Again – the Lowe’s Flashlight (with pictures)

On Oct 21, 6:47*pm, pm wrote:
On Oct 21, 1:44*pm, " wrote:



On Oct 21, 3:39*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel

wrote:
On 10/20/2008 1:16 PM wrote:
snip

Regarding "issues" with the light, the only one that bothered me was a
slight rattling of the batteries in the light when off-roading.
Wrapping the C cells in normal printer/copier paper took care of that
in a jiffy, and I'm quite happy with it.

snip

I've been using that flashlight for my evening rides for a couple weeks
now. I like it a lot. I like to use rechargeable batteries, but your
normal NiMH batteries self-discharge at a pretty fast rate, so I have just
purchases some hybrid batteries (Sanyo Eneloops, in this case, there are a
couple other brands). These new hybrids don't self-discharge much at all
so I don't worry about picking up the flashlight after a week or so and
finding the batteries low. But since the hybrids come in AA and AAA size
only, I used some of the AA -- C-size adapters that Sanyo sells to pack a
couple of AA's in the Lowe's 2-C cell compartment. AA's have plenty of
juice to run the Lowe's 3W LED load for the short trips I take, 2 AA's +
those plastic adapters are lighter than a couple of C's, and I don't hear
any rattling.

Note that the flashlight + contact is a spring which expects to find a
large-diameter C cell terminal, and it misses the much smaller AA cell's +
terminal. I placed a small metal nut in the spring so it can bridge the
gap. The nut is held captive by the spring. I've tried this on a few rides
and there is no flickering so the connection seems secure.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

Curious, are these on-road rides? *I would like to try rechargables,
but tend to do some serious off-road bashing. *I'm afraid a solution
such as the nut in the spring would not hold up to my abuse.

I don't find that even full sized alkaline C cells maintain a flicker-
free connection on my on-road commute without soldering them in...

-pm

Using the TF light? Did you wrap the cells in paper for a tighter
fit? I did some really tough off-roading with it last night,
including jumps, rocks, mud, and going over fallen trees. Nary a
single flicker.

Lowes will exchange the light if you're not happy with it. Maybe you
got a bad one and could trade it in?

DanKMTB wrote:

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

Note that the flashlight + contact is a spring which expects to find a
large-diameter C cell terminal, and it misses the much smaller AA cell's +
terminal. I placed a small metal nut in the spring so it can bridge the
gap. The nut is held captive by the spring. I've tried this on a few rides
and there is no flickering so the connection seems secure.

Curious, are these on-road rides? *I would like to try rechargables,
but tend to do some serious off-road bashing. *I'm afraid a solution
such as the nut in the spring would not hold up to my abuse.

I have dealt with similar issues by running a blob of solder into the
small end of the spring, or soldering on a little disc of copper,
brass, silver, etc. I'm sure a moment's work with a soldering gun
would affix that brass nut such that no amount of roughhousing could
dislodge it.

Chalo

DanKMTB wrote:

I agree. *I'd like to switch to rechargables as well, but the low
shelf life of NiMH is a drawback. *I've been battling that one for a
couple days now, still not sure what direction I'll end up going.

Low self-discharge NiMH cells like Sanyo Eneloop and Rayovac Hybrid
are much better suited to the uses that most of us might have for
rechargeables. They are claimed to retain 80% of their charge after a
year of storage. I get Rayovac Hybrid AAs at Target for $10 per pack
of four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_sel...e_NiMH_battery

Chalo

On Oct 21, 6:11*pm, " wrote:
On Oct 21, 6:47*pm, pm wrote:



On Oct 21, 1:44*pm, " wrote:

On Oct 21, 3:39*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel

wrote:
On 10/20/2008 1:16 PM wrote:
snip

Regarding "issues" with the light, the only one that bothered me was a
slight rattling of the batteries in the light when off-roading.
Wrapping the C cells in normal printer/copier paper took care of that
in a jiffy, and I'm quite happy with it.

snip

I've been using that flashlight for my evening rides for a couple weeks
now. I like it a lot. I like to use rechargeable batteries, but your
normal NiMH batteries self-discharge at a pretty fast rate, so I have just
purchases some hybrid batteries (Sanyo Eneloops, in this case, there are a
couple other brands). These new hybrids don't self-discharge much at all
so I don't worry about picking up the flashlight after a week or so and
finding the batteries low. But since the hybrids come in AA and AAA size
only, I used some of the AA -- C-size adapters that Sanyo sells to pack a
couple of AA's in the Lowe's 2-C cell compartment. AA's have plenty of
juice to run the Lowe's 3W LED load for the short trips I take, 2 AA's +
those plastic adapters are lighter than a couple of C's, and I don't hear
any rattling.

Note that the flashlight + contact is a spring which expects to find a
large-diameter C cell terminal, and it misses the much smaller AA cell's +
terminal. I placed a small metal nut in the spring so it can bridge the
gap. The nut is held captive by the spring. I've tried this on a few rides
and there is no flickering so the connection seems secure.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

Curious, are these on-road rides? *I would like to try rechargables,
but tend to do some serious off-road bashing. *I'm afraid a solution
such as the nut in the spring would not hold up to my abuse.

I don't find that even full sized alkaline C cells maintain a flicker-
free connection on my on-road commute without soldering them in...

-pm

Using the TF light? *Did you wrap the cells in paper for a tighter
fit? *I did some really tough off-roading with it last night,
including jumps, rocks, mud, and going over fallen trees. *Nary a
single flicker.

Lowes will exchange the light if you're not happy with it. *Maybe you
got a bad one and could trade it in?

Cells are wrapped in paper; though I just thought to spray the inside
of the barrel in plasti-dip, maybe that will work better. I notice
that all lights marketed for bicycles support each cell with springs
on both ends; I can't find any light sold as a bicycle light that puts
two cells end-to-end in a single barrel. I imagine maintaining contact
through such an arrangement is like expecting there to be continuous
contact through one of those desk toys with the swinging metal balls.
When I opened it up there was a lot of spark oxidation between the two
cells. I guess once the contact does break it oxidizes and gets
unreliable pretty quickly.

I'm happy to cannibalize it for parts if nothing else.

-pm

wrote:
On Oct 20, 9:02 pm, SMS wrote:
wrote:
Oh, and as secure as everything feels with that one zip-tie (I bashed
it around a bit off-road at lunch) I’ll be carrying a couple spare zip-
ties, just in case. I was very tempted to add a second tie toward the
rear of the clamp, but am worried about making the clamp itself weaker
in the process. Trial and error I guess. Anyone want to take bets if
this will hold up for the ride home?
Build one of the holders I show on my web site.

"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_2322.JPG"
"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0303.JPG"
"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/homemadebracket.jpg"

Struck out finding that style conduit clamp @ my local hardware
spots.

Hmm, around here, all three major hardware store chains have them,
Lowe's, Home Depot, and Orchard supply.

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

Note that the flashlight + contact is a spring which expects to find a
large-diameter C cell terminal, and it misses the much smaller AA cell's
+ terminal. I placed a small metal nut in the spring so it can bridge
the gap. The nut is held captive by the spring. I've tried this on a few
rides and there is no flickering so the connection seems secure.

I cut off the and part of the shaft of a steel hollow wall anchor. The
shaft goes into the center of the spring. and the top contacts the
battery terminal. But it's not held captive, I have to put the batteries
in in a way that it doesn't fall out.

On Oct 21, 5:27*am, " wrote:

Cool. *Personally, I don't like flashing forward-facing lights. *I
feel they are disorientating, potentially dangerous, and annoying as
all get-out. *It depends on the situation, though. *In a brightly lit
inner city, I could see the benefits. *In the mainly rural areas I
ride, I don’t feel there’s any place for anything forward facing and
flashing that isn’t part of an emergency vehicle.

More than once I’ve been riding head-on with someone using flashing
white lights on the front of their bike. *It basically blinds me,
making it difficult to see where I’m going, where they are and where
the path ends to my right. *In those instances I generally hold my
line, and if there’s any doubt as to where the path ends I hold to the
left, toward the person with the flashing light. *If they want to
blind me, they can avoid me – I’m not going to ride into a sign or
bench because they have a strobe light in my eyes. *At least that way
if I’m going to hit anything, it’ll be them, and we’ll both suffer.
Of course, this only applies to bike paths where riders are riding
almost directly at each other. *The only place I’ve run into this is
on the Charles River bike path in Boston. *Jump over a couple blocks
to Kenmore Square, which is lit up like daytime, and I can definitely
see using a forward flashing white light. *It’s all about where you’re
at.-


I couldn't agree more about using flashing lights on the trails. It's
totally inappropriate. On the road however, there are places where it
could be advantageous.

Unfortunately, there are too many out there on the trails with poorly
aimed high power lights that basically blind you. Whatever happened
to the simple courtesy of shading your light when someone is coming
towards you?

Orin.

On Oct 21, 10:35*pm, Chalo wrote:
DanKMTB wrote:

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

Note that the flashlight + contact is a spring which expects to find a
large-diameter C cell terminal, and it misses the much smaller AA cell's +
terminal. I placed a small metal nut in the spring so it can bridge the
gap. The nut is held captive by the spring. I've tried this on a few rides
and there is no flickering so the connection seems secure.

Curious, are these on-road rides? *I would like to try rechargables,
but tend to do some serious off-road bashing. *I'm afraid a solution
such as the nut in the spring would not hold up to my abuse.

I have dealt with similar issues by running a blob of solder into the
small end of the spring, or soldering on a little disc of copper,
brass, silver, etc. * I'm sure a moment's work with a soldering gun
would affix that brass nut such that no amount of roughhousing could
dislodge it.

Chalo

Good point. I do plenty of soldering with my other hobby, so if my
light starts to flicker I'll give this a whirl. However, I've
subjected it to some serious abuse so far, and haven't had a single
flicker. There must be quite a difference from light to light.

On Oct 21, 11:13*pm, Chalo wrote:
DanKMTB wrote:

I agree. *I'd like to switch to rechargables as well, but the low
shelf life of NiMH is a drawback. *I've been battling that one for a
couple days now, still not sure what direction I'll end up going.

Low self-discharge NiMH cells like Sanyo Eneloop and Rayovac Hybrid
are much better suited to the uses that most of us might have for
rechargeables. *They are claimed to retain 80% of their charge after a
year of storage. *I get Rayovac Hybrid AAs at Target for $10 per pack
of four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_sel...e_NiMH_battery

Chalo

How many mAh are they? My primary concern with switching to AA
rechargables would be run time. If I could get my hands on some low
self-discharge 7000mAh C cells i'd be stylin'.

On Oct 21, 11:53*pm, pm wrote:
On Oct 21, 6:11*pm, " wrote:





On Oct 21, 6:47*pm, pm wrote:

On Oct 21, 1:44*pm, " wrote:

On Oct 21, 3:39*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel

wrote:
On 10/20/2008 1:16 PM wrote:
snip

Regarding "issues" with the light, the only one that bothered me was a
slight rattling of the batteries in the light when off-roading.
Wrapping the C cells in normal printer/copier paper took care of that
in a jiffy, and I'm quite happy with it.

snip

I've been using that flashlight for my evening rides for a couple weeks
now. I like it a lot. I like to use rechargeable batteries, but your
normal NiMH batteries self-discharge at a pretty fast rate, so I have just
purchases some hybrid batteries (Sanyo Eneloops, in this case, there are a
couple other brands). These new hybrids don't self-discharge much at all
so I don't worry about picking up the flashlight after a week or so and
finding the batteries low. But since the hybrids come in AA and AAA size
only, I used some of the AA -- C-size adapters that Sanyo sells to pack a
couple of AA's in the Lowe's 2-C cell compartment. AA's have plenty of
juice to run the Lowe's 3W LED load for the short trips I take, 2 AA's +
those plastic adapters are lighter than a couple of C's, and I don't hear
any rattling.

Note that the flashlight + contact is a spring which expects to find a
large-diameter C cell terminal, and it misses the much smaller AA cell's +
terminal. I placed a small metal nut in the spring so it can bridge the
gap. The nut is held captive by the spring. I've tried this on a few rides
and there is no flickering so the connection seems secure.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

Curious, are these on-road rides? *I would like to try rechargables,
but tend to do some serious off-road bashing. *I'm afraid a solution
such as the nut in the spring would not hold up to my abuse.

I don't find that even full sized alkaline C cells maintain a flicker-
free connection on my on-road commute without soldering them in...

-pm

Using the TF light? *Did you wrap the cells in paper for a tighter
fit? *I did some really tough off-roading with it last night,
including jumps, rocks, mud, and going over fallen trees. *Nary a
single flicker.

Lowes will exchange the light if you're not happy with it. *Maybe you
got a bad one and could trade it in?

Cells are wrapped in paper; though I just thought to spray the inside
of the barrel in plasti-dip, maybe that will work better. I notice
that all lights marketed for bicycles support each cell with springs
on both ends; I can't find any light sold as a bicycle light that puts
two cells end-to-end in a single barrel. I imagine maintaining contact
through such an arrangement is like expecting there to be continuous
contact through one of those desk toys with the swinging metal balls.
When I opened it up there was a lot of spark oxidation between the two
cells. I guess once the contact does break it oxidizes and gets
unreliable pretty quickly.

I'm happy to cannibalize it for parts if nothing else.

-pm- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'd try stretching the spring out to put more pressure against the
batteries. If that doesn't do it, you may try switching it out for
another @ Lowe's before giving up and parting it out. There are
definately some good ones out there, I can't make mine flicker if I
try (and I have tried, both riding over rocks, jumping, etc. and
shaking it in my hand off the bike).

My dad called me out on the hype last night, so he took it outside to
his truck to compare it to his big Mag, 3D or 4D. Came back in saying
"no comparison, give me the package for that thing so I can get myself
one tomorrow. it's even better than you said".