Heard of an LED Lenser?

I bought a flashlight through my Company Store called an LED Lenser. Ever heard of it? Single LED, with a (concave) lens - plastic, I think. With the wierdest power supply set up I have seen; It has a carriage that holds 3 ea of AAAA Batteries. Until I opened up the light, I had never seen 4A batteries! The ones inside it are German made, and say LED Lenser on them. They appear to be standard 1.5 volt batteries, but very skinny! The switch appears to have a chip in it, but I am hesitant to tear it down for inspection. I paid about $30 IIRC for the light, and it is the brightest mini (and certainly the brightest LED light) I have ever seen. Any thoughts / mods you might know of? Thanks, Bill

http://www.zweibrueder.com/
I think there was a thread in the Manufacturer's Corner. Can't find it now.
Commonly seen pros and cons:
pros: design, brightness
cons: use of uncommon batteries, no sealed (water, dust)

Windage & Elevation said:

...called an LED Lenser. Ever heard of it?

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LedLensers are quite common here in Europe, sold everywhere, also used as company gifts.

i have a led lenser v2 triplex that i use as my everyday light.

Like it quite much, but i would buy the led lenser you talk about if i buyed one today, this one is a few years old.

Thanks for link Pelu... Talk about a toy store!! It would almost be worth a trip to Germany to see the mfg. line.

FYI in case anyone missed it who does not speak German..There is an english link at the top of the url.

here is also a boardie that collects many "led lenser"

Open up a 9V alkaline (major brands) and you will find 6 pieces of AAAA cells. Read somewhere here that only the major brands have steel covered AAAA cells, 'no brand' batts might only be cardboard wrapped.

FYI,

If you have Target stores in your area, in the camping aisle, the Eddie Bauer brand LED lights are actualy several LED Lenser models that have been re-branded. Coast Cutlery is the US importer and appears in the fine print on the back of the package.

lamperich said:

here is also a boardie that collects many "led lenser"

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That would be me :green: I have to admit.
But I stopped since I can no longer affoard to waste my cash on these lights.

Pro:
- well-designed and sturdy
- relatively bright
- cool looking
- some have gold contacts, some replacement buttons, ...
- very good knurling

Con:
- not water-resistant, not even spash-resistant (except some very few models)
- not regulated (except very few models)
- strange power sources, only few AAA and 123 lights
- optics not protected by lens
- flaky switches

In the end, they are not worth it for serious use IMHO. For occasional round the house lights they do just fine, but that's it. For us here, there's better and more satisfying out there.

If you have any questions concerning LedLensers (not the newest models though) feel free to ask ...

bernie

I own a LED Lenser V (5 white/1 red 5mms?)
Let me describe it
Its quite bright, I think there might be a volt boost in there

Body quality is pretty good
The buttons are a reverse clicky
No water resistance at all period. (Water and head/body part)
One of the LEDs is already dying on mine

My N-Cell Triplex was I think my first non-keychain LED light. They were early into the LED market and as everyone says, have good markey penetration in Germany. I've always liked the light, but the CONS that Kiessling has already stated. The light is on its second set of batteries - but will probably not see a third set by me and I have foung uh better alternatives.

Too bad that they are not watertight!

The Logo Lenser is capable of projecting a company (or ???) logo on a wall when the "bezel end" is pulled forward...Mine has the "Bacardi Bat" that I use as the "Bat Signal" - great novelty when used at the right moments!

BTW - thanks again bernie!!

Warning about taking a 9v apart to get the cells out.....they are shorter than the AAAA batteries. You will need to make a spacer. I also seem to remember that you need to pay close attention to which end of the cells is + and -. You can get AAAA batteries from Radio Shack and probably Wal Mart.

Thanks to All for the info! Roy, you are sure right about the batteries. I finally found them at Radio Shack (even though ours has really turned into a s*** hole - no electronics component stock, parts, etc.) and bought a back up set, just because I don't know how long the original set will last. This after narrowly escaping Wal MArt from an associate (read that 20 year old EXPERT) Who adamantly told me there was NO SUCH THING as AAAA batteries! I showed him mine, and was told those were "special" and not in ACTUAL production..... I assured him he was, too..... thanked him for his time and expertise, and left....:huh: OK, So I'm 50, cynical, and something of a smart a$$......
edited for my wonderful spelling/typing...

I've got a micro-lenser just for the sheer novelty of how tiny it is... It's the super skinny red LED one that's smaller in length and diameter than a cigarette. It has that tiny 3V lithium battery that looks like a tiny milk-bottle with the little rod sticking out the top.

What's the official designation for that type of cell?

The cell is BR435.

You mean this light:


Sigman ... was a pleasure and your return was at least as pleasant ... Sigman is talking about this one:





There is one LedLenser I can recommend, it is the V16-Chipfire:



Uses 2 of the strange BR435 lithium cells, is quite dim, but is watertight (at least mine are) and very slim and stylish ... can be carried everywhere without attracting unwanted attention

bernie

Hello Bernie,

I just picked up the Camp Light Kit from Coast. It included a V12 Triplex. I tried to find your old review on your LED Lenser collection, but the search engine does not seem to want to locate it.

What can you tell me about the V12 Triplex?

I read things like 19.9 mV light power, what ever that means...

It runs on 3 N cells, have you ever tried any other cells in it? It seems pretty dim with 2 AAA NiMh cells, but I was wondering if I could find a Li-Ion combination that would work. Do you think I could overdrive it a bit?

This kit is interesting. It has the light and an acrylic wand that screws into the light. Both of these are in a nice case that you can wear on your belt. In addition, there is a frosted plastic base that you can stand the light up in along with a 3 piece lamp shade. This set up puts out (on fresh batteries) enough light to read by... and it looks pretty cool. It also has a round ball that attaches to the light so you can diffuse the beam when hanging it from the included lanyard. All the pieces fit into a nice mesh bag to keep track of everything.

I can fit my Peak AAA 3 LED into the lamp stand and the lamp shade fits loosely on top, but I will need a bit of tape to get the round ball diffuser to stay on it. I think if I put a Lithium AAA cell in my Peak, I will have about the same light output that the V12 Triplex puts out. I'll have to check that out.

At any rate, I am not sure how well this kit will be for camping. The light does not look like it will handle wet conditions very well. However, my Peak has no problems at all in those conditions.

Let me know if you have any information on run times and substitute battery sizes.

Tom

Fry's Electronics seem to favor stocking these "cheapo" lights. . .Bought one. The V2—Chucked it. . .No it's not broken!—LED Lenser's "German Design, German Engineered, German Inspired" is definitely not the same as "Made in Germany". At least the LED torches being sold around here. . .

Tom ... can't tell you much on battery questions of course ... I never got beyond the N-Cells, but feel free to be the guinea pig! I don't think there's any kind of resistor or regulation in it, so it should behave like any other direct drive 5mm LED light.

LedLensers were always very well presented and had a great marketing and "gadget" aspect, but they have some real annoying problems:
- not watertight (except some models)
- no lens
- not regulated (except some models)
- strange battery sizes (most models)

The V12 covers all those points nicely :green: ... but the set you are describing is a cool toy

CHC ... LedLensers seem to be mostly made in China these days. Germany engineering at its best :thumbsup:
But they are a huge success here in Germany as they have been the frist to really explot the LED market and offer a cool design and reasonable quality for a non-flashaholic user.

bernie

V12 Series:


Funky close-up beamshot of the 3-LED model V12, the V12 Triplex:

Kiessling said:

LedLensers. . .are a huge success. . .and offer a cool design and reasonable quality for a non-flashaholic user.

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YES! Have to agree with you Bernie! They have a slick form factor. The small "pinky" sized ones are neato looking and so are the "stylus" type LED pens.