in a power outage. Looks ripe for someone to turbo charge. Surely there is a straight survival or military version of this but no doubt much more expensive. Sharper Image emergency radio and spotlight
 

Clouddancer

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Hmm. So far the Sherpa sounds most likely. Does anyone know of other companies using spring stored power like Freeplay?
 
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