Melted Bushnell

Britt

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 9, 2019
Messages
1
Hey y'all!
I have a Bushnell rechargeable 300 lumen headlamp and it melted. My husband was using it while working on our newest upgrade to our home. It suddenly dimmed while on spotlight setting. He figured the battery was dying and didn't think nothing of it until I looked at it and noticed it had melted around the spot light. I noticed about a week before this happened that when it would get very hot to the touch. So much that it would make you sweat while wearing it. This is our second one. The first one just stopped charging and we just assumed it was because we had it for a year or 2. But it would also get very hot.
Has this happened to anyone else? And what is causing it to get so hot it melts?


I was going to post a picture of it but I don't see an option for that..
 

lightfooted

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
1,017
Pictures aren't hosted on this server so you have to post it elsewhere then link it which is also something you have to have a few posts in order to do. At least that's how I understand things to work on here.

As to the why and how... I don't know the specifics of that light but I would guess it is an older model using an even older LED as most companies do that don't manufacture their own lights. It's maximum setting is probably driving the LED at it's max rated output which means it's going to get hot as even LEDs can burn if provided enough current from the battery. Despite common belief, LEDs in most lighting applications get quite warm at their higher settings. High enough to melt and burn things. Even the best manufacturers lights still can get hot, it's simply the physics of producing a lot of light in such a small package. Better manufacturers dissipate that heat through the body of the light or through a heat sink. In some lights there is also electronics that manage the power to the LED, partly to prevent just such a thing from happening and also to manage the charging of the battery.

The way you described what happened I am inclined to believe that it was the battery overheating rather than the LED itself. I'm thinking that the extended use of it on high may have been too much for the cell that is contained within it. That or something happened to the light to cause it to deliver way more power to the led than intended. Without being able to dissect it myself I cannot be sure.
 
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