Suggestion for ARC AA accessory-a CandleDome!

Funny, that there is a sea of lights, but there is not a single LED light that has this feature (that I can find):

A clear acrylic or similar "dome" or "cover" that has some kind of light refractor, say tiny air bubbles, or very tiny bits of shiny metal, that would reflect light evenly through-out the room, giving an electronic candle effect.

The Arc AAA would not work, because it does not stand on end, but the AA would work very nicely!

The only light that comes close to this, (that I have found) is the UKE 2AAA Mini Pocket Light.


While most of the light shines out the center, the clear side plastic picks up a lot of light. Even with most of the light directed straight to the cieling, it produced enough light to evenly light up my bedroom.

This would be an ideal light for emergencies, to keep in every room, in cars, at the office, everywhere.

It would be a great patio light, to replace candles that blow out, a nice mood lighting, I see lots of uses for a light like this.

10-12 hour burn time, lithium option, inexpensive to feed, even light, this would be nice.

The only thing that would take some thought, would be to develop a dome that reflected the light evenly, without wasting a significant amount of light in the process.

A Lampshade does this, it evenly distributes the light, but eats up a huge amount of the light produced.

T think this would be a gret selling accessory!

I've never felt any need for that. Bouncing the light off the ceiling diffuses it just fine. I once tried taping a paper "lantern" over my Arc AAA and it worked nicely, but that was just for fun.

I agree with both of you here. Bouncing off the ceiling is best IMO(provided you HAVE a ceiling, and it is white). This way the light doesn't get directly in your eyes, and offers a nice, useful light that doesn't annoy. Now if you're outside, or in a tent, or in a house with high, dark ceilings, a diffuser would be most useful.

I agree, bouncing light off the ceiling works fine.


FWIW, my suggestion for an accessory is a AA pocket clip. I love being able to use the pocketclip on the AAA Arcs, but for some reason the AA Arcs don't have one yet. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

I bought some UKE 2AAA LED's when CountyComm had a great deal on them. I was disappointed to find they have a definite "spot" beam focus with very little side spill (similar to the also disappointing Inova X1, for the same reason). I can hardly think of a worse light for broadly illuminating a dark room, the intensely focused beam just lights up one spot on the wall or ceiling instead of spreading around the whole room. Also it doesn't stand on its tail. I found them to be essentially useless. I resold these lights and don't own any anymore.

The ideal light for this job, in my opinion, is the Arc AA because of its nice flood beam, decent brightness, and most of all its ability to stand on its tail and shine up on the ceiling and around the room.

Just my $.02,

Cheers,

Dave

re: Pocket clip for Arc-AA:

http://www.flashlightking.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=MINI_MAGLIGHT_ACCESSORIES

It's actually a pocket clip for a mag-AA, but seems to work just fine (after a little bending)

408-017
POCKET CLIP FOR AA SIZE MINI MAGLITE
Retail $ .75 Our Price $ .50

(not connected other than as a satisfied customer)

kf

Go to your local home improvement store, they should have and area for re-placement glass, I found several white ones about 8 inches tall.

Standing my Arc LS on end (with twist cap) lights up the white glass like a lantern.

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DanM said:
Go to your local home improvement store, they should have and area for re-placement glass, I found several white ones about 8 inches tall.


[/ QUOTE ]
White glass what? Did I miss a post???

I'm always on the lookout for assorted plastic bottles, caps, end plugs, etc. to use as diffusers for my Arcs and other lights. There are a million possibilities out there, most often found in the trash.

JPEG I was just pointing out like Flying Turtle said that there are a "million possibilities" to make a de fuser for flashlights when you have no ceiling to bounce the light back.

Yeah Dan, I hear ya... Next time I go to 7-11 I'll look around the candy section... The cheap thin plastic containers come in all shapes and sizes, and it's easy to cut. I bet something there would make a great lightweight diffuser without much trouble at all... I'll post a pic if I find something good... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ever since getting bitten by the flashlight bug, I have looked for common items to use flashlights in. My wife loves old oil lanterns and candles, but with three kids around the house the risk of fire is greater.

Many of the lanterns and candles (candles with a fancy holder) have been replaced with small flashlights with great success that she even begged me to get an ARC 4 when I showed it to her.

White film cannisters make nice diffusers,just cut an X in the lid,put in lid back on the cannister then insert Arc AA or AAA or LS through the X.

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Mrd 74 said:
White film cannisters make nice diffusers,just cut an X in the lid,put in lid back on the cannister then insert Arc AA or AAA or LS through the X.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you get a WHITE film canister (35MM right?)

All mine are black.

With respect to people that say that "off the ceiling is good enough", it would be nice to see a reflector that gave either a horizanal dispurse pattern, or a 180 degree dispurse pattern.

Thanks.

My travel nightlight is an Arc AA. It stands on its tail on the hotel nightstand. I place a large shooter marble on top of its reflector. The marble has good color but is fairly transparent. It fills the hotel room with a gentle glow once my eyes have adjusted. I use AA NiMH for this to keep costs down. The AA puts out a good bit less light on NiMH, but enough for this application.

I love that marble idea! Got to go find one now. Thanks.

I found a vaseline glass marble and put it on my AAA...
I took beamshots on my ceiling.
WOW!!! BIG difference!!!

Normal:


Marble:

[ QUOTE ]
BuddTX said:
[ QUOTE ]
Mrd 74 said:
White film cannisters make nice diffusers,just cut an X in the lid,put in lid back on the cannister then insert Arc AA or AAA or LS through the X.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you get a WHITE film canister (35MM right?)

All mine are black.

With respect to people that say that "off the ceiling is good enough", it would be nice to see a reflector that gave either a horizanal dispurse pattern, or a 180 degree dispurse pattern.

Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fuji film comes in them. I find them from time to time at local film processing counters. Just make a habit of checking any self-serve film processing area in a store you frequent; 99% of the plastic film cans are black, but I have found several white ones. I've had to drill out the top; the plastic is pretty rigid and thick. They work work well, though; especially for reading.

[ QUOTE ]
jpeg said:
[ QUOTE ]
DanM said:
Go to your local home improvement store, they should have and area for re-placement glass, I found several white ones about 8 inches tall.


[/ QUOTE ]
White glass what? Did I miss a post???

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
then later jpeg said:
I found a vaseline glass marble and put it on my AAA...

[/ QUOTE ]

So jpeg is happy and I'm confused: a vaseline glass marble ?!?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

George! You've never heard of vaseline glass? Let me explain... First you get a marble, then you coat it with a nice thick layer of vaseline... Then... No wait... Ummm...

Vaseline glass is a pale green tinted glass popular in the 1920's which contains small amounts of uranium dioxide. Once they realized that it was radioactive, production slowed quite a bit... Ok, that's not exactly how it goes, but if you're interested, here is a typical piece on ebay, and here are the marbles with a good history of the product...

The fact that it was a vaseline glass marble didn't really have anything to do with it. It was just the only clear marble I had lying around...

Forget I mentioned it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sssh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif