I decided to do a search for the cheapest USB rechargeable LED head torches to see what was available. I bought a few to test.
This one really surprised me with its run time and usability. It has custom software in a generic 8-pin microcontroller that gives it more functionality than the ones that use the common 6-pin flashlight chip.
First surprise is the capacity of the cell in such a small and lightweight unit. It's listed as 1200mAh in the listing, but in reality the cell has a stated capacity of 800mAh (tested at 735mAh). It could be possible to fit in a bigger cell. The cell also has a protection PCB as an extra layer of overcharge and over discharge protection.
The unit has a long run time with LED current at 4V as follows:-
High - 360mA
Medium - 165mA (50% duty cycle?)
Low - 36mA (10% duty cycle?)
To protect the LED and also increase battery life it also has a sneaky feature which gives full intensity initially, but then gradually creeps it back to 50% over a period of time. That gives an instant burst of light when needed, but then sneaks it down as your eyes adjust to the dark. You can reset it to full again by cycling through the intensities.
It does still require you to step through all intensities to turn it off. Even when it's automatically dimmed itself down to 50%. First press will go from that 50% drop in high intensity mode to the normal 50% in medium mode, so there's an extra button click that seems to do nothing.
The unit has an infrared-reflection glove mode where you can turn it on by waving your hand in front of it without contact. It can be used on all intensity settings. Large areas of reflective tape on coworkers hi-vis work clothing may trigger that if it's used on a site.
The run time is huge. The automatic self dimming to 50% and gradual reduction in intensity with battery voltage means I've not been able to test the actual run time. It will stay lit until the battery protection cuts in, by which time the light will be very dim, but usable. No sudden cut-off which is good.
Quite a hard light to find specific search keywords for, but it is available in orange which helps narrow the listings down. You can then select an orange, white or black case.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=led+rechargeable+fish+headlight+orange&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_sop=12
Target price is around $6.
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.
This one really surprised me with its run time and usability. It has custom software in a generic 8-pin microcontroller that gives it more functionality than the ones that use the common 6-pin flashlight chip.
First surprise is the capacity of the cell in such a small and lightweight unit. It's listed as 1200mAh in the listing, but in reality the cell has a stated capacity of 800mAh (tested at 735mAh). It could be possible to fit in a bigger cell. The cell also has a protection PCB as an extra layer of overcharge and over discharge protection.
The unit has a long run time with LED current at 4V as follows:-
High - 360mA
Medium - 165mA (50% duty cycle?)
Low - 36mA (10% duty cycle?)
To protect the LED and also increase battery life it also has a sneaky feature which gives full intensity initially, but then gradually creeps it back to 50% over a period of time. That gives an instant burst of light when needed, but then sneaks it down as your eyes adjust to the dark. You can reset it to full again by cycling through the intensities.
It does still require you to step through all intensities to turn it off. Even when it's automatically dimmed itself down to 50%. First press will go from that 50% drop in high intensity mode to the normal 50% in medium mode, so there's an extra button click that seems to do nothing.
The unit has an infrared-reflection glove mode where you can turn it on by waving your hand in front of it without contact. It can be used on all intensity settings. Large areas of reflective tape on coworkers hi-vis work clothing may trigger that if it's used on a site.
The run time is huge. The automatic self dimming to 50% and gradual reduction in intensity with battery voltage means I've not been able to test the actual run time. It will stay lit until the battery protection cuts in, by which time the light will be very dim, but usable. No sudden cut-off which is good.
Quite a hard light to find specific search keywords for, but it is available in orange which helps narrow the listings down. You can then select an orange, white or black case.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=led+rechargeable+fish+headlight+orange&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_sop=12
Target price is around $6.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
Typical Chinese strategy. If you get one of these today, you get 350mAh non-protected cell and also no gasket. The enclosure can fit a 1000-1200mAh 10x25x40 battery but these cells are rare and take ages to arrive overseas. Either that or get the cell from Germany at 3 times the price of the headlimp.
i love your headtorch videos, they have to be small, but still pack alot of technology, makes for very intressting designs.
Got one at 1.8$ from digitalling store with orange strap and is different. Lack gasket,14500 cell. 500mA/h no protection, charging start at 400mA then drops steadily to 100mA, stopping at 4.1V. Green pcb becomes quite hot when LED is kept in high mode for long (2 levels bright at low visible PWM) 1 IC only. My goal is replace Led with warmer one if there is space add a pot. and protection
I bought one like this on aliexpress 3 weeks ago for 6-7$ CAD. From the outside it's identical but not from inside. The lithium cell is very small 17mm x 22mm, about 200mAH with no over charge/discharge protection. The charging chip (6 pin), on the bord it's written 4057, the charging current is 450-500mA way too much for the cell size…All the mods are pulse modulated at 100hz so the light flicker a lot.. Mine doesn't have a o ring between the two parts of the case and the usb cable that came whith the light have iron cable inside…. I'm thinking about cutting traces on the board, replacing the switch with a latching switch and adding a resistor to the led and a TP4056 board. I will upgrade the lithium cell if I find one of the right size on the side of the road.
Thank you, thank you: Ordered 4 of them even before watching the entire video because of your enthusiasm. Still between 5 and 6 dollars and has free shipping. It will take a few months to arrive. That's a shame, but worth the wait (I hope 😉 Need it for work, so I have to improvise in the meantime.
Thought you would've changed that resistor, to save the LED burn out.and make it last even longer.
nOICE
Crap no difference that n cheap head light bought it its carap
I have ordered one of this on ebay. So amazing. It's now £8.45 plus pp vat.
I wanted to order more but alas out of stock.
Does anything know where to get them.
I am in London UK.
Main issue I see with this head torch for camping is, it's only decent in warm weather. A little bit below freezing and that lithium cell is probably gonna leave you in the dark, when I'm fall or winter camping I have to have my phone and powerbank in my sleeping bag to make sure they don't get too cold and die. It's also a relatively low wattage LED so if it's on over a beanie or a helmet it's probably gonna get cold enough for the cell to fail while it's turned on and in use, unlike brighter ones that make enough heat to keep themselves warm. That's one of several reasons all my favorite lights run on NiMH AAs or AAAs, along with being able to change them when they go flat without needing a charger.
I purchased this same light . Was great until I turned it on one night and it would never turn off. It just stayed on until the battery died. It’s toast now .
using this for a year now for fishing and repairs, very pleased … alltho I dimmed it down with a piece of kapton tape, the white light was too much for night time fishing.
two minor issues: a) off by button forces to cycle through brightness, would have been better to let it remember a chosen brightness even when not using the no-touch mode.
b) charging on a PC USBport triggers constantly the Plug&Play routine, without finding anything of course, very annoying for someone used to charge all his USB devices on the Desktop Hub.
Doh! Just found I've got a clone in April – refused to charge – I opened it up and the battery was puffy. Looked closer and it doesn't have a protection circuit and the main board doesn't have the 4056 chip. Looked for a replacement battery and they cost more than the lamp!
No strobe! Woohoo! RESULT!