Post by picturefreak2 on May 31, 2018 12:57:58 GMT -5
I suppose a lot of people are very well aware of the "free with purchase" black 9-LED flashlight, but wondering about people who have worked with the "blue" dual mode "flashlight"...
These units have, like the free multimeter, gone through multiple incarnations to make them cheaper. I now have three of them, and thinking about tossing one. These can be had free with purchase like the black flashlights.
They all come with three AAA batteries. However it seems
Version 1 (?67227?): Medium blue matte. Nice inset machine screws to attach back cover. Strong neodymium(I think) magnet. Front cover attached by crap self tapping screws. 24 + 3 LED. 24 LEDs focus into a fairly bright spot. LEDs are well matched.
Version 2 (69567): Dark blue, glossy. ALL CRAPPY SELF-THREAD SCREWS! WEAK metal coated ceramic MAGNET! 24+3LED lights up much like version 1. However the LEDs are also well matched, which is surprising. This is the one I'm thinking of tossing after swiping the batteries for the V1.
Version 3 (63601): Dark blue, matte. This is the new one that I just got. It also has 3 LED front beam, but the reason why I was interested is that instead of having 24 LEDs side beam, it has an 8-COB (chip on board) LED. While normally this is a "cheapening," the nice thing is that the side beam, which was intended to be used a flood light, is actually usable as a flood light in this version! I hated the Version1 and version2 because the 24 LEDs produced a very visible spot beam due to the narrow focus 15° LEDs. If I wanted a spot, I might well use the three LEDs in front which also uses the 15° LEDs. But the version 3, with the angled/focused (metal deposit plastic) reflector, produce a much more uniform light spread. Of course the lone light spot on the older models is brighter, but this version is much brighter everywhere else - the light is very uniform, you won't need to keep repositioning the light as long as it's bright enough. Its magnet is still weak, but better than version 2. Again uses crappy self tapping screws.
This version 3 claims 144 Lm (reference: 40W incandescent bulb is 450Lm) where the other ones are probably tough to measure due to their beam focus.
I can't believe I'll say this, but Version 3 IS an upgrade over Version 2 whereas normally one would expect these to be downgrades to cheapen them. HFT killed two birds here: made the product better and cheaper.
I put it in the mechanical as really I'm more interested in the mechanical construction and light physics versus the electrical aspect, which isn't exactly covered in any other sub forum here... The electrical part of all three seems no different - all parallel LEDs with one resistor in each section to drop the 4.5V from the 3xAAA's in series.
These units have, like the free multimeter, gone through multiple incarnations to make them cheaper. I now have three of them, and thinking about tossing one. These can be had free with purchase like the black flashlights.
They all come with three AAA batteries. However it seems
Version 1 (?67227?): Medium blue matte. Nice inset machine screws to attach back cover. Strong neodymium(I think) magnet. Front cover attached by crap self tapping screws. 24 + 3 LED. 24 LEDs focus into a fairly bright spot. LEDs are well matched.
Version 2 (69567): Dark blue, glossy. ALL CRAPPY SELF-THREAD SCREWS! WEAK metal coated ceramic MAGNET! 24+3LED lights up much like version 1. However the LEDs are also well matched, which is surprising. This is the one I'm thinking of tossing after swiping the batteries for the V1.
Version 3 (63601): Dark blue, matte. This is the new one that I just got. It also has 3 LED front beam, but the reason why I was interested is that instead of having 24 LEDs side beam, it has an 8-COB (chip on board) LED. While normally this is a "cheapening," the nice thing is that the side beam, which was intended to be used a flood light, is actually usable as a flood light in this version! I hated the Version1 and version2 because the 24 LEDs produced a very visible spot beam due to the narrow focus 15° LEDs. If I wanted a spot, I might well use the three LEDs in front which also uses the 15° LEDs. But the version 3, with the angled/focused (metal deposit plastic) reflector, produce a much more uniform light spread. Of course the lone light spot on the older models is brighter, but this version is much brighter everywhere else - the light is very uniform, you won't need to keep repositioning the light as long as it's bright enough. Its magnet is still weak, but better than version 2. Again uses crappy self tapping screws.
This version 3 claims 144 Lm (reference: 40W incandescent bulb is 450Lm) where the other ones are probably tough to measure due to their beam focus.
I can't believe I'll say this, but Version 3 IS an upgrade over Version 2 whereas normally one would expect these to be downgrades to cheapen them. HFT killed two birds here: made the product better and cheaper.
I put it in the mechanical as really I'm more interested in the mechanical construction and light physics versus the electrical aspect, which isn't exactly covered in any other sub forum here... The electrical part of all three seems no different - all parallel LEDs with one resistor in each section to drop the 4.5V from the 3xAAA's in series.
