I guess it was only a matter of time until Poundland played the 1W LED light card. So here it is, a quite pleasingly rugged camping light that houses a 1W LED powered from three AAA cells.
As with all high power LED lights the battery life wouldn't be that great if they actually ran the 1W LED at 1W. In this case it is run at 0.125W which is about an eighth of the 1W capability of the LED. This is good. It means the LED will stay cool, run efficiently and battery life will be high.
The switch is a momentary action button with a control chip on the LED PCB with a 30 ohm resistor. The battery pack is a typical cylindrical three cell holder.
The casing of the light is very chunky and tough. A bit too tough in the case of the diffuser, since it actually attenuates a bit too much of the light. A more translucent version would be nice.
The back of the light screws on to keep the battery pack locked firmly in place, and has a really robust feel with a ribbed rubber-like exterior finish.
The light is not waterproof. For maximum light output it's actually better with the diffuser removed (it unscrews).
With alkaline cells the LED current starts at around 45mA but progressively falls as the cells discharge. With NiMh cells the typical current will be a night-light grade 20mA which will be useful enough. With a set of 1000mAh rechargeable cells the potential run time is going to be about 50 hours before the intensity starts to drop.
So not a very bright light, but well built and totally hackable.
As with all high power LED lights the battery life wouldn't be that great if they actually ran the 1W LED at 1W. In this case it is run at 0.125W which is about an eighth of the 1W capability of the LED. This is good. It means the LED will stay cool, run efficiently and battery life will be high.
The switch is a momentary action button with a control chip on the LED PCB with a 30 ohm resistor. The battery pack is a typical cylindrical three cell holder.
The casing of the light is very chunky and tough. A bit too tough in the case of the diffuser, since it actually attenuates a bit too much of the light. A more translucent version would be nice.
The back of the light screws on to keep the battery pack locked firmly in place, and has a really robust feel with a ribbed rubber-like exterior finish.
The light is not waterproof. For maximum light output it's actually better with the diffuser removed (it unscrews).
With alkaline cells the LED current starts at around 45mA but progressively falls as the cells discharge. With NiMh cells the typical current will be a night-light grade 20mA which will be useful enough. With a set of 1000mAh rechargeable cells the potential run time is going to be about 50 hours before the intensity starts to drop.
So not a very bright light, but well built and totally hackable.
I actually prefer the construction of this one.
I'm feeling the urge to hunt for some lights, especially battery-powered ones, on the shelves of nearby stores now: I need something to open and look into! ;D
OH GOD, it's Tom again, LOL.
Hey Clive, yes me again on a Sunday at that. Did that really only cost a $1.00? If so then WOW!!! I can never find anything in my so called Dollar General stores anymore that is worth buying, or that cost only $1.00. I have got to get to the other stores, Dollar tree & the old Dollar store, if they still exist, I'm not certain about the Dollar stores & see if they are hoarding all of the good stuff for only a $1.00.
it just so happens that those 3xAAA adapters have the same size of an 18650 flat top 😉
I have severa lof these, great for camping and power cuts 🙂
Could you use a 18500 in this. It would have very little voltage drop. Not sure what the 3 AAA pack length is. But there are button top 18500's and protected button top 18500's that would be just a tad longer. There fully charged voltage is 4.2 and running voltage is all the way down safety to 3.2. Some would even say 3 volts but I find that a bit on the unsafe side. I use 18650's on a daily base in all my vaporizers.
I have one of these next to the bed, I use it if I want to get up but don't want to turn on the main light and blind myself.
Good review Clive. A light like that, I would run on a single AA battery with a joule thief circuit installed and just use the led not the circuit board and the light will be brighter and last longer…as of course you know. Then I would rewire the battery holder in parallel to triple the life of the single AA. I have done this to several commercial lights with good success.
Bill
Your tutorials and tear downs are great and you always work with affordable items and if you create a new build project or hack you share your knowledge .big Clive your class ….from across the border and beyond down here in north Yorkshire
I wonder what the COB in the lamp does…
Been growing out your hair?
the carabena looks worth a quid