L.E.D. Flashlight-Need Information and Advice???

[Randy Meijer]

I saw a LED flashlight at H/D a week or two ago. No batteries required. Turn the crank for one minute and it will light up for 30 minutes. Had 3 LEDs but you could turn 2 off for long duration use. By the time I decided that decided to drop the $20 asking price, they were sold out and weren't getting any more. Went to the Internet to see if i could find one and now I have a bunch of questions.

Anyone here ever use a LED light and what are your comments about them. I have seen some with 3 bulbs and some with 30. My standard FL is the 3 cell Maglite.....it's big and heavy but puts out a lot of light. How do the LED lights compare as far as brightness?? When I go into the attic or other deep dark spaces, I usually carry a MiniMag; but the small batteries don't last. How do the led lights compare to the Minimags as far as brightness?? The ads claim 10x better battery life so the LEDs should be a good deal for folks who use flashlights a lot if they put out enough light???

Thanks for any thoughts.

P.S. When the batteries get low, does the light just get dimmer like regular bulbs or do they just stop working all of a sudden??

[George Grubaugh]

I use an LED light for working under cars. For a given size the brightness is lower but I love the long battery life & no changing bulbs.

I used to use 2 AA Mag lights. My 3 A cell Luxeon (the brightest LED so far, I think) is about the same.

As prices come down I'll buy other ones for camping, etc.

Good luck,

George

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Randy,

A store here runs the crank lights for $15 from time to time. It is great! My girls love to play with flashlights but don't turn them off. The light output is very comparable to the mini mag with the three LEDs and definately acceptable with the one LED. I like it and plan to buy another one the nextime I see them on sale.

The light does dim on this one before it goes out.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Randy....I have and use 2 LED flashlights daily at work. One, a Proto IIRC, has a single LED and the other brand I don't remember has 10 LEDs. Both are extremely bright and work well. My wife bought the single LED light for me as a stocking stuffer for Christmas over a year ago. I put new batteries in it then and though I use it regularly I haven't had to replace them yet. I should check just to make sure the batteries don't start leaking and ruin the flashlight. The other light I paid for which I paid $30 has a lifetime warrantee and again I haven't had to replace the batteries yet. I wasn't too hot on using LED lights until a co-worker got one and it impressed me! You might check at Costco. For a while they had a 2 for 1 offer. You paid IIRC $19 but got 2 8-LED lights.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

LED lights are great! I have a couple of flashlights that use them and one headlamp. The 3-LED headlamp I have puts out about as much light as a mini-mag, maybe a little more. I use it more so other people can see me while roller blading with my dog than to see where I am going, but it does a good job on both.

[John Miliunas]

I use it more so other people can see me while roller blading with my dog than to see where I am going, but it does a good job on both.

Wow! A roller blading dog! Talented. When you guys taking the show on the road?:D :D :D (Sorry, I just couldn't resist!:) )

Anyhow, I've often wondered about the effectiveness of the LED's myself. Looks like I may have been shown the light and will need to try one.:) :cool:

[Jim Becker]

LEDs are quickly becoming the choice in many applications, such as tail lights on vehicles, stop lights at the corner, etc. They produce a lot of illumination with very little energy use...something important as energy gets more expensive to produce in many ways. I believe I even saw an LED replacement for a common light bulb "somewhere".

[Ralph Barhorst]

This website shows a lot of uses for LED lights. http://www.superbrightleds.com/They seem to be popular with the RV enthusiasts since they produce a lot of light with low current. Idea for battery operated applications.

[Michael McDuffie]

For WAY more than you would ever want to know about LED flashlights and retrofits, checkout the LED Museum (http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/).
Look for the INRETECH 2AA LED FLASHLIGHT ADAPTER for MiniMAG lights.

Michael