# Flashlights



## GailInNM (May 3, 2009)

I love flashlights, or torches for some of our non-USA members.

Although my shop is well lit and all my machine tools and workbenches have lots of work lights I still find I need some additional light for many operations. 

Over the last few years I have bought many flashlights and have them scattered throughout the shop and house. There is no room in the house that does not have at least one. Many of them have been dissapointing. LED lights have completely replaced incedesent bulbs and they are far superior. But many of them have been poorly constructed. Switches have failed, battery contacts become intermittent and poor quality or over rated LEDs either fail or start having reduced output. 

I bought a couple of Ray-O-Vac 9 LED pocket lights that use 3 AAA cells a couple of years ago and they have performed flawlessly. So when I wanted to upgrade some of my older lights that had deteriorate I wanted to buy more. Unfortunately that model had been discontinued. But I tried one of the Ray-O-Vac lights that use a single high power LED. It gives an extremely bright central spot that is quite well focused with a fairly uniform surrounding halo of light. I liked it so well that I bought two more. There were purchased at Walgreen's drug store for about $10 each. They give about 45 hours of operation on 3 AAA cells.  

Highly recommended.

http://rayovac.com/flashlight/sphw3aaa-bx.shtml

Gail in NM,USA


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## Noitoen (May 3, 2009)

Led lighting have evolved a lot since their first appearance in torches. I've seen a high powered led torch that can set a piece of paper on fire. http://podecoet.org/tutorials/uberCREE/


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## Kermit (May 3, 2009)

A city in Penn. (not positive which one) replaced ALL the city street lights etc. with the new LED types. They realized a 70% reduction in overall electric usage and recouped the costs for the change over in a year.

From the Pile of Random News Bits,
Kermit


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## bearcar1 (May 3, 2009)

I tend to agree. Finding a flashlight that is functionally suited for the job as well as mechanically strong can prove to be a real son of a gun problem at best. I REALLY dislike the MagLite series as they utilize that goofy twist the head method of turning the unit on, also that feature is used to focus the beam. 99% of the time I require a bright, moderately spread beam and not some pinpoint unlinear spot of light these units provide. Not to mention that those silly 3V. Halogen bulbs aren't the most cost effective and posses a service life that is questionable. The torches that I prefer are made by Dorchy. They are just as rugged, use three AAA batteries and high output LEDs in the business end and feature a push on/off waterproof switch, none of that silly and distracting scatter beam technology, just press the button and you're good to go. :big:

BC1


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## shred (May 3, 2009)

I'm also a flashlight junkie. I'm a big fan of the single super-high-output LED units now. Work great for peering around under the depths of the bench looking for that dropped part.. The ones that use 2 or 3 of the lithium 123 cells are really nice light-wise, but only for occasional use due to the battery cost. 

Btw, kids love the hand-cranked ones and it'll save you a ton in batteries...


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## mklotz (May 3, 2009)

I have to agree about Maglites. Losing the focus every time you turn it off is very annoying.

There is an aftermarket fix - the IQ switch

http://www.universalpart.com/AA-Mini-Maglite-Iq-Switch_item_6755.html

Works very well and is sometimes available discounted at Harbor Fright.


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## rickharris (May 3, 2009)

Noitoen  said:
			
		

> Led lighting have evolved a lot since their first appearance in torches. I've seen a high powered led torch that can set a piece of paper on fire. http://podecoet.org/tutorials/uberCREE/



I guess you are being tongue in cheek as LEDs emitt virtually no heat


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## Noitoen (May 3, 2009)

No? What do you think about led lasers?


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## fdew (May 3, 2009)

Flashlights have gone from a annoyance to a wonderful thing.

A few years ago I bought a Streamlight Task-Light 3AA LED It has a single 1 watt LED and I ahve come to accept that it just works.
Every time, no mater what, I never even think of it failing to work.

I bought it because it was aimed at police work so I thought it might be a good one. I am sure there are many others as well.
http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=51

Frank


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## spuddevans (May 3, 2009)

rickharris  said:
			
		

> I guess you are being tongue in cheek as LEDs emitt virtually no heat



I think you are thinking about the low power LED's, the newer power LED's, eg 1-7 watt LED's giving out 200-900 lumins really need to have additional heatsinking to stop them burning out, they are dissapating anything from 350ma up to 2.8A and above!! That kinda gives off some heat. These are just power LED's that are freely available from places like Dealextreme, there are no doubt even more powerful LED's in development.

So while older leds do not give off much, if any, heat, the new power led's really do give off heat and need heatsinking.

Tim


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## rickharris (May 3, 2009)

Noitoen  said:
			
		

> No? What do you think about led lasers?



Mmm A Laser diode isn't the same thing as an LED as we normally know them. 

The Laser uses the LED section to produce a pure light frequency and then the light has to be made coherent so the photons all travel together thus giving considerably more power available and yes SOME Laser diodes can produce enough heat to say burst a balloon or in very high output example perhaps 6 watts or so although not all do e.g. a red laser pointer produces very little heat. more information here http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserdio.htm#diocss2

In a normal LED light is generated and spread over a relatively large area and so more or less no heat is transmitted, altough at high powers a relatively large amount may be produced this has to be dissipated with a heat sink to avoid distroying the LED. 

Plus if you go to the bottom of the page on the LED flash light page he says the photos are fakes.


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## black85vette (May 3, 2009)

A company called NiteIze makes lots of accessories for the Mini Maglite that are really helpful. Here are some of them:

Switch and LED conversion:
http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=28&product_id=108

Note that with the LED conversion you lose the ability to focus from wide angle to spot beam. It is just a medium wide beam all the time.

head band:
http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=28&product_id=134

fiber optic:
http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=28&product_id=132

This is really good for peering down inside of things where you cannot shine a light and look at the same time. You can insert the fiber deep inside and then look through a small opening.

I have each of these and they really add a lot to the function of an already well made flashlight.

My current favorite flashlight for night time and camping use is the Streamlight TwinTask.  It has a 3 LED section and a single Xenon light so you can chose which you need at any time.  They are very rugged and I have never had a problem with mine. Downside: They use the CR123 battery. Not a real problem but I kind of like having everything on AA batteries so I only have to carry one type of battery in my backpack and they are interchangeable in all my equipment.

Streamlight TwinTask 2 cell LED/Xenon
http://www.streamlight-flashlights.com/twin-task-tt-2l.html

While it does not go with me as often, I also have a 4 "D" cell Maglite that is really bright and makes a nice "night stick" should you need one.


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## Noitoen (May 3, 2009)

When they say that leds are high efficiency light sources I know that they don't heat up much which means that the energy spent is almost all transformed into light. I suppose if you concentrate the light into a spot you do get that energy's heat. A laser pointer from a blue ray device has only a few milliwatts and can do some damage now imagine those higher power leds.


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## Kermit (May 3, 2009)

I've seen them as high as ten watts on a single board 4mm sq. 

Such high power in these little footprints MUST be heatsinked for max performance. The operating junction temperature of a 3 watt Luxeon LED can reach 120 Celcius. They won't last long at that temp, normal range being 75 to 90 C.

You can get burned but starting a fire might be hard to do.


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## ChooChooMike (May 4, 2009)

If you guys/gals thought model engine and other types of machinists were a unique bunch, you ought to see the guys that are flashlight enthusiasts ! Talk about hotrodding flashlights ;D And yes, some of it does involve machining - new reflectors, flashlight bodies, accessories, bling, etc. Interesting (& nutty) subculture akin to ours  Flashaholics :big:

Here's a couple of related web sites :

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ (very active)

http://flashlight-forums.com/

Mike


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## Jones (May 4, 2009)

> Led lighting have evolved a lot since their first appearance in torches. I've seen a high powered led torch that can set a piece of paper on fire. http://podecoet.org/tutorials/uberCREE/



That website says that the fire images are faked, and that the light generates near zero heat.
Lol.


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## GailInNM (Jul 20, 2009)

By now many of you know that I like, need and use lots of flashlights. I have them scattered everywhere for a reason. So I am always on the lookout for new ones for particular needs.

For inspecting tool tips with magnification I need a compact high intensity light. I recently bought a new penlight that works very well for this purpose. It is a little different from many of the cheap penlights in that it only uses one AAA cell. Those of you who have played with LED's know that it takes about 4 volts to run a white LED. This one has a voltage converter to step up the nominal 1.5 volts of the single cell to provide the necessary voltage for the LED. It regulates this voltage to keep the light level constant as the cell voltage decreases as the cell becomes depleted. The down side of this is that when the cell gets really low the flashlight dies really fast so it's a good idea to keep a spare cell around. However, since it uses an inexpensive AAA cell this is not a big hardship compared to the more expensive cells used in many of the penlights. 

The central portion of the light beam is intense at close range and is about 1/2 the diameter of the distance from the nose of the lights to the work. It appears that there is a lens to help focus the light beam and the minimum spot size is about 0.2 inch diameter at a little less than a half inch spacing. 

I just bought a second one and am making a mount to attach it to my 20X pocket microscope for tool inspection. I will post a photo of that when it is done, probably in a new thread. 

The pen lights are made by Ray-O-Vac and their part number is BRSLEDPEN-B. I bought mine at Walmart at a cost of $3.48 each, battery included. 

Gail in NM,USA


http://rayovac.com/flashlight/images/Flashlight_product_brsledpen-b.jpg


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## johnthomp (Jul 4, 2010)

being in the building trade ive been through all types makes and models of flashlights and i came upon one make called true utility wich was an led type light with a verry beefy aluminium shell and ranoff 4 aaa batterys running 7 led's i had the torch for roughly 18 months used regularly i never had to change the batterys but sooner or later all good things come to an end and it got stolen along with my van about 5 years ago the rotten swines


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## steamer (Jul 4, 2010)

Speaking of which.

I saw a package of 15 high intensity LED pocket flashlights ( with the 7 LED sources) with batteries at the Home Depot for $15....Looked good Gail, but I resisted....it was hard and I needed a hug when I got home...but I overcame my obsession need..desire.

Dave


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## Twmaster (Jul 4, 2010)

Color me old fashioned then. I still have and use a few 2 and 3 cell Maglight flashlights. I love the silly things.


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## steamer (Jul 4, 2010)

Yeah I have them all over the house of one kind or another.....some 1M candlepower.....I like the little high intensity one I gave my wife the best....she won't let me...or anyone else...use it. ;D

Dave


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## GailInNM (Jul 6, 2010)

Dave,
I bought a package of 10 like your package of 15 at Home Depot. They turned out to be quite well made and work well. I went back a week later to buy another package and they were out and I haven't seen them since.

I also bought some large "Grip Clips" like what are used for holding broom handles. I could not find them at dHome Depot, but Ace Hardware had them. Cost was about the same as the flashlights. I now have them mounted on all the machine tools, next to the material stock rack and near other places where I need extra light on a regular basis. 

I have found that with a place to put the light back they keep from migrating to the work bench and are in a known location when I do need them. Before I would put the light down on the mill table after using it and then move it around to get it out of the way and eventually set it on some other flat surface. Samt thing happened with all the other machine tools, so I had to go looking for one when ever I needed it. Did not make any difference how many I had. I did this about s weeks ago and now it is just natural to snap it back into the clip after using it.

Photos show one mounted on my mill and one mounted on the lathe DRO.
Gail in NM


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## Orrin (Jul 14, 2010)

At first, I jumped on the LED bandwagon with some expensive Streamlites. Then, I thought I'd try some of the Harbor Freight 9-LED units that can be bought on sale for something like two for $2.89, give or take. IMHO they are a good bargain. I keep one at every machine in the shop, every vehicle and one in my pocket. Besides that, I give them away to folks who haven't tried LEDs, yet. They've done the job well enough. 

I've only had trouble with one, but a bit of solder and epoxy turned it into the rugged unit I always keep in my pocket. That said, there seems to be two designs, one better than the other; you'll instantly recognize the better one.

BTW, Harbor Freight's recent flyer featured a coupon for a free 9-LED light, same as the lesser of the two units.

Granted, there's no snob appeal to these cheapies, but what the heck...

Orrin


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## SKIPRAT (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi All
What i am using now are what is known this side of the pond as warm LED lights they give out a warmer light at about 350 degrees kelvin much better than the harsh blue light of most LEDS and more pleasing to my eyes more like the colour of a halogen lamp. They are available in sizes to replace most low voltage bulbs used for machinery lighting and general workshop use.


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## D0ZX (Jan 22, 2011)

Can someone point me to a flashlight that will throw a pretty good spot at roughly 400 feet away?
Or a mod to an old style maglight, the one with the button to turn it on, that will produce what I'm looking for.
Thanks


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## shred (Jan 22, 2011)

400 feet's a long way for a flashlight. How big a spot do you want?  LED light or regular bulb? Would one of those 12v-lighter-jack porta-spotlight things work?

Surefire makes some really nice gear for that kind of thing, but it's not cheap.


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## Metal Butcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Call me a cheep skate, a tightwad, or whatever you feel is appropriate, but I have never paid more than a buck or two for a flash light. As a matter of fact the last 10 flashlights I got are Gordon 3.5" 9 LED Mini Flashlights. They are super bright and FREE at Harbor Freight with a news paper flier coupon.

But, if you have deep pockets and simply must have the best, then I suggest taking a good look at the specifications on the one in the link I provided for you.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/The_Torch-74-41.html

I wonder if I could light my cigars with it? scratch.gif

EDIT: Here's the one that Harbor Freight has been giving away for free with a coupon. One per day, per customer.

http://www.harborfreight.com/35-inch-9-led-mini-flashlight-65020.html

-MB


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## steamer (Feb 23, 2011)

2 M candle power spot that I have will throw light 400 feet and more...I don't think my maglites could ever do that.....

Dave


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## rleonard (Aug 13, 2012)

It is hard to beat Surefire products.  Once you get past the price that is.

Bob


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