Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one?

Hi:

Here's a link to it.

http://www.dorcy.com/41-2494.htm

41-2494 4-AAA LED Light
Patented LED bulb has 600 Hour Run Time
from one set of Alkaline Batteries
Focused Patented LED bulb will never burn out
Waterproof
Includes Mastercell Alkaline Batteries
Floats
Includes belt clip

Has anyone one? What's your opinion of it? Is it a PR based led bulb? what's the beam like? Is it rugged enough?

Any opinions welcomed.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

I am sure it had an LED in it but if is has a single LED and optics.. forget it. The 600 hour runtime suggests one LED because the attitude lists 150 hours and has 3 LEDs.
I am guessing the beam is akin to the energizer doublebright/trailfinder, UK2AAA, and eveready Headbeam headlight.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

Hi Lynx_Arc:

Thanks for replying. Yes I agree that the light has only 1 led in it. My comparing it to the PT Attitude was based more on the fact that it was waterproof and used 4aaa batteries. I think that Dorcy saw that the Attitude was a very popular light because of its small size and the fact that it was waterproof. So they are trying to offer this light based on those criteria. I am also thinking that they decided to go the 1 led route to keep the cost down. I am also wondering now if they are using the single led pr bulb that they use in their single led/4aa light. If so then I could see using the bulb in other 4 cell lights if I don't have aaa's on hand AND possibly being able to use an incandescent pr bulb in it as a sort of cheap PT Rage clone. A 4aa incandescent bulb iirc takes about 500 ma current. According to SilverFox's runtime graphs for alkaline batteriess a aaa battery at a 500 ma load gives about 500 mah of capacity, so I would expect about an hour of light from it at least. Don't know what the beam/light output would be like using an incandescent in place of the led. It would be interesting to try it out. I am thinking of getting one and just wanted to see if anybody had one and what their impressions are.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

I was given an attitude and if the dorcy is approx the same size I seriously doubt they use a PR based LED bulb in it as the space for a reflector would by very minimal. I have made a 3 and 4 LED PR base bulb, it isn't too terribly hard to do and a lot cheaper than buying a light with one in it. I have seen places you can order them from but few do what I do in making them. I grind the bottom lip off the LEDs and jam them tight together and a 3 LED version usually fits neatly in a standard incan. The 4LED version requires you to enlarge the hole in the reflector which means if the bulb holder is embedded in the reflector it may not be possible. My 4LED bulb light runs the LEDs at peak of 40ma each or 160ma off fresh off the charger nimh and runs for a LOOOOONG time. I figure it has between 5-10 times the runtime and it puts out a soft flood which I like better in pitch dark.

I like the attitude, after adding a lanyard it is a very nice comfortable light although twisting it on/off isn't the best but that is the price you pay for waterproofness. It would make a great camping or rafting light for sure.
Personally I wish someone would make a more powerful version of the UK2AAA eled. I like the form factor but I would like half the runtime with twice the brightness instead, the incan version sucks because I EDC it a lot and unless I remember how much I use it, I find it dying too often due to the 2.5 hour runtime vs 20 for the eled. AAA lights are the best format for smallest size and cheapest battery and LED in that format is best for EDC.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

Hi Lynx_Arc:


I have an Attitude as well. Looking at the picture of the Dorcy and comparing it to my Attitude I can see that the head on the Dorcy is somewhat larger, maybe by about a third larger. I tried
putting a pr bulb in it to see if it would fit. It didn't quite make it in the Attitude but if the head were just a bit larger I think it could fit. Since the Dorcy is just a tad larger I think it might just be possible. Also if it is a a led pr bulb then they could ground down the led a bit from the top. That would help to reduce its size some as well. As for a reflector I guess it would be minimal or none.

I've been thinking of making some led bulbs for awhile now as well. I have looked at the flashlight review website and they have some general type instructions. I have even kept some
blown bulbs around instead of throwing them out because I know that I will probably make some sometime. It's just a matter of getting leds for cheap and finding the right design criteria to
use. By that I mean that there was some talk of designing the light so that it will work on 3 new alkaline batteries, or 4 rechargeables or 4 almost depleted alkalines. There was a thread about that somewhere that i'll have to look for.

For sometime I have thought about getting a Rage to complement my Attitude. The theory being that if you rundown the batteries in the incandescent then you swap batteries with the led. That way
you get longer incandescent runtime although at the price of reduced brightness for the Attitude after the battery change. The only thing I didn't like was the special bulb module for the Rage. The fact of its high cost and limited availability. When I saw the Dorcy I thought that if it used the same pr led bulb that they they do in their other lights then maybe I could adapt it as a sort of cheapskates Rage clone. Although the runtime would be a little on the short side. The lowest ma rating that iv'e seen for a 4 cell pr bulb is 500 ma. If the made lower ones then that would be somewhat better.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

I haven't seen lower ma for a 4.8v PR bulb either. I do however have some .39A 3.6v PR bulbs I picked up for the purpose of making LED bulbs out of. I have found you can heat up a PR bulb and sometimes just pull the glass part out after you have desoldered the wires from it of course. As for the design I used a tiny circuit board on one of them and on another just bent leads to sit on the lip of the bulb. I used 10 ohm resistors for 4 cells which kind of drives the LEDs at 40ma for nimh at 5.6v fresh off the charger.
With only 3 batteries you would have to use a lower resistor, depending on battery types used, AAA alkalines sag a lot you can just about direct drive them using 3-4 LEDs.

I wonder if you could adapt a rage for use with bipin xenon lamps that fit lights such as minimags etc? That would be cheap and some of them may be under 500ma.

I have looked around a lot for dirt cheap 3-4 cell hosts for PR bulbs and have about 6 of them sitting around just waiting for me to come across some cheap LEDs to make bulbs for them. I have one host that is a desk lamp/flashlight using 4AA cells with a PR bulb I like made by innova. I wish I had got a dozen of them while they had them but funds were tight at the time so I have only 2.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

Hi Lynx_Arc:

When I make my own led bulbs I guess i'll go for putting 3 into a bulb case like you have done. I would be using cheap dollar store specials like the Dorcy Boss or something. They would use 4aa. I would only use aaa's for lights that are being carried on my person. For home use I would prefer to use aa's as the smallest battery size.

About adapting the Rage for use with bipin bulbs. I was thinking about that too. I have only seen bipin bulbs for 2 or 3 cells, but never 4. I wonder what the specs are for the Rages bipin bulb. I guess you could adapt a 3 cell bulb and use it with 4 rechargeables, overdriving the bulb. Although at reduced bulb life which wouldn't be very cost effective.

I have a couple of cheap 4-cell aa hosts and will be getting a few more soon. It seems that the bottleneck is finding cheap leds and finding them locally, preferably.

Here's a thread titled "White leds at low cost".

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1008120&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

This is an idea that I'll have to look into. At 25 cents/led I think thats very reasonable.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

I have seen 4.8v bipin bulbs somewhere. I know they make them for the eveready doublebarrel light and possibly some headlamps although you may have to shop sporting good stores like Academy to find one. I went through the finding cheap LEDs locally and for awhile I had a source for about 25 cents each but it dried up. If you can find LED lights in christmas lights that would be ok, I have never found cheap christmas lights that have LEDs here they are always 15.00 a string for about 25 lights. I have seen some places sell LED for about $25.00 per 100 but they are perhaps 6000-8000mcd varieties. I have been looking for something more about 12000-16000 mcd for 25 cents each in quantities of 100 or less including shipping.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

Hi Lynx_Arc:

I want to thank you for all your suggestions. Sorry about being a bit late getting back to you. I went out and bought the light. It does not use a pr bulb but a module unit just like the Attitude. I have posted a review in the Reviews section of the forum. The Url is

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1013452&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

I bought this light about 3 or 4 years ago. It has comparable output to a Gerber Infinity Ultra, and uses a textured reflector to focus the beam a little better than the Infinity Ultra. The single LED design doesn't make it very bright, but it's actually a very useful light, one that I often reach for when doing simple tasks like walking around the house at night. Unfortunately someone took one of the original Mastercell batteries, so I had to replace all four, and can't comment on the runtime.

If you know how useful an Infinity Ultra can be, this light is very similar, except the obvious differences in size and batteries used. It does boast a longer runtime, so it could easily be viewed as a larger 'stay at home' or even EDC replacement for an Infinity Ultra. The belt clip is OK, a little flimsy, but it is well designed to clip on to thicker belts and materials like...a climbing harness perhaps...this also makes it fit a bit too loose for comfort on a regular belt or pocket.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

Hi The_virus:

Thanks for chiming in. I didn't know that this light has been around that long. I thought it just came out recently. Where did you get it? Also, i've already snapped the belt clip off of it. I posted a review on this light just today. The url for it is in the post just before yours in this thread. Maybe you can chime in on that one as well, as I would appreciate input from other users of this flashlight.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

I have one of these lights, too. I think it is a poor example of Dorcy products. The fit and finish is low-end, and the design is not very good, especially the belt clip, as mentioned above. Even the head-to-body threading is too shallow and not very positive. The beam is OK, due to the OP reflector. Dorcy makes other, better lights, so I'd give it a pass, unless you can get it really cheaply somewhere. That's my $.02.

Re: Dorcy 4aaa PT Attitude Clone - anybody got one

Hi DSpeck:

Thank you for your Insights on this light. I've already purchased it and gave it to my old man for Father's Day. Hopefully the rest of the flashlight will live up its "heavy duty construction" claim. It does seem to put out a somewhat decent beam. I paid $12.70 CDN for it.