Cheapo LED Flashlights --- Battery Hogs?

Another factor is that the cheap LED emitters are ones that have been in production for some years already and are not nearly as efficient as the newer emitters. They're constantly improving LEDs.

You can get a good MagLite 3 cell LED for around 20 bucks.

All my cheap LED flashlights fail early in their life. Especially, after being dropped. Appears to be the result of poorly designed power switches or modules.

This Ozark Trail 150 Lumens CREE LED for $11. in store at Walmart has worked flawlessly, even-though I've already dropped it several times. It's even usable when the voltage from the three AAA batteries drop down to over half their peak voltage. Very bright with fresh batteries. One of the best work flashlights I've bought in years.

Another very, very bright flashlight is my D-Cell Defiant 650 Lumen. Heavy duty built, but almost too bright for any close up use within 10'. These are a steal right now as Home Depot is apparently discontinuing stock at just $2.

Since we are discussing not only flashlights but batteries... I use a wireless rodent (mouse) on this computer since it came with the infernal touch pad mouse on it (Oh for the good old days of eraser heads). Well... Yesterday (Or was it the day before) the stupid thing went crazy... Thinking quickly (I had clearly finished my morning cup of coffee) I checked the batteries.. Between the two of them I had 1.6 volts NO LOAD.... Urp. supposed to be 1.5 EACH.

Works great with new triple a's in it.

Thanks all. I threw away the cheapo that ran thru batteries so fast. Will just discard the other three as I get suspicious of them. Guess I'll buy some more expensive leds in future. Batteries aren't cheap either!

wa8yxm wrote:
Since we are discussing not only flashlights but batteries... I use a wireless rodent (mouse) on this computer since it came with the infernal touch pad mouse on it (Oh for the good old days of eraser heads). .

is that the "J" mouse on a toshiba? hated it.
bumpy

I have a couple both where not the silly cheap ones and both from walmart. I think after 3 years I finally had to put a new set of batteries in one of them.

What I have actually found both with cheap and expensive flashlights is that their battery usage is directly relational to how often I turn them on and how long I leave them on. There is another factor not being discussed here, that is how many leds each of them has. Some of the more expensive ones actually only have one but yet they put out more light. Most of the cheaper ones have several and yet they may not put out as much effective light.

I have a bunch of the cheapies... and usually most just don't work, so I just toss them in a bin. I hate to trash them because they are CNC machined aluminum, so I gut them, toss the innards, then recycle the outer case and the endcap. You get what you pay for, and so far, I've found that the Coleman and the Smith & Wesson flashlights will not just be bright, but actually turn on when they are needed. You do pay dearly for them, but made in USA usually means it will work and work right.