LED flashlights: worth a darn?

There was a huge discussion about this at RCM last month. See the Google Groups archive:

Everyone has their own opinions, but if you want mine, buy the Maglite.

Chris

My answer is, absolutely YES.

Good LED flashlights are much more economical and abuse proof. Batteries in them last forever. You do not want to, say, be looking for a lost kid in a forest at night, only to have your batteries die on incandescent bulbs.

I have a four led flashlight and it is good enough for me.

I also have a LED "headlight", which is extremely convenient. I can actually work while wearing one. I recommend to have both.

i

I certainly wouldn't buy one without having it in hand so that I could try it. Unfortunately, while the LED technology has risen to the point of being useful, the reflector technology, or application thereof, has not kept up. Not that I am a flashlight seeker, I have yet to see an LED model that would light anything further away than my feet. I've got a nifty little 6 or 8 LED model that throws off an amazing amount of light....for about 2ft. Certainly not enough to light a long hallway.

Tom

Some good LED flashlights, especially those using Luxeons, are now superior to incandescant flashlights in terms of longevity, battery economy, and brightness. Another advantage is that some maintain constant brightness throughout battery life. The good ones are, however, somewhat more expensive than Maglights.

There are LED conversions for Maglights that work quite well.

A simple 8 LED light is quite sufficient for a bedside light or general utility short-range (indoor) flashlight. Those are available for about $8. They are not constant brightness, but you can buy a lot of AAA cells for the difference in price.

I have two that came from Sharper Image. The little 5 LED that has been around a while and a newer single LED that is 3 watt and a focused beam. It is GREAT. Fifty feet away is a 6-8' very white fairly bright ball of light. No filament image, just a nice, bright area. Looking into this light with one's eyes closed is still rather painful. It is rated at 82 lumens and cost $69.00. For another $200, you can get a Surefire that's 100 lumen. No thanks. The light dims as the batteries (2 x 3v Lithium cells) drain. Several web sites have them for $1 to $1.50 each in quantity. Still, the bat life isn't bad for what you get. Respectfully, Ron Moore

They certainly exist, unless you're 50 feet tall. I have one in my pocket that easily illuminates house numbers from the street. It is far brighter than a 2AA Minimag. A 1-watt Luxeon in the reflector from a 2D Maglight easily blows away a stock 2D maglight for spot brightness "downrange".

At the moment, the best tradeoff between brightness and battery life is with a 1-watt Luxeon. They produce 45 lumens at 350 mA , while the 3 watt only produces 80 lumens at 1 amp.

45 lumens collimated into a 12 degree beam is over 1000 candela. "High brightness" LED's are typically 10,000 mcd (10 candela) each, so an 8-LED flashlight tyically has intensity of about 80 candela.

On 4 Oct 2005 13:37:40 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com quickly quoth:

I recently picked up a Winchester Hunt Light, a 3-AAA/5 LED headlamp. It has 3 (quite dim) white LEDs and 2 red LEDs. Cost was $10.99 at BiMart in OR. It's a great bedside "flashlight" which is good enough to read by or, when the red LEDs are used, your night vision is not diminished. 'Tis a good value but definitely NOT a super bright lamp. I like the headlamp style to keep both hands free, and they work superbly under the sink and in the attic/crawlspace. I have half a dozen of Harbor Freight's headlamps stashed in each room of the house, too. They're incandescent 4-AA models.

Here's a link to a chart someone recently posted here. (damn, gone already.) Let's try another one:

Oh, the first one may have left home.att.net and gone public. Do a Google search of rec.crafts.metalworking for a ton of recent info.

-------------------------------------------------------- Murphy was an Optimist ----------------------------

Comprehensive Website Development

According to :

The question is "at what distance"?

I've got three LED flashlights.

1) Branded by S&W, and bought from an MSC sales flyer when ordering other things. This one is the size of a Mini-Maglite, and has three LEDs. Power source is the usual two AA cells. Nice machined aluminum case. The light produces a much more even illumination than a Mini-Maglite, which has irregularities in the illumination from the image of the filament, and the ripples in the bulb envelope. But -- it cannot be focused to concentrate more illumination at a greater distance.

2) a 14-LED flashlight (picked up at a hamfest) which runs from three C cells. Again -- a nice machined aluminum housing. Like the one above (1), the illumination is very even, and with 14 LEDs it is a lot brighter. (Not as bright as the Luxeons, which I've never had an opportunity to examine, but quite bright at reasonable distances. I tend to use this one for reading in bed when one of our cats perches between me and the tiny bedsite light. :-)

3) Same as (2) above, but the 14 LEDs are UV LEDs. Nice for various things where you want a portable source of UV to excite fluorescence. The UV one has a case which is anodized a bright violet, while the white one has a black anodized case.

The latter two, as I said, came from a Hamfest, and were probably Chinese imports. There are no markings on the lights, not even a maker's name. But they work nicely, and were $20.00 each.

The things which all three have in common:

a) No ability to focus to concentrate more light at a distance. For this, I keep a six-cell Maglite.

b) If you drop it while it is turned on, it will not suddenly end the life of the lamp. Most incandescent flashlights suffer from this weakness.

c) The lamps in the Mini-Maglite tend to darken over time if you don't kill the filament with a drop as in (c) above. Thus, even if the batteries are fresh, you don't get as much light as you did with a fresh lamp. This is evaporated metal condensed on the inside of the bulb. This seems to be a lot less of a problem with the D-cell Maglites than with the little AA cell ones, which have a really tiny bulb.

d) As the batteries get weaker, the illumination dims slightly, but so slowly that it is not obvious. Unlike incandescent lamps, the color does not change as the batteries weaken, so you wind up with less warning that it is time to change batteries. And since the batteries last nearly forever, I tend to change batteries before I see any visible sign of weakening. It is only then that I see the increase in brightness when the new batteries are installed.

e) All three have nicely machined housings, with O-ring seals at both ends -- which benefit from a bit of Vaseline lube.

I would suggest a combination of the LED for close work where even illumination is a benefit (detail work and reading), and the serious-sized Maglite for throwing light a great distance.

I've seen ads for some which combine both into a single housing. A switch selects between a Xenon bulb (like the Maglite) in a reflector and a cluster of LEDs for more even illumination and longer battery life.

Enjoy, DoN.

With all due respect to opinions ;) Maglites are over rated and overpriced. I have had far too many of them let me down. Go with the LED. Plenty of light, rugged and reliable. Biggest problem with these is forgetting to change out the battery before it's shelf life turns it into a corrosion bomb.

Ken.

In what way did each of them let you down? I've always thought they were good value.

Chris

I use about four maglites in my work as an aircraft inspector. All other flashlights I've tried don't come close, though there are some really expensive ones out there like the Surefire ($80?). LED lights must, of necessity, use multiple LEDs, since an individual LED doesn't generate that much light. Now, the multiple points can't be focussed into a single, pentrating beam without some fancy reflector, with a parabola around each LED. Costs money, takes up space, and the manufacturers won't do it until someone makes one and shows how much better it is. Competition will do the rest. Dan

You are aware of the one, and five-watt Luxeon LED's right?

I find my LED flashlight to be better than a 2-D maglight honestly.

Jim

With the 3 and 5 watt LEDs available, the amount of light generated is incredible when compared to the old technology. The 5 watt Surefire is around $300 but a 3 watt can be had for $70 with single LED and fixed focusing lens. MUCH whiter light with less heat and more compact in size than the incandescent/halogen/xenon types. Respectfully, Ron Moore

I have a 3 d-cell flashlight which is styled like a Maglight, but uses multiple LED's. I have a bicycle headlamp which uses LED's. And I have a couple of penlight size flashlights which use LEDs. I like them all, better than incandescent flashlights for all the reasons othrs have stated.

One thing that may fool you at first is the pattern of light the LEDs produce. It is not a focussed spot. It is more of a "cloud" of light, without sharp edges. This may make you think that it is not very bright. But if you compare an LED to a Maglight, you will see that the LED is brighter and more even. I don't buy that part about the LED being good for only a few feet. I can read the house numbers across the street with mine.

Harbor Freight has some LED flashlights at very reasonable prices.

Maybe things have changed since you last looked. I just got an inexpensive 3 Watt Luxeon on eBay for $10. It runs off 3 AA's. It's brighter than my 2D mag light. It has a nice directional beam that picks out trees, etc at a distance in my yard like the mag light can do. Last year I bought one of the 9 LED minilights that run on 3 AA's, also for about $10. That one shines a nice broad bright light to my feet and perhaps out to 8-10 feet. It's useful for working on things in a dark area where you want a broad beam of light. The new 3 W Luxeon is too bright to work on something close. It's interesting. You don't realize how yellow the Mag Light beam is till you put an LED beam next to it.

RWL

******* Recreate gaps in email address to reply *******

>>

I live in a marine enviorment and internal corrosion did them in. Even the 'free' one - left in the snow beside my truck after being obviously used while stealing my battery. that one was a big three cell COP flashlight. Best possible use is as a club.

Regards. Ken.

It's interesting.

I couldn't agree more!

Harold

One of which I own, the 3 D cell model, and it beats a Maglite 2 D cell light in every way. I hate how the typical incandescent lamp grows dull as the batteries lose strength.

Harold

After having the LED conversion in my minimag, I would never go back to a regular minimag.

The only issue I've had is that the beam can be very bright when I'm looking down a drilled hole and it reflects off the machined surface at the mouth of the hole. Otherwise, anyone who sees the beam is very impressed (everyone at work has a minimag on their belt).

Regards,

Robin