By modern standards this very old torch (flashlight) looks a bit dull. But when you realise it was possibly the FIRST of the LED lights of this style, then it's a lot more interesting.
I bought this over two decades ago when Nichia had just launched the first commercial white LEDs in 1996 and an adventurous company used ten of them in this light.
It was hard to get hold of the new white LEDs, and in the electronic distributors they cost £10 each! It follows that this torch was VERY expensive. I can't remember how much, but it took a lot of self-convincing to actually buy one. It was bought via an advert in an electronics magazine, and at the same time I bought one of the first, and equally radical white LED keyring flashlights. (A Laughing Rabbit Photon micro light.)
My justification for buying it was to give it as a gift to my parents who lived in a rural area on the Isle of Man, where the storms often cause blackouts by damaging overhead lines.
When it arrived I very cautiously took it to bits with the same apprehension of opening a brand new phone these days. I probed the silicone potting just enough to see one of the resistors, and then put it back together again.
The main circuit board is just a star of ten eighth Watt 12 ohm resistors going to each of the ten precious Nichia LEDs. I'm guessing that part of the reason the LEDs are spaced off the PCB is to make space for the resistors underneath as well as avoiding the stresses of mounting an LED hard against a PCB. The silicone potting is very tough - like glazing sealant, so I stopped trying to remove it as the risk of damaging the PCB was too high.
One of the main marketing features of this torch was that it would run continuously for a month on a set of batteries. When all the previous torches had been tungsten and started going dull and orange before blacking out completely in the region of an hour or so, that was a radical thing.
A few years later I also bought my first white LED head torch (a Petzl Tikka) in 2001 after a very annoying shift at Disney Paris, working on a control panel in a very inaccessible area while an old tungsten head torch dwindled away to a dull orange glow. One of the riggers I was working alongside loaned me his Petzl Tikka, and I was so impressed that on my first visit back home I bought one from a sports store. It was a revelation. Much better to work with and massive run time, even with just three AAA cells.
These days it would be odd to buy a torch or flashlight with anything other than an LED source.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
I bought this over two decades ago when Nichia had just launched the first commercial white LEDs in 1996 and an adventurous company used ten of them in this light.
It was hard to get hold of the new white LEDs, and in the electronic distributors they cost £10 each! It follows that this torch was VERY expensive. I can't remember how much, but it took a lot of self-convincing to actually buy one. It was bought via an advert in an electronics magazine, and at the same time I bought one of the first, and equally radical white LED keyring flashlights. (A Laughing Rabbit Photon micro light.)
My justification for buying it was to give it as a gift to my parents who lived in a rural area on the Isle of Man, where the storms often cause blackouts by damaging overhead lines.
When it arrived I very cautiously took it to bits with the same apprehension of opening a brand new phone these days. I probed the silicone potting just enough to see one of the resistors, and then put it back together again.
The main circuit board is just a star of ten eighth Watt 12 ohm resistors going to each of the ten precious Nichia LEDs. I'm guessing that part of the reason the LEDs are spaced off the PCB is to make space for the resistors underneath as well as avoiding the stresses of mounting an LED hard against a PCB. The silicone potting is very tough - like glazing sealant, so I stopped trying to remove it as the risk of damaging the PCB was too high.
One of the main marketing features of this torch was that it would run continuously for a month on a set of batteries. When all the previous torches had been tungsten and started going dull and orange before blacking out completely in the region of an hour or so, that was a radical thing.
A few years later I also bought my first white LED head torch (a Petzl Tikka) in 2001 after a very annoying shift at Disney Paris, working on a control panel in a very inaccessible area while an old tungsten head torch dwindled away to a dull orange glow. One of the riggers I was working alongside loaned me his Petzl Tikka, and I was so impressed that on my first visit back home I bought one from a sports store. It was a revelation. Much better to work with and massive run time, even with just three AAA cells.
These days it would be odd to buy a torch or flashlight with anything other than an LED source.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
I made an LED chandelier in 1993 for a school project, and convinced a manufacturer to give me about 100 amber LEDs for it, since white LEDs were still nascent at the time. Wired in series, plugged directly into 120V . . . Don't hate me.
FYI, isopropyl alcohol dissolves silicone potting/sealant but doesn't (normally) harm components, not sure what it would do to the old plastic and rubber though.
Maplin used to take the Mickey with the price of components!! 😊❤️
You should do a video on replacing the leds
That flashlight is older than me, lol!
Did you ever have a thought to replace the LEDs with the newer stye?
Why is Vaseline kiss of death to plastics ?
”When I bought it I opened it before givig it to my parents as a gift”. How familiar that sounds to me. I open everything to be sure it is OK. Well the real reason is of course curiosity.
I imagined myself 20 years from now ruining my Armytek high CRI (Nichia LED) 18650 flashlight, which is my favourite now. Hhhmmm.
By chance are the LEDs that dim because they've aged from use, or are they naturally that dim?
One of my old Ever Ready torches is made of rubber with a steel core, the strange thing is my red rubber one is cracked an dried out an brittle but my black rubber one is ok, different rubber types, maybe. Petroleum jelly is also bad for rubber an superglue eats certain plastics like celluloid producing a bit of heat due to the reaction which is exothermic. Love this video as often wondered what was inside the first led torch, my collection mostly comprises of the old bulb type but you can get led conversions to upgrade but I keep mine original, I even copy the original battery labels to stick on modern batteries, I have also rebuilt old dry radio batteries for portable valve radios. I also like the old battery fluorescent battery lights, you can get led tubes for these which are much brighter an last longer to. That torch of yours will be worth something in a few more years.
👍
The Lucido was Brighter After you took it apart. Different Power source or Switch was reason?
OH to be able to Share Products or Even just a bit i've learn these past several years with my Dad.
You 'Sacrificed' this for Us, Clive. W0W ~ 8 ) Hope it goes back together OK for YOU. Thanks!
I think those dim white LEDs are what they still use in the flashlights you can get from Harbor Freight free with a coupon. And they’re worth that price.
Lithium grease for plastic