Lidl have their car LED inspection light on offer again. 23 LEDs down one side of a tube shape, as it were, which has a hook or magnetic attachment. Come with car battery and mains chargers. Lasts about 4 hours on a charge
-all for 8 quid. No car should be without one. ;-)
Yes, they're good - I bought one a while ago.
But be careful how you store it. I came to use mine recently after it had been stored in the storage compartment under the boot floor - and it had a flat battery. I assume that something had been pressing against the ON button!
If the "ON" button is soft-switching rather than mechanical there will be a constant current drain. Better to slip a bit of plastic strip into the battery compartment when not in use.
Show me how to (non-destructively) get into the sealed battery compartment and I will.
Cheers
Dave R
It's a small mechanical switch under a waterproof cover so fairly hard to trigger easily.
Bought a couple yesterday. Not hugely bright LEDs (or with any form of reflector[1]/focussor) but the spacing of them should reduce shadows from a point source torch and be useful.
[1] I know LEDs are directional but there's usually a little spillage and reflections from whatever lens/cover they're behind that would be worth catching.
With an appropriately chosen MOSFET switch, this will be orders of magnitude lower than the battery's self-discharge rate.
Exposure to damp or excessive heat would be a more significant factor.
I've not had that problem, and I have one in each car. However, rechargeable batteries do tend to self discharge.
I suppose it could have self-discharged. I hadn't looked at it for quite a while. [Prompt: I'd better check it again!]
Incidentally, if the battery does go flat, you can run the lamp from the charging cable as long as you're near enough to a cigar socket.
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