Aluminum Bulb vs Plastic Bulb

Hi everyone, I'm pretty new to the LED scene and am trying to find out what's the difference between Aluminum bulb vs Plastic bulb vs Plastic+Aluminum.

What advantages does one have over the other?

Hi, and welcome to the site.

I'm afraid that it's a little unclear what you're asking about, as LED flashlights don't have bulbs. Are you asking about the construction of the flashlight body itself? That can sometimes be referred to as the housing. The part of the body that holds the lens is referred to as the bezel or head.

Most high-end flashlights are made out of aluminum, which is lightweight, easy to machine, and transfers heat well. (Heat management is important with powerful LED emitters.) Many aluminum lights have stainless steel bezels. There are also lights made entirely out of steel, titanium, copper, etc. - each have their advantages and disadvantages, and are usually more expensive.

There are a few advantages to plastic, but not many. It's inexpensive. It's bad at shedding heat. Plastic flashlights can be cheaper, but they're typically more fragile. Some specific industrial settings require plastic housings to reduce the possibility of sparks. That's about it.

I hope that helps. If you're just starting out and looking for a light, you may want to post in the "recommend me a light" section of the forum.

Welcome to the forum. Once we figure out what your goal is, we would be happy to help you out. :thumbsup:

I'm guessing he's asking about the reflector (since he's confused it with the bulb, maybe he thinks it's part of the bulb or LED), not the flashlight body...

I was referring more to the bulb.

Thank you Kudzu, your explanation was very helpful.

I really needed this thread today

Still don't know what this thread is about... I vote aluminum

maruf89 said:

Hi everyone, I'm pretty new to the LED scene and am trying to find out what's the difference between Aluminum bulb vs Plastic bulb vs Plastic+Aluminum.

What advantages does one have over the other?

Click to expand...

Maruf89!

How about slowly explaining what part exactly you are referring to?

Collectively were all confused.

If you don't know the name for the part of interest just post a picture, otherwise close and ask to have this thread deleted.

Here is an exploded view of a flashlight we are all familiar with. It shows the general parts of a typical flashlight. Do any of the parts look like what you are describing?

http://flashlightsunlimited.com/images/MagLite/MagLiteRechargeableDiagram.jpg

Soon as photobucket will let me a pic of an LED bulb assembly will be added.

^^ is this what you mean by alluminum, plastic or both?


Are you building a light from scratch?

Edit: when I hit save the post above had taken place. Sorry to step on what you were saying nbp.

nbp said:

Here is an exploded view of a flashlight we are all familiar with. It shows the general parts of a typical flashlight. Do any of the parts look like what you are describing?

http://flashlightsunlimited.com/images/MagLite/MagLiteRechargeableDiagram.jpg

Click to expand...

It's something when even the mods are confused about the subject.

Lol, indeed. I believe it is a legitimate post, we just need clarification on what part exactly the OP is referring to. I'm sure our terminology is challenging if one isn't familiar with it! I'm hoping the diagram helps...maybe?

Led globe lights (e.g. the ones that screw into a table lamp) come in aluminum.......

I'm glad I was helpful … I only wish I knew how

Maybe he is talking about bezels aka SF plastic vs. AL in relation to heat transfer from the LED or something similar. Well that was all the rage a few years ago.

NoNotAgain said:

It's something when even the mods are confused about the subject.

Click to expand...

They don't have to be. They can google the IP address and see if has been reported.

I have seen hundreds of new topics in the wild, wild world wide web forumosphere that appeared to be only one-tenth as comment spammy as this one, that turned out to be be 100% pure unadulterated comment spam.

It's pretty innocuous so I'm not too worried. These are his only two posts. Either he'll come back and clarify or this thread will die and drift into oblivion.