I've replaced the incandescent bulbs in several torches recently with CREE replacements which are a major improvement. One was a hand held lump with a
12v sealed lead acid, with a fantastic beam from a car headlamp, but lasted no time at all with a lit time measured in 10's of minutes. Now with the CREE bulb it rarely needs charging and I consequently use it round the farm far more often.AWEM
I've had a few 'Energizer' branded head torches, but they are about a tenner or £17 for the more powerful one - I use them for night fishing. I've recently bought a cree head torch which has 650 lumens (very bright), it uses 3 X AAA batteries, can be focussed and has low, high and flashing settings - a quid from China via Ebay, but it's a fiver delivery...they said up to 21 buisness days for delivery, but it was here 8 days after I'd ordered it. Buying cree from the UK is futile because British outlets sell the same ones for £25
I have had a six quid two D cell one from Lidl for about a year now. Only occasional use but still on original batteries. It came with 3 years warranty and it far brighter than any torch I have owned before. Its almost as powerful as my portable Dragon searchlight!
Mike
Got a link? That sounds to be exactly what I could do with!
On Tuesday 29 January 2013 15:25 Mark wrote in uk.d-i-y:
+1Conversely all no name chinese crap is to be avoided.
For DIY stuff I am a great fan of head torches... I have a few - the Petzel one with 3 LEDs is nice and small but a tad over priced IMHO. The cheapie chinese ones with multiple LEDs are usable but not exceptional.
I recently got one of:
You can also get retrofit LED lamps to go in existing maglights...
I found one of these is very good for peeking into dark bits of buildings - since you can focus a very narrow beam if you need to to see what is at the end of a loft or floor void etc, rather than illuminating the bit near you so when you can't see the distance!
Bought the bulbs off eBay - they're not cheap mind! The torch came from a sale somewhere second hand iirc
AWEM
That's very similar to the one I ordered from China recently, mine is 650 lumens, but I guess for DIY purposes it doesn't need to be so bright
One of those "million candle power jobbies? I have one brilliant for looking at the other side of fields but as you say run time of 20 mins maximum.
AOL
Is it just a plugin replacment for the 12v 55W halogen headlight bulb these things are fitted with? How does it deal with an LED being fairly directional and the halogen bulb more omnidirectional?
A lot of the torches are 6 volt - which was one reason my brain perked up when I read the post. Had a quick look but have not noticed a 6V one yet...
Looks to be the same but less expensive:
I've been looking as well and see that they are "corn cob" type lights. I can't remember if my BFO lamp is 12v or 6v. I have a sneaky feeling it's
6 or is that the flourescent lantern?
Because the operating voltage of a blue or white LED is about 4 volts. as against the 1.6 or so for a red or green LED. Using 3 cells matches this well. Using 2 or 4 would require extra electronics to drive the LED correctly.
(I ordered a couple of them from China - paid about £6 or £7 inc postage for the pair)
The jobs they really come into their own on are mostly close work tasks like wiring, plumbing etc.
(great for punching down CAT5e onto patch panels etc!)
Can recomend B&Q`s Pro Series Cree 120 Lumens 2AA =A319.98
Toolstation`s Nightsearcher range are pretty poor build quality wise, Led Lenser are OK but overpriced.
Ultrafire A10 lived in my pocket beside keys for last year plus, it has always worked when needed, its gets used frequently and fed on
7Day shops rehargeablesFasttech seem to have a growing good reputation.
Honest reviews;
The larger ASDA stores sell a big range, pretty cheap. I have several & an pleased with them.
Does it use two different batteries?
Chris
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