PATRIOTIC MAGNETIC
FLASHING "PINS"

Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pins", retail ~$1.99 (URL not known)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 05-02-10






These are the Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pins"; they serve to brighten up your nighttime 4th of July (Independence Day in the US) activities with patriotic red, white, and blue bodies, plus red & blue flashing LEDs.

It comes in a fiberglass front with ribbed metal battery compartment; the LEDs and flasher IC are protected by a low epoxy dome (over the top of the patriotic-themed front face); and it uses a pair of CR927 lithium button cells to power itself.

It is equipped with a tiny but very powerful magnet that allows you to affix the tiny light to various ferrous surfaces like bicycles and metal components of automobiles. It *MAY* also come with a second magnet; this would allow you to affix it to clothing items without puncturing or otherwise damaging the fabric that the clothes are made from. However, since it's been so many years since I got these, I'm simply not certain about this part.


Size of product w/hand to show scale SIZE



To use the Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pin", just give it a gentle but firm clockwise twist. Careful, not TOO hard. Turning it off is just as easy; twist the other way until it goes off.

It comes equipped with a small, thin disk magnet inside the bottom of the light; this allows the light to "stick" to any ferrous (magnetic) surface such as iron, mild steel, nickel, cobalt, or gadolinium.

CAUTION!
Because this light uses powerful magnets, you should not use or carry one in the same pocket as your bank card or other card with a black or brown magnetic stripe on the back, and you should not bring it within a foot of computer diskettes, computer hard drives, music cassettes, cassette players or walkmans; or video tapes & players. These lights will also cause discoloration of the picture on CRT (boob tube) TV screens and computer monitors if brought to within 2" or so of the screen or placed on top of the set, so you should not store or leave these things on top of the TV or your computer's monitor between uses.

When not being used, sticking them to a larger piece of ferrous metal, such as the refrigerator or a metal doorframe, greatly reduces the emitted magnetic field so your bank card won't become scrambled if you happen to walk by the light with your wallet in your hands.



To change the batteries in your Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pin", unscrew the two halves of the metal cylinder on its underside until they come apart.

Remove the two 2xCR927 lithium button cells and the disc magnet (it will almost certainly be sticking to the cells) from the bottom half of the light (the part not containing the LEDs & flasher).

If a milky white washer somehow appears out of nowhere, it came from the upper half of the light; you may place it back in there now -- simply dropping it straight in should suffice here.

Keep the disc magnet, and dispose of or recycle the two used button cells as you see fit.

First, place the disc magnet in the light's lower half, then place two new CR927 button cells in; orienting them so the flat (+) side is downward. Try to put that first cell in so it's in the center of the chamber, as best as you can get it. Use the tip of a pen to move the cell to the center if necessary. Lay the other cell on top of it, being sure the flat (+) side faces down. With both cells in there, screw the two halves of the light back together, and back off a bit once it springs to life.



If you love shiny, blinky things, you'll love the Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pins"

The Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pin" is meant to be used as a blinking novelty item, not as a flashlight meant to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused, so I won't try to drown it in the toliet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a front porch, let my housemate's citty kats go to the litterbox on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a medium ball peen hammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata, drop it down the top of Mt. Erupto (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again (yes, I watched four episodes of this program just this last Saturday!!!) - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island, and Mt. Erupto is an active volcano on Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a flashlight might have to have performed on it. So this section of the web page will be ***SIGNIFICANTLY*** more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.



The flag-shaped "pin" flashing.



The U.S.A.-shaped "pin" flashing.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of one of the red LEDs in the flag-shaped "pin".


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the blue LED in the flag-shaped "pin".


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of one of the blue LEDs in the USA-shaped "pin".
Note that the band is unusually broad toward the longer-wavelength end; the LED has a sky blue color to it.

USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.





This is a video on YourTube showing the flag-shaped "pin" flashing.

This clip is approximately 7.79997642351 megabytes (7,963,042 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than thirty eight minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.




This is a video on YourTube showing the USA-shaped "pin" flashing.

This clip is approximately 5.48874233479 megabytes (5,605,130 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty eight minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

I cannot provide either video in other formats, so please do not ask.







TEST NOTES:
These "pins" were purchased sometime in 2003 or 2004 on Ebay.

It is not known where this product was manufactured.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I wanted to publish it on this web page.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Flashing magnetic "pin"
    LAMP TYPE: Chip-type LED
    No. OF LAMPS: {Flag}: 5 (4 red, 1 blue), {USA}: 3 (2 blue, 1 red)
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Twist base on/off
    CASE MATERIAL: Fiberglass and metal
    BEZEL: N/A
    BATTERY: 2x CR927 lithium button cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER- AND PIDDLE-RESISTANT: Very light splatter-resistant at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: 2x CR927 lithium button cells, possibly a second disc magnet
    WARRANTY: Unknown/TBA

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Product is seasonal in nature (Independence Day {July 4} to
    be specific), so the traditional "star" rating will not be used.





Patriotic Magnetic Flashing "Pins" *






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